"This is one of those hopelessly romantic ballads you keep in a special pile to play in the dark when you're feeling really down in the dumps."
— Kimberley Leston
So, you're a promising young vocalist with a mentor who is a rather bigger "player" on the "scene", you've guested on his new band's debut single and it did swimmingly and it helped launch your solo career which resulted in a pair of records that made the hit parade. But you're not yet a chart regular and taking risks at this stage is, well, risky. You're in need of another hit single to maintain the momentum.
Or you're part of a trio from up north fronted by angelic-voiced sisters playing the sort of sophisticated, jazzy pop that's popular at the time but maybe you're not quite able to stand out from all those other groups doing much the same thing and your own material might not yet be up to breaking you through. You're in need of a hit single so people might start paying attention.
Sounds like it's cover version time.
"I Can't Leave You Alone" was written by Sunshine Band frontman KC and bassist Richard Finch for singer George McCrae and had been the follow up to his chart topping hit "Rock Your Baby". Not as familiar — though not as outstanding — as its predecessor, the groove-heavy song could be ideal for reinterpretation. Sadly, Tracie Young doesn't lend it much. Where McCrae is smooth and effortless and with just a hint of the stalker about him, Young sounds just happy to be there, her vocal confident but unwilling or unable to add anything. Generic, really. Earlier hits — her backing vocals on The Style Council's "Speak Like a Child", her lone Top 10 single "The House That Jack Built" — have a youthful shine to them but this just seems like boring adult pop.
Still, it's a record you won't be screaming to turn off which is more than can be said for "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart". One of the Bee Gees first recordings following the return of disgruntled Robin Gibb, it may be about brotherly reconciliation but the over-emoted vocals on the original do it no favours. Sisters Deirdre and Louise Rutkowski of Sunset Gun (so named, I presume, in honour of the Dorothy Parker collection of poems) follow suit, their admittedly fine vocals attempting to wreak every last ounce of pain and sorrow out of an already melodramatic song (they would have done better to follow Al Green's much more soulful rendition that actually encourages the listener to care about the singer's anguish rather than wishing he'd stop). They may be doing their best with an awfully wet song but it just ain't good enough.
Kimberley Leston is obviously taken by these singles but few others were, Young's effort only managing a lower entry on the flop side of the charts and Sunset Gun's missing out entirely — with both also offering up proof that a crisp cover doesn't a hit single make. Some originality might be of the order, something unique, something bold, something daring, something that isn't afraid to fail and knows it can be so much more.
Wait...what's that? It's in the trees...it's coming!
~~~~~
Also Reviewed This Fortnight
So, you're a promising young vocalist with a mentor who is a rather bigger "player" on the "scene", you've guested on his new band's debut single and it did swimmingly and it helped launch your solo career which resulted in a pair of records that made the hit parade. But you're not yet a chart regular and taking risks at this stage is, well, risky. You're in need of another hit single to maintain the momentum.
Or you're part of a trio from up north fronted by angelic-voiced sisters playing the sort of sophisticated, jazzy pop that's popular at the time but maybe you're not quite able to stand out from all those other groups doing much the same thing and your own material might not yet be up to breaking you through. You're in need of a hit single so people might start paying attention.
Sounds like it's cover version time.
"I Can't Leave You Alone" was written by Sunshine Band frontman KC and bassist Richard Finch for singer George McCrae and had been the follow up to his chart topping hit "Rock Your Baby". Not as familiar — though not as outstanding — as its predecessor, the groove-heavy song could be ideal for reinterpretation. Sadly, Tracie Young doesn't lend it much. Where McCrae is smooth and effortless and with just a hint of the stalker about him, Young sounds just happy to be there, her vocal confident but unwilling or unable to add anything. Generic, really. Earlier hits — her backing vocals on The Style Council's "Speak Like a Child", her lone Top 10 single "The House That Jack Built" — have a youthful shine to them but this just seems like boring adult pop.
Kimberley Leston is obviously taken by these singles but few others were, Young's effort only managing a lower entry on the flop side of the charts and Sunset Gun's missing out entirely — with both also offering up proof that a crisp cover doesn't a hit single make. Some originality might be of the order, something unique, something bold, something daring, something that isn't afraid to fail and knows it can be so much more.
Wait...what's that? It's in the trees...it's coming!
~~~~~
Also Reviewed This Fortnight
Bryan Adams: "Summer of '69"
Leston does a bit of mental mathematics to try to work out just how old Bryan Adams must be to be doing a song reminiscing about growing up in the summer of Woodstock and Charles Manson. We've all been there. Indeed, "he must be old!" is but one of two theories, along with it really being about the sex act, that listeners come up with when considering this song. We needn't have wasted our collective time. Truth is, old Bry' doesn't put that much thought into his lyrics as these confused verses clearly indicate (he seems to be about fourteen as he's teaching himself how to play the guitar but suddenly one of his bandmates goes and gets married...I know people married younger back then but still). Either way, "Summer of '69" is vintage Adams: a stomper that makes you feel great being alive. Also, a nice reminder of just how great Bryan Adams was before he became such a parody of himself.
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