Swing Out Sister swung back into form with their 1992 album ‘Get In Touch With Yourself’ (UK#27/US#113). The album continued to see Swing Out Sister marry together several normally disparate styles of music, jazz/pop/soul/funk, which at once invited and alienated listeners, depending upon their individual preferences. But though at times caught betwixt and between, the album managed to produced two well received singles. ‘Am I The Same Girl’ leaned more to a mainstream adult contemporary sound, leading it to much airplay and #1 on the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart (#45 Hot 100), whilst it peaked at #21 in Britain. The song was a reworking of the 1969 Barbara Acklin hit of the same name, which in turn was a reworking of the 1968 instrumental top 10 hit ‘Soulful Strut’ by Young-Holt Unlimited. The follow up ‘Notgonnachange’ was more of dance oriented synth-pop effort, peaking at #49 in the U.K. and #21 on the U.S. Hot Dance Music chart. Swing Out Sister released ‘Live At The Jazz Café’ soon after, the album hard to find outside of Japan.
Much of the feel from their ‘Live At The Jazz Café’ set was captured in Swing Out Sister’s next studio album ‘The Living Return’ (1994), lending it a more fluid sound reflecting a live band in full swing (in fact ten members of the group’s stage line-up played on the record). The hybrid mix of jazz/soul/pop remained at the essence of their sound but it was somehow made edgier and more kinetic on this album, under the production supervision of Ray Hayden. Sadly, aside from the first single ‘La La (Means I Love You)’ (UK#37), which was included on the soundtrack to ‘Four Weddings And A Funeral’, the album didn’t yield any hit singles (‘Better Make It Better’ flopped completely) and in fact was the first ‘Swing Out Sister’ album to miss both U.K. and U.S. charts. Fortunately the band retained their star status on the Japanese scene, continuing to play to packed houses and selling huge volumes of albums/singles.
Following the disappointing reception for ‘The Living Return’ in Britain, Mercury Records pretty much pulled the plug on supporting Swing Out Sister at home. They released a ‘Best Of’ collection in 1996 but didn’t release the group’s next three studio albums in Britain - ‘Shapes And Patterns’ (1997), ‘Filth And Dreams’ (1999) and ‘Somewhere Deep In The Night’ (2001 - O’Duffy returned to the producer’s console for this one). Consequently singles such as ‘Somewhere In The World’ (1997) and ‘Through The Sky’ (2001) didn’t receive the commercial airplay they deserved, marking an end to Swing Out Sister’s association with the mainstream charts, though ‘Somewhere In The World‘ did reach #30 on the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart. Regardless Japan continued their love affair with Swing Out Sister, and a strong and committed fan base remained in the U.S., Britain and Europe.
Finally free of their Mercury Records deal, Swing Out Sister signed with EMI for the release of their critically acclaimed 2004 album ‘Where Our Love Grows’, with another live album ‘Live In Tokyo’, released in 2005, again reflecting the fact that Japan had become the hub of Swing Out Sister’s global popularity. In fact since 1999’s ‘Filth And Dreams’, Connell and Drewery began using Japanese studio musicians on a lot of their work.
2008 sees Swing Out Sister still swinging out across the world with their latest album ‘Beautiful Mess’. The album, featuring the single ‘Secret Love’, again sees Swing Out Sister exploring a myriad of musical styles from hip hop and jazz fusion, to sixties style melody arrangements and electronic rhythm tracks for good measure. A comprehensive tour of Japan, the U.S. and Britain throughout 2008 will see Swing Out Sister once again showcase their unique melodious mix to the world.
I have to admit that prior to writing this post I wasn’t that familiar with the overall career of British jazz style synth-pop group Swing Out Sister. I had bought their biggest hit ‘Breakout’ on vinyl 45 back in 1987, and later scored a CD copy via a compilation, as well as their other major U.K. hit ‘Surrender’. I also knew they were fronted by an ex-model and had scored a handful of minor hits in the U.K. and the U.S., but beyond that I didn’t know much about their origins, or their still active career 21 years post ‘Breakout’. So, writing this post has been an enlightening journey of discovery into the world of Swing Out Sister.
The Swing Out Sister story started in 1985 as a collaboration between keyboardist/songwriter Andy Connell and drummer Martin Jackson. Connell had been a key member of the Manchester based band A Certain Ratio, known for their jazz-funk fusion sound. Jackson had played with the pop outfit Magazine, and both thought it would be worth trying to meld the two styles, initially as a studio-based project. They were in search of a vocalist when a chance encounter at the Hacienda Club brought Corinne Drewery into the picture. Drewery was a graduate from St. Martin’s School of Art in London, and had already established a career in modelling and fashion design. But her love of music had outgrown her dedication to the fashion scene, and though she had limited professional experience as a vocalist, she was a naturally gifted singer (actually Drewery had sung for a short time with another Manchester band called Leisure, which happened to also feature the three future members of When In Rome - see previous post). When combined with her obvious stage presence and knockout looks, Drewery was the perfect fit for Swing Out Sister. Incidentally the trio arrived at their name from a 1945 film starring Arthur Teacher, called ‘Swing Out, Sister’. Whilst tossing around names it was the only thing they could agree on - they all hated the film.
A series of demo records led Swing Out Sister to be signed with Mercury Records and released their debut single ‘Blue Mood’ in 1985. The song didn’t chart but the label saw enough potential in what the group were doing to give them another shot. That second shot came in the form of the break out single ‘Breakout’, released in the U.K. in late 1986. It was a jazz pop song of the highest order, bright and cheery with irresistible hooks throughout. It was also a strong indication as to the future direction of Swing Out Sister, which musically would go on to draw comparisons with contemporary acts like Everything But The Girl and Lisa Stansfield. ‘Breakout’ broke into the U.K. top 10, peaking at #4, and when it was later released in the U.S. during 1987 it climbed to #6 (OZ#12). The song’s promo video was a clever light hearted mockery of Drewery’s background in fashion design. Drewery’s ‘bob-cut’ hairstyle also became a visual signature for Swing Out Sister during their early years.
The follow up single ‘Surrender’ had a slightly moodier sound and consolidated Swing Out Sister’s place on the charts, reaching #7 in the U.K. in early ‘87 (OZ#78). Both tracks featured on Swing Out Sister’s debut album ‘It’s Better To Travel’. The album featured a solid mix of jazz-tinged electronic pop songs, with generous helpings of string arrangements and horn sections all swirling around Corinne Drewery’s strong vocal performance. Other stand out tracks were ‘Twilight World’ (US#31/UK#32) and the Northern-soul styled ‘Fooled By A Smile’ (UK#43). The album peaked at #1 on the British charts for two weeks in mid ‘87, whilst it hit #23 in Australia and #40 in the U.S., earning Swing Out Sister a Grammy Award nomination for ‘Best New Artist’. It was produced by Paul Staveley O’Duffy, who would become a long term creative partner in the studio with Swing Out Sister. Meanwhile the one time studio based trio put together a live band to hit the road, taking their music to their newly established fan base.
Following the monumental reception offered their debut album, co-founder Martin Jackson withdrew from drumming duties, though he did hang around to contribute drum programming for the Swing Out Sister’s second album, leaving Connell and Drewery to carry on essentially as a duo. For 1989’s ‘Kaleidoscope World’ (UK#9/US#61) Swing Out Sister dipped their toes deep into the rich waters of 60’s orchestral style pop (think Burt Bacharach), recruiting the legendary Jimmy Webb to oversee orchestral arrangements. The lead out single ‘You On My Mind’ peaked at #28 on the British charts, but missed the mark in other markets, though the follow up ‘Waiting Game’ peaked at #6 on the U.S. Adult Contemporary charts in mid ‘89 (#86 Hot 100). The third single ‘Where In The World’ managed a climb to #47 in the U.K., but overall neither album nor singles lived up to the lofty standards set by the initial surge of Swing Out Sister. However, it was around this time that Japan fell in love with Swing Out Sister, prompting a specially released album of remixes to be released for the Japanese market (‘Another Non-Stop Sister’ - 1989), followed by ‘Swing 3’ in 1990, which was a collection of early B-sides and previously unreleased tracks.
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Swing Out Sister swung back into form with their 1992 album ‘Get In Touch With Yourself’ (UK#27/US#113). The album continued to see Swing Out Sister marry together several normally disparate styles of music, jazz/pop/soul/funk, which at once invited and alienated listeners, depending upon their individual preferences. But though at times caught betwixt and between, the album managed to produced two well received singles. ‘Am I The Same Girl’ leaned more to a mainstream adult contemporary sound, leading it to much airplay and #1 on the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart (#45 Hot 100), whilst it peaked at #21 in Britain. The song was a reworking of the 1969 Barbara Acklin hit of the same name, which in turn was a reworking of 
the 1968 instrumental top 10 hit ‘Soulful Strut’ by Young-Holt Unlimited. The follow up ‘Notgonnachange’ was more of dance oriented synth-pop effort, peaking at #49 in the U.K. and #21 on the U.S. Hot Dance Music chart. Swing Out Sister released ‘Live At The Jazz Café’ soon after, the album hard to find outside of Japan.
and more kinetic on this album, under the production supervision of Ray Hayden. Sadly, aside from the first single ‘La La (Means I Love You)’ (UK#37), which was included on the soundtrack to ‘Four Weddings And A Funeral’, the album didn’t yield any hit singles (‘Better Make It Better’ flopped completely) and in fact was the first ‘Swing Out Sister’ album to miss both U.K. and U.S. charts. Fortunately the band retained their star status on the Japanese scene, continuing to play to packed houses and selling huge volumes of albums/singles.
Following the disappointing reception for ‘The Living Return’ in Britain, Mercury Records pretty much pulled the plug on supporting Swing Out Sister at home. They released a ‘Best Of’ collection in 1996 but didn’t release the group’s next three studio albums in Britain - ‘Shapes And Patterns’ (1997), ‘Filth And Dreams’ (1999) and ‘Somewhere Deep In The Night’ (2001 - O’Duffy returned to the producer’s console for this one). Consequently singles such as ‘Somewhere In The World’ (1997) and ‘Through The Sky’ (2001) didn’t receive the commercial airplay they deserved, marking an end to Swing Out Sister’s association with the mainstream charts, though ‘Somewhere In The World‘ did reach #30 on the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart. Regardless Japan continued their love affair with 
Swing Out Sister, and a strong and committed fan base remained in the U.S., Britain and Europe.
sees Swing Out Sister exploring a myriad of musical styles from hip hop and jazz fusion, to sixties style melody arrangements and electronic rhythm tracks for good measure. A comprehensive tour of Japan, the U.S. and Britain throughout 2008 will see Swing Out Sister once again showcase their unique melodious mix to the world.
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