Right Now (Leon Jackson album)
Encyclopedia
Right Now is the debut album by Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 Jazz singer Leon Jackson
Leon Jackson
Leon Jackson is a Scottish singer-songwriter. He won the fourth series of British talent show The X Factor in 2007. Following his win, Jackson was the main star of his on-web series entitled Leon's Life, which ran from 2007 until 2008...

, released on October 20, 2008 on Syco Music
Syco
Syco Entertainment, often known as simply Syco , is a global joint venture between Simon Cowell and Sony Music Entertainment focused on the production and exploitation of music, television, film and digital content...

. Jackson described the album as "a mixture in styles of modern jazz with singer-songwriter elements, and a lot of it is really soulful." The album was released via Syco Music
Syco
Syco Entertainment, often known as simply Syco , is a global joint venture between Simon Cowell and Sony Music Entertainment focused on the production and exploitation of music, television, film and digital content...

 and Sony BMG, with Steve Mac
Steve Mac
Steve Mac , is a songwriter, record producer and owner of Rokstone Studios in London.He has produced more than 22 number one singles in the UK and had several multi-million selling albums worldwide...

 serving as the album's producer. Right Now received positive reviews from media critics, who praised Jackson's deep voice on songs such as "Could Do Better" and his hit single, "Don't Call This Love
Don't Call This Love
"Don't Call This Love" is a song by Scottish singer Leon Jackson, released on October 12, 2008 on CD Format and Digital Download. The song is taken from his debut album Right Now and is his second single release after his Christmas number one song "When You Believe" in 2007...

", which was released the albums second single in October 2008, where it debuted at number three on the UK Singles Charts.

Although Right Now is one of two album's (along with Joe McElderry's Wide Awake
Wide Awake (Joe McElderry album)
Wide Awake is the debut album of English pop singer Joe McElderry, winner of the sixth series of British talent competition The X Factor...

), to not make number one on the UK Album Charts, Right Now was still a commercially successful album for Jackson, debuting within the top five of the UK Album Charts, and beating the likes of opera singer, Katherine Jenkins
Katherine Jenkins
Katherine Jenkins is a Welsh mezzo-soprano. She is a classical-popular crossover singer who performs across a spectrum of operatic arias, popular songs, musical theatre and hymns.-Early life and education:...

 to a higher debut position. To date, the album has sold over 150,000 copies in the UK, becoming Gold certified by the BPI, and has sold at least 200,000 copies worldwide.

Background and release

The first single from the album, "Don't Call This Love
Don't Call This Love
"Don't Call This Love" is a song by Scottish singer Leon Jackson, released on October 12, 2008 on CD Format and Digital Download. The song is taken from his debut album Right Now and is his second single release after his Christmas number one song "When You Believe" in 2007...

", was released on 12 October 2008. Jackson made a guest appearance on the fifth series of The X Factor
The X Factor (UK series 5)
The fifth UK series of The X Factor was broadcast on ITV in 2008. The series started on 16 August and was won by Alexandra Burke on 13 December, with new judge Cheryl Cole emerging as the winning mentor. Auditions in front of producers were held in April/May, with callbacks in front of the judges...

 the night before, to perform the single. "Don't Call This Love" peaked at #3 in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and #8 in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

.

Right Now was released 21 October 2008. It debuted at number 7 on the Ireland Top 75 the week of 23 October 2008, remaining on that chart for a total of five weeks. It debuted at #4 on the UK Top 40 Albums chart for the week of 26 October 2008. The following week, it was at #20 on the chart, and the week after that, was at #37. The following week, it slipped out of the Top 40, but remained in the UK Top 75 chart for six additional weeks.

The next two singles from the album, "Creative" and "Stargazing", were released as download-only singles. "Creative", which was released in November 2008, peaked at #94 on the charts for the week of the 29th of November, 2008. "Stargazing" was released in January 2009, but failed to make any impact on the charts. The album reportedly only sold 130,000 copies. On March 19, 2009, it was confirmed that Leon Jackson was dropped by his label, Syco
Syco
Syco Entertainment, often known as simply Syco , is a global joint venture between Simon Cowell and Sony Music Entertainment focused on the production and exploitation of music, television, film and digital content...

/Sony, after poor sales of his album and the lack of success of his most recent singles.

The album was recorded from 2007–2008 under the direction of Simon Cowell
Simon Cowell
Simon Phillip Cowell is an English A&R executive, television producer, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is known in the United Kingdom and United States for his role as a talent judge on TV shows such as Pop Idol, The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and American Idol...

 head of record label Syco
Syco
Syco Entertainment, often known as simply Syco , is a global joint venture between Simon Cowell and Sony Music Entertainment focused on the production and exploitation of music, television, film and digital content...

/Sony BMG and under the production of producer Steve Mac
Steve Mac
Steve Mac , is a songwriter, record producer and owner of Rokstone Studios in London.He has produced more than 22 number one singles in the UK and had several multi-million selling albums worldwide...

. In an episode of the Bebo
Bebo
Bebo is a social networking website launched in July 2005. It is currently owned and operated by Criterion Capital Partners after taking over from AOL in June 2010....

 series from Jackson Leon's Life, one episode shows Jackson recording the track "All in Good Time" and how the original high note towards the end of the song was changed to a lower key note as Jackson could not reach the high note well enough on the original version of the song. The album was completed in 2008, Released on October 20, 2008 with Steve Mac
Steve Mac
Steve Mac , is a songwriter, record producer and owner of Rokstone Studios in London.He has produced more than 22 number one singles in the UK and had several multi-million selling albums worldwide...

 as lead producer of the album. The single was available to download from midnight after the result of the show on December 15, 2007, and a CD was rush-released mid-week, on December 19, 2007. This is unusual as most new singles are released on a Monday to gain maximum sales for the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 the following Sunday. Exceptions included the previous two X Factor winners who's were singles released in this fashion, in order for them to compete to be the Christmas number-one single, which they all became. A video for the single was made by each of the final four of the series; Jackson, Rhydian Roberts, Same Difference
Same Difference
Same Difference can refer to:* Same Difference, a British singing duo* Same Difference , an album by Swedish death metal band Entombed* Same Difference , a show which aired on Channel 4...

 and Niki Evans
Niki Evans
Niki Evans is an English actress and singer. She is best known for her appearance in the fourth UK series of the popular television talent show The X Factor in 2007. She is currently appearing as Mrs. Johnstone in the current UK national tour of Blood Brothers.-Pre X Factor:Niki Evans has sung...

. However, only the winner's version of the song and video was released.

The song ended 2007 as the year's fourth biggest-selling single in the UK and remained number one into 2008. However, this version of the song only managed to stay in the top 40 for seven weeks, despite being the staying atop the chart for three weeks. It also soon disappeared from the top 100, and was gone by late February.

Promotion

The help promote Right Now, Jackson performed on various UK TV Shows such GMTV
GMTV
GMTV was the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 to 3 September 2010. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc. in November 2009. Shortly after, ITV plc announced the programme would end...

, This Morning
This Morning (TV series)
This Morning is a British daytime television programme broadcast on ITV. As of September 2011, its main presenters are Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, and Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes, with various other presenters standing in for illness or contributing to sections of the programme.The...

 and The X Factor
The X Factor (UK)
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. Created by Simon Cowell, it began in September 2004 and is contested by aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. It is the originator of the international X Factor franchise. The seven series of the show to date...

. Jackson's first single When You Believe which reached #1 in the UK was performed by Jackson in December 2007 to help promote the single. He performed it on GMTV
GMTV
GMTV was the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 to 3 September 2010. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc. in November 2009. Shortly after, ITV plc announced the programme would end...

, The X Factor
The X Factor (UK)
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. Created by Simon Cowell, it began in September 2004 and is contested by aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. It is the originator of the international X Factor franchise. The seven series of the show to date...

 and This Morning.

After one year recording Right Now, Jackson debuted his new material. His first performance of his new material was on The X Factor
The X Factor (UK)
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. Created by Simon Cowell, it began in September 2004 and is contested by aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. It is the originator of the international X Factor franchise. The seven series of the show to date...

, in which he sang his new single "Don't Call This Love
Don't Call This Love
"Don't Call This Love" is a song by Scottish singer Leon Jackson, released on October 12, 2008 on CD Format and Digital Download. The song is taken from his debut album Right Now and is his second single release after his Christmas number one song "When You Believe" in 2007...

". Jackson also later appeared on the first show of the fifth series as the Celebrity Guest. The song was also performed on GMTV
GMTV
GMTV was the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 to 3 September 2010. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc. in November 2009. Shortly after, ITV plc announced the programme would end...

 along with another track from the album, You Don't Know Me. Don't Call this Love finally debuted at #3 in the United Kingdom behind Pink
Pink (singer)
Alecia Beth Moore , better known by her stage name Pink , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and actress....

's So What
So What (Pink song)
"So What" is a song written by American pop rock singer Pink, Max Martin and Shellback. It was released as the first single from Pink's fifth studio album, Funhouse. Pink performed "So What" at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, on September 7, 2008, and the song was used to promote the 2008 MTV...

 and Peter Kay's The Winners Song. In Ireland, the song debuted at #8.

Jackson performed the album's third single, "Creative
Creative (song)
"Creative" was released in November 2008 as the third single from Leon Jackson's debut album Right Now. To promote the track Jackson appeared on the official BBC Children in Need 2008 show performing the song as a "exclusive" as this was the first time Jackson had performed the track...

", on the 2008 televised Children in Need
Children in Need
Children in Need is an annual British charity appeal organised by the BBC. Since 1980 it has raised over £500 million. The highlight of the Children in Need appeal is an annual telethon, held in November. A teddy bear named "Pudsey Bear" fronts the campaign, while Terry Wogan is a long...

, broadcast to the UK in November. The single only debuted at #94 in the United Kingdom.

The album's fourth single, "Stargazing", failed to chart in the United Kingdom. The failure of this single was attributed to low promotion. Jackson was dropped by his record label in March 2009.

Singles

"When You Believe" was released as the winners single in December 2007. Like many X Factor winner singles, it debuted at #1 in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 for 3 weeks and #1 in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. The song was gone from the charts by early February 2008. The single sold 490,000 copies. The single was available to download from midnight after the result of the show on December 15, 2007, and a CD was rush-released mid-week, on December 19, 2007. This is unusual as most new singles are released on a Monday to gain maximum sales for the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 the following Sunday. Exceptions included the previous two X Factor winners who's were singles released in this fashion, in order for them to compete to be the Christmas number-one single, which they all became. A video for the single was made by each of the final four of the series; Jackson, Rhydian Roberts, Same Difference
Same Difference
Same Difference can refer to:* Same Difference, a British singing duo* Same Difference , an album by Swedish death metal band Entombed* Same Difference , a show which aired on Channel 4...

 and Niki Evans
Niki Evans
Niki Evans is an English actress and singer. She is best known for her appearance in the fourth UK series of the popular television talent show The X Factor in 2007. She is currently appearing as Mrs. Johnstone in the current UK national tour of Blood Brothers.-Pre X Factor:Niki Evans has sung...

. However, only the winner's version of the song and video was released.

The song ended 2007 as the year's fourth biggest-selling single in the UK and remained number one into 2008. However, this version of the song only managed to stay in the top 40 for seven weeks, despite being the staying atop the chart for three weeks. It also soon disappeared from the top 100, and was gone by late February. "Don't Call This Love
Don't Call This Love
"Don't Call This Love" is a song by Scottish singer Leon Jackson, released on October 12, 2008 on CD Format and Digital Download. The song is taken from his debut album Right Now and is his second single release after his Christmas number one song "When You Believe" in 2007...

" was released in October 2008. Jackson appeared on the X Factor
The X Factor (UK)
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. Created by Simon Cowell, it began in September 2004 and is contested by aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. It is the originator of the international X Factor franchise. The seven series of the show to date...

, GMTV
GMTV
GMTV was the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 to 3 September 2010. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc. in November 2009. Shortly after, ITV plc announced the programme would end...

, This Morning
This Morning (TV series)
This Morning is a British daytime television programme broadcast on ITV. As of September 2011, its main presenters are Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, and Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes, with various other presenters standing in for illness or contributing to sections of the programme.The...

 and other TV Shows to promote the single. The single debuted at #3 in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and #7 in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

.

"Creative
Creative (song)
"Creative" was released in November 2008 as the third single from Leon Jackson's debut album Right Now. To promote the track Jackson appeared on the official BBC Children in Need 2008 show performing the song as a "exclusive" as this was the first time Jackson had performed the track...

" was released in November 2008 as the albums third single. To promote the track Jackson appeared on the official BBC Children in Need 2008 show performing the song as a "exclusive" as this was the first time Jackson had performed the track. The song went onto debut at #94 on the UK Singles Charts. "Stargazing" was released in February 2009, but did not reach the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 official chart. Yet again the song was only available via digital download. Jackson did not appear on any TV show to promote the single, nor was any music video created for the song. The song had a lack of promotion by Sony BMG. After the release of "Stargazing" failing to chart, Jackson was dropped. The BBC commented on Stargazing:
While the lyrics for Star Gazing may be rather saccharine - rhyming star gazing with amazing, is a bit too much to take - the pace and structure, (along with all-important key change) makes it pretty special - which can be said about all the tracks here.

Reception

Right Now received mixed reviews. Digital Spy
Digital Spy
Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088....

 rated the album two out of five, saying "Jackson doesn't do a bad job, wrapping his warm, smooth vocals around a succession of beige ballads, classics that are too old for him (Leon Russell's 'A Song For You', Dorothy Moore's 'Misty Blue', Ray Charles's 'You Don't Know Me') and the odd uptempo big band number. But other than sounding surprisingly manly for a slight 19-year-old and singing in a Scottish accent for the first time on the album's penultimate track, he doesn't make much of an impression. He's rarely asked to test his range and there are few glimmers of personality across Right Now's 50 minutes."

A reviewer for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 said: "Oh, this album has all the ingredients of something many would love to hate: it's by an X Factor winner and it's in the style of Harry Connick Jr, Michael Buble, and all those Irish man-bands' tributes to Frank, Tony etc. It's also taken over a year since Leon's first single to come up with, so many will be saying Leon who?. It's a brave move in the openly cynical world of the nationwide talent contest to expect those sitting on the sofa to remember one year's winner to the next, but it's paid off. Looking rather older and sporting suspiciously photoshopped cheekbone chisels, the cheeky chappy's voice is also surprisingly mature and smooth as a baby's... He's surrounded by equally slick orchestration, which is light of touch and spaciously balanced. Incredibly, given that most tracks are ballads, underpinned by piano with soaring violins, the album neatly avoids overblown territory, which must be credited to Jackson's vocal control, never over-singing. Opener and first single Don't Call This Love is complete with chimes and full of force, though it's not certain that it's charismatic enough to knock Peter Kay’s Winner's song off the top spot."

Track listing

Digital Download Bonus Tracks
  • 14. "Home" - 2:34
  • 15. "Fly Me To The Moon" - 2:25
  • 16. "Don't Give Up" - 3:51

Release history

Region Release date Format Label
Ireland 17 October 2008 CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

, digital download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...

Syco Music, Sony BMG
United Kingdom 20 October 2008

Charts

Chart (2008) Peak
position
Certification Sales
UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...

4 Gold 130,000+
Irish Albums Chart
Irish Albums Chart
The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically...

7 Platinum 15,000+
World Albums Top 100 25 - -
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