WRITTEN, ARRANGED, and PRODUCED by LITTLE STEVEN

LITTLE STEVEN: Lead vocals and all guitars

DISCIPLES OF SOUL 1983:
JEAN BEAUVOIR: Bass guitar and vocals
DINO DANELLI: Drums
MONTI LOUIS ELLISON: Congas, African talking drum, shakeree, wind chimes, tambourine, timbale and background vocals
PEE WEE WEBER: Keyboards and background vocals
ZOE YANAKIS: Oboe, background vocals, and additional keyboards
BENJAMIN NEWBERRY: Guitar maintenance, all equipment and production assistance

THANK YOU to the Once and Forever DISCIPLES OF SOUL: La Bamba, Ed Manion, Nelson Bogart, Mark "The Love Man" Pender, Stan Harrison and Mike Spengler

ENGINEER and production assistance: JOHN ROLLO
MIXED by BOB CLEARMOUNTAIN
Additional background vocals: Gary U.S. Bonds ("Among the Believers")
Production assistance: Zoe Yanakis
Assistant engineers: Peter Hefter (tracks), Malcolm Pollack (mix), Zoe Yanakis (everything)
Recorded at THE HIT FACTORY, NYC
Mixed at POWER STATION, NYC
Additional recording at Polar Studios, Stockholm, Sweden, Engineer: Leif Mases and at ICP Studios, Brussels, Belgium, Engineer: Jean Trenchant

Thank You John Haystrey

Additional engineering: Malcolm Pollack
Additional assistant engineers: Peter Millius, John Davenport, Mikael Hogstrand, Dave Greenberg and Bruce Lampcov

Mastered by Wally Traugott at Capitol Records

Original album package design by Dino and Steven

Original song title design by Dino

Photography by Jim Marchese and Mark Weiss

Thank You Mary Lamont

Original album art direction: Henry Marquez

THANK YOU MAUREEN, MA, DAD, BILLY, KATHI and NANA LENTO
YOUR LOVE KEEPS ME ALIVE

THANK YOU PETER PARCHER
THANK YOU FRANK BARSALONA
THANK YOU GARY GERSH
Thank you --- Pete Croken, Tony Ferguson, Ginny Buckley, Lothar, Peter Ruchel, Steve Popovich, Steve Hayes, Peter Herbert, Mary Lomando, Bill Johnston, Willy, Garry Tallent, Jimmy Iovine, Lori, Obie, Jeff Stein, Kathy Dougherty, Max Weinberg, Eddy Germano, Troy Germano, Dudley.
Thank you -- Jim Mazza, Rupert Perry, Dick Williams, Frenchy Gauthier, Clay Baxter, Kik Van Hengel, Don Wasley, David Budge, Bob Singer, Kathy Keep, Henry Marquez, Judith and everybody at EMI America and EMI worldwide.

Picasso's Guernica courtesy of Prado Museum, Madrid, Spain

All tunes written by STEVEN VAN ZANDT

All tunes published by Blue Midnight Music (ASCAP)

I WOULD ESPECIALLY LIKE TO THANK BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN WITHOUT WHOSE 20 YEARS OF FRIENDSHIP THIS RECORD WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE

MAY 1991 LINER NOTES TO "VOICE OF AMERICA" REISSUE:

Little Steven on Voice of America:

Well it would appear I have a new record company in America (Razor & Tie, a/k/a The New Guys). I haven't met them yet but they seem to have rather impeccable taste don't they?

Through the labyrinth that is communication these days they asked if I would write a word or two about Voice of America which they're putting out on CD for the first time. Anything at all they (the fools) said. So here goes.

Looking back, my solo career, such as it was, was an eccentric adventure of self-expression and self-destruction and a good time was had by all. VOA was the second of what will be five 'solo' records if I ever get around to doing the fifth (I should be taking the fifth). Having achieved a bit of success with my earlier band, I decided to educate myself a bit (it's never too late) and talk about it on record.

I won't go into it here but the basic idea was to look at political situations, turn them into songs, and have the songs' separate themes add up to a larger overall theme and blah, blah, blah, while musically showing an evolution through the five albums from traditional/rootsy/rocky/R&B to world oriented/international dance music (if I ever get around to doing it).

I approached the whole thing in a very uncompromising way not being particularly interested in commercial value which is why it didn't have much. Steven the artist produced these records not Steven the producer so everything was done even quicker than usual. There is a word for this type of approach by the way. Stupid.

This record was probably the rockiest of the solo stuff -- about half the album being traditionally based/post punk rock songs. I wanted to remix the first half (nothing serious, a bit too much echo) but I ran out of money so I recommend you start with the second half and go from there. It doesn't make sense thematically of course but the way the individual themes unfolded only made sense to me anyway so who cares.

My three favorite things start side two (track 6). Desaparecidos, Fear (it still sounds like it was mixed by a dozen drunken, horny chimpanzees -- just kidding Bob) and Patriot (I always fantasized that it was an outtake from The Harder They Come soundtrack).

The New Guys are also including 2 other tracks that don't fit conceptually but what the hell. Vote was written for the '84 presidential election and has the same band as the rest of this album (Jean, Dino etal.). Caravan is totally inappropriate for this album and all the more fun for it. It's an old Ellington instrumental we did in the style of early, early Jeff Beck. It was originally planned for the misconceived, never finished, unscripted, under-financed Men Without Women film. On it is the '82 band live in the studio (La Bamba and the boys on horn, Zoe on oboe, and Benjamin, my lifelong guitar mechanic, on background vocals).

Since this is the second and probably last re-issue of my old stuff I'd like to thank those chosen few who bought them in the first place.

The first two records are obvious tributes to my 60's heroes but I wanted to thank them again for getting me through puberty.

I especially want to thank Bob Dylan without whom I never would have learned what is true, let alone written about it.

Solidarity,
Little Steven
May 1991