Sheree Jeacocke - Feel It (1985) & Jeacocke (1995) DOUBLE POST!!

The gorgeous Sheree Jeacocke is a Canadian institution. From the mid 80s to the late 90s she released a lot of music, in her homeland and abroad. I was fortunate enough a couple of weeks ago to locate her very first album, which is quite rare (though I'm sure one recent misinformed visitor to this blog would tend to disagree - wink wink) and can also feature her self-released EP from 10 years later. Born in Toronto in 1958, Sheree began touring with her band in the late 70s and eventually also joined Canadian disco/funk band Crack Of Dawn on tour, but her only recorded work was as a session vocalist for other singers and commercial jingles (her voice was everywhere on TV when I was a kid!). Then in 1985 the Canadian government organization FACTOR, which existed to fund fledgling artists, gave her money to record her own solo album. Feel It was released in 1985 by the Canadian Talent Library with very limited distribution. It featured dance-pop songs with an occasional rock or new wave slant, and showcased her versatile vocals. She released the single "You Get To Me", which garnered enough attention to get her a Juno nomination for Most Promising Female Vocalist and a deal with a major label, BMG. The label asked her to drop her last name and the album Sheree was released on BMG sublabel RCA in 1989, following a very similar formula to her first album. The first single, "Woman's Work", became a Canadian hit and also got her some international attention. The follow-ups, "Before We Fall", "Forever You Forever Me" and "Bang On", didn't do as well, though the housey "Bang On" was a minor club hit. Despite the failure of the follow-up singles, BMG kept her on and she released her next album, Miss My Love, in 1993, this time on BMG sublabel Arista and using her full name. Her sound on the album became more R&B and adult contemporary flavoured, as evidenced by the first single, "Miss My Love". It and the next two singles, "Serious" and "Everybody Needs A Love", managed to get radio play but were not hits. As a result, her association with the label soon ended. Not to be discouraged, Sheree recorded and released an EP on her own label in 1995 titled simply Jeacocke. The first single, "Mr. Big Stuff", a remake of the Jean Knight hit from 1971, became a Canadian club hit in it's remixed form. The EP itself went even further into a soul sound and included a remake of her own "Woman's Work". Perhaps encouraged by her dance club success, that same year she renamed herself J-Cock and appeared on the Pleasure Beat eurohouse hit "First Time", which I featured already on Lost Pop Treasures. The following year, again as J-Cock, she released an eurohouse remake of Alanis Morissette's "Hand In My Pocket" with Pleasure Beat, as well a solo single, a reggae-tinged remake of Stevie Wonder's "Sunshine Of My Life", which I also featured on Lost Pop Treasures. In 1997, the J-Cock eurohouse singles "All In All" (a Joyce Sims remake), "Sexuality" and "Come Together" were released as downloads only and didn't attract much of an audience. Since then, aside from a few vocal appearances here and there, Sheree has stayed away from the music scene and has instead concentrated on her career as a real estate agent, now going by the name of Sheree Cerqua. Still, I hold out hope that she will return to the music scene one day to grace us with her powerful voice once again.

For her Sheree and Miss My Love albums, my friend Rich has already featured these on his blog The Music Spectrum, so please go there to download. And for a site dedicated to Miss Jeacocke's discography, please visit Woman's Work: The Sheree Jeacocke Discography.

Download Feel It

1		I Wanna Be Your Girl
2		You Get To Me
3		Gimme Some Motion
4		It's Got To Be Love
5		Shakin In Stereo
6		Feel It
7		Slowly I Turn
8		Be My Boy
9		This Love Song
10		Can I Do It

Live performance of Mr. Big Stuff

Download Jeacocke

1		Mr. Big Stuff
2		So This Is Love
3		When In Rome
4		Midnight Train To Georgia
5		Womans Work