Tina Turner – Foreign Affair (1989)

Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939 – May 24, 2023) was an American-born and naturalized Swiss singer, dancer, actress, and author. Widely referred to as the “Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll”, she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before launching a successful career as a solo performer.

Turner began her career with Ike Turner’s Kings of Rhythm in 1957. Under the name Little Ann, she appeared on her first record, “Boxtop”, in 1958. In 1960, she debuted as Tina Turner with the hit duet single “A Fool in Love”. The duo Ike & Tina Turner became “one of the most formidable live acts in history”. They released hits such as “It’s Gonna Work Out Fine”, “River Deep – Mountain High”, “Proud Mary”, and “Nutbush City Limits”, before disbanding in 1976.

In the 1980s, Turner launched “one of the greatest comebacks in music history”. Her 1984 multi-platinum album Private Dancer contained the hit song “What’s Love Got to Do with It”, which won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and became her first and only number one song on the Billboard Hot 100. Aged 44, she was the oldest female solo artist to top the Hot 100.[7] Her chart success continued with “Better Be Good to Me”, “Private Dancer”, “We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)”, “Typical Male”, “The Best”, “I Don’t Wanna Fight”, and “GoldenEye”. During her Break Every Rule World Tour in 1988, she set a then-Guinness World Record for the largest paying audience (180,000) for a solo performer.

Turner also acted in the films Tommy (1975) and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985). In 1993, What’s Love Got to Do with It, a biographical film adapted from her autobiography I, Tina: My Life Story, was released. In 2009, Turner retired after completing her Tina!: 50th Anniversary Tour, which is the 15th highest-grossing tour of the 2000s. In 2018, she became the subject of the jukebox musical Tina.

Having sold over 100 million records worldwide, Turner is one of the best-selling recording artists of all time. She received 12 Grammy Awards, which include eight competitive awards, three Grammy Hall of Fame awards and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. She was the first black artist and first woman to be on the cover of Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone ranked her among the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.[9] Turner had a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the St. Louis Walk of Fame. She was twice inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with Ike Turner in 1991 and as a solo artist in 2021. She was also a 2005 recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors and Women of the Year award. Turner died following a long illness on May 24, 2023, at the age of 83.

Turner revealed in her 2018 memoir My Love Story that she had suffered multiple life-threatening illnesses. In 2013, three weeks after her wedding to Erwin Bach, she suffered a stroke and had to learn to walk again. In 2016, she was diagnosed with intestinal cancer. Turner opted for homeopathic remedies to treat her high blood pressure. Her hypertension resulted in damage to her kidneys and eventual kidney failure. Her chances of receiving a kidney were low, and she was urged to start dialysis. She considered assisted suicide and signed up to be a member of Exit,[268] but Bach offered to donate a kidney for her transplant. Turner had kidney transplant surgery on April 7, 2017.

On May 24, 2023, Turner died at her home in Küsnacht, Switzerland, aged 83, following a long illness. (wikipedia)

Foreign Affair is the seventh solo studio album by Tina Turner, released on September 13, 1989, through Capitol Records. It was Turner’s third album release after her massively successful comeback five years earlier with Private Dancer and her third and last album with the label. Although the album was not a major success in Turner’s native United States, it was a huge international hit, especially in Europe. The album reached number one on the UK Albums Chart, her first number one album there. Dan Hartman produced most of the tracks on the album, including the hit single “The Best”, which has gone on to become one of Turner’s signature songs.

While Foreign Affair didn’t perform as well as Turner’s previous albums Private Dancer and Break Every Rule in the US, where it failed to crack the Top 30 in the Billboard 200, it was a worldwide hit, selling over six million copies. In the UK alone the album sold over 1.5 million copies entering the UK Albums Chart at number one (Turner’s first album to do so there) and staying in Top 100 for a year and a half. The album also reached number one in numerous other countries including Germany and Sweden and topped the overall European Chart for four weeks.

In 2021, Foreign Affair was released as a box set, which includes a previously unreleased demo of “The Best”.

Six tracks from the album were released as singles, most of which became hits in various parts of Europe and, to a lesser extent in the US. “The Best” (US No. 15; UK No. 5) was released as the first single propelling the sales of the album. This was followed by “I Don’t Wanna Lose You” (UK No. 8), which was released in Europe only. The album’s third single (second in the US) was the opening track, “Steamy Windows” (US. No. 39; UK No. 13), which earned Turner a Grammy nomination.

Three additional singles released in various territories were the title track “Foreign Affair” (Continental Europe only), the ballad “Look Me in the Heart” (No. 8 on the US Adult Contemporary chart; UK No. 31) and the rock ballad “Be Tender with Me Baby” (UK No. 28). (wikipedia)

Turner’s last studio album for Capitol was produced by the late Dan Hartman of “Instant Replay” disco fame; however, this was not a retro ’70s-style album. This set was comprised of 12 mature, middle-range, adult rock and pop songs. Turner tackled rock on “Steamy Windows” and “The Best,” the latter a universal hit. She created fine club tracks such as “Falling Like Rain,” “I Don’t Wanna Lose You,” and “Look Me in the Heart.” Still, she cooled down long enough for a couple of gutbucket ballads in “Be Tender With Me Baby” and “Ask Me How I Feel.” The most interesting cut was the scorching return to Turner’s Delta roots on the flawless “Undercover Agent for the Blues,” one of the finest pop-blues performances since B.B. King’s “The Thrill Is Gone.” Despite the slight musical style variations, the whole project was wrapped in an enticing pop style that gave it buoyancy and synthesis. (by Bil Carpenter)

Personnel:
Phil Ashley (keyboards on 02. 06., 07., synthesizer on 06., strings on 06., 07., 08.,  piano on 08., flute on 08.)
Gary Barnacle (saxophone on 01., 10. + 12.)
Gene Black (guitar on 02., 06., 07., 08., 10.)
Jeff Bova (horns on 01., 04., 05. synthesizer on 03., organ on 04., strings on 05.)
Timmy Cappello (saxophone on 05., 08.)
Danny Cummings (percussion on 03., 04., 05., 07.)
Dan Hartman (keyboards on 01., 02., 03., 04.,  guitar on 02., 04.,  background vocals on 02., 05., drum programmig on 05.)
Rupert Hine (keyboards, bass, drum programming, background vocals on 09.)
Mark Knopfler (guitar on 12.)
Elliot Lewis (keyboards on 08., flute on 11.)
J.T. Lewis (drums on 01., 03., 04., 05.)
Eddie Martinez (guitar on 01., 03., 05.)
Greg Mathieson (bass on 10.)
Neil Taylor (slide guitar on 01.)
Phil Palmer (guitar on 09.)
James Ralston (guitar on 02., 06., 07., 08., 10.)
Carmine Rojas (bass on 04., 05.)
Philippe Saisse (keyboards on 02., 03., 06., 07., 08. flute on 05.)
Nick Glennie-Smith (keyboards on 10. + 12.,, strings on 10.,bass, drums on 12.)
T.M. Stevens (bass on 02., 03., 06., 07., 08., 11.)
Pat Thrall (guitar on 02., 06., 11., slide guitar on 08.)
Tina Turner (vocals)
Tony Joe White (guitar, synthesizer, harmonica on 01., 03., 12.)
Edgar Winter (saxophone on 02.)
Art Wood (drums on 02., 06., 07., 08.)
Casey Young (keyboards on 10.)
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background vocals on 02., 03., 05., 07., 08.:
Lance Ellington – Tessa Niles
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background vocals on 06.:
Tessa Niles
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background vocals on 10..
Holly Knight – G. Lyle – Albert HammondTracklist:
01. Steamy Windows (White) 4.06
02. The Best (Knight/Chapman) 5.30
03. You Know Who (Is Doing You Know What) (White) 3.48
04. Undercover Agent For The Blues (White)
05. Look Me In The Heart (Steinberg/Kelly) 3.43
06. Be Tender With Me Baby (Hammond/Knight) 4.22
07. You Can’t Stop Me Loving You (Hammond/Knight) 4.01
08. Ask Me How I Feel (Hammond/Knight) 4.47
09. Falling Like Rain (Munday/Stewart) 4.05
10. Don’t Wanna Lose You (Lyle) 4.21
11. Not Enough Romance (Hartman) 4.06
12. Foreign Affair (White) 4.30

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More from Tina Turner:
The official website:

Mark Farner – Wake Up … (1989)

Mark Fredrick Farner (born September 29, 1948) is an American musician, best known as the original lead singer and lead guitarist for the hard rock band Grand Funk Railroad, which he co-founded in 1969, and later as a contemporary Christian musician.

Farner began his career in music by playing in Terry Knight and The Pack (1965–1966), The Bossmen (1966–1967), The Pack (aka The Fabulous Pack) (1967–1968), before forming Grand Funk Railroad with Don Brewer (drums) and Mel Schacher (bass guitar) in 1969. Craig Frost (keyboards) joined the band in 1972. Farner has Cherokee ancestry from his maternal side.

Farner was the guitarist and lead singer for Grand Funk Railroad as well as the songwriter for most of their material. His best-known composition is the 1970 epic “I’m Your Captain (Closer to Home)”. He also wrote the 1975 hit “Bad Time”, the last of the band’s four singles to make the top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.

After Grand Funk initially disbanded in 1976, Farner released his self-titled debut solo album in 1977, and his second, No Frills, in 1978 (both Atlantic Records). In 1981, Farner and Don Brewer launched a new Grand Funk line-up with bassist Dennis Bellinger and recorded two albums, Grand Funk Lives and What’s Funk? Farner went solo again with 1988’s Just Another Injustice on Frontline Records. His third Frontline release was 1991’s Some Kind of Wonderful, which featured a revamped Jesus version of the Grand Funk classic of the same name. Farner became a born again Christian in the late 1980s and enjoyed success with the John Beland composition “Isn’t it Amazing”, which earned him a Dove Award nomination and reached No. 2 on the Contemporary Christian music charts.

In the 1990s, Farner formed Lismark Communications with former Freedom Reader editor Steve Lisuk. Soon after, Farner began reissuing his solo albums on his own record label, LisMark Records.[9]

From 1994 to 1995, Farner toured with Ringo Starr’s Allstars, which also featured Randy Bachman, John Entwistle, Felix Cavaliere, Billy Preston, and Starr’s son, Zak Starkey.[10]

In the late 1990s, Farner reunited with Grand Funk, but left after three years to resume his solo career. He currently tours with his band, Mark Farner’s American Band, which plays a mixture of Grand Funk songs and Farner’s solo offerings.

Farner had a pacemaker installed October 22, 2012, having struggled with heart troubles for the previous eight years.

Mark Farner was voted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame as a solo artist in 2015. He had previously been inducted as a member of both Grand Funk Railroad and Terry Knight & The Pack.

Farner was honored with the Lakota Sioux Elders Honor Mark in 1999. During the concert in Hankinson, North Dakota, a special presentation was held honoring Mark’s Native ancestry and his contributions. Members of the Lakota Nation presented him with a hand-made ceremonial quilt. He has also been honored with the Cherokee Medal of Honor by the Cherokee Honor Society. (wikipedia)

Here´s his 4th solo album:

Mark Farner used to be front man in Grand Funk Railroad. They were to American parents what the Rolling Stones were to British parents in the 70s. I remember seeing pictures of Mark in Melody Maker performing bare-chested with a thick bracelet encircling his right bicep and long, long hair. Unfortunately, some of his hair, with the passage of time, has come adrift but he does now wear a shirt – and the fear of some parents may be further allayed by hearing these songs.

Although there’s no way the lyrics on ‘Wake Up’ could be called deep or philosophical they would, however, fit very nicely into any southern American pulpit. Mark’s faith shines through with excitement and enthusiasm. The music is economically played, sounding like a three-piece; although there are keyboards they are mixed very low. It reminded me of ‘Free’, in fact, Mark sings like Paul Rogers but in a slightly higher register and with more vocal gymnastics (impressive for a white man). He also plays guitar like the late Paul Kossoff used to – not very fast but with plenty of feel. It’s a good album. (by Paul Poulton)

Even if I can’t understand his turn to Christianity, Mark Farner could still compose and play good rock songs back then.

Personnel:
Lawrence Buckner (bass, background vocals)
Mark Farner (guitar, vocals, keyboards)
Mike Maple (drums, percussion, background vocals)

Tracklist:
01. Wake Up … 4.19
02. Into The Light 4.02
03. New Age 3.20
04. Come To Me 3.56
05. In Your Sight 5.25
06. Upright Man 3.28
07. Rocco 3.43
08. If It Wasn’t For Grace 3.56
09. Love Power 4.01
10. Role Model 5.35
11. Like I Was Before 3.54

Al songs written by Mark Farner

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More from Mark Farner:

The official website:

Gerard Joling – No More Boleros + December In July (1989)

I have to reduce my singles collection:

Gerard Jan Joling (born 29 April 1960) is a Dutch singer and television presenter. Known for his high tenor voice, he rose to fame in the late 1980s and released a string of singles including “Ticket to the Tropics” and “Love Is in Your Eyes”. He also achieved success in Asia[citation needed] and received more than 20 gold and platinum records.

In 1988, he was the Dutch participant in the Eurovision Song Contest 1988, with the song “Shangri-La”.

His biggest hit was “No More Boleros” that reached the top 10 in several countries in mainland Europe. The song was recorded by different artists such as Clemente (Portugal), Sula Mazurenga and As Marcianas (both in Brazil), Karel Gott (in German and Czech), Demis Roussos, Semino Rossi, Oliver Thomas and George Meiring (in 2011 in South Africa).

Joling & Gordon Over de Vloer is a television program Gerard Joling made with singer Gordon in 2005. There were 3 seasons of the series which featured the duo during work and having a laugh.

In 2007, he was the host of Sterren dansen op het ijs and So You Wanna Be a Popstar for the television channel SBS 6. 2007 was also the year that sparked Joling’s renewed success, with two number 1 songs, a number 1 album, and 11 gold and platinum awards.

In 2008, Joling became team captain on the Dutch TV show Wie ben ik? (“Who am I?”), in which the team captains, together with both two guests, have to guess who they are, based on hints and questions they can ask. The other team captain was Patty Brard.

Joling was scheduled to represent The Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow as a member of De Toppers, but temporarily left the group after a conflict with Gordon. Joling was replaced in The Toppers with Jeroen van der Boom. In December 2009, De Toppers manager Benno de Leeuw announced in Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf that Gerard Joling and Gordon were to rejoin the group, turning the trio into a foursome once more.

Joling can also regularly be seen as a member of juries on a myriad of Dutch television programs. In 2018 he was seen in The Voice Senior and since 2019 in the Dutch version of the program The Masked Singer. (wikipedia)

And here´s his biggest hit.

Two songs that might appeal to very romantic young girls.
I can’t say much more about this single, except that such songs are also part of music history and therefore have a place in this blog.

Personnel:
Gerard Joling
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bunch of unknown studio musicians

Tracklist:
01. No More Bolero’s  4.12
02. December In July 3.08
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03. No More Boleros (Spanish Guitar Version) 4.12
04. December In July 4.36

Music & lyrics: Peter de Wijn

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The official website:

Leonard Bernstein- Ode To Freedom (Ode an die Freiheit) (Beethoven) (1990)

Leonard Bernstein ( August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first American conductor to receive international acclaim. According to music critic Donal Henahan, he was “one of the most prodigiously talented and successful musicians in American history”. Bernstein was the recipient of many honors, including seven Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, sixteen Grammy Awards including the Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Kennedy Center Honor.

As a composer he wrote in many genres, including symphonic and orchestral music, ballet, film and theatre music, choral works, opera, chamber music and works for the piano. His best-known work is the Broadway musical West Side Story, which continues to be regularly performed worldwide, and has been adapted into two (1961 and 2021) feature films. His works include three symphonies, Chichester Psalms, Serenade after Plato’s “Symposium”, the original score for the film On the Waterfront, and theater works including On the Town, Wonderful Town, Candide, and his MASS.

Bernstein was the first American-born conductor to lead a major American symphony orchestra. He was music director of the New York Philharmonic and conducted the world’s major orchestras, generating a significant legacy of audio and video recordings. He was also a critical figure in the modern revival of the music of Gustav Mahler, in whose music he was most passionately interested. A skilled pianist, he often conducted piano concertos from the keyboard. He was the first conductor to share and explore music on television with a mass audience. Through dozens of national and international broadcasts, including the Emmy Award–winning Young People’s Concerts with the New York Philharmonic, he made even the most rigorous elements of classical music an adventure in which everyone could join. Through his educational efforts, including several books and the creation of two major international music festivals, he influenced several generations of young musicians.

A lifelong humanitarian, Bernstein worked in support of civil rights; protested against the Vietnam War; advocated nuclear disarmament; raised money for HIV/AIDS research and awareness; and engaged in multiple international initiatives for human rights and world peace. Near the end of his life, he conducted an historic performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in Berlin to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall. The concert was televised live, worldwide, on Christmas Day, 1989 (wikipedia)

The fall of the Berlin Wall 30 years ago, on 9 November 1989, changed the world. Leonard Bernstein’s legendary live recording of Beethoven’s Ode To Freedom (Symphony No. 9) captured not only the elation of the moment but conveyed a celebration of and a longing for freedom which extended far beyond the occasion. To mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall a special 180g vinyl release, presenting Bernstein’s historic recording of Ode To Freedom on two LPs instead of one for improved fidelity, and a CD accompanied with a DVD of the live concert have been released for the first time.

On Christmas Day December 1989 Leonard Bernstein conducted Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony featuring an international cast in the Konzerthaus at Gendarmenmark, Berlin, following the historical fall of the Berlin Wall. Significantly the words from Schiller’s Ode An Die Freude (Ode To Joy) were changed: the word “Freude” (Joy) became “Freiheit” (Freedom) – an intention that was said to have been in mind of Schiller and Beethoven already.

Four soloists, three choirs and members of six top orchestras, representing the two German States and the four Occupying Power States of post-war Berlin, participated: musicians from orchestras of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, from Dresden, Leningrad (St Petersburg), London, New York and Paris. Three choirs supported Bernstein at his great Berlin Ode To Freedom concert: the Bavarian Radio Chorus; members of the Radio Chorus of what had been East Berlin; and the Children’s Choir of the Dresden Philharmonie. The solo quartet featured June Anderson, soprano; Sarah Walker, mezzo-soprano; Klaus König, tenor; and Jan-Hendrik Rootering, bass. When the musicians gathered in Berlin for the concert residents were chiselling away at the hated Berlin Wall. Leonard Bernstein also carved a chunk of the wall and sent it to his family in New York.

Bernstein’s biographer (and producer) Humphrey Burton noted the festive Berlin performances were to mark the absolute climax in the public life of the world citizen Leonard Bernstein. He was truly more than a conductor: he shook people awake from the rostrum, surrendering to Beethoven’s music and yet rendering it with all his heart and soul at the same time.

Leonard Bernstein observed, “I feel this is a heaven-sent moment to sing “Freiheit” wherever the score indicates the word “Freude”. If ever there was a historic time to take an academic risk in the name of human joy, this is it, and I am sure we have Beethoven’s blessing. “Es lebe die Freiheit!”

Justus Frantz, the organizer of the concert, declared, “May this performance of the Ninth Symphony – the Harmony of the World resounding in Berlin – play a part in ensuring that this joy, ‘bright spark of divinity’, will never end.”

Leonard Bernstein lit a torch for the love of freedom and the longing for freedom that extended far beyond the occasion and is as relevant today as it was thirty years ago.
Craig Urquhart Remembers Bernstein’s Ode To Freedom in Berlin 1989

Composer and pianist Craig Urquhart was Leonard Bernstein’s personal assistant for the last five years of his life. He recalled, “It was late December when Leonard Bernstein and I arrived in Berlin. Berlin was an excited city; historic change was taking place there. It was just weeks before that the government of East Germany had allowed its citizens to visit West Germany; the decades-long division of the city was literally crumbling. The thrill of this new-found freedom was electric in the air. Bernstein knew that this was a time for a grand musical gesture: he would conduct an international orchestra.

It was made up of members of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra supplemented by musicians from the New York Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Staatskapelle Dresden and the Orchestra of the Kirov Theater, as well as the the Bavarian Radio Choir, Children’s Choir of the Dresden Philharmonic and the Radio Choir of East Berlin – not to mention a stellar cast of soloists – in a historic performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. It is common knowledge that Bernstein, had been a lifelong advocate for freedom, he took the liberty of changing the Schiller text from “Freude” to “Freiheit.” He said at the time, smiling, “I’m sure that Beethoven would have given us his blessing.”

Under the grey winter skies the muted sound of hammers chiseling at the Berlin Wall became the soundtrack of the city. During the rehearsal period, Bernstein took pleasure in walking through the now opened Brandenburg Gate, mingling with the citizens of a reunited Berlin. The moment weighed heavily on his heart as he remembered all the suffering the city’s bifurcation had caused.

On Christmas Eve Bernstein and his musicians presented the first “Freiheit Concert” in West Berlin’s Philharmonie. It was also presented by a live feed onto a large screen, for a freezing but appreciative audience on the plaza of the Gedänkniskirche in West Berlin. But it was the concert on Christmas morning in the Schauspielhaus (now the Konzerthaus) in East Berlin that caught everyone’s imagination, not only among the public who watched on the big screen on the Gendarmenmarkt, but also of those who watched the live broadcast – over 100 million television viewers worldwide.

German vinly edition:

All were moved by the magic of hearing the word “Freiheit” sung from the rafters. No words can describe the reverent energy, happiness and grave responsibility that was felt in the hall. Even as I write my eyes well up with tears, for we all felt a great divide had been healed. Lenny did not believe in division, and here was a dream come true. Everyone gave their all, and the performance was a historic moment captured forever on film and recording.

As a final gesture after the concerts and receptions, Lenny and I, with a couple of friends drove to the western side of the wall behind the Reichstag: no television, no reporters, just us private citizens of the world. Lenny borrowed a hammer from a young boy, and he took his turn at tearing down, at least this wall, among all those he’d so worked so hard to dismantle in the hearts and minds of man.”(Sharon Kelly)

Recorded live at the Schauspielhaus, Berlin, 25 December 1989

Personnel:
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leonard Bernstein
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members ofOrchestra Of The Kirov Theatre, Leningrad, Orchestre De Paris, Dresden Staatskapelle, London Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic
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June Anderson (Sopran)
Klaus König (Tenor)
Jan-Hendrik Rootering (Bass)
Sarah Walker (Mezzo Sopran)
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The Berlin Radio Chorus
Dresden Philharmonic Children’s Chorus
Bavarian Radio Chorus conducted by Wolfgang Seeliger

Tracklist.

Symphony No. 9 In D Minor, Op. 125:
01. Allegro Ma Non Troppo, Un Poco Maestoso 18.04
02. Molto Vivace 10.44
03.  Adagio Molto E Cantabile 20.13
04. Presto – Allegro Assai 28.55

Music: Ludwig van Beethoven
Lyrics: Friedrich von Schiller

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East German students sit on the Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate in front of border guards in November 1989:

More from Leonard Bernstein:
The official website:

Lisa Stansfield – Affection (1989)

Lisa Jane Stansfield (born 11 April 1966) is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. Her career began in 1980 when she won the singing competition Search for a Star. After appearances in various television shows and releasing her first singles, Stansfield, along with Ian Devaney and Andy Morris, formed Blue Zone in 1986. The band released several singles and one album, but after the success of Coldcut’s “People Hold On” in 1989, on which Stansfield was featured, the focus was placed on her solo career.

Stansfield’s first solo album Affection (1989) and its worldwide chart-topping lead single “All Around the World” were major breakthroughs in her career. She was nominated for two Grammy Awards, and Affection is her best-selling album to date. In the following years, Stansfield released Real Love (1991), So Natural (1993), and Lisa Stansfield (1997). In 1999 she appeared in her first film, Swing, and also recorded the soundtrack for it. Her next albums included Face Up (2001), Biography: The Greatest Hits (2003), and The Moment (2004). Thereafter, Stansfield took a break from music and focused on her film career. In 2008, she starred in The Edge of Love and in 2014 she appeared in Northern Soul.

Stansfield released her seventh album Seven on 31 January 2014. Its lead single “Can’t Dance” was digitally released on 16 October 2013. She promoted the album with the European Seven Tour in 2013 and 2014. Her most recent album Deeper was released on 6 April 2018. In June 2018, following a string of sold-out tour dates in Europe, Stansfield announced her North American Tour, which began in October 2018.

Stansfield has won numerous awards, including three Brit Awards, two Ivor Novello Awards, a Billboard Music Award, World Music Award, ASCAP Award, Women’s World Award, Silver Clef Award and two DMC Awards. She has sold over 20 million albums worldwide, including five million of Affection. In December 2016, Billboard magazine ranked her as the 46th-most-successful dance artist of all time.

Affection is the debut solo album by British singer Lisa Stansfield, released by Arista Records on 20 November 1989. Stansfield co-wrote all songs with Ian Devaney and Andy Morris. Devaney and Morris also produced the album, except for “This Is the Right Time” which was produced by Coldcut. Affection received critical acclaim from music critics and was commercially successful. It reached top ten on the charts in many countries and has sold over five million copies worldwide. The album spawned a hit song, “All Around the World”, and four other successful singles: “This Is the Right Time”, “Live Together”, “What Did I Do to You?” and “You Can’t Deny It”. Affection was rereleased as a deluxe 2CD + DVD set in the United Kingdom on 10 November 2014 and in Europe on 21 November 2014.

In March 1989, Stansfield was featured on Coldcut’s song “People Hold On” which she co-wrote. The single became a top forty hit in Europe, reaching number eleven in the United Kingdom. In the United States, it peaked at number six on the Billboard’s Hot Dance Club Songs. On the strength of this hit, Arista Records signed Stansfield as a solo artist, with Ian Devaney and Andy Morris from their band Blue Zone as her composers, musicians and producers. Coldcut returned the favour by producing Stansfield’s next record “This Is the Right Time”.

The whole album was written by Stansfield, Ian Devaney and Andy Morris. All songs were produced by Devaney and Morris, except “This Is the Right Time” produced by Coldcut. At first, Affection was released in Europe on 20 November 1989. It included thirteen songs on the CD and cassette editions of the album and ten songs on the LP version (without “Affection”, “Wake Up Baby” and “The Way You Want It”). On 20 February 1990, the album was issued in North America with noticeably refined mixes of several of the songs and different sequence of the tracks. In 2003, Affection was remastered and re-released as limited edition digipak with four bonus songs: “People Hold On”, “My Apple Heart”, “Lay Me Down” and “Something’s Happenin'”. The last three tracks were originally included on the European single, “What Did I Do to You?”. In North America, “Lay Me Down” and “Something’s Happenin'” were featured on the “You Can’t Deny It” single and “My Apple Heart” became “This Is the Right Time” B-side.

Affection was remastered and expanded, and was re-released as a deluxe 2CD + DVD set in November 2014. It was expanded to feature rare tracks and 12″ mixes plus videos, live footage and a specially recorded interview with Stansfield. The twenty-eight-page booklet features photos, memorabilia, lyrics and brand new sleeve notes. The set was issued in the United Kingdom on 10 November 2014 and in Europe on 21 November 2014. It was also released as a part of The Collection 1989–2003 at the same time. The 2014 reissue of Affection includes previously unreleased track, “The Love in Me” (Extended Version). Issued at the same time, People Hold On … The Remix Anthology features the following previously unreleased remixes of songs from Affection: “All Around the World” (Attack Mix), “What Did I Do to You?” (Red Zone Mix) and “The Love in Me” (12″ Remix).

“This Is the Right Time” was released as the first single in Europe on 31 July 1989 and peaked at number thirteen in the United Kingdom, number seventeen in Germany and number twenty in Austria. One year later on 30 July 1990, it was issued as the third North American single, reaching number twelve in Canada and number twenty-one on the US Billboard Hot 100. “This Is the Right Time” also peaked at number one on the US Hot Dance Club Songs and number thirteen on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. The second European single, “All Around the World” was released on 16 October 1989. It became a hit reaching number one in the United Kingdom, Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, Norway and Spain, and peaking inside top ten elsewhere. “All Around the World” was also issued as the first single in North America on 15 January 1990. It was commercially successful reaching number three in Canada and on the Billboard Hot 100. “All Around the World” also topped the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Dance Club Songs, and was certified Platinum by the RIAA for selling over one million copies in the United States. The third European single, “Live Together” was issued on 29 January 1990 and reached top ten in the United Kingdom, Italy, Netherlands and Belgium.

“What Did I Do to You?” was released as the next single in Europe on 30 April 1990 and peaked at number seven in Italy, number twenty in Ireland and number twenty-five in the United Kingdom. The second North American single, “You Can’t Deny It” was also successful. It was issued on 2 May 1990 and reached number fourteen in Canada and on the US Billboard Hot 100. The single also topped the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and peaked at number two on the Hot Dance Club Songs in the US. A double A-side single “This Is the Right Time”/”You Can’t Deny It” with the US remixes was issued in selected European countries in September 1990 as the final release from Affection. In 2003, “This Is the Right Time”, “All Around the World”, “Live Together” and “You Can’t Deny It” were included on Biography: The Greatest Hits. “The Love in Me” was twice considered as a potential single, first in late 1989 as a prospective follow-up to “All Around the World” and then again in 1990, when it was discarded in favour of the still more danceable “What Did I Do to You?”. New remixes were produced on both occasions, only to be shelved. They were released in 2014 on the reissue of Affection and People Hold On … The Remix Anthology (also on The Collection 1989–2003).

Affection has sold over five million copies around the world. It was certified three-times Platinum in the United Kingdom and Platinum and Gold in various countries, including Platinum in the United States for selling over one million copies. The album reached top ten around the globe, including number one in Austria and Italy. In the United Kingdom, it peaked at number two and in the United States, it reached number nine. Affection is Stansfield’s most successful album.

During the 1990 Brit Awards, Stansfield was nominated for four Brit Awards: British Breakthrough, British Female Solo, British Single (“All Around the World”) and Best Video (“All Around the World”). She won the British Breakthrough Award and performed “All Around the World” at the ceremony. With “All Around the World” Stansfield also won two Ivor Novello Awards for Best Contemporary Song (1990) and Best International Song (1991). Stansfield also won a Billboard Music Award in category Best Newcomer in 1990. In 1991, she received an ASCAP Award in category Writer of the Most Performed Song (“All Around the World”). Stansfield also received two Silver Clef Awards in 1990: Best New Artist Award and Innovation Award. Other trophies include two DMC Awards in 1990 for Best Album and Best Artist. In 1991, Stansfield was also awarded with World Music Award for Best British Artist. At the 1991 Grammy Awards she was nominated as Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance (“All Around the World”) but lost to Mariah Carey in both cases. (wikipedia)

When Lisa Stansfield took the R&B world by storm with her melancholy, Barry White-influenced single “All Around the World,” it was obvious that not since Teena Marie had a white female singer performed R&B so convincingly. Though she didn’t shy away from hip-hop and house-music elements, Affection leaves no doubt where the British singer’s heart lies — sleek yet gritty ’70s R&B. Though the retro leanings of such updated soul treasures as “You Can’t Deny It” and “What Did I Do to You” are obvious, Stansfield’s producer keeps things very fresh sounding by embracing a decidedly high-tech and very late-’80s/early-’90s production style. Though essentially a soul diva, Stansfield has a disco masterpiece in the love-and-togetherness anthem “This Is the Right Time.” (by Alex Henderson)

Personnel:
Ian Devaney (all instruments, programming)
Lisa Stansfield (vocals)
+
Stephen Gibson (trumpet)

Tracklist:
01. All Around The World 4.28
02. Mighty Love 5.12
03. This Is the Right Time 4.31
04. You Can’t Deny It (U.S. Remix) 4.32
05. What Did I Do to You? (Mark Saunders Club Remix) 5.53
06. Affection (CD and cassette only) 5.50
07. Live Together (New Version/Single Remix) 4.37
08. Sincerity 4.49
09. The Love in Me 4.59
10. Poison 4.19
11. When Are You Coming Back? 5.17
12. Wake Up Baby (CD and cassette only) 3.53
13. The Way You Want It (CD and cassette only) 4.57

All songs writen by Lisa Stansfield, Ian Devaney, Andy Morris

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**

The official website:

Stephen Edmundson – Silver Apples Of The Moon (1989)

Stephan Edmundson revives with his music the now rare Hamered Dulcimer dulcimer, a form of the dulcimer.
Traditional music from Ireland from Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales and Brittany. In addition, there are pieces from the from the Renaissance, classical music and an international folk repertoire.
Acoustically and visually striking is the
Hammered Dulcimer. It was made by British and
Irish emigrants to America in the past centuries. The instrument gets its special character from its brilliant bell-like sound gives the instrument its intensity.

This sound has not left Stephen Edmundson since he first heard it as a child.

The study of music, of composition and other musical traditions deepened this. Stephan Edmundson plays in this formation besides the classical flute, an old wooden flute, the “timber flute” and the Irish whistle.
Numerous arrangements as well as own compositions with the lively and harmonious music
on the hammered dulcimer, the Irish harp and other are on his CD’s . “Silver Apples of the Moon” and “Journey beyond the Isles”.

Both have enjoyed great popularity for years with their and their relaxing character have been popularity for years (press release).

And here´s his first solo album, recorded at the Bear Creek Studios, Los Gatos, California/USA.

Such a beautful album … close your eyes and start dreaming !

Personnel:
Stephan Edmundson (harp. dulcimer, flute, vocals, penny-whistle)
+
Hannah Beckham (violoncello)
Jeb Hogan (guitar)
Todd Hicks (guitar)

Tracklist:
01. Fanny Poer (O´Carolan) 3.21
02. Winter Has Come (Traditional) 2.30
03 Jenny Plucked The Pear (Traditional) 1.17
04. An Hani a Garan (Traditional) 2.13
05. Molly MacAlpin (Connellan) 3.05
06. Lark On The Strand (Traditional) 1.40
07. The Kid On The Mountain (Traditional) 1.59
08. Gaelic Waltz (Traditional) 3.14
09. White Hart (Traditional) 1.41
10. Greensleeves (Traditional) 1.19
11. La Guabina (Ortiz) 2.12
12. Voices Of The Rain Forest (Edmundson) 3.31
13. Bird Of Paradise (Edmundson) 0.54
14. Bailecito (Traditional) 2.32
15. Enchanted Valley (Edmundson) 4.16
16. Lyenda (Albeniz) 4.07
17. Charm Danse (Traditional) 3.30
18. Yedid Nefesh (Traditional) 3.56

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The offical website:

The Beautiful South – Welcome To The Beautiful South (1989)

The Beautiful South were an English pop rock group formed in 1988 by Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway, two former members of the Hull group The Housemartins, both of whom performed lead and backing vocals. Other members throughout the band’s existence were former Housemartins roadie Sean Welch (bass), Dave Stead (drums) and Dave Rotheray (guitar). The band’s original material was written by the team of Heaton and Rotheray.

After the band’s first album (recorded as a quintet), they were joined by a succession of female vocalists. All of the following artists performed lead and backing vocals alongside Heaton and Hemingway – Briana Corrigan for albums two and three after appearing as a guest vocalist on one, followed by Jacqui Abbott for the fourth to seventh albums, and finally Alison Wheeler for the final three Beautiful South albums.

The group broke up in January 2007, claiming the split was due to “musical similarities”, having sold around 15 million records worldwide.

Welcome to the Beautiful South is the debut album by English band The Beautiful South, released in October 1989 by Go! Discs and the next year in the United States by Elektra Records. Three singles were released from the album, which became top 40 hits in the United Kingdom: “Song for Whoever” (#2), “You Keep It All In” (#8) and “I’ll Sail This Ship Alone” (#31).

The original album cover depicted two pictures by Jan Saudek, one of a woman with a gun in her mouth, and another with a man smoking. Woolworths refused to stock the album, in the words of the band, to “prevent the hoards [sic] of impressionable young fans from blowing their heads off in a gun-gobbling frenzy, or taking up smoking”;[6] An alternative cover featuring a picture of a stuffed toy rabbit and a teddy bear was therefore made. A second alternative cover was also prepared for the Canadian edition of the album; this version omitted the picture of the woman, and featured only the smoking man.

NME included it in their “Top 100 Albums You’ve Never Heard” list in 2012. (wikipedia)

The Beautiful South’s 1989 debut would be important if only to mark the partial continuance of the Housemartins’ legacy. But when vocalist Paul Heaton and drummer Dave Hemmingway greeted the world with Welcome to the Beautiful South, the handshake came with a Cheshire grin. Nothing in the Beautiful South was as it seemed. Where there was jaunty, jazzy pop, crossed fingers warned of murderous lyrics. If a single featured a fluttering flute, it was filled with familial terror. “Woman in the Wall,” featuring one of the year’s most memorable melodies and Heaton’s plaintive lead vocal, also featured lines like “He’d enjoyed the thought of killing her before” and “when the rotting flesh began to stink.”

But even in the album’s most gruesome moments, the streak of cynical, caustic sarcasm running through it was as clear as crop circles. This fact only made Welcome’s twee goodness that much more fun, for with each well-placed barb it further proved what the Housemartins had started: pop didn’t have to be stupid. (by Johnny Loftus)

Personnel:
Paul Heaton (vocals)
Dave Hemingway (vocals)
Dave Rotheray (guitar)
Dave Stead (drums)
Sean Welch (bass)
+
Gary Barnacle (saxophone, flute)
Briana Corrigan (vocals)
Martin Ditcham (percussion)
John Thirkell (trumpet, fluglehorn)
Peter Thoms (trombone)
Mel Wesson (keyboards, drum programs)
Pete Wingfield (keyboards)

Tracklist:
01. Song For Whoever 6.10
02. Have You Ever Been Away? 5.12
03. From Under The Covers 4.04
04. I’ll Sail This Ship Alone 4.40
05. Girlfriend 2.54
06. Straight In At 37 (MC and CD bonus track) 4.29
07. You Keep It All In 2.54
08. Woman In The Wall 5.16
09. Oh Blackpool 3.01
10. Love Is… 7.04
11. I Love You (But You’re Boring) 4.31

All songs written by Paul Heaton and Dave Rotheray,
except 05.: written by Antonio Reid & Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds

*
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More from The Beautiful South:

Little River Band – Get Lucky (1990)

Little River Band (LRB) is a rock band originally formed in Melbourne, Australia in March 1975. The band achieved commercial success in both Australia and the United States. They have sold more than 30 million records; six studio albums reached the top 10 on the Australian Kent Music Report albums chart including Diamantina Cocktail (May 1977) and First Under the Wire (July 1979), which both peaked at No. 2. Nine singles appeared in the top 20 on the related singles chart, with “Help Is on Its Way” (1977) as their only number-one hit. Ten singles reached the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Reminiscing” their highest, peaking at No. 3.

Little River Band have received many music awards in Australia. The 1976 line-up of Beeb Birtles, David Briggs, Graeham Goble, Glenn Shorrock, George McArdle and Derek Pellicci, were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame at the 18th Annual ARIA Music Awards of 2004. Most of the group’s 1970s and 1980s material was written by Goble and/or Shorrock, Birtles and Briggs. In May 2001 the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), as part of its 75th anniversary celebrations, named “Cool Change”, written by Shorrock, as one of the Top 30 Australian songs of all time. “Reminiscing”, written by Goble, received a 5-Million Broadcast Citation from BMI in 2020.

The group have undergone numerous personnel changes, with over 30 members since their formation, including John Farnham as lead singer after Shorrock first departed in 1982. None of the musicians now performing as Little River Band are original members, nor members in the 1970s. In the 1980s, members included Farnham, Wayne Nelson, Stephen Housden, David Hirschfelder and Steve Prestwich. As from October 2020 the line-up is Nelson, Rich Herring, Chris Marion, Ryan Ricks and Colin Whinnery – none of whom are Australian. Various legal disputes over the band’s name occurred in the 2000s, with Housden filing suit against Birtles, Goble and Shorrock.

Get Lucky is the eleventh studio album by Australian group, Little River Band, released in April 1990, the album peaked at number 54 on the Australian ARIA Charts.(wikipedia)

This album was recorded in 1990 and features three of the original and best members of a band with many lineup changes over the years.They now tour and record with no original members and their lead vocalist is Wayne Nelson who joined in 1980 at the tail end of their most successful period.The rights to the name `Little River Band’ belong to guitarist `Steve Housden’ who joined in 1981 and hasn’t toured with them since 2006 and he forbids the original singers and writers to use the name when they tour.Shame they can’t come to some amicable arrangement.

This is a good but not essential LRB album.Apart from a couple of not so great ballads at the end the songs are catchy and the trademark harmonies are there.The production is very glossy which I found off-putting in some songs making the band sound like another version of Foreigner and the like.

All up a worthwhile purchase and the last time you’ll hear original lead vocalist `Glen Shorrock’ sing on a `Little River Band’ album. (R.Angel)

Personnel:
Graham Goble (guitar, background vocals)
Stephen Housden (lead guitar)
Wayne Nelson (bass, background vocals, vocals on 07. + 09.)
Derek Pellicci (drums)
Glenn Shorrock (vocals)
+
Claude Gaudette (keyboards, programming)
Dennis Lambert (keyboards, programming)
Jamie Paddle (keyboards, programming)
John Robinson (drums)

Tracklist:
01. If I Get Lucky (Chapman) 4.15
02. There’s Not Another You (Goble) 3.50
03. Second Wind (Lambert/Reswick/Werfel) 4.15
04. Every Time I Turn Around (Beckett/Lambert) 4.38
05. I Dream Alone (Pellicci/Shorrock) 4.51
06. Time And Eternity (Goble) 4.09
07. Two Emotions (Goble) 4.29
08. As Long As I’m Alive (Goble/M.Nelson/G.Nelson) 4.36
09. The One That Got Away (Lambert/W.Nelson/Gaudette) 3.57
10. Listen To Your Heart (Kelly/Steinberg) 4.52

*
**

A road sign to Little River, on a trip by the fledgling band from Melbourne to Geelong, inspired Glenn Shorrock to suggest the band name:

The official website:

Michelle Shocked – Captain Swing (1989)

Michelle Shocked (born Karen Michelle Johnston; February 24, 1962) is an American singer-songwriter. Her music entered the Billboard Hot 100, was nominated for Grammy award for Best Contemporary Folk Recording, and received a Folk Album of the Year at the CMJ New Music Awards.

Shocked was born Karen Michelle Johnston on February 24, 1962, in Dallas, Texas, at the Baylor University Medical Center. Her stepfather was in the US Army and the family moved from base to base, eventually settling in Gilmer, Texas. Her mother was Mormon and she was raised in that faith. Her mother had her committed to a psychiatric hospital for a time during years of drug abuse.Johnston went through a punk rock phase, wearing a Mohawk hairdo and squatting in abandoned buildings in San Francisco, California.

In 1984, Johnston adopted the stage name “Michelle Shocked,” a play on the expression “shell shocked,” she said in a 1992 interview with Green Left Weekly: “The term ‘Miss shell shocked’ is a direct reference to the thousand-yard stare, which was a term that they first used to describe the victims of shell-shock in World War I. These people from outward appearances had survived the war quite well when in fact inside their minds were blown. I first used that name in 1984 at the Democratic Convention in San Francisco where I was arrested for protesting and demonstrating against corporations who contribute money to both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party campaigns.”

Shocked received her first international exposure after Pete Lawrence recorded her performance on a portable tape recorder at the Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas. Lawrence released the tape in Europe as The Texas Campfire Tapes (1986) (later released as The Texas Campfire Takes). The album’s success brought major labels asking her to sign a contract. Shocked was resistant to what she saw as the machinations of the music industry, and worked to retain a degree of creative control.

Her first US success came with the release of her 1988 debut album, Short Sharp Shocked, on college radio rotations around the country, which was met with strong acclaim from listeners. The debut single, “Anchorage”, broke into the Billboard Hot 100, but a follow-up single from the album, “When I Grow Up”, did not chart. Short Sharp Shocked was the first album in what Shocked later described as a “trilogy” for Mercury Records.

The second album in the trilogy, Captain Swing, was released in 1989. Described by reviewer Chris Woodstra as an album of “swing and big-band music” that “no one expected,”[9] the album was promoted with the release of “On the Greener Side”, a gender-reversed parody of Robert Palmer’s 1986 single “Addicted to Love”, in which topless male models performed the motions made famous by the female models in Palmer’s video.

The trilogy concluded with her 1992 album, Arkansas Traveler. Her desire to have the cover portray her in blackface in tribute to the roots of the music featured on the album drew criticism and a change in the cover art. However, the album received little commercial notice, and Shocked parted ways with the label following an acrimonious lawsuit.

In 1995, Shocked contributed an original song to the soundtrack for the film Dead Man Walking called “Quality of Mercy.” In 1996, she released a studio version of an underground release (Kind-Hearted Woman (black cover)) on the short-lived Private Music label.

Starting in 2002 with the release of Deep Natural, Shocked established her own label, Mighty Sound. She reissued expanded versions of her entire catalog, made possible by having retained complete ownership of her work when she signed with Mercury in 1987.

An acoustic version of her song “How You Play the Game” was featured as the opening and credits soundtrack on the DVD of the 2004 documentary film Bush’s Brain.

Shocked continues to make music as an independent artist. In June 2005, she released a trilogy of albums called Threesome (Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, Mexican Standoff and Got No Strings). In May 2007, she released the album ToHeavenURide; and in September 2009, Soul of My Soul.

Soul of My Soul remains Shocked’s last released recording to date. She toured consistently through 2013, then took time off before resuming live performances and touring in 2016.

In 1992, Shocked married journalist Bart Bull. They divorced in 2004. She reported in 2007 that she was in a relationship with Disney artist David Willardson, with whom she had first worked in 2001 when he designed the branding for her record label Mighty Sound. Willardson has since designed album covers for Deep Natural and for Shocked’s album reissues. Willardson and Shocked share an artist’s studio in the Biscuit Company Lofts.

According to Gay 100 author Paul Russell, in 1989 she joked to a US broadcast television audience that the Grammy award for Best Contemporary Folk Recording, whose nominees included herself, eventual winner Tracy Chapman, Phranc, and Indigo Girls, should have been called “Best Lesbian Vocalist”. Shocked herself remembers that she joked the award “could have been called ‘They Might Be Lesbians'”. After an Earth Day performance in Chicago in April 1990, she gave an interview to Christie L. Nordhielm of Outlines, a Chicago newspaper for the gay community. Accompanied by future husband, journalist Bart Bull, she told Nordhielm she felt boxed in by listener expectations that she was either straight or gay; she said “I would like a much broader definition for myself.” She explained her wish to be politically and sexually subversive by saying, “I resent like hell that I was maybe 18 years old before I even heard the ‘L’ word. I mean, that’s understood, growing up sheltered in a Mormon environment. But it would have made all the difference for me had I grown up knowing that the reason I didn’t fit in, was because they hadn’t told me there were more categories to fit into.” She said she did not condone the outing activities engaged in by members of ACT UP. Since then, Shocked has been listed as bisexual in reference books,[20][21] and does not self-identify as a lesbian. In a 2013 interview with CNN, Shocked stated “I am, for the last 10 years, so deeply in love with a man that the idea of living my life without him is impossible. I know how much I love him, and knowing that passion that I have for him, would I ever want to deny that to anyone else? Absolutely not.”

While performing at the Wild Goose Festival in June 2011, a Christian event at which the inclusion of gay Christians was debated, Shocked responded to an audience member’s question about homosexuality by saying “Who drafted me as a gay icon? You are looking at the world’s greatest homophobe. Ask God what He thinks.”

On March 17, 2013, Shocked made an impromptu speech against same-sex marriage during a concert at Yoshi’s nightclub in San Francisco, which led some audience members to leave in protest and the club’s management to end the show. All venues eventually cancelled scheduled performances of her “Roadworks Tour” in response to reports of Shocked’s remarks. In a March 20, 2013, email to the news media, Shocked apologized, saying that her comments had been misinterpreted, and that she was not describing her own opinions about homosexuality, but rather those of some Christians. An audio recording of the performance was reported as contradicting Shocked’s post-performance explanation.

On April 1, 2013, Shocked appeared on CNN’s Piers Morgan Live to clarify her remarks. Morgan asked Shocked three times whether she was “homophobic.” Eventually, Shocked stated “If you want to keep this simple for the audience, let me just give you a straight no, I’m not homophobic. But the truth, I don’t think, lies in the simplicity. It’s in the nuance, and that’s been completely lost in this…” She said that the meaning behind her prior comments was misinterpreted.

A photograph of Shocked being detained during a protest that appears on the cover of her 1988 album Short Sharp Shocked was taken by Chris Hardy of the San Francisco Examiner at a protest in San Francisco during the 1984 Democratic National Convention. Years later, Shocked was arrested during the November 29, 2011, eviction of the Occupy Los Angeles movement.

Shocked was honored as having the Folk Album of the Year at the CMJ New Music Awards ceremony in late October 1989, taped in New York City for later broadcast. The award recognized the popularity of Short Sharp Shocked with college radio listeners.

Captain Swing is a mixed genre album by American folk singer-songwriter Michelle Shocked. It was first released by Mercury Records in 1989 and later reissued by Shocked’s own label Mighty Sound in 2004. It was named after Captain Swing, the pseudonymous rebel leader who penned threatening letters during the rural English Swing riots of 1830. The album was a cross-country inventory of swing musical styles—from Dixieland to Western, Big Band to BeBop. (wikipedia)

Shocked made a big jump from The Texas Campfire Tapes to Short Sharp Shocked, but no one expected the direction she would take for Captain Swing. Rather than continuing as a folky singer/songwriter, she opted instead to take on western swing and big-band music, complete with horn-heavy arrangements and bright orchestration. And although the cartoon image of her on the cover gives a smirk and a sly wink, the album is surprising devoid of irony. She treats the genre with affection and she’s obviously having a good time swinging. Captain Swing may have confused fans of Short Sharp Shocked, but the album has several great moments, and most of all, it offers a good time. (by Chris Woodstra)

And “Looks Like Mona Lisa” reminds me very much on “Hit The Road Jack” !

Personnel:
Pete Anderson (guitar, bass)
John Begzian (emulator program)
Lenny Castro (percussion)
Jeff Donavan (drums)
Skip Edwards (keyboards)
Freebo (a.k.a. Daniel Friedberg) (tuba)
Dominic Genova (bass)
Paul Glasse (mandolin)
Steve Grove (saxophone)
Don Reed (strings)
Zachary Richard (accordion)
Michelle Shocked (vocals, guitar)
Beverly Dahlke-Smith (saxophone, clarinet)
David Stout (trombone)
Lee Thornburg (trumpet)
Dusty Wakeman (bass)
+
James Cruce (drums on 02.)

Tracklist:
01. God Is A Real Estate Developer 3.13
02. On The Greener Side 2.56
03. Silent Ways 2.40
04. Sleep Keeps Me Awake 2.44
05. The Cement Lament 3.07
06. (Don’t You Mess Around with) My Little Sister 2.38
07. Looks Like Mona Lisa 2.32
08. Too Little Too Late 2.15
09. Streetcorner Ambassador 3.28
10. Must Be Luff 2.44
11. Russian Roulette (Mystery Song) (hidden track) 3.33

All songs written by Michelle Shocked
except 01., written by Michelle Shocked & Matt Fox

*
**

The official website:

Adrian Snell – Song Of An Exile (1989)

Adrian Snell (born 1954) is an English pianist, keyboard player, singer and composer.

Classically trained at the Leeds College of Music and with a music diploma to his name (LGSM), Adrian’s musical career spans nearly four decades. During this time he has produced twenty-three original albums: seventeen solo albums and six major concept works. His major commissions include: ‘The Virgin’ from the BBC, ‘The Passion’, recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and premièred on BBC Radio One, ‘The Cry: A Requiem for the Lost Child’, premièred at St Paul’s Cathedral in aid of Save the Children, and numerous Dutch commissions including HTV’s special musical documentary ‘Song of an Exile’ recorded at Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, Jerusalem. He has performed extensively in the United Kingdom, Israel, the United States, Australia, and throughout Europe, and has had many TV and radio performances worldwide.

In the late 1990s Adrian semi-retired as a professional musician to train as a music therapist. This was a bold move by an artist whose albums and concerts attracted audiences across Europe. He completed the post graduate diploma in Music Therapy (Dip. Mus. Th.) awarded by the University of Bristol through the Faculty of Medicine. Adrian now works as a Music Therapist and Arts Therapy Consultant for children with special needs at Three Ways School, Bath, and regularly visits a school in Korce, Albania.

June 1995 saw the premier release of Adrian’s major, two album concept work ‘City of Peace’. The work explores the Jewish roots of the Christian faith, drawing on poems written by Jewish authors spanning from six thousand years ago to the present day. City of Peace also comes as a climax to eleven years of searching and discovery that began with a journey into the lives of Jewish men, women, and children caught up in the Nazi Holocaust.

It is eleven years since I walked through the gates of Bergen Belsen. I shall never forget that day; it changed me in ways I couldn’t have imagined. Music is, in the end, the language of my heart, so not surprisingly much of my writing since then expresses the search for answers and meaning in all that the Holocaust and Jewish history opens up in us.

Through his work as a music therapist Adrian has drawn inspiration to record a new album, ‘Fierce Love’. The album draws inspiration both from the relationships he has formed, and the extraordinary range of instruments that are central to his work and now contribute to the unique soundscape of the album. ‘Fierce love’ has all the hallmarks of an Adrian Snell album: rich sound textures, haunting melodies, intelligent lyrics – and a remarkable ability to connect the listener with the subject of the songs at a profound level. ‘Fierce Love’ was released on 28 September 2013. You can purchase a copy from this website, iTunes and Amazon.

His daughter, Carla Jae, has followed in her father’s footsteps and is now an accomplished singer/songwriter with ‘The Carla Jae Band’ also featuring William Rutherford and Blain Weller. His son Jamie has also pursued a music career and is currently part of the London-based band ‘Bird of Prey’. (wikipedia)

After Adrian’s ‘life changing’ experience in Bergen-Belsen, it was no surprise that his journey continued with this beautiful and moving exploration of Jewish Poetry. ‘Song of an Exile’ contains two interpretations of poems written by children who died in Auschwitz, and these form the beginning of a very significant chapter in Adrian’s work, as he seeks to give a voice to children who have lost their childhood. (press-release)

“Song of an exile” takes Jewish poetry through the centuries from Psalms to a poem by a girl trying to survive in the Warshaw ghetto during WO II and puts it to contemporary music. The result is an overwhelming journey through Jewish history, though rather through an emotional and spiritual perspective then a strictly historical.
“Song of an exile” shows a lot of empathy with a people which endured many struggles through the centuries.
Apart from that it is – in my opinion – a musical masterpiece. (J. vd Hoef)

I concur with J Vd Hoef. Some of the transitions between pieces are less than smooth, and Snell’s voice is more like a good musical actor than a great professional singer. The emotion he puts into singing these poems, though, is spot-on perfect. But the music–very well done and varied– provides the perfect space between some very powerful exile and labor-camp poems, and short pieces of Scripture. Prepare to be gripped. And, strangely, uplifted (I love collections that save the best for last!). This poetry needs to be remembered. (R. Miller)

I´m impressed, too  … a real important album !

Personnel:
Paul Allen (bass)
Dave Bainbridge (guitar, keyboards, drum programming)
Debbie Bainbridge (oboe)
Paul Burgess (drums)
David Fitzgerald (ssaxophone, flute, flageolet, recorder)
Tim Hines (percussion)
Adrian Snell (keyboards, vocals)
Melanie Williams (vocals on 05. + 07.)
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background vocals:
Barrington Stewart – Vivienne Dixon – Melanie Williams

Tracklist:
01. Roads To Zion 4.41
02. The Song Of An Exile (Shir Golah) 3.16
03. Lament For Jerusalem (How Deserted Lies The City) 6.10
04. Terezin 8.34
05. Fear
B2 Roads To Zion (Part 2)
B3 God’s Beloved
B4 If I Were

Music & lyrics by Adrian Snell

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