Wednesday, 21 September 2022

Corrine Drewery (Swing Out Sister) - A Profile


Martin Jackson ex member of Swing Out Sister was 67 on 30 Aug and today is Corrine Drewery's 63rd  birthday. Jackson formed Swing Out Sister with Andy Connell who were later joined by vocalist Corrine Drewery. Prior to forming the group he was a member Manchester band Magazine formed by Howard Devoto of The Buzzcocks. Connell was with The Immediates and A Certain Ratio. Drewery had sung with Working Week.
Swing Out Sister's first single was "Blue Mood" in 1985 which did nothing but they followed it with "Breakout" which was a top 10 hit in UK (#4) and US (#6) and a #1 on US Adult Contemporary chart. They had a run of ten Top 100 hits between 1986-1994 with six top 40 and two top 10 hits, but none achieved the same success as "Breakout". In 1992 they covered Barbara Acklin's "Am I The Same Girl" which was a vocal version of Young Holt Unlimited instrumental hit "Soulful Strut" and their third biggest hit reaching #21.

Their 1987 debut album "It's Better To Travel" was a UK #1. They followed it with "Kaleidoscope World" which reached #9. Their third album "Get in Touch with Yourself" got to #27 which was their last album chart entry despite releasing seven further albums between 1994-2018.

I suspect that the group's 'soulful' sound was influenced by Corrine Drewery who I was at school with and who, like many of us at the time, was into Northern Soul. She was a fashion designer and model prior to joining the group. Connell and Jackson were previously in post-punk groups. 

Rather than a playlist, I've posted videos for all ten of their UK chart hits.


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1 comment:

  1. My god, how well you are introduced into the little world of Soul, going back to the school benches!!! That said, a good English band with some great tracks, especially with this cover of "Am I The Same Girl" which is not easy behind our great Barbara Acklin.

    Yves

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