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.
Raymond Edward O'Sullivan, known professionally as Gilbert O'Sullivan, is an Irish singer-songwriter who achieved his most significant success during the early 1970s with hits including "Alone Again (Naturally)", "Clair", and "Get Down". O'Sullivan's songs are often marked by his distinctive, percussive piano playing style and observational lyrics using word play.
Jet Records was a British record label started by Don Arden in 1974, featuring musicians such as Lynsey de Paul, Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), Roy Wood, Gary Moore, Ozzy Osbourne, Alan Price, Adrian Gurvitz, Riot and Magnum.
Gordon William Mills was a successful London-based music industry manager and songwriter. He was born in Madras, British India and grew up in Trealaw in the Rhondda Valley, South Wales. During the 1960s and '70s, he managed the careers of three highly successful musical artists - Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck and Gilbert O'Sullivan. Mills was also a songwriter, penning hits for Cliff Richard, Johnny Kidd & the Pirates, Freddie and the Dreamers, the Applejacks, Paul Jones, Peter and Gordon and Tom Jones, most notably co-writing Jones's signature song "It's Not Unusual" with Les Reed.
Barry Blue is an English singer, producer, and songwriter. As an artist, he is best known for his hit songs "Dancin' " and "Do You Wanna Dance".
James George Tomkins, known professionally as Big Jim Sullivan, was an English musician whose career started in 1958.
Thunderthighs were a British backing vocal group, who became artists in their own right.
"Won't Somebody Dance with Me" is a song written by Lynsey de Paul in 1973, which was awarded an Ivor Novello Award in 1974. Her original version of the ballad made the UK, Irish and Dutch Top 20s, and the song was featured in Michael Winner's remake of the film The Big Sleep, The Muppet Show, and the 1970s version of the New Mickey Mouse Club.
Himself is the debut album by Irish singer-songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan, first released in the United Kingdom in August 1971 by MAM Records, following the success of the Top 10 hit "Nothing Rhymed", which features on the album. It was produced by Gordon Mills, whom O'Sullivan had contacted after failing to achieve success for three years. The album was originally conceived by O'Sullivan to feature only his voice and piano playing, until Mills persuaded him to use full instrumentation and arrangements by Johnnie Spence. Mills also aided O'Sullivan with his songwriting, which incorporates an observational style and word play, the usage of the latter being influenced by Spike Milligan.
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 first released in the UK in November 1974 and was the first album on Don Arden's then new label, Jet Records, later the home of ELO and Ozzy Osbourne but distributed by Polydor, although Island was soon contracted to take over distribution by Jet Records managing director Don Arden. 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.
"Nothing Rhymed" is a song written and recorded by the Irish singer-songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan. It was released on 30 October 1970.
"Storm in a Teacup" is a song written by Lynsey de Paul and Ron Roker, that was recorded by the British group The Fortunes. The recording was arranged by Lew Warburton and produced by Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway. Rod Allen later spoke about De Paul and recalled "She was great. She kept popping into Cook's and Greenaway's office loaded with songs. One day she walked in with 'Storm' and Roger was knocked out." Indeed, Roger Cook was so knocked out that he recommended that The Fortunes record the song and, upon release, it reached No. 7 on the UK Singles Chart, No. 9 on the Irish Singles Chart (IRMA), No.15 on the New Zealand singles chart and No. 65 on the Australian Kent Music Report in 1972. It also spent two weeks in the Dutch Tipparade. De Paul revealed to OK! magazine in a 1996 interview that it sold three million copies. The song peaked at No. 11 on the Adelaide, Australia 5AD Official Top 40 on 12 May 1972. It was the 84th best selling single in the UK in 1972. The song is often played on BBC Radio, most recently on the programme The Great British Songbook. In his autobiography, John Lydon stated that he loves "Storm in a Teacup" by The Fortunes, actor and singer Bradley Walsh told NME it was the first song he remembers hearing and buying, and actor John Challis stated that it was one of his favourite songs. Scottish journalist Alastair McKay describes the song as "an extraordinary thing, a swirl of pop soul". Storm in a Teacup was the name of The Fortunes album, also released in 1972 on the Capitol record label.
"Ooh I Do" was the fifth single released by Lynsey de Paul and her only single released on the Warner Brothers label, after moving there from MAM Records. Co-written by de Paul and Barry Blue, this Phil Spector-ish song with a nod to the style of the Roy Wood/Wizzard sound, conveys the angst about parents not believing in a teenage love affair represented a change of style for de Paul, who also produced the recording. It was a hit in the UK Singles Chart, and in corresponding charts in Belgium, the Netherlands and Brazil. It reached number 13 on the Capital countdown chart and number 20 on the NME chart.
"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, and 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.
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. It received favourable reviews from the mainstream music press with adverts proclaiming "the first album from this enormously talented artist" being placed in most of them. Gramophone (magazine) stated "she has a neatly effective knack of songwriting and puts the numbers across in a competent manner. The Sunday Herald wrote "...her first album, Surprise, demonstrated a ready facility for melody and catchy hooks, but also a knack for sidestepping the most predictable pop clichés." Record Mirror stated "Surprise for many. They said she was a Top 50 single maker. Album with many goodies. Not a dull track. Sexy as well".
Before You Go Tonight also known as Take Your Time is a Lynsey de Paul album recorded in 1976 for Jet Records, but shelved out of spite by then manager Don Arden, and not released until 1990. Then it appeared as a CD release in Japan on Century Records, and again on the Vivid Sound under licence from Trojan Records. The album was originally called Singer-Songwriter and was finally released on de Paul's music store as Take Your Time, albeit with a slightly different track listing. All of the songs were written by de Paul, except the amusing "You've Either Got It or You Ain't", which was co-written with David Jordan. The album was produced by de Paul. The track "If I Don't Get You The Next One Will" was released as a single in 1976 and this version is included. "My One and Only" is de Paul's version of a song recorded and released in 1975 by her label mates at the time, the British female vocal trio Bones.
"Sugar Me" is a song written by Lynsey de Paul and Barry Green. The first version of this song to be released was recorded by de Paul as her first single on MAM Records in 1972. It was produced by Gordon Mills and the B-side was de Paul's version of "Storm in a Teacup", a song she had co-written and had been a hit for the Fortunes earlier that year.
"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.
"My One and Only" is a song written by Lynsey de Paul and first recorded by the female vocal trio Bones. It was released as a single in 1974 in the UK on Jet Records, and on Polydor in France, Germany and Italy. The recording was produced by de Paul. The song is about a summer holiday romance and is influenced by the style of 1960s girl groups such as the Shangri-Las. Bones performed the song on British television as guests on the Granada TV programme, Rock On With 45, on 16 January 1975. The B-side of the single, “Baby Don’t Make Me Cry”, was a doo-wop sounding song co-written by de Paul and Barry Blue, and again it was produced by de Paul.
"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 very different style.
