Thank God for Girls by Benny Mardones

Thank God for Girls is the debut studio album from American rock and pop singer Benny Mardones, released in 1978. During 1977 in Woodstock, Mardones met Richie Havens who, impressed by Mardones' talent, invited him on the road as his opening act. During the tour, around New York City, Mardones' appearances brought him to the attention of producer Andrew Loog Oldham and Larry Utall, President of Private Stock Records. As a result, Mardones signed to the record label. The album was Mardones' only record for Private Stock Records, with Mardones moving to Polydor Records for his next two albums. Thank God for Girls did not live up to expectations, partially based on the fact that Private Stock Records went out of business shortly after its release. The album was produced by Andrew Loog Oldham who was most famous for producing many of The Rolling Stones' early albums. The majority of the songs on the album were written by Mardones and David Leigh Byron, with two of those tracks featuring another co-writing credit to Wayne Hayden. "Timeless" was written by Mardones and Michael Wendroff. Byron would also co-write further songs with Mardones' for his next album Never Run, Never Hide from 1980. The track "Hold Me Down" would later be re-recorded for Mardones' following album Never Run, Never Hide. For the album, a cover of the Alessi Brothers song "All for a Reason" was recorded. The song was written by Billy and Bobby Alessi, where they had originally recorded it for their 1977 album of the same name. The Alessi Brothers had released the song as a single as well. Another cover on the album was the 1968 Bee Gees hit song "I Started a Joke", which was written by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb, released from their album Idea. The guitarist on the record was Mick Ronson, who was the guitarist for David Bowie on the Ziggy Stardust Tour whilst the drummer Jerry Shirley was from the band Humble Pie. The album remained out-of-print and only available on vinyl for many years. It featured a printed inner sleeve. Today, the album can be purchased on CD via Mardones' current record label Warrior Records. Thank God for Girls was only released in America and France. Shortly before the album's release, Private Stock Records released a limited edition four track 12" extended play vinyl sampler, which featured the tracks "All for a Reason", "Thank God for Girls", "I Started a Joke" and "Timeless". The release was advertised as a "Pre-Release Limited Edition Collector's EP". The album's sole single was "Susquehanna Lady", which was backed by "All for a Reason" as the b-side. ℗ 1978 © Private Stock Records™ a division of 43 North Broadway, LLC. WARNING: All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws.