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Thursday, February 21, 2013

Ann Lee - Dreams (1999) & So Alive (2007) DOUBLE POST!!

Isle visitor Agus recently asked for Ann Lee's debut album, and luckily I ran across it yesterday while looking for something else, so I thought I'd share it with everyone!  Annerley Gordon has had a long and varied career in dance music.  She was born and raised in the UK, but in the late 1980s she moved to Italy, right when Italo-disco and Italo-house were exploding worldwide.  Though she never set out to be a singer, a talent scout heard her singing in a club and snatched her up.  Italian producers were drawn to Annerley's sweet, girlish voice, and she was soon snatched up by A.Beat-C. Records.  She released her first single in 1990, "Sexy Boy-Sexy Toy".  The following year she released two similar sounding singles also using her full name, "Donna" and "Hot 'N' Ready", as well as "Bad Love" under the moniker Annalise.  She would release several more singles on the label using both names over the next few years, and also for different labels under the name Charme, most notably on releases by Lee Marrow such as "Try Me Out" (which she co-wrote).  Italian producers were notorious for using the same vocalists on several tracks, but releasing the tracks under different aliases and using models to lip sync and pose for covers (Black Box is perhaps the most famous example), likely to give the illusion of a new artist yet maintain a familiar sound.  Annerley, along with vocalists like Sandy Chambers and Giovanna Bersola, was one of the most sought after.  During the same time she was releasing solo material, her voice was behind tracks by artists such as Ally & Jo, Go Go Girls, Groove Twins and Lolita.  It was also widely rumoured (and fairly evident) that she was the voice behind Whigfield, who had a worldwide smash with "Saturday Night", though Danish beauty Sannie Carlson appeared in the video and on record covers.  Further proof is that Annerley co-wrote Whigfield's next big hit, "Another Day" (Carlson has since taken over vocal duties, however).  An even bigger success for Annerely as a writer at this time was her having co-written the huge 1993 worldwide hit "Rhythm Of The Night" by Corona.  She continued to have huge success as a writer and vocalist throughout the 90's, so it was only natural that she would want to focus on a solo career.  She got together with renowned Italo-disco producer Larry Pignagnoli, who was behind much of the work she had done behind the scenes, and they concocted the eurohouse song "2 Times".  She released it in 1998 under her shortened name, Ann Lee, and it became an instant success in Europe, hitting the top 10 in most European countries, including her native UK, where it hit #2.  It managed to hit the Canadian top 20 singles chart as well.  An album and second single, "Voices", were released soon after, but to lesser success.  Two more singles also failed to hit, a remake of Anita Ward's "Ring My Bell" and "So Deep".  A new single, "No No No", was released in 2003, but Ann then went back behind the scenes until 2007, when she finally released a second album, So Alive, though this time it was on an indie label and only available digitally (except in Mexico, where it saw a CD release).  "Catches Your Love" and an update of "2 Times" were released as singles, but Ann soon disappeared again.  Since then, she has only appeared on former collaborator Benassi Bros.' Pumphonia album on a remix of "No No No", and as a featured vocalist on Favretto's "I Get The Feeling", both in 2009.  But I get the feeling, given her amazing musical history, that we'll see Ann back on the charts soon.

Video for 2 Times

Video for Voices

Video for Ring My Bell

Download Dreams

1 2 Times
2 Smooth & Sweet
3 Voices
4 Ring My Bell
5 In You
6 I Love You So
7 Come To Me
8 So Deep
9 Helpless
10 Looking For
11 Top Of The World
12 2 Times (Snapshot Mix)
13 2 Times (Master Boy Club Version)

Download So Alive

1 Catches Your Love
2 Everyday Everytime
3 She Wants To Be
4 Just An Hour
5 Every Single Day [Slow]
6 This Is What You Need
7 So Alive
8 Moonlight Dancing
9 Stop-Go
10 Hold The Key
11 Every Single Day
12 Hold My Hand Tonight [Bonus Track]
13 2 Times (Ice Bergem Vs. Favretto Radio Edit)

8 comments:

  1. I've never heard the whole disc and I'm looking forward to it. Thanks for sharing!

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  2. Wow! I remember an indie dance radio station in Chicago playing "2 Times" back in 2000/2001. I don't think I have heard the song since then. Thanks for posting this!

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  3. Great Review. Couple of inaccuracies though. Her album "So alive" was released on the Offlimits which is a dance label not an indie label. Can't find her on the album "Pumphonia" either?

    She also had a single out in 2009 called "2 People" and most recently appears on Pochill's Album "Discipline" on the track "Sound of the Sea", released in 2010.

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  4. Whoa!!! Old Times, Good Times.

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  5. Excelente, muchas gracias desde Perú, Arequipa.

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  6. Thanks so much for this brings back memories

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  7. Can't believe the downloads are still up as of 2022 =)

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