This Overlooked but Brilliant George Harrison Album From 1982 Deserves a Comeback

Gone Troppo was released by former Beatle George Harrison back in 1982. A notably pop-rock world with synthy new wave elements, Gone Troppo was dropped later in the year by Dark Horse Records, along with a handful of excellent singles, including “Wake Up My Love”, “I Really Love You”, and “Dream Away”. 

Videos by American Songwriter

It’s a fine production, one that makes good use of the production skills of Harrison, Ray Cooper, and former Beatles engineer Phil McDonald. And yet, it wasn’t a successful release. 

The album did make it to No. 108 on the Billboard 200. It also did surprisingly well in Norway at No. 31. However, Gone Troppo didn’t chart at all in the UK. That’s surprising, considering Harrison’s previous album, Somewhere In England from 1981, peaked at No. 13 in the UK and No. 11 in the US.

There’s a reason Gone Troppo was a flop, and it really has nothing to do with the album’s quality. This is a really fantastic release from Harrison. If he cared a little more about promoting it, it likely would have been a smash hit.

Why ‘Gone Troppo’ Deserved Better, and It Was Partly George Harrison’s Fault That It Didn’t Succeed

By the time Gone Troppo hit the shelves, George Harrison had become wholly uninterested in the pop music world. As such, he really didn’t try to promote it… at all. Because of this, Gone Troppo remains his only solo album released after The Beatles broke up that didn’t chart in the Top 20 in the US. And after it was released, Harrison took a long break from music that would last (outside of occasional soundtrack compositions) until the release of Cloud Nine in 1987.

Typically when a superstar musician gets burnt out on the music industry, their recordings start to get lackluster before they inevitably disappear from the spotlight. Harrison, however, gifted the world a genuinely great album before peacing out for years. It was refreshing, to say the least. I only wish this album got more love nowadays.

Gone Troppo isn’t the kind of album that comes from one of the world’s biggest pop stars at the height of their game. Rather, it surprisingly shows Harrison enjoying a newfound sense of contentment as a new father and husband. It sounds like the soundtrack of a personal utopia. It boasts so much unfiltered joy that it almost sounds too personal for the public to hear.

Harrison didn’t really care that this album wasn’t successful. But there’s no way he wasn’t at least a little bit proud of it.

Photo by Lester Cohen/Getty Images