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The Day Will Come: Edsel Collects Kiki Dee's "Fontana and Motown Years" On New Box Set

September 1, 2020 By Joe Marchese 10 Comments

Kiki Dee Fontana and Motown Years

BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.CO.UK

Kiki Dee rocketed to worldwide stardom (no pun intended) on Elton John's Rocket Records in 1976, imploring "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" to John on the chart-topping duet.  She had been recording for Rocket since 1973, scoring such U.K. hits as "Amoreuse" and "I've Got the Music in Me," the latter of which also went to the top 20 of the U.S. chart, as well.  Anyone familiar with Dee's Rocket recordings knows her to be a singer of both power and sensitivity, and last year, Edsel collected that period of her discography on the box set The Rocket Years.  On October 16, the label will turn the clock further back with a companion volume curated in cooperation with the artist herself: a 3-CD compendium of The Fontana and Motown Years.

Kiki signed to Fontana when she was just sixteen.  Discovered by songwriter Mitch Murray ("I'm Telling You Now," "How Do You Do It," "I Like It"), she remained at Fontana through 1968, cutting a series of exceptional pop-soul sides and working with producers such as Les Reed, Arthur Greenslade, and Mike Vickers, and recording songs by Reed and Barry Mason ("Small Town," "Baby, I Don't Care"), Carole King and Gerry Goffin ("I Was Only Kidding"), Jackie DeShannon and Sharon Sheeley ("Don't Put Your Heart in His Hand"), Bert Berns ("Why Don't I Run Away from You"), The Addrisi Brothers ("Excuse Me"), Paul Anka ("When We Get There"), Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio ("Can't Take My Eyes Off You"), Teddy Randazzo and Victoria Pike (Northern Soul favorite "On a Magic Carpet Ride"), and other luminaries.  The first two discs of Edsel's new set present all of her Fontana recordings including numerous single and EP-only releases; the full album I'm Kiki Dee (which consisted of singles) in its stereo debut on CD; and ten ultra-rare recordings in which she sings in Italian, French, German and Spanish.  Seven of these ten international tracks are new to CD.

Like many of her contemporaries, Kiki was heavily influenced by the American sound coming out of Detroit, Michigan's Motown Records.  In mid-1969, she became the first white British artist to be signed to Berry Gordy's pioneering label, and her first single for the label was issued the following year.  Motown recorded Kiki in Hitsville's famed Studio A, and gave her access to its top producers and arrangers including Clay McMurray, Frank Wilson, Paul Riser, David Van De Pitte, and Tom Baird.  At Motown, she followed the company tradition of recording songs introduced by others at the label and also tackled outside material like "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me," "Put a Little Love in Your Heart," and "Walk on By."  On each occasion, she brought her own spirit and distinctive sound to the familiar compositions.  Her album, Great Expectations, was issued in both the U.K. and U.S. in dramatically different sleeves, with the U.S. issue colorfully draped in the Union Jack and proudly trumpeting her Britishness.  Kiki toured the U.S. but the album didn't catch on despite its quality.  Motown briefly transferred her to the rock-oriented Rare Earth label before artist and label quietly parted ways.

The third disc of the new box has the complete Great Expectations album plus nine bonus tracks - the two songs that premiered on a mid-1970s budget compilation, four more outtakes that were first released on Tamla Motown in 2005, and most excitingly, three tracks making their debuts on CD.  "While They Watch" and You're My World" premiered on the digital-only release of Motown Unreleased 1969, while an unreleased mix of Bacharach and David's "Walk on By" debuts here.

The set is accompanied by a 28-page book featuring new liner notes by Alan Robinson (drawing on a 2020 interview with Kiki) as well as rare photos from the artist's own archives.  The Fontana and Motown Years is the most comprehensive look yet at Kiki Dee's pre-Rocket recordings.  It's due from Edsel on October 16.  You'll find the track listing and pre-order links below! (Note that this release is currently available only from Amazon U.K. which is not shipping it to North America. As we get closer to the release date, we'll fill readers in on other options to import the box set.)

Kiki Dee, The Fontana and Motown Years (Edsel, 2020) (Amazon U.S. Link TBD / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Link TBD / Exclusive Signed Edition at Amazon U.K.)

CD 1

  1. Early Night
  2. Lucky High Heels
  3. Don't Put Your Heart in His Hands
  4. I Was Only Kidding
  5. Miracles
  6. That's Right, Walk On By
  7. (You Don't Know) How Glad I Am
  8. Baby I Don't Care
  9. Runnin' Out of Fools
  10. There He Goes
  11. Excuse Me
  12. Sunshine
  13. Patterns
  14. With a Kiss
  15. When We Get There
  16. Why Don't I Run Away from You?
  17. I
  18. We've Got Everything Going for Us
  19. I Dig You Baby
  20. Stop and Think
  21. Don't Destroy Me
  22. I'm Going Out (The Same Way I Came In)

CD 2

  1. Small Town
  2. Doctor in Clover
  3. Take a Look at Me
  4. Can't Take My Eyes Off You
  5. Hungry Heart
  6. Now the Flowers Cry
  7. On a Magic Carpet Ride
  8. Aspetta Domani
  9. Senza Te (Baby I Don't Care)
  10. Come Ti Amo (You Don't Know [how Glad I Am])
  11. Favole (Miracles)
  12. Warte Bis Morgen (Aspetta Domani)
  13. Johnny's Kuss (With a Kiss)
  14. Nein, Ich Weiss Nicht Mehr Was Ich Tu'l (Why Don't I Run Away from You)
  15. Je Vais Partir Loin De Toi (Why Don't I Run Away from You)
  16. C'est Bien Mieus, Baby (I Dig You Baby)
  17. Espera a Manana (Aspetta Domani)

CD 3

  1. The Day Will Come Between Sunday and Monday
  2. Johnny Raven
  3. Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing
  4. Jimmy
  5. I Can't Give Back the Love I Feel for You
  6. More Today Than Yesterday
  7. Love Makes the World Go Round
  8. You Don't Have to Say You Love Me
  9. Love Is a Warm Kind of Sorrow
  10. For Once in My Life
  11. My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me)
  12. I Second That Emotion
  13. Oh Be My Love
  14. I'll Try Something New
  15. Walk On By
  16. Loneliness
  17. I'll Have You, You'll Have Me
  18. Put a Little Love in Your Heart
  19. While They Watch
  20. You're My World
  21. Walk On By (Mix 2)

CD 1, Tracks 1-2 from Fontana single TF 394, 1963
CD 1, Tracks 3-4 from Fontana single TF 414, 1963
CD 1, Tracks 5-6 from Fontana single TF 443, 1964
CD 1, Tracks 7-8 from Fontana single TF 490, 1964
CD 1, Tracks 9-10 from Fontana single TF 596, 1965
CD 1, Tracks 11-22 from I'm Kiki Dee, Fontana LP STL 5455, 1968
CD 2, Track 1 from Fontana single TF 669, 1966
CD 2, Tracks 2-3 from Kiki in Clover, Fontana EP TE 17470, 1966
CD 2, Tracks 4-5 from Fontana single TF 926, 1968
CD 2, Tracks 6-7 from Fontana single TF 983, 1968
CD 2, Tracks 8-9 from Fontana (Italy) single 270 698 XF, 1965
CD 2, Tracks 10-11 from Fontana (Italy) single TF 227 443, 1965
CD 2, Track 12 from Fontana (Germany) single 267 437 TF, 1965
CD 2, Tracks 13-14 from Fontana (Germany) single 267 631 TF, 1966
CD 3, Tracks 1-12 from Great Expectations, Tamla TS 303, 1970 (U.S.) / Tamla Motown STML 11158 (U.K.), 1970
CD 3, Tracks 13-14 from Kiki Dee, Sounds Superb/MFP SPR 90030, 1974
CD 3, Tracks 15-16 from Fontana (France) EP 465.323 ME, 1966
CD 3, Track 17 from Fontana (Spain) EP 465 271 TE, 1965
CD 3, Tracks 15-18 from Love Makes the World Go Round: The Motown Years, Tamla Motown/Spectrum 983 179-5, 2005
CD 3, Tracks 19-20 from Motown Unreleased 1969, digital release, 2019
CD 3, Track 21 previously unreleased

Categories: News Formats: Box Sets, CD Genre: Pop, R&B/Soul Tags: Kiki Dee

Avatar photo

Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with Real Gone Music, has released newly-curated collections produced by Joe from iconic artists such as Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Chet Atkins, and many others. He has contributed liner notes to reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, B.J. Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, and Andy Williams, and has compiled releases for talents including Robert Goulet and Keith Allison of Paul Revere and the Raiders. Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray. Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

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Comments

  1. Robert Lett says

    September 1, 2020 at 11:15 am

    I wonder if Amazon UK will ever start accepting orders from the U.S. again. I'd like to get the signed version but they won't ship here now.

    Reply
    • Phil Cohen says

      September 1, 2020 at 1:35 pm

      Contact the record label and they will probably be able to direct you to a dealer who will sell it to you. I bought from amazon.co.uk for 14 years, but I will never return. I've found other sources for British CD's.
      Amazon.co.uk's embargo against American customers is disgusting and discriminatory.

      Reply
      • Avatar photoJoe Marchese says

        September 1, 2020 at 2:42 pm

        The embargo is not across-the-board currently; in recent days, I've purchased one major box set and a number of Blu-rays from Amazon U.K. for shipment to the United States. Some items, such as the Kiki box, are still subject to territorial restrictions; Amazon U.S. isn't selling it, either.

        Reply
        • Robert Lett says

          October 15, 2020 at 12:07 pm

          Amazon UK is now taking orders for the signed edition, i just ordered. Go figure.

          Reply
  2. Joe Mac Pherson says

    September 1, 2020 at 11:21 am

    To my very real regret, Amazon UK isn't shipping this box set to the U.S.
    In the past, I ordered special edition CD box sets, also signed CD sets and signed CD releases from Amazon UK, without a problem. This is the first time I've encountered a situation with Amazon UK, where they won't send a special edition/deluxe edition music set to the United States of America.
    This is frustrating and quite irritating. By refusing to ship Kiki Dee's box set overseas to us, an entire market of buyers is denied access to the music. This creates a potential profit loss.
    I can only hope, Amazon.ca offers the same box set for sale. If this happens, I'm sure the signed photograph won't be part of the package, but still, I'll have the box set which is better than not having it at all.

    Reply
    • Daniel Bartko says

      September 1, 2020 at 11:56 am

      It may not be a reachable goal
      for either of you,but one
      possibility for making this happen
      might be that if you have a
      Dealer or a contact of some
      kind overseas that may be
      willing to help out by purchasing
      for you and mailing it off to
      you.Work out some kind of
      payment between the two
      of you.I have in the past done
      something similar the other way.
      If it is someone who has dealt
      with you for a long time,
      they may say yes.
      Regards,
      Dan

      Reply
    • Robert Lett says

      October 15, 2020 at 12:07 pm

      Amazon UK is now taking orders from the US for the signed edition, I just ordered.

      Reply
  3. Phil Cohen says

    September 1, 2020 at 8:50 pm

    I guess that Jeff Bezos (who certainly gave his expressed approval for the embargo) will be happy when we obtain the music from an illegal download site.. Yes, I'm aware that the British post office has (recently)imposed a steep surcharge on parcels destined for the U.S.A., but amazon.co.uk frequently ships U.S.A.-destined boxed set from their French and German affiliates. They seldom ship anything to the U.S.A. via Royal Mail. They have several dozen smaller parcel companies that they can use, such as "Asendia"
    And smaller independant Uk record shops won't enforce territorial restrictions.

    Reply
  4. Jeff says

    September 4, 2020 at 11:09 pm

    Like wow! I am really looking forward to this Kiki Dee box set, if I can get it that is. It has some really awesome tracks on it and some I've never heard. I recently got last year's "The Rocket Years" box set (a fabulous collection!) from Amazon (U.S.) with no problems, though a search showed the item as "currently unavailable"-I just had to look closer for it and finally found it. Unfortunately almost every other CD I see that I want is an import, and by the time I find something I like, it's either out-of-stock, out-of-print or unavailable. Luckily, I have been able to get many of these hard-to-find, rare, and out-of-print CDs that I want via Amazon or from sellers on Amazon, Ebay, etc. through the years.
    It would be great if more of these U.K . and other European only compact disc releases were also released in a domestic U.S. edition. I guess the U.S. record companies don't realize that yes, there are fans who would definitely want to buy a reissued CD, remaster or box set, etc. such as this release by an artist they they like, whether import or not. Stuff like this ought to be easy to find without all the "red tape" and "runaround". This Kiki Dee fan here in the U.S. definitely hopes to find this forthcoming box set. Good luck in finding it for all who have it on their "Wish list."

    Reply
    • Robert Lett says

      October 15, 2020 at 12:08 pm

      Amazon UK is now taking orders from the US for the signed edition, i just ordered.

      Reply

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