Nola York was born in Liverpool, and in the 1960's she attended Webber Douglas Drama school in London. While there she was invited to a party by a friend whose father was high up in the American Embassy, and she ended up singing and playing guitar. Bee Gees manager Robert Stigwood heard a song that she written called 'I Don't Understand', and wanted her to record it, and so she secured a recording and publishing contract with Johnny Franz, Dusty Springfield's producer at Philips Records, where she met actor and lyricist Michael Richmond, who shared a similar passion for writing a musical. 'I Don't Understand' was released as a single in 1964 on the His Master's Voice label, and a couple of years later she released 'Whole Lotta Lovin'', backed with 'You Just Didn't Wanna Know', on Philips Records, both of which she co-wrote with Glen Stuart. 1967 saw the release of three more singles, the first of which comprised two songs co-written by her, on the 'I Can Hear You Calling'/'Clown Face' single, which was followed by 'Photograph'/'He's Looking At Her', once again co-written by York, and she closed the year with 'There's So Much Love All Around Me', backed with her co-write 'Sleeping Boutique'. In 1967 she worked all over Europe. singing in the Concert Hall in Belgrade, and performing at the Montreux Festival in Switzerland, as well as appearing on TV and radio shows in Holland and Norway.
Once back in the UK she recorded 'Ciao Baby', which was released in 1968, and in 1969 she collaborated with Michael Richmond and wrote lyrics and music for the musical 'The Knight Of The Burning Pestle', which ran at the Swan Theatre, Worcester, and then later at the Greenwich Theatre, directed by Sam Walters. In 1970 she joined The Chantelles all-girl singing group, replacing Jay Adams, and touring all over Europe and working American Air force bases, although she never recorded with them. When her tour with The Chantelles ended she joined up with Richmond again and they wrote the musical 'The Lady Or The Tiger' in 1975, which Sam Walters put on at the Orange Tree Pub in an upstairs room, before it transferred to The Fortune Theatre, making York the first woman to write a full-length score for a West End musical. Over the next few years she carried on writing musicals, including 'People' and 'Wild, Wild Women', and then in 1985 she unexpectedly returned to pop music when she wrote and recorded the song 'Hi Fantasy', which was released in Holland on a Dutch label, and which made the Dance charts in the UK. Most of her best songs were released in the late 60's, although she did cut a couple of records in the early 70's, before 'Hi Fantasy' took her into the charts, and so this collection brings together the best of her 60's and 70's output, including an unreleased acetate from 1975 that I've edited to give it the intro that was missing from the only available version, and with her 1985 single closing the album.
Track listing
01 I Don't Understand (single 1964)
02 Here I Stand (b-side of 'I Don't Understand')
03 Whole Lotta Lovin' (single 1966)
04 There's So Much Love All Around Me (single 1967)
05 Sleeping Boutique (b-side of 'There's So Much Love All Around Me')
06 I Can Hear You Calling (single 1967)
07 Photographs (single 1967)
08 He's Looking At Her (b-side of 'Photographs')
09 Ciao Baby (single 1968)
10 Cowboy (single 1973)
11 Purple Flowers (b-side of 'Cowboy')
12 Noises (unreleased acetate 1975)
13 City Of London (unreleased acetate, incorrectly credited to The Chantelles 1975)
14 Hi Fantasy (12" single 1985)
