"Always There" is a 1975 song by

Ronnie Laws Ronald Wayne Laws (born October 3, 1950) is an American jazz and smooth jazz saxophonist, and singer. He is the younger brother of jazz flutist Hubert Laws, jazz vocalist Eloise Laws and the older brother of Debra Laws. Biography Born and rai ...

and William Jeffrey from Laws' album ''

Pressure Sensitive Pressure sensitive may refer to: * Pressure-sensitive adhesive * Pressure-sensitive paper * Pressure-sensitive tape * Piezoelectric sensor * Pressure sensor * Pressure-sensitive microphone: see also proximity effect * the force with which a key ...

''. After producer Wayne Henderson of The Crusaders enlisted lyricist Paul B Allen III to create a vocal version of the tune, officially making Allen a co-writer, it was re-recorded in 1976 by American R&B group

Side Effect In medicine, a side effect is an effect of the use of a medicinal drug or other treatment, usually adverse but sometimes beneficial, that is unintended. Herbal and traditional medicines also have side effects. A drug or procedure usually use ...

for their third album, '' What You Need''. It was a minor hit, reaching the top 5 on the US Dance chart; however it was a larger hit for

Incognito Incognito is an English adjective meaning "in disguise", "having taken steps to conceal one's identity". Incognito may also refer to: Film and television Film * ''Incognito'', a 1915 film featuring Rae Berger * ''Incognito'' (1937 film), a Dan ...

and

Jocelyn Brown Jocelyn Lorette Brown (born November 25, 1950), sometimes credited as Jocelyn Shaw, is an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and dance music, dance singer. She has a Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart entry solely in her name. Brown sang ...

in 1991, whose version reached no. 6 in the UK.

Incognito and Jocelyn Brown version

On 17 June 1991, the song was covered and released by British

acid jazz Acid jazz (also known as club jazz, psychedelic jazz, or groove jazz) is a music genre that combines elements of funk, soul music, soul, and hip hop music, hip hop, as well as jazz and disco. Acid jazz originated in clubs in London during the 1 ...

band

and American R&B and

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

singer

, whose version was the biggest version in the UK. This was Incognito's breakthrough hit; however, Brown had been well-known and popular since the late 70s. The song was released by

Talkin' Loud Talkin' Loud was a record label, originally founded by Gilles Peterson in 1990 after he left Acid Jazz Records. The label name is based on Peterson's Dingwalls club night "Talkin' Loud And Sayin' Something", itself a reference to James Brown a ...

and

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

as the second single from the band's second album, ''Inside Life'' (1991). It peaked at number two in the Netherlands and number six in the UK.

Background

Jean-Paul 'Bluey' Maunick Jean-Paul Maunick (born 19 February 1957, Mauritius), known by his stage name Bluey is a British guitarist, bandleader, composer and record producer. He has led the British acid jazz band Incognito since its formation in 1979. With Incognito, ...

of Incognito told about the song in an interview, "It was Gilles (Peterson) who originally suggested using Jocelyn. It was a brilliant but remote idea and I thought if you can organise that, then I'm your friend for life."

Chart performance

"Always There" was a major hit on the charts in Europe and remains the band's most successful song to date. It peaked at number two in Luxembourg and the Netherlands, where it held that position for two weeks, being held off reaching the top spot by

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million album, records and Single (music), si ...

' "

(Everything I Do) I Do It For You "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Bryan Adams. Written by Adams, Michael Kamen, and Robert John "Mutt" Lange, the power ballad was the lead single for both the Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves#Music, soundtr ...

". The single entered the top 10 also in Belgium (8), Switzerland (8) and the United Kingdom. In the latter, it peaked at number six in its third week at the UK Singles Chart, on July 7, 1991. Additionally, "Always There" was a top 20 hit in Germany (20) and Sweden (19), and on the

Eurochart Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by ''Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately f ...

, it peaked at number 21, while peaking at number nine on the

European Dance Radio Chart The European Dance Radio Chart (also known as European Dance Radio Top 25) was a weekly chart compiled by pan-European magazine ''Music & Media''. After dance music had played a more dominant role on the magazine's Eurochart Hot 100 in the beginni ...

. Outside Europe, it charted in the United States, reaching number 31 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Dance Club Songs The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

chart.

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

editor David Jeffries said that the club side of

is represented best by the "

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

flashback" "Always There" with

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the musi ...

from ''

'' wrote that they "delivers a domestic version of an R&B

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

r that has already jammed hard here in clubs", stating that the track "kicks a tough enough bass line" and complimented the performance from Brown "to push it over the top". He also noted that portions of the song's hook have also been prominently featured on "

Such a Good Feeling "Such a Good Feeling" is a song by English electronic music trio Brothers in Rhythm, released as a single only. It samples Charvoni's " Always There" which itself is a cover of a Side Effect song from 1976 (which was a bigger hit for Incognito in ...

" by English electronic music trio

Brothers In Rhythm Brothers in Rhythm are a British electronic music group comprising Dave Seaman, Steve Anderson and Alan Bremner. The group was originally a duo comprising Seaman and Anderson, with Bremner joining later in 1999. They have remixed and/or produc ...

. Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' commented, "With the numerous

acts of today, only the really good singers can take a song above average level. Thanks to guest vocalist/shouter Jocelyn Brown, that's exactly what happens here." Alan Jones from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' stated that the singer is "proving she's still a devastating diva", viewing the track as "a surefire smash." Mandi James from ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' wrote, "A guaranteed floor-filler, "Always There" still has the effect of the original, having retained its essence, except now people are manically waving their arms in the air rather than dancing round their handbags." Another editor, Ian McCann, felt it "jumps out like a dog from a gate thanks to Jocelyn Brown's heartfelt wail." Upon the release of the 1996 remix, Jeremy Newall from the '' RM'' Dance Update concluded that "Jocelyn gives her most heartfelt vocal delivery in some time." Lindsay Baker from ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' complimented it as a "stirring rendition".

Track listing

; 7" single ; 12" single

Charts

Side Effect version

Incognito & Jocelyn Brown version

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

Side Effect - Always There
on Discogs
Incognito Featuring Jocelyn Brown - Always There
on Discogs {{Authority control 1975 songs 1976 debut singles 1991 singles 1996 singles Jocelyn Brown songs American disco songs American house music songs Fantasy Records singles Talkin' Loud singles Mercury Records singles Music Week number-one dance singles