Fan Club - Respect The Beat (1990)

Ccsuperchris, your wish is my command! LOL Thanks to your request, here is Fan Club. I confess that I do not have this album on CD and had to piece it together through the internet, but I do have it on cassette and used to listen to it quite a bit. I haven't heard most of these songs since this came out, and I must say that it's aged well. In North America, Fan Club were a flash in the pan, and I never really knew anything about them until recently, when looking for info on them for another website. They formed in New Zealand in the late 1980s. The boys in the band were looking for a lead singer and they happened upon Aishah, a Malaysian studying abroad. Her looks and voice were a perfect fit for their pop sound. They soon released an album, Sensation, in 1988 (as The Fan Club). It was produced by locals and became a big hit in New Zealand and Malaysia, and spawned three top 20 singles there: "Sensation", "Paradise" and "Call Me". They released their second album, Respect The Beat, a year later, and it was also a hit, spawning three more hit singles: "I Feel Love", "Never Gave Up On You" and "Don't Let Me Fall Alone". This last song ended up being the biggest selling single of all time in New Zealand. Their success drew the attention of Epic Records in North America. Their sound was very of the moment, similar to dance pop songs hitting there by the likes of Paula Abdul. It was also produced by hot pop producer of the moment, Mark Berry (likely best known on the Isle for working with Alisha), and was much more dance oriented. Epic quickly issued "Don't Let Me Fall Alone" as the first single, and it was a dance hit and even managed to make it into the Billboard Hot 100, at #99. (Incidentally, Maria Christensen also recorded this song for her solo album, also featured on the Isle. ;) However, the other two songs from the album that were released to great success in New Zealand were ignored when released in North America, as was one last single, "Colour Me Blue". Though the group won the International Top Performer award at the NZ Music Awards, they disintegrated soon after their failure abroad. One member, Paul Moss, would end up going on to greater fame as a judge in two popular Malaysian talent contests, Malaysian Idol and One In A Million. Aishah also maintained (and still maintains) a very successful career in Malaysia, singing in her native language, Malay.

Video for Don't Let Me Fall Alone

Video for Never Gave Up On You

Video for I Feel Love

Alternate Video for I Feel Love

For videos from their first album, go HERE

Download Respect The Beat

1		I Feel Love
2		Don't Let Me Fall Alone
3		Never Gave Up On You
4		Back On Track
5		I Need You
6		That's The Way Love Is
7		Don't Mess With Me
8		There For You
9		Color Me Blue
10		I Don't Need A Lover