Parting Should Be Painless

Parting Should Be Painless
Studio album by Roger Daltrey
Released	February 1984
Genre	Pop rock new wave art rock synth-pop
Length	40:03
Label	Atlantic WEA
Producer	Mike Thorne
Roger Daltrey chronology
Best Bits (1982) Parting Should Be Painless (1984) Under a Raging Moon (1985)

Parting Should Be Painless is the fifth studio album by English singer Roger Daltrey, released in February 1984, on the label Atlantic, in the United States, and on WEA in Germany, and Japan. The album was Daltrey's first solo album since the initial break-up of rock band the Who, and the first by any member of the band since the break-up. "Walking in My Sleep", "Parting Would Be Painless", and "Would a Stranger Do" were all released as singles. Two of those singles failed to chart, while "Walking in My Sleep" was a success, peaking at No. 4 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

On release, the album was received negatively by the majority of music critics. It was also Daltrey's poorest selling studio album up to that point, peaking at No. 102 on the US Billboard chart, however it did make the Top 60 in the Netherlands, peaking at No. 45 on the MegaCharts. The album was produced by Mike Thorne, with the executive producer being listed under the pseudonym "Spike". This is presumably the same woman who was credited as the executive producer of Pete Townshend's compilation album Scoop, later revealed to be Helen Wilkins. The album was re-released as a limited edition audio CD on 12 October 2004, by Wounded Bird Records, but it vanished from the market almost as quickly as it was issued, becoming something of a rarity and by 2014 copies in very good condition were trading for £250.^[1][2]

The album was a concerted effort on Daltrey's part to vent his frustrations in the wake of the Who's break-up by assembling a set of roughly autobiographical songs. These included a track contributed by Roxy Music's Bryan Ferry ("Going Strong"), and a cover version of a song by the Eurythmics ("Somebody Told Me"). The album featured contributions from bass player Norman Watt-Roy, and keyboardist Mick Gallagher who were both members of Ian Dury and the Blockheads. It also features contributions from the critically acclaimed saxophonist Michael Brecker, and from two prolific session musicians, guitarist Chris Spedding, and drummer Allan Schwartzberg (both of whom had worked with Ferry/Roxy Music).