Screen Gems (album)
Encyclopedia
Screen Gems is a 1984 album by Elkie Brooks
comprising Brooks' interpretations of pop standards
; the album's title references all of the selections being introduced or prominently featured in mid-20th century movie releases.
being the first CD formatted album release manufactured in the UK: vinyl and cassette versions of the album were issued a month into its release. Brooks' label A&M Records
assigned marketing of Screen Gems to EMI
who had recently set up a "television exploitation" department, a national televised advertising campaign commencing at the end of October 1984 when the album had its release in vinyl and cassette formats. It was anticipated that Screen Gems would "prove Brook's biggest seller to date"; however the album failed to chart until December 1984 and was not one of Brooks' most successful albums with a #35 peak - matching that of Brook's precedent album release Minutes
- during an 11 week chart run. With Screen Gems Brooks' association with A&M who had released all of her seven albums would end. The original CD version of Screen Gems is now a collectors' item due to its rarity, selling on eBay
for prices in excess of £50.
Elkie Brooks
Elkie Brooks is an English singer, formerly a vocalist with Vinegar Joe, and later a solo artist. Elkie has been nominated twice for Brit Awards' top female singer. She is known for her powerful husky voice...
comprising Brooks' interpretations of pop standards
Traditional pop music
Traditional pop or classic pop or standards music denotes, in general, Western popular music that either wholly predates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s, or to any popular music which exists concurrently to rock and roll but originated in a time before the appearance of rock and roll,...
; the album's title references all of the selections being introduced or prominently featured in mid-20th century movie releases.
Background
Screen Gems had its release October 1 1984 on CDCompact 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 ,...
being the first CD formatted album release manufactured in the UK: vinyl and cassette versions of the album were issued a month into its release. Brooks' label A&M Records
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
assigned marketing of Screen Gems to EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
who had recently set up a "television exploitation" department, a national televised advertising campaign commencing at the end of October 1984 when the album had its release in vinyl and cassette formats. It was anticipated that Screen Gems would "prove Brook's biggest seller to date"; however the album failed to chart until December 1984 and was not one of Brooks' most successful albums with a #35 peak - matching that of Brook's precedent album release Minutes
Minutes (album)
- Background :Minutes was Elkie's first contemporary album since 1979's Live and Learn. A&M wanted her to stick to the winning formula of the Pearls albums but Brooks had other ideas and recruited her own choice of producer and band to create what would become an experimental album for the time...
- during an 11 week chart run. With Screen Gems Brooks' association with A&M who had released all of her seven albums would end. The original CD version of Screen Gems is now a collectors' item due to its rarity, selling on eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
for prices in excess of £50.
Track listing
- "Once In a WhileOnce in a While"Once in a While" is a popular song, written by Michael Edwards with lyrics by Bud Green. The song was published in 1937.The song is a much-recorded standard. Tommy Dorsey's recording in 1937 went to number one in the United States...
" (Michael EdwardsMichael EdwardsMichael Edwards or Mike Edwards may refer to:*Michael Edwards , international development specialist*Michael Edwards , American actor*Michael Edwards , American composer and musician...
, Bud GreenBud GreenBud Green was an Austrian-born songwriter. Bud Green grew up in Harlem at 108th & Madison Ave. at the turn of the century, the eldest of seven. He dropped out of elementary school to sell newspapers and help the family...
) - "Am I Blue" (Harry AkstHarry AkstHarry Akst was an American songwriter, who started out his career as a pianist in vaudeville accompanying singers such as Nora Bayes, Frank Fay and Al Jolson.-Life and career:Akst was born in New York, United States....
, Grant ClarkeGrant ClarkeGrant Clarke was an American songwriter.Clarke moved to New York City early in his career, where he worked as an actor and a staff writer for comedians...
) - "That Old FeelingThat Old Feeling (song)"That Old Feeling" is a popular song.The music was written by Sammy Fain, the lyrics by Lew Brown. The song was published in 1937.The song first appeared in the movie Vogues of 1938, actually released in 1937. It was immediately a hit in a version recorded by Shep Fields and His Rippling Rhythm...
" (Sammy FainSammy FainSammy Fain was an American composer of popular music.-Biography:Sammy Fain was born in New York City. In 1923, Fain appeared with Artie Dunn in a short film directed by Lee De Forest filmed in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process. In 1925, Fain left the Fain-Dunn act to devote himself to...
, Lew BrownLew BrownLew Brown was a lyricist for popular songs in the United States.Brown was born as Louis Brownstein in Odessa, Russian Empire...
) - "Me and My ShadowMe and My Shadow"Me and My Shadow" is a 1927 popular song. Officially the credits show it as written by Al Jolson, Billy Rose, and Dave Dreyer; in fact, Billy Rose was exclusively a lyricist, Dreyer a composer, and Al Jolson a performer who was often given credits so he could earn some more money, so the actual...
" (Al JolsonAl JolsonAl Jolson was an American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer"....
, Dave DreyerDave DreyerDave Dreyer is a composer and pianist born on September 22, 1894 in Brooklyn, New York. He died on March 2, 1967 in New York City. He started off as a pianist with vaudeville greats such as Al Jolson, Sophie Tucker, Belle Baker, and Frank Fay. In 1923 he worked for the Irving Berlin Music Company....
, Billy RoseBilly RoseWilliam "Billy" Rose was an American impresario, theatrical showman and lyricist. He is credited with many famous songs, notably "Me and My Shadow" , "It Happened in Monterey" and "It's Only a Paper Moon"...
) - "Blue MoonBlue Moon (song)"Blue Moon"'s first crossover recording to rock and roll came from Elvis Presley in 1956. His cover version of the song was included on his self-titled debut album Elvis Presley....
" (Richard RodgersRichard RodgersRichard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
, Lorenz HartLorenz HartLorenz "Larry" Milton Hart was the lyricist half of the famed Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart...
) - "Some of These DaysSome of These Days"Some of These Days" is a popular song published in 1910 associated with Sophie Tucker.-Background:Originally written and composed by Shelton Brooks for the “Last of the Red-Hot Mamas”, "Some of These Days" became a signature song for Sophie Tucker, who made the first of her several recordings of...
" (Shelton BrooksShelton BrooksShelton Brooks was a popular music and jazz composer who wrote some of the biggest hits of the first third of the 20th century.Brooks was born in Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada...
) - "Ain't Misbehavin'Ain't Misbehavin' (song)"Ain't Misbehavin" is a 1929 song written by Thomas "Fats" Waller, Harry Brooks and Andy Razaf . Waller recorded the original version that year for Victor Records and also later performed the song in the 1943 film Stormy Weather. It was used in the off-broadway musical Connie's Hot Chocolates...
" (Fats WallerFats WallerFats Waller , born Thomas Wright Waller, was a jazz pianist, organist, composer, singer, and comedic entertainer...
, Harry BrooksHarry BrooksHarry Brooks may refer to:*Harry W. Brooks, Jr., general of the 25th Infantry Division *Harry Brooks , jazz composer, pianist and songwriter *Harry Brooks , Tennessee state representative from Knoxville...
, Andy Razaf) - "You'll Never KnowYou'll Never Know"You'll Never Know" is a popular song. The music was written by Harry Warren and the lyrics by Mack Gordon, based on a poem written by a young Oklahoma war bride named Dorothy Fern Norris....
" (Harry WarrenHarry WarrenHarry Warren was an American composer and lyricist. Warren was the first major American songwriter to write primarily for film. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song eleven times and won three Oscars for composing "Lullaby of Broadway", "You'll Never Know" and "On the Atchison,...
, Mack GordonMack GordonMack Gordon was an American composer and lyricist of songs for the stage and film. He was nominated for the best original song Oscar nine times, including six consecutive years between 1940 and 1945, and won the award once, for "You'll Never Know"...
) - "What'll I Do?" (Irving BerlinIrving BerlinIrving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...
) - "My Foolish HeartMy Foolish Heart (song)"My Foolish Heart" is a popular song that was published in 1949.The music was written by Victor Young and the lyrics by Ned Washington. The song was introduced by the singer Martha Mears in the 1949 film of the same name. The song failed to escape critics' general laceration of the film...
" (Victor YoungVictor YoungVictor Young was an American composer, arranger, violinist and conductor. He was born in Chicago.-Biography:...
, Ned WashingtonNed WashingtonNed Washington was an American lyricist.-Biography:Washington was nominated for eleven Academy Awards from 1940 to 1962...
) - "Love Me or Leave MeLove Me or Leave Me (song)"Love Me or Leave Me" is a U.S. popular song from the 1920s.The music was written by Walter Donaldson and the lyrics by Gus Kahn. The song was introduced in the Broadway play, Whoopee!, which opened in December 1928...
" (Walter DonaldsonWalter DonaldsonWalter Donaldson was a prolific United States popular songwriter, composing many hit songs of the 1910s and 1920s.-History:...
, Gus KahnGus KahnGustav Gerson Kahn was a musician, songwriter and lyricist.-Biography:Kahn was born in Koblenz, Germany in 1886. The family emigrated from there to the United States and moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1890...
) - "Three O'Clock In the Morning" (Julian Robledo, Dorothy Terriss)
Personnel
- Elkie Brooks – vocalsHuman voiceThe human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, etc. Its frequency ranges from about 60 to 7000 Hz. The human voice is specifically that part of human sound production in which the vocal folds are the primary...
- London Philharmonic OrchestraLondon Philharmonic OrchestraThe London Philharmonic Orchestra , based in London, is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom, and is based in the Royal Festival Hall. In addition, the LPO is the main resident orchestra of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera...
– orchestraOrchestraAn orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus... - Tony Clark – producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, engineer - Bill Martin – executive producerExecutive producerAn executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...