McKinlay Sisters - That Lonely Feeling (1972)

Sheila and Jeanette McKinlay were born and brought up in the Little France district of Edinburgh, and first began performing in their early teens, touring the clubs around the city and the Lothians. In 1963, they embarked on a Scottish tour with Glasgow band The Fabulous Falcons, and they were signed to Iver Music in London as a duo called The McKinleys (note the change in spelling of their name) in 1964, which led to a contract with EMI Columbia. Although they toured with the Beatles, appeared on Ready Steady Go!, and had a number one hit in Germany, none of their four single releases were a hit in the UK. Listening to them now you do wonder why, and their first single, 'Someone Cares For Me', has a Phil Spector-ish wall of sound, but with hard-to-disguise Scots inflection, and was written by the hit machine of John Carter and Ken Lewis. The follow-up was 'When He Comes Along', written by another prolific songwriter – and founder of the New Vaudeville Band – Geoff Stephens, with Carter/Lewis making another appearance on the b-side with their 'Then I'll Know It's Love'. The first two singles were released on the Swan label in the US where they performed better in some regional charts than they did in the UK, possibly because the label's name was known in North America from the fact that Brian Epstein had leased The Beatles' 'She Loves You' to them in 1964. Their third single was yet another Carter/Lewis song, but this time their band Carter-Lewis And the Southerners had released their own version of it in 1963, so The KcKinlays was a cover of 'Sweet And Tender Romance', and was released a year later. It was a fine record, with its deep murky sound and the vocals soaring over the fast backbeat, and it includes a lacerating guitar solo from Jimmy Page. 

'That Lonely Feeling' on the flip is Carter/Lewis again, but this time it's a slower track, with gentle, sometimes harsh, harmonies, and it was later covered by Dean Ford and The Gaylords in 1965, before they morphed into The Marmalade. Their final single is possibly their best, with 'Give Him My Love' being a Donovan co-write, and the sisters move into folk-rock territory for this record, which has a more mature sound. With success in the UK continuing to elude them they left Columbia and finally found some success in Europe, particularly in Germany, as the McKinlay Sisters. They released a number of singles in Europe in 1967 and 1968, some in English and some in German, and continued to be successful there until 1968, when they went their separate ways. Sheila joined The Les Humphries Singers, and Jeanette paired up with Peter Petrel to form the duo Windows, who were put together by Golden 12 Records in Germany purely to release a version of 'How Do You Do' in 1972 before the Dutch group Mouth & MacNeal could release their own version of it. They did record an album 'Meet The Windows' in 1972, but Jeanette left in 1974, and was replaced by Tina Wulff. Sheila, on the other hand, embarked on a solo career in 1971 with a couple of Les Humphries-penned singles, followed by a German-language version of 'If Not For You', before recording her final single 'Ringel Rangel Rosen' in 1972, backed with a German-language cover of Middle Of The Road's 'Sacramento'. Sheila, who was married to Howie Casey, saxophonist and band leader of Howie Casey and the Seniors, died from cancer on 16 December 2012, aged 71, and is survived by Jeanette. I hope that this collection of the sister's work is a fitting tribute to both girls, who really should have had more success than they did with those first four singles. 

Track listing

The McKinleys
01 Someone Cares For Me (single 1964)
02 A Million Miles Away (b-side of 'Someone Cares For Me')
03 When He Comes Along (single 1964)
04 Then I'll Know It's Love (b-side of 'When He Comes Along')
05 Sweet And Tender Romance (single 1964)
06 That Lonely Feeling (b-side of 'Sweet And Tender Romance')
07 Give Him My Love (single 1965)
08 Once More (b-side of 'Give Him My Love')
The McKinlay Sisters
09 I Want You (German single 1966)
10 Was Kann Ich Dafür (How Can I Explain) (b-side of 'Bye Bye Bye' German single 1967)
11 Wer Nicht Hören Will Muß Fühlen (German single 1967)
12 All Night Girl (b-side of 'Wer Nicht Hören Will Muß Fühlen')

Windows, featuring Jeanette McKinlay

13 How Do You Do (single 1972 - English version)

14 Nobody's Baby (b-side of 'How Do You Do')

15 Jeder Tag (b-side of the German issue of 'How Do You Do')
Sheila McKinlay
16 And When The War Is Over (Australian single 1971)
17 Listen To Little Children (b-side of 'And When The War Is Over')
18 I Remember (German single 1971)
19 Sunday Night School Girl (b-side of 'I Remember')
20 Ich Geh Mit Dir (If Not For You) (German single 1971)
21 Ringel Rangel Rosen (Ring A Ring Of Roses) (Dutch single 1972)
22 Sacramento (b-side of 'Ringel Rangel Rosen')