British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
soul
The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...
–
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
Dina Carroll
Geraldine "Dina" Carroll (born 21 August 1968) is an English singer. She had a string of hits during the 1990s, including the UK top ten singles "It's Too Late (Carole King song)#Quartz version, It's Too Late" (1991), "Don't Be a Stranger (Din ...
, released in January 1993 on the A&M label. The album made its chart debut at #2 and remained in the top 20 of the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
for six months. It was shortlisted for the 1993
Mercury Prize
The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual Music award, music prize awarded for the best album released by a musical act from the Music of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom or Music of Ireland, Ireland. It was cre ...
. It ended 1993 as the fourth-best-selling album of the year in the United Kingdom, and its success continued into 1994 as it remained in the top 20 for another three months and again rose to a peak of #2. It eventually sold 1.5 million copies and was the highest selling debut album by a British female singer in UK chart history, a record it held until 2001 when it was overtaken by
Dido
Dido ( ; , ), also known as Elissa ( , ), was the legendary founder and first queen of the Phoenician city-state of Carthage (located in Tunisia), in 814 BC.
In most accounts, she was the queen of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre (located ...
's '' No Angel''.
Among the session musicians on the album are the Blues Brothers' horn section,
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...
's bass player Anthony Jackson and
Cissy Houston
Emily Drinkard (September 30, 1933 – October 7, 2024), known professionally as Cissy Houston, was an American soul and gospel singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, Houston began singing with three of her siblings in the family gospel group, T ...
's New Hope Baptist Choir. On the album release, ''
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 ...
'' wrote, "Here we have a real soul singer, as sophisticated and sensual as
Lisa Stansfield
Lisa Jane Stansfield (born 11 April 1966) is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. Her career began in 1980 when she won the singing competition ''Search for a Star''. After appearances in various television shows and releasing her first ...
, who fits both the trendy club scene as well as the plush surroundings of chic nightclubbing."
Singles
Three tracks from ''So Close'' (" Ain't No Man", "Special Kind of Love" and " So Close") had already been Top 20 hits in the UK Singles Chart during 1992, before the album was released in January 1993. " This Time" and "
Express
Express, The Expresss or EXPRESS may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Film
* ''Express: Aisle to Glory'', a 1998 comedy short film featuring Kal Penn
* ''The Express: The Ernie Davis Story'', a 2008 film starring Dennis Quaid
* The Expre ...
" also became Top 30 hits after the release of the album; then towards the end of 1993 the ballad " Don't Be a Stranger" was released as a single and turned out to be the album's biggest seller, reaching #3 on the UK Singles Chart.
Track listing
*All tracks composed by Dina Carroll and Nigel Lowis unless stated.
# "
Special Kind of Love
"Special Kind of Love" is a song by British singer-songwriter Dina Carroll, released in September 1992 by A&M Records and 1st Avenue as the second single from her debut album, '' So Close'' (1993). The song was written and produced by American r ...
Express
Express, The Expresss or EXPRESS may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Film
* ''Express: Aisle to Glory'', a 1998 comedy short film featuring Kal Penn
* ''The Express: The Ernie Davis Story'', a 2008 film starring Dennis Quaid
* The Expre ...
" 4:34
# "Heaven Sent" 3:46
# "You'll Never Know" 5:56
# " Don't Be a Stranger" (Coral Gordon, Geoff Gurd) 4:22
# "Why Did I Let You Go?" 3:29
# "If I Knew You Then" 4:18
Personnel
*Arranged by trings– Nigel Lowis (tracks: 3 9)
*Design – Jeremy Pearce
*Drum programming – CJ Mackintosh (tracks: 4, 6 to 8), Nigel Lowis (tracks: 3 10)
*Engineer, producer dditional production– Steve Boyer (tracks: 3, 8)
*Guitar – Nigel Lowis (tracks: 4 6 7)
*Keyboards – Nigel Lowis (tracks: 3 4 6 7 10)
*Leader trings– David Nadien (tracks: 3, 8)
*Mixed by – CJ Mackintosh (tracks: 2 4 6 7 9), Nigel Lowis (tracks: 2, 4 to 7, 9, 10)
*Mixed by ssistant–
Howie B
Howard Simon Bernstein (born 18 April 1963, Glasgow, Scotland) is a Scottish musician, producer and DJ who has worked with artists including Björk, U2, Tricky, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Soul II Soul, Robbie Robertson, Elisa, Mukul Deo ...
Simon Fowler
Simon Geoffrey Fowler (born 25 May 1965) is an English singer, best known as the frontman of Ocean Colour Scene.
The Fanatics
Simon Fowler commenced his music career as the lead singer and songwriter for Birmingham band The Fanatics, which cons ...
(2)
*Producer – CJ Mackintosh (tracks: 2 9), Nigel Lowis (tracks: 2 to 12)
*Saxophone – Jimmy Gallagher (tracks: 2 9)
*Written by – Dina Carroll (tracks: 2 to 9), Nigel Lowis (tracks: 2 to 9)