Christine Quaite was born in Leeds, Yorkshire on May 11th, 1948, and although both her grandfather and uncle were professional dancers, they didn't influence her musically. She began singing at the age of eight, when she entered a seaside talent contest in the Yorkshire resort of Bridlington, and finding that she enjoyed it, she went on to enter many similar competitions. She later joined the Judean Club, a Jewish youth club in Leeds, where other members included future pop singer Julie Grant, and Jeff Christie, who would later have a major international success with his group Christie's 'Yellow River' single. The club would put on a show every couple of weeks, and Quaite was one of the singers, while pianist Paul Conway also directed the shows. At one of her competitions Quaite came second, receiving a recording contract from Oriole Records as a prize, and as the b-side for her second single she used a song that Conway had written for one of their shows. She was only 13 at the time, but her powerful voice belied her tender years, and her first record 'Oh My', backed with 'Guilty Eyes', was released in 1962, followed by a cover of Johnny Crawford's 'Your Nose Is Gonna Grow', with the original 'Our Last Chance' on the flip. Her third single 'Whisper Wonderful Words' borrowed the tune from Bizet's 'Habanera' from 'Carmen', with lyrics added to make it a pop song. Being a recording artist in her early teens, her life was very complicated, and her school would never allow her time off to visit the recording studio, so she had to play truant to make her records. Despite some minor commercial success in the US with 'Tell Me Mama', none of her singles charted in the UK, and her contract with Oriole ceased when the label went bankrupt in 1964. She continued doing TV, radio and cabaret work around the country, and in June 1965 she signed with manager-producer-songwriter Bunny Lewis, with Lewis' Ritz Productions company signing her to a new recording contract with Laurie Records of New York, in the expectation it would guarantee her further releases there. Her first record under the new deal was a Bobby Goldsboro song, 'If You've Got A Heart', which reached acetate stage in the US but was never released, and this was followed by Bacharach/David's 'Long After Tonight Is All Over'. Both singles were, however, issued in the UK on the Stateside label, but these were to be her last recordings. At the time of her last single she was still only 18 years old, and it seems unbelievable that her recording career was over at such a young age, but she did leave behind a clutch of excellent singles, especially the later soul-influenced ones, and so hopefully this collection will bring her to the attention of an appreciative new audience.
01 Oh My! (single 1962)
02 Guilty Eyes (b-side of 'Oh My!')
03 Your Nose Is Gonna Grow (single 1962)
04 Our Last Chance (b-side of 'Your Nose Is Gonna Grow')
05 Mister Heartache (single 1963)
06 Whisper Wonderful Words (b-side of 'Mister Heartache')
07 Tell Me Mama (single 1963)
08 In The Middle Of The Floor (b-side of 'Tell Me Mama')
09 Here She Comes (single 1964)
10 I Believe In Love (b-side of' Here She Comes')
11 Mr. Stuck-Up (single 1964)
12 Will You Be The Same Tomorrow (b-side of 'Mr. Stuck-Up')
13 Huggin' My Pillow (acetate 1964)
14 If You've Got A Heart (single 1965)
15 So Near, So Far (b-side of 'If You've Got A Heart')
16 Long After Tonight Is All Over (single 1966)
17 I'm Hoping (b-side of 'Long After Tonight Is All Over')
No comments:
Post a Comment