Original 1977 US pressing in near-mint condition.

Flame released their debut album, Queen of the Neighborhood, on RCA in 1977. It features eight originals, mostly co-written by Jimmy Crespo (incl. “Long Time Gone” and “Laugh My Tears Away”), plus covers of Chuck Jackson (“Beg Me”) and Frankie Miller (“All My Love to You“).

Through co-engineer Jimmy Iovine’s contacts with the E Street Band (as engineer on Born to Run), Queen of the Neighborhood features horn arrangements by Steve Van Zandt, plus saxophone by Clarence Clemons on the track “All My Love to You.” Flame recorded the album at New York’s Record Plant with engineer Thom Panunzio, credited here as “Surprise Guest Electron Director.” Most recently, he engineered 1976 Arista releases by General Johnson and Hermann Szobel (Szobel).

Flame toured Queen of the Neighborhood as an opening act for Bachman Turner Overdrive, Foreigner, and Nektar. “Beg Me” and “Angry Times” were paired on an RCA 7″. “Beg Me” also appears with “You Sit In Darkness” on Father and Suns, a promo-only comp with two cuts each from the contemporary RCA titles Hip Shot by Stephen Dees and The Idiot by Iggy Pop.