No Other - Release

Release

No Other was delivered to Asylum Records in the tumultuous summer of 1974. As recording costs had ballooned to over $100,000, a considerable investment in a performer who had seen his last Top 40 hit in 1966, Geffen was dismayed by the dearth of potential hits and the uncommercial nature of the material.

Released in September 1974, No Other reached a disappointing peak of #144 on the charts without any active promotion from the label. It was also commercial failure; the studio time and cost being seen as excessive and indulgent. Further confounding matters was the album's artwork: the front cover was a collage inspired by 1920s Hollywood glamour, while the back featured a photo of the singer with permed hair and clad in full drag, frolicking at the former estate of John Barrymore. A rare fall tour staged by the singer could not salvage the endeavour, and demos for a new album—reportedly a fusion of country rock with R&B, funk, and early disco stylings—were promptly rejected by Asylum. (By 1976 No Other had been deleted).

In later years, Clark remained disappointed with the lack of success achieved by No Other, which he deemed to be his masterpiece in several interviews.

By the late 1990s, perhaps indirectly because of his death, interest in Clark's catalog had grown to the point where three songs from No Other were included on the double disc compilation entitled "Flying High". In the early 2000s, No Other was finally reissued in its entirety. A 2003 European reissue included "Train Leaves Here This Morning" and several alternate, semi-acoustic renditions while a skeletal version lacking the bonus tracks but containing restored packaging and new liner notes appeared in the United States on Collector's Choice Music.