Clodagh Rodgers was born on 5 March 1947 in Warrenpoint, County Down, in Northern Ireland, and was raised in a musical household, where her father Louis was a dancehall tour promoter. At age 12 she was appearing as warm-up for acts such as Jim Reeves and Michael Holliday, and at 14, thanks to her father’s connections, she toured Europe with Johnny Cash. By the time the tour was over, she'd been offered a recording contract with Decca Records, and so her family moved to Willesden, in north London, to allow her to seize this opportunity – only to find that Decca would leave her languishing for 18 months. The Shel Talmy-produced 'Believe Me I'm No Fool' became her first single, issued in November 1962 and credited to Cloda Rodgers, but it was ignoed by the British record-buying public. For the follow-up she was billed as Cloda Rogers, but 'Sometime Kind of Love' seemed a little dated by the time of its release in March 1963, and a third single 'To Give My Love To You' fared no better on its release three months later, although fans now tend to flip the disk for its b-side, the catchy Country 'n' Western-style 'I Only Live To Love You'. She impressed audiences as part of the UK team at Belgium's Knokke Cup that year, and also gained exposure through an appearance in the comic caper 'Just For Fun', alongside the likes of Dusty Springfield, The Breakaways and Louise Cordet, in which she sang 'Sweet Sweet Boy'. 1964's 'Mister Heartache' was her final single for Decca, and she signed a new management deal with Keith Prowse, who secured her a deal with Columbia Records, but the release of the sophisticated 'Every Day Is Just The Same', did little to engage the record-buying pubic. A third Columbia release, an updating of Ethel Waters' 1930's track 'Stormy Weather', fared no better in 1966, although on a happier note she did meet John Morris on a two-month package tour of the UK with The Walker Brothers, and they later married, with him becoming her manager. Under his professional guidance she joined RCA in 1968, issuing a couple of great singles, 'Play The Drama To The End' and 'Rhythm Of Love', both ignored by the public. On a TV appearance to promote the singles, she was spotted by US songwriter Kenny Young, a former Brill Building writer who was best known for penning 'Under The Boardwalk' for The Drifters, and he contacted RCA to offer her his latest composition 'Come Back And Shake Me', and this classic piece of late-60's pop swept up the UK charts, reaching number three in the spring of 1969. The success of the single saw Rodgers whisked into the studio to cut her first album, and as well as including the hit, Young also gave her a clutch of new songs to record for the album. From this point on she became a regular on TV variety shows, and released over half a dozen albums in the new decade, but is now probably best remembered for representing the UK in the 1971 Eurovision Song Contest with the bouncy 'Jack In The Box'. To get to that point, though, she had to pay her dues with a handful of commercially unsuccessful but artistically worthwhile singles, which are gathered here for you to judge for yourself.
Track listing
01 Believe Me I'm No Fool (single 1962)
02 End Of The Line (b-side of 'Believe Me I'm No Fool)
03 Sometime Kind Of Love (single 1963)
04 I See More Of Him (b-side of 'Sometime Kind Of Love')
05 Sweet Sweet Boy (from the film 'Just For Fun' 1964)
06 Mister Heartache (single 1964)
07 Time (b-side of 'Mister Heartache')
08 My Love Will Still Be There (from the film 'It's All Over Town' 1964)
09 Every Day Is Just The Same (single 1966)
10 You'll Come A'Running (b-side of 'Every Day Is Just The Same')
11 Stormy Weather (single 1966)
12 Lonely Room (b-side of 'Stormy Weather')
13 Play The Drama To The End (single 1968)
14 Room Full Of Roses (b-side of 'Play The Drama to The End')
15 Rhythm Of Love (single 1968)
16 River Of Tears (b-side of Rhythm Of Love')
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