Nightclubbing

Nightclubbing (US ILPS 9624) was produced by Chris Blackwell and Alex Sadkin and mastered by Ted Jensen. Blackwell took over as producer after Muse had limited success and wanted her to work like a band member, dropping any take that was not working by the third attempt; the sessions yielded more than one LP, hence Warm Leatherette and Nightclubbing. His description was a rhythmic reggae bottom, aggressive rock guitar, atmospheric keyboards in the middle and Grace on top, and the sound drew on Black Uhuru's Sinsemilla. Covers include songs by Flash and the Pan, Bill Withers, David Bowie and Iggy Pop, Astor Piazzolla, Sting and Marianne Faithfull, and Jones co-wrote three originals. Sly Dunbar recalled the sessions as free, so loose and so groovy. The cover is Goude's painted photograph Blue-Black in Black on Brown.

It reached number 32 on the US Billboard 200, her highest, nine on the R&B chart, 35 in the UK, two in the Netherlands, three in New Zealand and four in Sweden, and sold about 400,000 in the US. NME named it album of 1981, and Pitchfork's Andy Beta gave the 2014 reissue 9.0, with AllMusic at 4.5 stars and Mojo five; the Quietus's Ian Wade wrote that what was perfection has become even more perfect. The 2014 deluxe reissue added a bonus disc with two unreleased tracks, one a Gary Numan cover, and returned her to the UK top 50.