Whispering Afraid

Last updated

Whispering Afraid
Whispering Afraid by Shona Laing.png
Studio album by
Released1973 (1973)
StudioEMI, Wellington, New Zealand
Genre Folk rock, pop
Label Vertigo
Producer Dale Wrightson
Shona Laing chronology
Whispering Afraid
(1973)
Shooting Stars Are Only Seen At Night
(1974)
Singles from Whispering Afraid
  1. "1905"
    Released: February 1973
  2. "Show Your Love"
    Released: 1973
  3. "Masquerade"
    Released: 1973

Whispering Afraid is the 1973 debut album by New Zealand singer-songwriter Shona Laing. Recorded at Wellington's EMI Studios and produced by New Zealand musician Dale Wrightson, Whispering Afraid was released by Vertigo Records after the teenage Laing's popularity on the talent show New Faces. [1] [2] [3] [4] The album, consisting of folk rock and pop songs, was commercially successful and was certified gold in New Zealand. [2] [3] [4] Following its release, Laing was awarded Best Newcomer, Best Female Vocalist, and Best Performer of the Year at the 1973 Recording Arts Talent Awards. [4]

Contents

Title and artwork

The album title comes from the fourth track on the album, "Whispering Afraid." This song was never released as a single.

The album cover, designed by Wrightson and photographed by Sal Criscillo, features Laing standing in the doorway of a cottage located in the Wairarapa area; however, she and the doorway were photographed at Criscillo's Wellington home and then edited on. [4] [5]

Singles

Three singles were released which were well-received. The lead single "1905" (written about Henry Fonda) remained on the charts for 14 weeks, was certified gold in New Zealand, and reached #4 on the New Zealand charts. [4] [6] The second single, "Show Your Love," reached the same position while the final single, "Masquerade," reached #11. [4]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Shona Laing.

Original 1973 release [2] [7]
No.TitleLength
1."1905"3:21
2."Lady Dipton"2:22
3."You Are The One"3:26
4."Whispering Afraid"4:06
5."Quiet Night"4:03
6."Show Your Love"3:27
7."If Only"3:29
8."Like Days Gone Before"2:55
9."Is Anything Ever Everlasting"4:50
10."Masquerade"5:23
Digital reissue [7]
No.TitleLength
11."I Love My Feet"2:34

Related Research Articles

Shihad New Zealand alternative rock band

Shihad are a rock band formed in Wellington, New Zealand in 1988. The band consists of founders Tom Larkin, Phil Knight and Jon Toogood, who were joined by Karl Kippenberger in 1991. The band were known as Pacifier between 2002 and 2004.

<i>Innocent Eyes</i> (2003 Delta Goodrem album) 2003 studio album by Delta Goodrem

Innocent Eyes is the debut studio album by Australian singer Delta Goodrem, released in Australia on 24 March 2003. It was later released in the United Kingdom on 30 June 2003. Goodrem co-wrote most of the material, excluding "Throw It Away", "Lost Without You" and "Butterfly". The album features two self-penned songs, "In My Own Time" and "Will You Fall for Me". Goodrem worked with writers and producers such as: Audius Mtawarira, Bridget Benenate, Cathy Dennis, Eliot Kennedy, Gary Barlow, Jarrad Rogers, Kara DioGuardi, Vince Pizzinga and others to create the album with a collection of piano-based pop and ballad tracks.

Blam Blam Blam were a New Zealand pop/rock/alternative band. Tim Mahon (bass) and Mark Bell had been members of The Plague and The Whizz Kids. After losing their drummer Ian Gilroy to The Swingers in 1980, Tim and Mark joined up with Don McGlashan, a multi-instrumentalist who played drums and sang many lead vocals.

OMC, or Otara Millionaires Club, were a New Zealand music group, then duo, with vocalist Pauly Fuemana later becoming the sole member. OMC was best known for the 1995 hit "How Bizarre", named one of the greatest New Zealand songs of all time by the Australasian Performing Right Association. The full name of the band is a tongue-in-cheek reference to Otara's status as one of the poorest suburbs of Auckland.

Fat Freddys Drop New Zealand band

Fat Freddy's Drop is a New Zealand seven-piece band from Wellington, whose musical style has been characterised as any combination of dub, reggae, soul, jazz, rhythm and blues, and techno. Originally a jam band formed in the late 1990s by musicians from other bands in Wellington, Fat Freddy's Drop gradually became its members' sole focus. Band members continued playing with their other respective groups—The Black Seeds, TrinityRoots, Bongmaster, and others—for much of their 20-year career. Fat Freddy's Drop are known for their improvised live performances. Songs on their studio albums are versions refined over years of playing them live in New Zealand and on tour abroad.

Stephen Ellis Gilpin was a New Zealand singer and a founder of new wave band Mi-Sex.

Mi-Sex New Zealand new wave band

Mi-Sex is a New Zealand new wave band originally active from 1978 to 1986, and led for much of its existence by Steve Gilpin as vocalist, Kevin Stanton as guitarist and songwriter, Murray Burns as keyboardist and songwriter, and Don Martin as bassist. The group's manager for much of its career was Bob Yates. Mi-Sex achieved two top 10 hit singles in 1979-80: "Computer Games" in October 1979 and "People" in 1980. Their first two albums both reached the New Zealand top 10, Graffiti Crimes and Space Race. They were known for their cutting edge production and dynamic live shows. Gilpin died in January 1992, two months after a serious car accident from which he never recovered. Mi-Sex have periodically reformed, including in 2011 with Steve Balbi (ex-Noiseworks) on lead vocals. Stanton died on 17 May 2017, Martin on 10 August 2020.

Shona Laing New Zealand singer

Shona Laing is a New Zealand musician. She has had several hits in her native country, as well as a few minor international hits, most notably "(Glad I'm) Not a Kennedy" and "Soviet Snow". Laing contributed to Manfred Mann's Earth Band album Somewhere in Afrika and contributed music to, and appeared in, the 1985 action film Shaker Run.

<i>Tamia</i> (album) 1998 studio album by Tamia

Tamia is the self-titled debut studio album by Canadian recording artist Tamia. It was released on April 14, 1998 on Quincy Jones's Qwest Records, while distribution was handled through Warner Bros. Recorded after the release of her Grammy Award-nominated collaborations with Jones and the single "Missing You", her contribution to the soundtrack of the 1996 motion picture Set It Off, Tamia worked with a plethora of producers on her debut, including Jermaine Dupri, Tim & Bob, Mario Winans, J-Dub, Keith Crouch, and Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, many of which would become frequent producers on subsequent projects.

Margaret Urlich New Zealand singer

Margaret Mary Urlich is an ARIA Award-winning New Zealand musician based in New South Wales, Australia. Urlich moved to Sydney in 1988 to pursue her singing career. Her debut solo album, Safety in Numbers, released in 1989, was highly successful and won "Breakthrough Artist – Album" at the 1991 ARIA Awards. Its follow-up Chameleon Dreams was also a success when released in 1992. Urlich has been successful trans-Tasman, selling over 400,000 albums during her career, ranking her as one of New Zealand's most successful recording artists. She is the cousin of fellow New Zealand singer Peter Urlich.

David Keith Dallas is a hip hop artist from New Zealand of Samoan and European descent.

<i>South</i> (Shona Laing album) 1987 studio album by Shona Laing

South is a 1987/1988 album by New Zealand musician Shona Laing and her most commercially successful release to date. It was released twice; in 1987 as a worldwide release, and again in 1988 in the United States. Laing reprised four of the tracks from her 1985 album Genre for the U.S. release of South.

Ladi6 Musical artist

Karoline Fuarose Park-Tamati, known professionally as Ladi6, is a New Zealand recording artist of Samoan descent. She spent six months living in Berlin and touring Europe in both 2010 and 2011. Her debut album Time Is Not Much debuted at number 4 on the New Zealand Top 40 Album chart. and her second album The Liberation Of... debuted at number 6 and was certified gold. Her single "Like Water" was certified platinum in June 2011. She has won many awards, including Best Female Solo Artist and Best Urban Hip Hop Album at the 2011 New Zealand Music Awards and Best Urban/Hip Hop Album at the 2009 New Zealand Music Awards. The current line-up of the wider Ladi6 group is Ladi6, her partner Parks and Julien Dyne. Ladi6 has been called "New Zealand's answer to Erykah Badu".

<i>The Liberation Of...</i> 2010 studio album by Ladi6

The Liberation Of... is the second album by Christchurch-born singer-songwriter/rapper Ladi6, released in November 2010. It was nominated for Album of the Year and won Best Urban/Hip Hop Album at the 2011 New Zealand Music Awards. It also won the 2011 Taite Music Prize and Best Urban Album at the 2011 Pacific Music Awards.

<i>Shona</i> (album) 1993 studio album by Shona Laing

Shona is a 1994 album by Shona Laing released on the TriStar label. It reached No. 35 on the New Zealand album chart. The single "Kick Back" failed to chart.

Mahia Blackmore was a singer and band leader from New Zealand who got her start as a singer in the 1960s. She was referred to as New Zealand's own queen of rhythm and blues. She was also part of the Billy TK band Powerhouse. She was profiled on Whenua, a radio show presented by Hēnare te Ua on numerous occasions.

Anderson and Wise was a performing duo from New Zealand. They were also composers, whose songs were recorded by Nash Chase, The Rumour, Quincy Conserve, and Kamahl.

<i>20 Studio One Hits</i> 1972 compilation album by Various Artists

20 Studio One Hits was a compilation album of New Zealand and New Zealand based artists culled from the Studio One television series on the N.Z.B.C. It was released in 1972. It was followed up by 20 Studio One Hits Volume 2 the following year. The albums are representative of the televised Studio One talent quests. Some of the songs that appeared on the album went on to become hits in Australasia. The records which were released on the Music for Leisure label are a historical account of the Studio One talent quests.

"(Glad I'm) Not a Kennedy" is a song by New Zealand musician Shona Laing. The song was originally released as a single in 1985, titled "Not a Kennedy", and was included on Laing's 1985 album Genre. It was re-mixed and re-released in 1987, and this version was included on her 1987 album South. The song reached number two in New Zealand, number nine in Australia, and number 14 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. According to Laing, the inspiration for the song was her reaction to a television appearance of American politician Edward Kennedy.

References

  1. Dale Wrightson. Audioculture. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 Shona Laing – Whispering Afraid. Discogs. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
  3. 1 2 Grok My Enthusiasm (12). HILOBROW. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Shona Laing. Audioculture. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
  5. Shona Laing – Whispering Afraid / Shooting Stars Are Only Seen At Night. Discogs. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
  6. 1905. NZ On Screen. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
  7. 1 2 Whispering Afraid by Shona Laing. Spotify. Retrieved October 21, 2020.