| A One Man Show | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Jean-Paul Goude |
| Starring | Grace Jones |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 47 minutes |
| Language | English |
A One Man Show is a long-form music video collection featuring Jamaican singer Grace Jones, released in 1982. The video mainly consists of music videos, with some concert footage filmed when Jones was touring with the eponymous tour.
The video partly captures live performances of Jones' "A One Man Show" tour which was filmed at London's Drury Lane Theatre and at the Savoy Theater in New York City in 1981. [1] It includes six songs performed live on stage, mostly from the Warm Leatherette and Nightclubbing albums, plus four studio music videos. The show's intro is a photo montage of some of the most famous images of Jones from the late 1970s and early 1980s, including the "tiger in a cage" portrait and the "arabesque" photo.
A One Man Show was first released in 1982 to promote the album Living My Life . The film was re-issued on VHS and LaserDisc by Island Records, PolyGram and Spectrum Music through the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1986, after the success of Jones' best-selling hit "Slave to the Rhythm", the film was re-released under the title State of Grace, then also including its promo video.
The film was directed by Jean-Paul Goude and edited by Peter Shelton. [2] It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video in 1984, eventually losing to Duran Duran's self-titled video. [3]
Snapshots from the performances of "Warm Leatherette" and "Walking in the Rain" later made the artwork for the CD re-release of Warm Leatherette.
Grace Beverly Jones is a Jamaican singer, songwriter, model and actress. Born in Jamaica, she and her family moved to Syracuse, New York, when she was a teenager. Jones began her modelling career in New York state, then in Paris, working for fashion houses such as Yves St. Laurent and Kenzo, and appearing on the covers of Elle and Vogue. She notably worked with photographers such as Jean-Paul Goude, Helmut Newton, Guy Bourdin, and Hans Feurer, and became known for her distinctive androgynous appearance and bold features.
Lowell Fillmore "Sly" Dunbar is a Jamaican drummer, best known as one half of the prolific Jamaican rhythm section and reggae production duo Sly and Robbie.
Alex Sadkin was an American record producer, engineer, mixer and mastering engineer.
"Warm Leatherette" is a song by Daniel Miller's project the Normal, released in 1978. Grace Jones recorded a well-known cover of the song in 1980.
Nightclubbing is the fifth studio album by Jamaican singer Grace Jones, released on 11 May 1981 by Island Records. Recorded at Compass Point Studios with producers Alex Sadkin and Island Records' president Chris Blackwell, as well as a team of session musicians rooted by rhythm section Sly and Robbie, the album marked her second foray into a new wave style that blends a variety of genres, including reggae, R&B, dub and funk. The album has cover versions of songs by Bill Withers, Iggy Pop, Astor Piazzolla, and others, and original songs, three of which were co-written by Jones.
Compass Point Studios was a music recording studio in the Bahamas, founded in 1977 by Chris Blackwell, the owner of Island Records. The concept of the studio was of a recording facility supported by in-house sets of artists, musicians, producers and engineers, all dedicated to a specific and recognisable sound and style. The session band at the studios, as well as visiting recording artists, became known as the Compass Point All Stars.
Island Life is the first greatest hits album by Jamaican singer and songwriter Grace Jones, released in December 1985, summing up the first nine years of her musical career. The album sits among Jones' best-selling works.
Uzziah "Sticky" Thompson was a Jamaican percussionist, vocalist and deejay active from the late 1950s. He worked with some of the best known performers of Jamaican music and played on hundreds of albums.
Warm Leatherette is the fourth studio album by Jamaican singer Grace Jones, released on 9 May 1980 by Island Records. The album features contributions from the reggae production duo Sly and Robbie and is a departure from Jones's earlier disco sound, moving towards a new wave-reggae direction.
The Grace Jones Story is a 2006 anthology of songs recorded and released by Jamaican singer and songwriter Grace Jones, spanning from 1977 to 1993. It was released on 4th April 2006 as a joint venture from Island Records and Universal Music.
Private Life: The Compass Point Sessions is a compilation album constisting of recordings by recorded by Jamaican singer and songwriter Grace Jones released in 1998 by Island Records. The two-disc anthology consists mostly of material pulled from 1980–1982 recording sessions.
"Pull Up to the Bumper" is a 1981 song by Jamaican singer, songwriter, model and actress Grace Jones, released by Island Records as the third single from her fifth album, Nightclubbing (1981). Sonically, it is an uptempo electro-disco, post-punk, dance-pop and reggae-disco song with dub production, "pulsing drums and chic new-wave licks", as well as being described as a hybrid of funk and R&B. Its lyrics were written by Jones alone, while she, along with Kookoo Baya and Dana Manno, are credited as its composers. The song's instrumental part was originally recorded in 1980 during the Warm Leatherette sessions; however, it did not make the album as Chris Blackwell found its sound not fitting in the rest of the material. It was completed for the 1981 critically acclaimed Nightclubbing album and became its third single in June 1981. The song peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart and number 53 on the UK Singles Chart. When re-released in 1986, it peaked at number 12 in the UK. The track has come to be one of Jones' signature tunes and her first transatlantic hit.
The Universal Masters Collection is a mid-price greatest hits album by Jamaican singer and songwriter Grace Jones, first released on December 2, 2003 by Universal Music.
The Ultimate is the second greatest hits album by Jamaican singer and songwriter Grace Jones released in 1993 by Island Records. The album would cover the same material as 1985's Island Life, in addition to four other tracks. The Ultimate was only released in the Netherlands, where it enjoyed considerable success.
Hurricane is the tenth studio album by singer Grace Jones, released in 2008, and her first album of new material in 19 years. The album includes a number of autobiographical songs, and the title track was first recorded as a 1997 collaboration with Tricky under the title "Cradle to the Grave". The album sold over 100,000 copies in Europe. Three years after the original release, Jones released a dub version of it: Hurricane – Dub came out on 5 September 2011.
"I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango)" is a single by Jamaican singer Grace Jones, released in 1981. The song is a reworking of Astor Piazzolla's "Libertango".
"Demolition Man" is a song written by Sting and performed by Grace Jones as the A-side of a 1981 single. Sting's band, the Police, later released their rendition of the song on their album Ghost in the Machine.
"Private Life" is a 1980 song written by Chrissie Hynde, and released by both English band The Pretenders, and Jamaican singer Grace Jones in 1980.
"Walking in the Rain" is a 1976 song by Australian band Flash and the Pan. The song was covered by Grace Jones and released as a single from her album Nightclubbing.
"Only After Dark" is a compilation album that was compiled by Nick Rhodes and John Taylor from Duran Duran, and recreates a night at Birmingham's Rum Runner nightclub, during the post punk days of the late 70s/early 80s when a new sound of glam/punk/electronica started to crystallize. The CD captures some of the discs that Nick spun when he was deejaying for £10 a night at the club and Duran Duran were the resident band. The inspiration for it came when in 2000 John and Nick spent hours selecting 58 tracks for a 4-hour Internet radio broadcast entitled "A Night At The Rum Runner". The broadcast was created and mixed by DJOktober and played on the streaming platform Live365 from December, 2000 through February, 2001; and again from June, 2001 through September, 2002. The 18 track CD was released on 8 May 2006 and presented in a silver gatefold card sleeve in shocking pink metallic print featuring photographs taken from this period, first published in the book "Duran Duran Unseen" by Paul Edmond, the front cover photo being of fashion designer Patti Bell.