The final post in this short celebration of the productions of Ian Levine is 'Fading Into The Night' by Pearly Gates. Viola Billups (aka Pearly Gates) was born on 4 July 1946 in Alabama, and she joined The Flirtations with sisters Earnestine Pearce and Betty Pearce in 1964, moving to London in 1968, where their music was popular. She left the group in 1973 and released her first single 'Sad Old Shadow', written by Lynsey De Paul and Don Gould, on Polydor Records under the name Vie, taking up the Pearly Gates name for her second record 'Johnny And The Jukebox' in 1974. Several more singles followed in the late 70's on RCA Records and Bronze Records, and she was a popular artist on TV, being a regular performer on the Cliff Richard show, until in 1979 she completed her first disco album 'Fading Into The Night' with producer Ian Levine. The album was supposed to have been released by American singer Cobie Jones, who didn't make it to the sessions so Gates took over, but as with the other albums that Levine recorded in 1979, it became a victim of the disco backlash, and was shelved. In 1985 she enjoyed a Hi-NRG hit with the song 'Action', and she toured with Madeline Bell and Katie Kissoon, performing with the James Last Orchestra. Two of her unreleased disco tracks were eventually released on 12" singles in Levine's Nightmare Gold series in 1987, and other tracks appeared on a 'best of' CD in 1995, but here is the original full album as recorded in 1979, to close this celebration of the productions of Ian Levine.
Track listing
01 No Two Ways About It
02 Caught In A Love Trap
03 Fading Into The Night
04 The Race Is On
05 Home Is In The Streets
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