Elkie Brooks - Hello Stranger (1974)

Elaine Bookbinder was born on 25 February 1945 in Salford, north west England, and raised in nearby Prestwich, coming from a musical family, with her father being a local bandleader and one of her brothers, Tony, going on to become the drummer for Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas (under the name Tony Mansfield). After leaving school in 1960, she headed for London, where she performed with the Eric Delaney Band and jazz musician Humphrey Lyttelton, for a while using the stage name Elaine Mansfield, before finally deciding on Elkie Brooks. After passing an audition, Don Arden became her manager, and he saw her as a kind of Mancunian answer to Brenda Lee, though her voice had yet to develop the husky tones she would later be known for. In 1964 she landed a recording contract with Decca, and one of the first things that label bosses did was to send her off to Belgium, to take part in the Knokke Cup, competing against the likes of Germany's Ria Bartok and the Netherlands' Rita Hovink and Trea Dobbs. Back in the UK, she recorded her fist single 'Something's Got A Hold On Me', which was issued in June 1964, but as the gospel into of the song - a cover of a two-year-old single by US soul singer Etta James - was not a sound that British record buyers were overly familiar with, the record sank. 'Nothing Left To Do But Cry' was issued as the follow-up in September, with Brooks promoting the single in earnest, including making her debut television appearance, and although it wasn't a hit, the track has gone on to become a Northern soul dance favourite. She gained further live experience by appearing on pop package tours alongside groups such as The Animals, and in late 1964 she supported The Beatles on tour, with The Yardbirds, Freddie and the Dreamers and others. 

In 1965 Decca released a version of The Temptations' 'The Way You Do The Things You Do', but when this didn't provide the hoped-for breakthrough hit she was dropped by Decca and moved to the HMV label. Her first record for the new label was 'He's Gotta Love Me' in early 1965, and it's generally considered one of her finest recordings of the period, with this being followed by a cover of the Leslie Gore tune 'All My Life' in October. In February 1966 'Baby Let Me Love You' became her final single for HMV, leaving the label after feeling that the material she recorded for them was meaningless and having no depth. Her disappointment when she joined Brian Epstein’s NEMS record label in 1969 must therefore have been palpable, with a third-placed song in that years A Song For Europe being chosen as the A-side of her first single for the label. 'Come September' was certainly a change in style, but it was better than performing in cabaret in a succession of northern clubs, which is what she'd been doing between leaving HMV and signing with NEMS. Just one further single was issued on NEMS in 1969, with 'Groovie Kinda Love' being credited to Elki And Owen And The Rim Ram Band, before she met and married Pete Gage the following year, and the two of them formed the rock-fusion band Dada. With the addition of Robert Palmer they changed their name to Vinegar Joe, and achieved a certain notoriety for the sexual chemistry they displayed in their live performances, with the band also going on to record a number of well-received albums. After Vinegar Joe split in 1974, Brooks signed with A&M Records, and in 1977 she finally scored her first international hit single with 'Pearl's A Singer', and she hasn't looked back since. To see how she got there, just listen to these early singles and hear that the talent was always there, if only the public had taken notice a little sooner.

Track listing

01 Something's Got A Hold On Me (single 1964)
02 Hello Stranger (b-side of 'Something's Got A Hold On me')
03 Nothing Left To Do But Cry (single 1964)
04 Strange Tho' It Seems (b-side of 'Nothing Left To Do But Cry')
05 The Way You Do The Things You Do (single 1965)
06 Blue Tonight (b-side of 'The Way You Do The Things You Do')
07 He's Gotta Love Me (single 1965)
08 When You Appear (b-side of 'He's Gotta Love Me')
09 All Of My Life (single 1965)
10 Can't Stop Thinking Of You (b-side of 'All Of My Life')
11 Baby Let Me Love You (single 1966)
12 Stop The Music (b-side of 'Baby Let Me Love You')
13 Groovie Kinda Love (single with Owen And The Rim Ram Band 1969)
14 Come September (single 1969)
15 Rescue Me (single 1974)
16 Lady Of The Rain (b-side of 'Rescue Me')