KELLY MARIE

KELLY MARIE - Biography
Jacqueline McKinnon was born in Paisley, Scotland on October 16, 1957 to proud parents Alex and Jeanette. All her childhood Kelly dreamed of being a star. Kelly went to Voice and Drama school from the age of 10. At 12 she started singing in competitions. She appeared on TV for the first time at 15 and started to sing professionally when she left school. At the age of sixteen she had her first taste of success with her winning appearances on the UK television talent show "Opportunity Knocks" (Thames Television) winning this four times under the name Keli Brown singing "I Don't Know How To Love Him". This led to her first recording contract with Pye Records. Her first single, "Who's That Lady With My Man" was released in April 1976. One month later, this song took the French Top 50 by storm peaking at 1 in July and earning Kelly a gold disc for sales in excess of 500 000 copies. At the very same time, Kelly scored a 2 hit-single in Ireland with "Sister Mary" a duet with Joe Dolan. The follow-up to her French 1 hit was entitled "Help Me" and reached the 8 spot in France in November 1976.
In February 1977, her single "All We Need Is Love" was released in France. Kelly's first album, "Who’s That Lady With My Man" came out in the Spring of 1977. "Run To Me" was released as a single in June 1977 and soon became a disco classic in most European clubs. In September 1977, it reached the 22 position in the Dutch Top 40 and peaked at 5 in South Africa.
In November 1977, Kelly Marie was chosen to represent the UK at the World Popular Song Festival in Tokyo with the song "Sentimental Kisses". Although she was knocked out in the semi-final, nothing could keep this lady down. Kelly also recorded a Spanish version of "Sentimental Kisses" which was released in Spain only. “I needed a translator in the studio with me while I sang it one line at a time to get it right” says kelly
In February 1978, "Make Love To Me" was released. In May 1978, it became a hit-single in South Africa peaking at 2 in the national chart. Aug 78” “Loving Just For Fun”was released for the first time At the end of October, "Make Love To Me" entered the Australian Top 40. It reached 5 in 1979 and charted for a incredible total of 41 weeks. It became the 12th best-selling single of 1979 Down Under (and 7th best-selling single of 1979 in the Sydney area).By then, Kelly’s second album entitled "Make Love To Me" was released in Europe, Canada and Australia.
In January 1979, "If I Can't Have You", a country/pop flavoured single was released but didn't meet much success due to a lack of promotion.
Later that year, Kelly and Pete Yellowstone noticed a Ray Dorset tune in the Red Bus Music office. Kelly liked the song so much she went into the studio to record it. Kelly's vocals and the drum beat were definitely one of the hooks. "Feels Like I'm In Love" was first a hit in South Africa (7 in November 1979) before it got Kelly's career started in the UK. It started to chart in the UK charts in August 1980 and was a massive hit one month later: a 1 hit-single for two weeks, 7 weeks in the Top 10 and a total of 4 months in the British charts. It sold over a million copies, and became the UK 3rd best-selling single of 1980 and Kelly earned one more gold disc to add to her collection. In the autumn of 1980, "Feels Like I'm In Love" became a Worldwide hit: 2 in Belgium, 4 in the Netherlands, 5 in Germany and 6 in Australia,.3 in Ireland
In November 1980, the song had generated enough interest for Calibre to release an album, "Feels Like I'm In Love" in Britain. A faster remix of "Loving Just For Fun" was released as a single to help promote the album. Despite Kelly's appearance on Top Of The Pops the song only reached 21 in the British charts. "Loving Just For Fun" also charted in Germany (22),And also (22) in Ireland. It would have been a wiser choice to re-release the original mix of the song which is more sophisticated. Kelly herself prefers the original version to the 1980 remix so both versions are included on this compilation to let you decide.
"Hot Love" came out in Britain in January 1981 and charted at 22. In early 1981, "Feels Like I'm In Love" had caught on in major American and Canadian clubs. Calibre released a Fred Frank remix of the song backed with "Hot Love" as a double-sided 12" single. This remix was sharp and clean and focused on the horn section making it more DJ friendly. By then, Kelly was gaining popularity in the US club scene. The album "Feels Like I'm In Love" was released in the USA in the Spring of 1981.
"Love Trial" was released as a single in May 1981. Even though the song was pretty catchy and well produced, it only managed to reach 51 in the UK charts.
Late that summer Kelly worked with Biddu a successful artist and producer in his own right. He produced "Don't Stop Your Love" which became Kelly's second biggest hit in the U.S.
1982 would be the final year of her collaboration with Peter Yellowstone. The last three singles the duo released were "I Need Your Love" "Love's Got A Hold On You."and "I Feel Love Comin' On", a cover of the Dana classic.
In 1983 Kelly then went onto release "Don't Take Your Love To Hollywood" and "Silent Treatment". Backed by the Tony Eyers (50,000 Volts fame) track "Up On My Street".
In 1984. Ian Anthony Stephens. produced "Breakout" for Calibre Records. The song showed a sleeker more mature sounding Kelly. Nearing the end of her longstanding contract with Calibre Records she joined forces with John Davies and Nigel Stock for her last Calibre single, 1984's "I'm On Fire." It was another huge club hit staying in the Hi-NRG charts for three months. Stock and Davies worked FOR Skratch Music and had major success with their work on Passion Records. Kelly’s final release for the label was the re-release of “feel’s like im in love “ backed with the ellie warren track “shattered glass” the 12” version contained the Lez Adams D.M.C mix Kelly then went onto release more hi-nrg stompers like “don’t let the flame die out” “hands-up” & “stealing my time”
Kelly who had by then met Metin, the man of her dreams after a whirlwind romance they were soon married. And today have six wonderful children Kelly then went onto record such classics as "River Deep, Mountain High", "Blanket On The Ground" for the Hi-NRG album "Disco Queen" which came out in September 1999. In June 2003, Kelly teamed up with fellow disco diva Tina Charles to release the divaduetz CD featuring remakes of Lulu’s "To Sir With Love" and Kylie's "Your Disco Needs You". Febuary 2004 saw Kelly’s "Applause" album hit the shops with songs from film and theatre given the classic Kelly Marie makeover.
Kelly Marie is one of Scotland's best female singers ever. Her vocal range is quite unique and her outstanding and powerful voice is exceptional. "The Ultimate Collection"was released April 2007,which includes all Kelly’s major hits as well as all her early recordings. With Many songs are available on CD for the very first time. "The Very Best Of Kelly Marie" is released Aug 28th 2007
Tony”Hitman”Taylor & Alexis Mizrahi February 2007
For more info on KELLY MARIE please visit her official website: www.officialkellymarie.co.uk