US album release: Stop And Smell The Roses by Ringo Starr

Ringo Starr’s eighth solo album, Stop And Smell The Roses, was released in the United States on 27 October 1981, nearly a month before its UK release.

The album was mostly recorded in the United States and the Bahamas from July 1980 to February 1981. It featured a number of collaborators, including Paul and Linda McCartney, George Harrison, Ronnie Wood, and Harry Nilsson.

The lead single, ‘Wrack My Brain’, was released at the same time as the album, with ‘Drumming Is My Madness’ on the b-side. It peaked at number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Starr’s final US top 40 hit. The album reached number 98.

A second single, Paul McCartney’s ‘Private Property’, was released on 13 January 1982, but failed to chart anywhere. Starr was dropped by RCA shortly afterwards.