Swing Out Sister started as a trio of Andy Connell (keyboards), Martin Jackson (drums) and later Corinne Drewery (vocals). Connell and Jackson, outside of their usual roles as Manchester musicians in A Certain Ratio and Magazine, were producing electro tracks for Morgan Khan's Streetwise label with a degree of underground success, and this activity triggered interest from a few major labels, including Phonogram/Mercury Records. Vocalised songs were asked for, so Connell, who knew Diane Charlemagne through Factory Records, approached her to sing on the Phonogram demos. These demos helped secure Connell and Jackson's major label contract, but Charlemange's band 52nd Street moved from Factory Records to Virgin, and as a result her involvement with Swing Out Sister ended, and Drewery was recruited as a replacement. Together with their producer, Paul Staveley O'Duffy, they signed with Mercury Records, and released the 'Blue Moon' single, but it failed to chart. In late 1986 they released their second single 'Breakout', and this time it reached number four on the UK Singles Chart. When they released their debut album 'It's Better To Travel' in May 1987, it reached number one on the UK Albums Chart, with the record blending real horns, synths (arranged subtly, to sound like strings), drums, and xylophones, all scored by producer/ arranger Richard Niles. The follow-up single 'Surrender' rose to number seven on the UK charts, while the more serious and jazzy 'Twilight World' was subject to many remixes and was a dance club favourite worldwide. Building on this early success the band released four further albums over the next 10 years, all to critical acclaim and commercial success, and by the time that 'Shapes And Patterns' came out in 1997 the band had become extremely popular in Japan, with the album being released in that country a full year before anywhere else in the world. Their song 'Now You're Not Here' was used as the theme to the Japanese TV programme 'Mahiru No Tsuki', and was ranked at No.1 in the Japanese chart, receiving a Japanese 'Grand Prix' (the equivalent of a Grammy Award) for best international single in 1997. It also marked the beginning of the band's use of Japanese musicians in their studio sessions. 'Filth And Dreams', their sixth album, proved yet again that Swing Out Sister were eager to reinvent themselves, and it was released in Japan in March 1999, and it remains the only album not released in any other country. This album featured stronger jazz leanings than some of their early pop-oriented albums, and is restrained in mood. The track 'Who's Been Sleeping' was promoted as a single and released with several remixes, and some of the songs adapted to the growing popularity of hip-hop in the late 90's, while other used background noises, from telephone conversations to child's play, to enrich the record. As the album could only be obtained from Japan, there could be fans out there who didn't even know it existed, or have been unable to get their hands on a copy, and so for all fans here it is for you to enjoy.
Track listing
01 Who's Been Sleeping
02 Closer Than The Sun
03 Sugar Free
04 Filth And Dreams
05 Happy When You're High
06 If I Had The Heart
07 When Morning Comes
08 Invisible
09 World Out Of Control
10 Make You Stay
