Rei Momo
| Rei Momo | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 3 October 1989 | |||
| Genre | Latin music, worldbeat | |||
| Length | 63:37 | |||
| Label | Luaka Bop, Sire | |||
| Producer | David Byrne, Steve Lillywhite | |||
| David Byrne chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Rei Momo | ||||
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Rei Momo is the debut solo album by David Byrne and second overall studio album (after the 1981 collaborative album My Life in the Bush of Ghosts), released on 3 October 1989. The album reached number 54 on the UK Charts[1] and number 71 on the Billboard chart.[2]
The album consists of diverse Latin music styles from Cuba (rumba, mozambique, mambo, chachachá, bolero), the Dominican Republic (merengue), Puerto Rico (bomba), Colombia (cumbia, mapeyé) and Brazil (samba, pagode).[3] The album is mostly sung in English and features guest appearances by Kirsty MacColl, Willie Colón and Celia Cruz, among others.
Release and promotion
The album was co-released by Luaka Bop and Sire on 3 October 1989. Three songs, "Loco de Amor", "Good and Evil", and "Office Cowboy" are excluded from the LP.[3] All songs are present on the cassette and compact disc editions. David Byrne performed "Dirty Old Town" and "Loco de Amor" on Saturday Night Live's Thanksgiving show in 1989.
Reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| Los Angeles Times | [4] |
| New Musical Express | 6/10[5] |
| Rolling Stone |  [6] |
The album was well-received by critics. In a retrospective review for The Guardian, Alexis Petridis wrote "Byrne’s first post-Talking-Heads solo album is a cut above [the multitude of late 80s pop albums dabbling in world music] and an underrated joy".[7]
Track listing
All tracks composed by David Byrne; except where indicated.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Independence Day" (feat. Kirsty MacColl) | 5:45 | |
| 2. | "Make Believe Mambo" (feat. Kirsty MacColl & Willie Colón) | 5:23 | |
| 3. | "The Call of the Wild" | Byrne, Johnny Pacheco | 4:55 |
| 4. | "Dirty Old Town" | 4:12 | |
| 5. | "The Rose Tattoo" | Byrne & Willie Colón | 3:50 |
| 6. | "Loco de Amor" (feat. Celia Cruz) | Byrne, Pacheco | 3:51 |
| 7. | "The Dream Police" (feat. Kirsty MacColl) | 3:00 | |
| 8. | "Don't Want to Be Part of Your World" (feat. Kirsty MacColl) | 4:55 | |
| 9. | "Marching Through the Wilderness" (feat. Milton Cardona) | Byrne & Pacheco | 4:30 |
| 10. | "Good and Evil" | 4:35 | |
| 11. | "Lie to Me" (feat. Kirsty MacColl) | 3:40 | |
| 12. | "Office Cowboy" (feat. Herbert Vianna) | Byrne & Arto Lindsay | 3:40 |
| 13. | "Women vs Men" | 4:06 | |
| 14. | "Carnival Eyes" (feat. Milton Cardona) | 4:04 | |
| 15. | "I Know Sometimes a Man Is Wrong" | 3:11 |
Release history
| Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worldwide | 1989 | Luaka Bop/Sire | CD | 25990 |
| LP | ||||
| Cassette tape | 4-25990 | |||
| 1995 | CD | 7599-25990-2 |
References
- ^ "REI MOMO". Official Charts. 21 October 1989. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
- ^ "David Byrne | Biography, Music & News". Billboard. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
- ^ a b c Ruhlmann, William. "Rei Momo - David Byrne". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
- ^ Hochman, Steve (8 October 1989). "Byrne Solos for a New Family of Man : DAVID BYRNE "Rei Momo." Fly/Sire *** 1/2". Retrieved 2 September 2018 – via LA Times.
- ^ Brown, Len (28 October 1989). "Long Play: Manuel Labour". New Musical Express. p. 38.
- ^ "David Byrne: Rei Momo : Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. 16 March 2008. Archived from the original on 16 March 2008. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
- ^ Petridis, Alexis (14 June 2018). "David Byrne – (almost) all of his albums ranked!". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 September 2019.