Friday, 6 May 2016
494 Hello Jaki Graham* - Could It Be I'm Falling In Love
( * David Grant and..... )
Chart entered : 23 March 1985
Chart peak : 5
Number of hits : 12
Jacqueline Graham was born in Birmingham in 1956 to first generation immigrants. She got married to her childhood sweetheart at 20. In the early eighties she sang with unrecorded jazz funk outfits Ferrari and Medium Wave and toured with UB40 as a backing vocalist. She was noticed by an EMI talent scout and signed to the label.
She released her first single "What's the Name of your Game ? " in 1983, a so-so dance tune which sounds like Paul Hardcastle did the backing track with a production that didn't do Jaki's voice any favours. This was put right for her second single "Heaven Knows " a sultry soul number written by producer Derek Bramble. Despite getting to perform it on Crackerjack the single wasn't a hit first time round but did get to number 59 on re-release 18 months later. Bramble also wrote her next single "Once More With The Feeling " a more uptempo Motown-influenced track but there was still no sign of a breakthrough.
For that reason EMI gave her the go-ahead to record this duet with ex-Linx singer David Grant on his label Chrysalis. The song was originally a number 11 hit for The Detroit Spinners in 1973 a fine pop soul number. Bramble ups the tempo and beefs up the rhythm section but otherwise it's pretty faithful to the original. As the bigger name - although his solo career was faltering by this time - Grant gets the lion's share of the song despite having the less distinctive voice. Getting to number five probably over-rewarded the single but at least it provided the springboard for Jaki's subsequent success.
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