Chicago 17

{{safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst-infobox||$params=italic_title,name,type,longtype,artist,cover,border,alt,caption,released,recorded,venue,studio,genre,length,language,label,director,producer,compiler,chronology,prev_title,prev_year,year,next_title,next_year,misc|$extra=italic_title,longtype,border,caption,language,director,compiler,chronology,year,misc|$aliases=italic title>italic_title,Italic title>italic_title,Name>name,Type>type,image>cover,Cover>cover,Border>border,Alt>alt,Caption>caption,Longtype>longtype,Artist>artist,Released>released,Recorded>recorded,Venue>venue,Studio>studio,Genre>genre,Length>length,Language>language,Label>label,Director>director,Producer>producer,Compiler>compiler,Chronology>chronology,Misc>misc|$flags=override|$B={{#ifeq:{{#invoke:Is infobox in lead|main|[Ii]nfobox [Aa]lbum}}|true|{{#if:Template:Has short description | |Template:Short description|noreplace}}}}{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox album with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y|italic_title |type |name |image |cover |border |alt |caption |longtype |artist |released |recorded |venue |studio |genre |length |language |label |director |producer |compiler |prev_title|prev_year|next_title|next_year|chronology|year|misc}}{{#if:{{#invoke:String|match|error_category=Music infoboxes with Module:String errors|A|1=If You Leave Me Now1983Take Me Back to Chicago1985studioChicago 17Chicago17.jpgChicagoTemplate:Start date<ref name="notes">Template:Cite AV media notes</ref>Mid 1983 – early 1984The Lighthouse (North Hollywood)
Sunset Sound (Hollywood)
The Record Plant (Los Angeles)*Soft rock

• pop rock41:53Full Moon/Warner Bros.<ref name=17LP>Template:Cite AV media</ref>David Foster<ref name=17LP/>x|2=</?t[drh][ >]|nomatch=}}|Template:Main other}}Template:Main other}}

Chicago 17 is the fourteenth studio album, seventeenth overall by American rock band Chicago, released on May 14, 1984. It was the group's second release for Full Moon/Warner Bros. Records, their second album to be produced by David Foster<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and their last with founding bassist/vocalist Peter Cetera. As of 2023, it remains Chicago's best-selling album, with over 6.1 million copies being sold in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Four singles were released from the album, all of which peaked in the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.<ref name="AM1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The success of the music videos for "Stay the Night", "You're the Inspiration", and "Hard Habit to Break" on MTV propelled Chicago 17 to achieve an RIAA certification of six times platinum.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1985, the album received three Grammy Awards. David Foster won for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical (tied in this category with Lionel Richie and James Anthony Carmichael),<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Free access</ref><ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Free access</ref> Humberto Gatica won for Best Engineered Recording – Non-Classical,<ref name= "27th Grammy Awards"/> and David Foster and Jeremy Lubbock won for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s)<ref name= "27th Grammy Awards">Template:Cite news</ref> for "Hard Habit to Break" which was also nominated for Record of the Year, Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals and Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Voices.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In his review of the album for AllMusic, music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine says Chicago 17 is "the pinnacle of [producer David Foster's] craft and one of the best adult contemporary records of the '80s," and one of the most influential albums "within its style."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Writing for Billboard, Bobby Olivier said the album "is one of the greatest pure power ballad albums of all time — or at least from 1984 — and "[Hard] Habit [to Break]" is one of the finest entries."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

In 2006, Rhino Entertainment remastered and reissued the album, using the original analog versions of "Please Hold On" (which was co-written with Lionel Richie who was enjoying success from his album Can't Slow Down) and "Prima Donna" and adding a Robert Lamm demo, "Here Is Where We Begin" as a bonus track.

Artwork, packaging

In keeping with the majority of their albums up to that time (1984), the traditional "Chicago" logo, designed by John Berg and Nick Fasciano,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> is the main feature of the album cover. It does not feature any photos of the group. In a 2020 article for Muse by Clio, it was listed among "Nine Great Album Covers, Chosen by Gregory Sylvester." Sylvester describes the cover as, " ... an illusion of a package within a package ... brown kraft paper, twine and a faux red stamp."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The album cover looks like a package wrapped in brown paper tied with twine and (on the back) secured with tape. On the front, the "Chicago" logo appears to be in bas-relief (it is not), covered by the wrapping paper. The number "17," in Arabic numerals rather than the Roman numerals used by the group formerly, appears to be stamped on the wrapping paper below the logo. In the upper left-hand quadrant of the cover back, a pink "receipt form" is depicted (designated as a "TOPS FORM 3014" in small print at the bottom of the "receipt"), tucked underneath the "twine," with the "Chicago" logo stamped on it near the top in purple ink and, below the logo, a "DESCRIPTION OF PACKAGE" lists the tracks on side one and side two. The bottom of the "receipt form" shows production and engineering credits and the Warner Bros. logo "stamped" on the slip. On the inner dust sleeve, a large group photo of the band appears on one side: (back row, left to right) Lee Loughnane, Bill Champlin, James Pankow, Walt Parazaider, Robert Lamm, (front row, left to right) Danny Seraphine, Peter Cetera. The reverse side of the dust sleeve gives track listings, song lyrics, and song and album credits, including credits for artwork and packaging: Art Direction/Design, Simon Levy; Album Cover Art, Larry Vigon; Photography, Harry Langdon, James Goble.<ref name=17LP/>

Track listing

Some songs were recorded during the Chicago 17 sessions but not released. "Good for Nothing" was later released on the We Are the World superstar charity album in 1985.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> This is the last released Chicago song to feature Peter Cetera on vocals.

A song called "Sweet Marie" recorded during sessions for the Chicago 17 album has been performed by the Norwegian band TOBB. Bill Champlin offered this song to the band. It was released on May 14, 2014 by TOBB, the 30th anniversary of the Chicago 17 album's release.<ref name="Nelson Something Else">Template:Cite news</ref> It was performed by Chicago on rare occasions in 1984,<ref name="Nelson Something Else"/> and has surfaced online from VHS recordings of some of their performances.

A subsequent international release in 2010 (included in the Studio Albums 1979 - 2008 boxed set from 2015) has the original album restored, with additional bonus tracks of alternate versions of "Only You", "You're the Inspiration", and "Prima Donna" as well as "Here Is Where We Begin". A demo version of "Hard Habit to Break" exists with Robert Lamm on vocals, as briefly heard during the documentary “Now More Than Ever: The History of Chicago.”

Personnel

All information in this section from except as noted.<ref name="WB notes">Template:Cite AV media notes</ref>

Chicago

• Peter Cetera – lead and backing vocals, bass guitar (1), arrangements (1, 6, 7, 9), vocal arrangements (5)
• Bill Champlin – keyboards, guitars, lead and backing vocals, vocal arrangements (4)
• Robert Lamm – keyboards, lead and backing vocals, arrangements (2), vocal arrangements (4)
• Lee Loughnane – trumpet
• James Pankow – trombone, horn arrangements (2, 4, 6, 8, 10), arrangements (10)
• Walter Parazaider – woodwinds
• Chris Pinnick – guitars
• Danny Seraphine – drums (except track 1)

Additional personnel

• David Foster – keyboards, synthesizer programming, additional arrangements, arrangements (1–5, 7, 8, 10), synth basses (2–10), horn arrangements (4)
• Erich Bulling – synthesizer programming
• Marcus Ryle – synthesizer programming
• John Van Tongeren – synthesizer programming
• Mark Goldenberg – guitars, arrangements (6, 9)
• Paul Jackson Jr. – guitars
• Michael Landau – guitars
• Jeff Porcaro – drums (uncredited) (1)<ref name="Seraphine">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp
• Carlos Vega – drums (uncredited) (7)<ref name="Seraphine"/>Template:Rp
• John Robinson – drums (uncredited) (8)
• Paulinho da Costa – percussion
• Greg Adams – trumpet
• Gary Grant – trumpet
• Jeremy Lubbock – string arrangements (3, 5, 7, 10)
• Jules Chaikin – string contractor (3, 5, 7, 10)
• Gerald Vinci – concertmaster (3, 5, 7, 10)
• Kenny Cetera – backing vocals (1, 6, 7, 9)<ref>Template:Cite interview</ref>
• Donny Osmond – backing vocals (2)
• Richard Marx – backing vocals (2)
• David Pack – vocal harmony and bridge vocal improvs on "Here Is Where We Begin"Template:Citation needed

Production

• David Foster – producer
• Humberto Gatica – engineer, mixing
• Terry Christian – assistant engineer
• Eddie Delena – assistant engineer
• Laura Livingston – assistant engineer
• Larry Fergusson – mix assistant, additional overdubs
• Paul Lani – additional overdubs
• Simon Levy – art direction, design
• Larry Vigon – album cover art
• James Goble – photography
• Harry Langdon – photography
• Recorded at The Lighthouse (North Hollywood, CA); Sunset Sound (Hollywood, CA); Record Plant (Los Angeles, CA).
• Mixed at Lion Share Recording Studio (Los Angeles, CA).

Production for 2006 reissue

• Jeff Magid – project supervision, mixing (bonus selections)
• David Donnelly – mixing (bonus selections), remastering
• Cory Frye – editorial supervision
• Greg Allen – art direction, design
• Karen LeBlanc – project assistance
• Steve Woolard – project assistance
• Mixed at DNA Studio (Studio City, California)
• Mastered at DNA Mastering (Studio City, California)

Charts

Weekly charts

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Weekly chart performance for Chicago 17

Chart (1984–1985)	Peak position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	65
French Albums (IFOP)<ref name = "IFOPYE1984">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	23
Japanese Albums (Oricon)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	15

Year-end charts

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Year-end chart performance for Chicago 17

Chart (1984)	Peak position
French Albums (IFOP)<ref name = "IFOPYE1984"/>	33
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	61
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	20
US Billboard 200<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	62

Chart (1985)	Peak position
US Billboard 200<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	21