Valotte is the debut studio album by singer-songwriter Julian Lennon. The album was produced by Phil Ramone and recorded at several studios from February to August 1984. It was released in October 1984 on Charisma and Atlantic. The album was first certified gold in the United States, in the new year, then shortly afterwards being certified platinum. From the album, four singles were released, each with a music video, charting at various positions on the singles charts in both the United Kingdom and US. "Too Late for Goodbyes", the second US single, and "Valotte", the first US single, were both US Billboard Top 10 hits, the former reaching No. 5 and the latter reaching No. 9. The album peaked at No. 17 in the US and No. 20 in the UK. Lennon toured the US, Australia, and Japan in March–June 1985.
Background
Julian Lennon sent the Charisma Records label head, Tony Stratton Smith, a demo tape in September 1983. After listening to the tape and being impressed with Lennon's songwriting skills, Smith signed Lennon to the label in the United Kingdom, while Lennon was signed to Atlantic Records in the United States after its label head, Ahmet Ertegun, was also impressed with Lennon's songwriting. A month later, Lennon, with his friends Justin Clayton and Carlton Morales, started a three-month stay at a French château, Manoir de Valotte, in Saint-Benin-d'Azy, France, writing and demoing songs for what would appear on Valotte. In an interview with Rock Bill magazine, Lennon said that he "had a lot of the material" before embarking to the château. About the songs, Lennon said that half the songs on the album had "already [been] written on the piano" in short pieces, about "a year or two before". In an interview for No 1 magazine, Lennon said the pieces were not originally "for an album", and that some of the music was "written several years ago, some [...] new". The lyrics were added only a few years prior to recording the songs for the album.
Recording and content
The album was produced by Phil Ramone in January 1984. Lennon had asked about his availability after he heard Ramone's work on Billy Joel's The Nylon Curtain album. Ramone agreed upon hearing Lennon's previous recordings. The album was recorded February–August 1984 at: Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Sheffield, Alabama; Bear Tracks Recording Studio, Suffern, New York; A & R Recording Studios; Clinton Recording Studios; and The Hit Factory, the latter three located in New York City. The album was mixed by Bradshaw Leigh at The Hit Factory. Lennon's father, John Lennon, had recorded at The Hit Factory four years previously, on the album Double Fantasy, shortly before his death. Ramone had asked Lennon if he felt "the ghosts?"; he responded "They feel good for me. The vibes feel good and I want to be here!"
Lennon said that his father's album, Imagine, had influenced Valottes writing, but he was not "trying to carry on tradition, except maybe in the simplicity of Dad's writing". The title track is named after Manoir de Valotte, Lennon said it was a "kind of dream house [...] so that's what started off the whole song". "Space" originally started out as a music piece on bass guitar, Lennon said that his girlfriend helped: "My girlfriend came up [...] she said, 'Oh well, that sounds like either underneath icebergs [...] or space, like drifting in space' [...] [I] worked overnight and just came up with that." Lennon's reply to his girlfriend was: "well I'll forget the icebergs and give space a go!" "Well I Don't Know" was written about his father: "It's about looking for signs of the afterlife from Dad".
Shortly after the cover photo was taken, Lennon fell out with his then girlfriend and "Too Late for Goodbyes" was written, halfway through the recording of the album. "Lonely", which dates from 1982, is about when Lennon moved to London, without having any of his friends or family nearby. "Jesse", was offered to Lennon by China Burton, as Burton thought it would fit Lennon's voice. Overall, Lennon commented that "all of the songs [...] are from experience or feelings or relationships" in "real life situations" with "a feeling of neither knowing which way to turn nor what to do next".