Lynsey de Paul was an English singer-songwriter and producer. After initially writing hits for others, she had her own chart hits in the UK and Europe in the 1970s, starting with UK top 10 single "Sugar Me", and became the first British female artist to achieve a number one with a self-written song. She represented the UK in the 1977 Eurovision Song Contest, scoring another chart-topping hit in Switzerland and had a successful career as a two-time Ivor Novello Award-winning composer, record producer, actress and television celebrity.
Terence William Harvey 'Terry' Cox played drums in the British folk rock bands The Pentangle, Duffy's Nucleus and Humblebums.
Lenny Zakatek is a British singer and musician who has lived in London since the age of thirteen. Zakatek was born just prior to Karachi becoming part of Pakistan and is best known for his work with the British bands Gonzalez and The Alan Parsons Project.
"Rock Bottom" was the British entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977, performed in English by Lynsey de Paul and Mike Moran. It was also written and produced by de Paul and Moran and released on the Polydor record label. Originally it was written for the group Blue Mink; and submitted unbeknown to de Paul and Moran as an entry for A Song For Europe by the publishers; when it was selected, de Paul agreed to perform the song if Moran would join her. On 9 March 1977, "Rock Bottom" was selected to represent the UK at the A Song for Europe 1977 event held at the New London Theatre, presented by Terry Wogan.
Taste Me...Don't Waste Me is the third album by the English singer-songwriter Lynsey de Paul but the second album of completely new material and de Paul also was the producer for all of the songs. It was released in the UK in November 1974 and was the first album on Don Arden's then new label, Jet Records, and initially distributed by Polydor, although Island Records was soon contracted by Arden to take over distribution. Releases in all other countries, such as Spain, Germany, Australia, Japan and South America, were on the Polydor label in early 1975. The album was generally well received by music critics from leading magazines of the day. AllMusic journalist Craig Harris stated that "one of the first successful female singer-songwriters in England, de Paul has had an illustrious career" and lists this as one of her best albums. It was also de Paul's personal favourite album and she wrote on her music store website some years later "The Taste Me... Don't Waste Me album was a romantic collection of songs that I wrote and recorded as a relaxing, late night album", echoing earlier comments to the music press. The LP was listed as one of the best album releases of 1975 by journalist Judith Simons. It has stood the test of time in that it is listed as one of the top albums released in 1974 by online site "Best ever albums", as well as one of the top 1000 albums released in the 1970s.
"Getting a Drag" was the second single released by Lynsey de Paul. The song was co-written with David Jordan, and featured the de Paul penned b-side "Brandy". Released in November 1972 on MAM Records, the single entered the UK Singles Chart and peaked at number 18 and was still in the charts in early 1973. The single also reached number 46 on the German Singles Chart and had a four week run on the Dutch Single Tip chart where it peaked at number 7. It reached number 1 on the Israeli Galei Tzahal chart, No. 2 on the Radio Northsea International chart, and No. 12 in January 1973 on the Turkish singles chart as published in Milliyet.
"Strange Changes" is a song that was co-written by Lynsey de Paul and Sue Shifrin, the former wife of David Cassidy. After signing a worldwide recording contract with MCA Records at the end of 1980, "Strange Changes" was released as a single on 27 April 1981 by de Paul on the MCA label. A promo 12 inch single with an extended version of the song was also released. It also appeared on the 1981 French compilation of hits album, Hot Summer Nights, on the Arabella record label, as well as being released as a single in France. The recording was co-produced by Jon Kelly and de Paul. While the song was not immediately as commercial as many of her other hits, it had a laid back feel ahead of its time that grows on repeated listening. The British DJ and music journalist James Hamilton wrote in the music paper Record Mirror, "MCA’s mystery Fleetwood Mac-sounding ‘Strange Changes’ white label teaser turns out to be by Lynsey De Paul – oh, goodie!", with other sources also noting a similarity to Stevie Nicks. It subsequently made the UK Airplay action chart as well as the UK disco chart breakers/bubblers listing. Writing on her website, de Paul revealed she wrote this song when she was living in the United States and wanted to come back home to the UK. "It meant leaving behind a life that had taken five years to build and a long term relationship with James Coburn. I literally felt that I was going through a strange change" she said. De Paul performed the song on a number of TV programmes including the German TV series WWF Club, - a DVD of this performance was released on "WWF Club Festival 3". She also performed the song on the second episode of the UK TV music programme Razzamatazz on 9 June 1981. It was included as a track on her Hit Singles album.
Tigers and Fireflies is an album recorded in 1978 and released by Lynsey de Paul in April 1979 on the Polydor record label. It was launched at a special event at the Mayfair Club in London, with de Paul looking similar to the 1940s film star Veronica Lake. The album was recorded at Long View Farm Studios with additional recording at Mediasound Studios, New York and produced by Rupert Holmes. In his 1986 biography, Justin de Villeneuve, de Paul's manager at the time wrote "I gave Rupert Holmes a call in New York. He agreed to see me if I flew to America. Polydor, with the prospect of the involvement with Holmes, agreed to up the budget". The collaboration between de Paul and Holmes on Tigers and Fireflies was mentioned on the Ray Shasho Show, when Shasho interviewed Holmes on his BBS radio show on 7 August 2018. The story behind the recording of the album was also discussed in the book Dervish Dust: The Life and Words of James Coburn. Speaking to Music Week about the album, Jim Cook said "Throw away all of your preconceived ideas about Lynsey de Paul".
"If I Don't Get You The Next One Will" is a song written, recorded and produced by Lynsey de Paul and released in 1976 in the UK as her last single on Jet Records. The B-side of the single was another de Paul song and fan favourite "Season to Season". A longer version of the song was recorded as a track for the 1976 album Take Your Time, but the album was shelved as part of a dispute between de Paul and Arden, and when it was finally released on CD in 1990 in Japan as Before You Go Tonight, the single version was included. This humorous and tongue in cheek song relates many of de Paul's negative dating experiences. One well known muse for the song was former boyfriend, Ringo Starr, who missed a dinner date with de Paul. De Paul herself described the song as being about revenge, after Starr missed a dinner appointment with her because he fell asleep in his office. Stylistically, it was quite a departure from previous releases, with prominent use of synthesiser and a sparse arrangement that received positive reviews. At the time, the Record Mirror wrote "Cleverly constructed song with Lynsey's voice playing leap-frog over itself. Uptempo rhythm that winds itself all over the place, following the intricate vocal patterns."
Surprise is the first album released by Lynsey de Paul on the MAM record label in 1973. In Australia, the album name was changed to Sugar Me, after de Paul's first hit single. All of the songs on the album were written or co-written by de Paul, who was accompanied by some of the UK's leading session musicians including Terry Cox, Ralph McTell, Ray Cooper, Jeff Daly, John Gustafson, Chris Rae, Danny Thompson, Gary Boyle, Barry de Souza, Dick Katz, Robert Kirby, Francis Monkman, John Richardson and violinist Johnny Van Derrick. The album front cover is a portrait photo of de Paul photographed by Clive Arrowsmith, and a gatefold sleeve with illustrations provided by de Paul, a nod to her previous career of designing album sleeves and song lyrics.
"When You've Gotta Go" was written by Lynsey de Paul and Ron Roker. It was recorded by Solomon King at 10cc's Strawberry Studios and produced by Harvey Lisberg and released as a single in 1972. The single was a chart hit in Australia in early 1973, and also spent four weeks on the Dutch "Tipparade", peaking at No. 17. It also appeared on the Polydor compilation album Doppel Pop Tops 3.
"Tip of My Tongue" is a song written by Lynsey de Paul and Barry Blue. It was first released as the fifth single by Brotherly Love with the song "I Love Everything About You" as the flip side on CBS Records in 1973 and was produced by Phil Wainman. According to music journalist James Craig, de Paul was in the audience for a Brotherly Love performance at Gulliver's and was so impressed with them that she co-penned "Tip of My Tongue" for them. The trio performed the song on the Granada TV programme Lift Off With Ayshea on 22 June 1973. The song received positive reviews from the British music press, and the brothers were interviewed about the single It made the UK chart breakers on 23 May 1973 but did not manage to enter the UK Singles Chart Barry Blue was credited as "Barry Green" on this release.
"House of Cards" is a song written by Lynsey de Paul and Barry Blue and is one of their most covered songs. It was first released as a single by Chris Kelly on the CBS label on 7 April 1972, credited as being written by Rubin and Green (Blue). The song was a radio hit in Italy, receiving multiple plays on national radio stations.
"So Good to You" is a song that was written by Lynsey de Paul, and first released by Zakatek as the B-side to his 1973 single, "I Gotcha Now", which also penned by de Paul. The single was released on 2 March 1973 and both songs were produced and arranged by de Paul. Her own version appeared in October 1973 as the B-side to her award-winning single "Won't Somebody Dance with Me", which was arranged by Christopher Gunning and produced by de Paul. In Japan and some South American countries, however, "So Good to You" was released as the A-side of the single release with "Won't Somebody Dance with Me" being relegated to the B-side on its release in 1974. AllMusic lists "So Good to You" as one of De Paul's song highlights. It was also a radio hit in Italy and ranks as one of de Paul's biggest songs there according to Radiocorriere magazine. It is still played on radio stations around the world.
"Hi Summer" is a song written by Lynsey de Paul and recorded by Carl Wayne as a single released on the DJM/Weekend label on 5 August 1977. The B-side of the single is another song composed by de Paul, "My Girl and Me". Both songs were produced by de Paul with "Hi Summer" being published by Standard Music. It was used as the theme tune to the popular Sunday night prime time ITV variety programme Hi Summer, which also featured Carl Wayne as one of the performers. The song received good reviews, with notable British DJ and music critic James Hamilton writing "Ultra-brite and bouncy TV theme really does get ‘em jiving" for his weekly disco music feature in Record Mirror. That issue of Record Mirror also contained a half page advert for the single. Music Week also featured a full-page advert for the single. College DJ Andy Davids promoted an uptempo television theme playlist at the time, that included "Hi Summer" along with the theme tunes from "Happy Days" by Pratt & McClain as well as the Muppet Show.
"Rhythm and Blue Jean Baby" is a song that was written and produced by Lynsey de Paul, and released in July 1975 as her third single on the newly designed yellow Jet Record label in the UK, as a follow up to the hit single "My Man and Me". It was released on Polydor in Belgium, France and Germany ; backed with another de Paul composition "Into My Music". The release of the single was also announced in the American music industry magazine Cashbox. The song as well as the lyrics and credits are listed on the Italian music resource "Rockol".
"All Night" is a song written by Lynsey de Paul and Ron Roker. De Paul released her version of the song on 27 April 1973 as her third single released on MAM Records, with arrangements by Martyn Ford and John Bell and produced by de Paul. It features an uncredited male vocal. A slinky, sexy song, it compares a love relationship to that of the spider and a fly. The single is backed by the more socially aware song "Blind Leading the Blind", composed and produced by de Paul. The song was an unusual release since neither the A-side or the B-side featured as tracks on her debut album. "Surprise" had been released a little more than a month earlier and this song was in a different style.
"Get Your Gun" is a song written by Lynsey de Paul and Terry Cox. It was released as a single by Zakatek on Bell Records on 12 October 1973. The b-side was another de Paul and Cox penned song "Gotta Runaway". Both sides were produced by de Paul and the strings were arranged by Christopher Gunning and de Paul. The single was reviewed by the British DJ John Peel for the music magazine Sounds. It has been described as "Freaky, bizarre and ultimately interesting and a definite one-off". In an interview some years later Lenny Zakatek said "I was singing at a night club called Gulivers In London five nights a week when Lynsey De Paul and Dudley Moore came in, they both thought I had the X-Factor, Lynsey introduced me to the legendary Dick Leahy and he signed me to his U.S.A. label Bell Records".
"Taking It On" is a song written by Lynsey de Paul and Ron Roker, and originally published by ATV Music. Although de Paul recorded her own demo version of the song in 1972, her version of the song was not released until 2013 on her Anthology CD album Sugar and Beyond. De Paul also arranged and produced this recording.
