Kelly Marie (born Jacqueline McKinnon; 16 October 1957) is a Scottish singer, best known for the song " Feels Like I'm in Love", a No. 1 hit in the UK in 1980.

Early career

Born to Alex and Jeanette McKinnon, Kelly Marie began training for a performing career at age ten. She began appearing in singing competitions at age twelve and made her television debut at age fifteen. At age sixteen, as Keli Brown, she appeared on the television talent show '' Opportunity Knocks'' winning four times, with her rendition of "

I Don't Know How to Love Him "I Don't Know How to Love Him" is a song from the 1970 album and 1971 rock opera ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' written by Andrew Lloyd Webber (music) and Tim Rice (lyrics), a torch ballad sung by the character of Mary Magdalene. In the opera sh ...

". This exposure led to her signing with

Pye Records PYE or Pye Records is an independent British record label. It was first established in 1955 and played a major role in shaping rock 'n' roll and pop music history. The Pye name was dropped in 1980 due to trademark issues, after which it produced ...

, who released Marie's debut single "Who's that Lady with My Man" in April 1976: that track reached No. 5 in France during the summer and earned a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

for sales in excess of 300,000 copies: the follow-up, "Help Me", was also a hit in France, reaching No. 17. Also in 1976, she was credited for her cameo vocal on "Sister Mary" a No. 2 hit in Ireland for

Joe Dolan Joseph Francis Robert Dolan (16 October 1939 – 26 December 2007) was an Irish singer, entertainer and recording artist. Chiefly known in Ireland for his association with Irish showband, showbands and for his innovative style and high tenor s ...

. Her 1977 single, "Run to Me", was a hit in the Netherlands (No. 22) and South Africa (No. 5), while in Canada, the B-side of "Run to Me" titled "Listen to the Children" reached No. 36 on the Canadian A.C. chart on 17 September 1977. In 1978, "Make Love to Me" gave Marie her most significant success (to that point) in the English-speaking world, reaching No. 2 in South Africa and No. 5 in Australia; the track spent forty-one weeks in the Australian Top 100 and was ranked as the No. 12 hit of the year.

"Feels Like I'm in Love"

Marie chanced across the song " Feels Like I'm in Love" in a music publishing office:

Ray Dorset Raymond Edward Dorset (born 21 March 1946) is a British guitarist, singer, songwriter, and founder of Mungo Jerry. He composed most of the songs for the band, including the hit record, hit single (music), singles "In the Summertime", "Baby Ju ...

had written it in 1977 in hopes of having

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

record it; it's unclear if the song was ever pitched to Presley before his death that year. Dorset's group

Mungo Jerry Mungo Jerry (formerly known as Mungo Jerry Blues Band) are a British rock band formed by Ray Dorset in Ashford, Middlesex, in 1970. Experiencing their greatest success in the early 1970s, with a changing line-up always fronted by Dorset, the ...

did record the song but their version was relegated to the B-side of a Belgian single "Sur Le Pont D'Avignon" (A-side). Marie and Peter Yellowstone – who had

co-written Collaborative fiction is a form of writing by a group of authors who share creative control of a story. Collaborative fiction can occur for commercial gain, as part of education, or recreationally – many collaboratively written works have bee ...

her hits with Mike Tinsley – saw the potential of the song as a follow-up to "Make Love to Me", and Marie's recording of "Feels Like I'm in Love" returned her to the top 10 in South Africa (No. 7) in November 1979. Like all of Marie's recordings to that date, "Feels Like I'm in Love" initially failed to become a hit in the UK, but it did become a popular disco tune first in Scotland and eventually all over Britain. The track's prolonged popularity in the clubs led Pye to re-release the song in the summer of 1980, and after a No. 61 debut on the chart dated 2 August, "Feels Like I'm in Love" then entered the top ten on 23 August, and spent the weeks of 13 and 20 September at No. 1. The track also enjoyed international success with chart rankings of No. 6 in Austria, No. 2 in Belgium, No. 6 in Australia, No. 5 in Germany, and No. 3 in the Netherlands and Ireland. In addition, the track reached No. 10 on the U.S. Dance chart in 1981.

Later career

The intense success of "Feels Like I'm in Love" did not result in any significant stardom for its singer. The decline of Marie's mainstream career became clear when her UK releases subsequent to "Feels Like I'm in Love" charted first outside the top 20 ("Loving Just for Fun" No. 21; "Hot Love" No. 22) and then outside the top 50 ("Love Trial" No. 51). Marie continued to record dance tracks, through which she remained a presence on the international club scene. She took a break from recording in 1984, around the time she met her husband and began a family, which would extend to five daughters and one son. After another absence from recording, Marie cut a new version of "Feels Like I'm in Love" in 1997, and continued recording with dance versions of " Rescue Me", " I'm in the Mood for Dancin'", "

Blanket on the Ground "Blanket on the Ground" is a song written by Roger Bowling and recorded by American country music singer Billie Jo Spears. It was released in February 1975 as the second single and title track from the album '' Blanket on the Ground''. Irish b ...

", " Runaway", "

Millennium A millennium () is a period of one thousand years, one hundred decades, or ten centuries, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting ...

", " I Need a Man" and " River Deep - Mountain High" as well as a new version of "Hot Love". Her final recording to date would seem to be a 2002 collaboration with Tina Charles with whom she remade " To Sir with Love" and " Your Disco Needs You". On 7 May 2005, Marie appeared on the ITV show '' Hit Me, Baby, One More Time'', singing "Feels Like I'm in Love" and " Oops!... I Did It Again" in hopes of progressing to the final to compete for the major label release of a new single. The popular vote went to

Chesney Hawkes Chesney Lee Hawkes (born 22 September 1971) is an English singer and occasional actor. He started his career at the age of 19 when he appeared in the film '' Buddy's Song'', which featured his best-known single " The One and Only", which topped ...

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Who's That Lady with My Man?'' (

, 1976) * ''Make Love to Me'' (Pye Records, 1978) * ''If I Can't Have You'' (

Disques Vogue Disques Vogue was a jazz record company founded in France by Léon Cabat and Charles Delaunay in 1947, the year after the American Vogue label ceased. They originally specialized in jazz, featuring American performers such as Sidney Bechet, ...

, 1978) * ''Do You Like It Like That?'' (Calibre Records, 1979) * ''Feels Like I'm in Love'' (PRT Records, 1980)

Compilation albums

* ''The Best of Kelly Marie'' (2002) * ''Feels Like I'm in Love – The Ultimate Collection'' (2007)

Singles

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly Marie 1957 births British hi-NRG musicians Living people 20th-century Scottish women singers Musicians from Paisley, Renfrewshire