Sugar Me

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"Sugar Me"
Single by Lynsey de Paul
B-side "Storm in a Teacup"
Released1972
Genre Pop
Label MAM Records
Songwriter(s) Lynsey de Paul and Barry Green
Official audio
"Sugar Me" on YouTube

"Sugar Me" is a song written by Lynsey de Paul and Barry Green. [1] 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. [2]

Contents

Background and reception

The single was a hit in many countries, notably reaching the top of the singles chart in the Netherlands (where it stayed for five weeks), [3] Belgium, Sweden and Spain as well as the top 20 in the UK, Australia, Germany, Austria, Denmark and Japan. It also reached the no. 1 position on the Bangkok HSA chart in October 1972, and was play listed on some (WERS-FM, KCRW, KFAI, WPKN etc) US radio stations. [4] It also received favourable reviews in the United States, [5] [6] and was listed as being among the best 5 singles of 1972 by Cashbox . [7] [8] "Sugar Me" was ranked the 14th best selling single of 1972 in the Netherlands, [9] the 40th best seller the same year in Australia, [10] the 80th best selling single of 1972 in the UK, [11] and the 89th best selling single on the 1973 German chart. [12] It entered the Netherlands Digital Top 100 on the 5 October 2014, just after De Paul died. The version on de Paul's debut album, Surprise , was a re-recorded and slightly extended version that featured a longer solo by violinist Johnny Van Derek and was produced by de Paul. [13] "Sugar Me" was re-released as a single in 1977 backed with "Won't Somebody Dance With Me" on the MAM label to tie in with the release of her Eurovision Song contest entry "Rock Bottom". [14]

De Paul re-recorded the song in an updated style including a club mix version and both versions appeared on her 1994 album, Just a Little Time . [15] The club mix was also included on the 2001 compilation album, Dance Sensation (The Ultimate Urban Dance Remix Collection). [16]

Chart performance

Chart (1974)Peak
position
Belgium1
Netherlands1
Spain1
Sweden1
Austria2
Australia4
UK5
Turkey9
Germany16

Other versions

The song has been recorded by many other artists, notably Nancy Sinatra, as a non-LP single, [17] and received positive reviews. [18] This version appeared as the lead track on her 1999 album How Does It Feel and on her 2023 album Keep Walkin': Singles, Demos & Rarities 1965-1978. [19] Claudine Longet also recorded her version of the song on her 1993 album Sugar Me. [20] The song was also covered by actress Abigail on her 1973 self-titled album. [21] Later it was covered by Dutch group Gigantjes, [22] Belgian female trio "Candy", [23] Nydia Caro (both as a single and also as a track on her 1978 album), [24] [25] Esmaye on her album Elements in Me, [26] plus singer-songwriter Nasia Christie who released her version of "Sugar Me" as her first single produced by Brian Canham from Pseudo Echo in 2007. [27] There has also been a rock version of the song performed by the German group Gwen Stacey, on their 1989 EP "Sugar Me". [28] More recently, it has been recorded by Papernut Cambridge, [29] Italian artist, LIM [30] [31] and Karl Jonas on his 2016 album, In a Gilbert Play. [32]

In 1973, Klaus Wunderlich performed an instrumental version of "Sugar Me" as a medley with "Standing in the Road", [33] originally by Blackfoot Sue. This version was sampled for the song "Certified" by Guru on his 2000 album Guru's Jazzmatazz, featuring Bilal on vocals and de Paul received co-writing credits. [34] The track was also released as a single with various remixes. [35] This version of the song also appeared on the album Rap History 2000 [36] and also on the 2007 CD Sound Maeuvers by DJ Mitsu The Beats, DJ Mu-R, where it is entitled "Certified/Sugar Me", [37] and the 2010 CD Wolt Beats – My Brain Dilla's Anthology, [38] as well as on the 2016 CD Mr.Beats a.k.a. DJ Celory J Dilla Mix Pt. 2. [39]

The de Paul album version of "Sugar Me" is featured as the first song in the movie Cut Snake , [40] and it is performed by Austrian actress Sophie Rois in the German comedy film La série" aka "Fräulein Phyllis. [41] It was also featured in the 1980 Russian movie Тростинка на ветру (Reed in the Wind). [42] It was also featured in episode 1 of the 2021 TV series Physical . [43] [44] The version by Claudine Longet appears on the sound track to the 2019 German film, Club der einsamen Herzen (Lonely Hearts Club). [45]

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Sugar and Beyond is a double album by the British singer-songwriter Lynsey de Paul released on 18 March 2013. De Paul personally oversaw the project and was involved in the digital remastering of the tracks from the original tapes. The CD includes all her hits as well as the two LPs released in the period between 1972 and 1974. The majority of the tracks on this CD had not been reissued previously. The first CD contained all of the recordings for MAM Records as well as tracks from the Surprise album. The version of "Sugar Me" included is the longer album version produced by de Paul, rather than the single version which was produced by Gordon Mills. "Sugar and Beyond" also contains two unreleased songs performed by de Paul from 1972 and orchestrated by Nick Drake collaborator, Robert Kirby - "House of Cards" and "Taking It On", a song co-written with Ron Roker and previously released by Sacha Distel and Petula Clark.

"Sugar Shuffle" is a song written by Lynsey de Paul and Barry Blue. It first appeared as the lead-in track on de Paul's album Love Bomb as an ethereal, chilled and dreamy song about nightlife and dating. AllMusic rated "Sugar Shuffle" as one of de Paul's song highlights. Musician and music critic Bob Stanley wrote in The Guardian, "Sugar Shuffle is an especially gorgeous, woozy mid-70s confection, fit to sit at the table with Liverpool Express’s You Are My Love".

"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.

References

  1. ↑ "Sugar Me". Repertoire.bmi.com. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  2. ↑ "Lynsey De Paul - Sugar Me / Storm In A Teacup - MAM - UK - MAM 81". 45cat.com. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  3. ↑ "LYNSEY DE PAUL - SUGAR ME". Dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  4. ↑ Billboard , October 7, 1972
  5. ↑ Cashbox , 30 September 1972
  6. ↑ "Full text of "Cash Box"". Archive.org. Cash Box Pub. Co. 30 September 1972. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  7. ↑ Cashbox , 30 December 1972, p. 32
  8. ↑ "Cash Box Magazine" (PDF). Americanradiohistory.com. 30 December 1972. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  9. ↑ "Bijzondere lijst: Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1972". Top40.nl. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  10. ↑ "Barry's Hits of All Decades Pop rock n roll Music Chart Hits". Hitsofalldecades.com. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  11. ↑ "Top 100 1972 - UK Music Charts". Uk-charts.top-source.info. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  12. ↑ "DE Jahrescharts 1973". Slmm.de. 7 November 2020. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  13. ↑ "Lynsey De Paul - Surprise". Discogs.com. 10 March 1973. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  14. ↑ "Lynsey De Paul - Sugar Me". Discogs.com. 1977. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  15. ↑ "CD Album: Lynsey De Paul - Just A Little Time (1994)". 45worlds.com. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  16. ↑ "Various - Dance Sensation (The Ultimate Urban Dance Remix Collection)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  17. ↑ "Nancy Sinatra - Sugar Me (Vinyl)". Discogs.com. 1973. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  18. ↑ Cashbox , 28 July 1973
  19. ↑ "Nancy Sinatra - Keep Walkin': Singles, Demos & Rarities 1965-1978". Discogs.com. 29 September 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  20. ↑ "Claudine Longet - Sugar Me (Vinyl, LP, Album)". Discogs.com. August 2009. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  21. ↑ "Abigail (13) - Abigail". Discogs.com. 1974.
  22. ↑ "Gigantjes - Sugar Me (Vinyl)". Discogs.com. 1989. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  23. ↑ "Candy (11) - Sugar Me (CD)". Discogs.com. 1997. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  24. ↑ "Nydia Caro - Sugar Me (Vinyl)". Discogs.com. 1978. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  25. ↑ Cashbox, February 18, 1978
  26. ↑ "Esmaye - Elements In Me (CD, Album)". Discogs.com. 13 December 2007. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  27. ↑ "Nasia Christie". ReverbNation.com. 8 June 2015. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  28. ↑ "Gwen Stacey - Sugar Me". 45cat.com. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  29. ↑ "Papernut Cambridge - Nutlets 1967-80 (Vinyl, LP)". Discogs.com. 29 June 2015. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  30. ↑ "LIM (13) - Comet (Vinyl)". Discogs.com. 8 April 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  31. ↑ "√ L I M, la cover di "Sugar me" per Red Bull Next Sounds - video". Rockol.it. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  32. ↑ "Karl Jonas - In A Gilbert Play (Lp) | Shiny Beast Music Mailorder". Shinybeast.nl. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  33. ↑ "Klaus Wunderlich - Hits Again 3". Discogs.com. 1973. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  34. ↑ "Guru - Guru's Jazzmatazz Streetsoul". Discogs.com. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  35. ↑ "Guru's Jazzmatazz* Featuring Bilal - Certified". Discogs.com. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  36. ↑ "Dejoe - Rap History 2000". Discogs.com. 13 August 2009. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  37. ↑ "DJ Mitsu The Beats, DJ Mu-R - Sound Maneuvers". Discogs.com. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  38. ↑ "Wolt Beats - My Brain Dilla's Anthology". Discogs.com. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  39. ↑ "Mr.Beats a.k.a. DJ Celory - J Dilla Mix Pt. 2". Discogs.com. 19 May 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  40. ↑ "A jail duo reunite with ugly consequences". Afr.com. 23 September 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  41. ↑ "Fräulein Phyllis". IMDb.com. 17 December 2004. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  42. ↑ "Trostinka na vetru". IMDb.com. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  43. ↑ "S1E1 - Physical (Let's Do This Thing) List of Songs | WhatSong". What-song.com. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  44. ↑ "Physical Staffel 1 Soundtrack: Alle Songs mit Szenen-Beschreibungen | Popkultur.de". Popkultur.de. 18 June 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  45. ↑ "Club der einsamen Herzen – Kritik zum Film bei Tittelbach.tv". Tittelbach.tv. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
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