Chart entered : 11 July 1987
Chart peak : 69
This was the final hit single in a career with more ups and downs than most.
Elkie's initial run of hits faltered after "Don't Cry Out Loud" in 1978 partly due to new motherhood but this was completely turned around by the unexpected success of the "Pearls" LP . This compilation of hits, flops and new material was released at the tail end of 1981 and exceeded all expectations, reaching number 2 and spending 18 months in the album charts ( none of her previous LPs had made the Top 10). A second volume "Pearls II" was released within a year and also did well if not on the same scale as its predecessor. Both albums yielded further hits for Elkie. Then things went downhill again. Still hankering after the rock stardom that eluded her in Vinegar Joe, Elkie recorded a rock album "Minutes" which A & M didn't like and failed to promote . Her standards album "Screen Gems", which they did promote, performed disappointingly and her association with A & M came to an end. She was picked up by the Legend label who were immediately rewarded by her biggest hit single "No More The Fool" ( number 5 ) . The album of the same name became her biggest -selling album of all new material.
"We've Got Tonight" was the third hit from the same album. It's a cover ( though full marks to Elkie for ignoring the hideous misspelling of the title's last word ) of blue collar rocker Bob Seger's signature tune, a crusty AOR ballad that had already been a hit for Seger ( twice ) and as a duet between Sheena Easton and Kenny Rogers. Russ Ballard arranged it as a European power ballad , very much in the Jennifer Rush mould. For the most part it's a competent version of a dull song; it becomes tiresome in the latter half when Elkie starts over-emoting and the gated drums start thrashing around.
Elkie was shortly to find that that this resuscitation of her career had brought her scant financial reward. Thanks to Legend's murky accountancy practices, the album wasn't recorded as showing any profit and worse, there wasn't any money around to finance the next one. With the help of her husband , sound engineer Trevor Jordan she managed to cut costs and complete "Bookbinder's Kid" for release in May 1988. The lead , in fact only , single was the strangest of her career. "Sail On" is not a cover of the Commodores hit but an original composed by the duo which serenades a ship with a Depeche Mode stark rhythm track, gospel vocals from the London Community Gospel Choir and a heavy metal guitar solo. Unfortunately there's no tune in the mix and despite featuring on After Ten With Tarbuck ( no I don't remember it either ) it didn't chart. She performed another track "You Ain't Leavin", a deadly dull power ballad on Sunday Night Live At The Palladium but it never came out as a single. I've only heard two other tracks from the LP which were typically over-produced AOR stodge from the arse end of the eighties. With no hit singles, the album stalled at number 57.
Her association with Legend ended there but she was picked up by Telstar Records and Ballard came back on board to produce, and write four songs for , her next album "Inspiration" in 1989. It's not entirely mis-titled . The lead single "Shame" ( a Eurovision entry for a girl singer earlier in the year ) is a likable attempt at Cher-style pop rock and the follow up "I'll Never Love This Way Again" ( one of Ballard's songs ) is a good tune. There's also a superb re-working of Vinegar Joe's death of the hippy dream lament "Black Smoke From The Culumet" as a futurist epic. But the album's too long with too many routine covers of recent AOR hits ( "Broken Wings" , "Is This Love" ). It stalled at number 58.
The nineties were a difficult time for Elkie . Now consigned to Radio Two , three of her five albums on four different labels still charted, but none hung around long enough to earn her much money. She had to tour constantly to support her young family and maintain her devoted but static fanbase. A hit compilation LP in 1997 gave her a bit of breathing space but she was then hit with a huge bill for back taxes and had to rent out the family home and live in a trailer park for a while. Her house in Devon was eventually sold in 2002 to clear her debts. During this period she didn't put out any records.
In 2003 she agreed to take part in the reality series Reborn In The USA . In case you missed it , this humiliating show put 9 faded pop acts ( the show used numerous euphemisms for "has-been" ) on a tour bus around America to see who would be most popular, freed from the baggage of the past ( a very dubious assertion in the cases of Tony Hadley and Peter Cox whose bands had enjoyed significant US success ). Elkie was by some distance the oldest competitor and would dive straight for the piano wherever they stayed rather than get involved in jostling with the likes of David Van Day. She was the third to be eliminated after performing "When Will I See You Again " in Philadelphia. My US pen-pal attended that show and singled her out for criticism.
Nevertheless , Elkie's participation in the show financed the release of a new album Shangri-la" her first for seven years. Her son Jermaine Jordan produced it. It didn't chart and I haven't heard anything from it. In the same year she released an album of jazz covers with veteran trumpeter Humphrey Lyttelton "Trouble In Mind".
Two years later she released "Electric Lady" by which time Jermaine was an integral member of her touring band. He plays bass, guitar and drums as well as producing the album. It's primarily a slow blues album with occasional country influences. Elkie's voice is starting to show a few signs of wear ( she was 60 by this time ) but that's not necessarily to the detriment of the material. There are a few covers and "Try Harder" is close to being one ( Fleetwood Mac's Don't Stop ) but the most interesting tracks are the autobiographical ones."White Girl Lost In The Blues" is the sort of self-referential homage artists of her vintage are prone to recording while "Trailer Trash" is a wry account of her financial difficulties. She also released a live album "Don't Cry Out Loud " that year. Neither charted.
In 2007 she made her last appearance in the charts to date when another compilation "The Silver Collection " reached number 25. She's made just one more record since then, 2010's "Powerless ". I've heard three of the tracks, all of them murderously dull piano ballads so that's not a recommendation. In 2012 Elkie published her autobiography "Finding My Voice".
Elkie is in the middle of a UK tour as I write and plays the Capitol Theatre, Horsham tomorrow.It runs through to July 2017. Long may she continue.
No comments:
Post a Comment