Glenda Collins (born 16 December 1943) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former descri ...

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

, primarily active in the 1960s.

Recording career

Collins was discovered by

Carroll Levis Carroll Richard Levis (March 15, 1910 – October 17, 1968) was a Canadian talent scout, impresario and radio and television broadcaster, mainly working in Britain. Biography Born in Toronto and brought up in Vancouver, he grew up wanting to be ...

, whose promotion landed her a contract with Decca Records.Larkin C., ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music'', (Muze UK Ltd, 1997), , p. 120 She released three singles through Decca which failed to chart and was dropped by the label. Her manager father then recorded some demos with her and introduced her to independent record producer

Joe Meek Robert George "Joe" Meek (5 April 1929 – 3 February 1967) was an English record producer, sound engineer and songwriter who pioneered space age and experimental pop music. He also assisted in the development of recording practices like over ...

, who took her on. Meek featured house bands

The Tornados The Tornados (The Tornadoes in North America) were an English instrumental rock group of the 1960s that acted as backing group for many of record producer Joe Meek's productions and also for singer Billy Fury. They enjoyed several chart hi ...

and also The Outlaws featuring the guitarist

Ritchie Blackmore Richard Hugh Blackmore (born 14 April 1945) is an English guitarist and songwriter. He was a founding member of Deep Purple in 1968, playing jam-style hard rock music that mixed guitar riffs and organ sounds. He is prolific in creating guita ...

on some of her tracks. She released a total of eight singles with Meek, released through the HMV Pop and Pye labels, none of which appeared in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. After Meek's suicide in 1967 she recorded sporadically, but his death had effectively put paid to her career; and she retired at the end of the 1960s after a few years on the cabaret circuit. Collins came out of retirement briefly in 1999 to record a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of "

Avenues and Alleyways "Avenues and Alleyways" is a 1973 single recorded by Tony Christie as the theme song for the television series '' The Protectors (1972 - 1974)''. It was written and produced by Mitch Murray and Peter Callander, who were also responsible for Chris ...

" (The Protectors theme) with

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

Russell C. Brennan (aka Russell C. Writer), which featured on the compilation album, ''Cult Themes from the 70's, Vol. 2'', on Future Legend Records. Her agents were keen to organise a

tour Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed ...

. A 2006 compilation titled '' This Little Girl's Gone Rockin''' contained her complete surviving recorded output. In 2019, Collins made a second comeback and teamed up again with Brennan once more, as she liked working with him and considered him Meek's successor, to do a new cover of another theme for the last album in the Future Legend Records cult themes series. It was called ''Cult Themes Forever''. This time she recorded "Nobody's Fool" (the theme from '' Budgie'') written by

Ray Davies Sir Raymond Douglas Davies ( ; born 21 June 1944) is an English musician. He was the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and main songwriter for the rock band the Kinks, which he led with his younger brother Dave on lead guitar and backing voc ...

. A full track listing for this 15 track album is available online. In 2020, Collins did a special recording with Brennan again. This was a unique release as it was co produced by Joe Meek. Utilising a backing track recorded in the 1960s by Meek, Brennan wrote a female slant on the song, "The Long Drop", originally meant for Tony Kaye (aka Tony Grinham). It is released online to coincide with the anniversary of Meek's death on 3 February 2020. The response to the releases were so positive Future Legend Records signed her to a permanent deal, and Brennan is currently producing an album with Collins for a 2022 release. The first single from the album 'Too Sad To Cry was release in March 2022. Prior to that Future Legend Records re-issued her Decca singles with one of the tracks "Find Another Fool", being remixed by Brennan. Glenda's long awaited solo album of new tracks called 'Second Chance' came out in December 2022 produced by Russell C. Brennan and on Future Legend Records, where all her other releases had also featured.

Discography

Singles

*"Crazy Guy" / "Take a Chance" (

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

F11280, 1960) *"

Oh How I Miss You Tonight "Oh, How I Miss You Tonight" is a popular song, published in 1925, written by Benny Davis, Joe Burke, and Mark Fisher. Popular recordings of the song in 1925 were by Ben Selvin, Benson Orchestra of Chicago, Lewis James and Irving Kaufman. Oth ...

" / "Age for Love" (Decca F11321, 1961) *"Head over Heels in Love" / "Find Another Fool" (Decca F11417, 1961) *"I Lost My Heart at the Fairground" / "I Feel So Good" (

HMV Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...

POP1163, 1963) *"If You've Got to Pick a Baby" / "In the First Place" (HMV POP1233, 1963) *"Baby It Hurts" / "Nice Wasn't It" (HMV POP1283, 1964) *"

Lollipop A lollipop is a type of sugar candy usually consisting of hard candy mounted on a stick and intended for sucking or licking. Different informal terms are used in different places, including lolly, sucker, sticky-pop, etc. Lollipops are ava ...

" / "Everybody's Got to Fall in Love" (HMV POP1323, 1964) *"Johnny Loves Me" / "Paradise for Two" (HMV POP1439, 1965) *"

Thou Shalt Not Steal "Thou shalt not steal" is one of the Ten Commandments of the Jewish Torah (known to Christians as the first five books of the Old Testament), which are widely understood as moral imperatives by legal scholars, Jewish scholars, Catholic scholars ...

" / "Been Invited to a Party" (HMV POP1475, 1965) *"Something I've Got to Tell You" / "My Heart Didn't Lie" ( Pye 7N17044, 1966) *"It's Hard to Believe It" / "Don't Let It Rain on Sunday" (Pye 7N17150, 1966) *"The Long Drop" / "Numbers" FLRSGC01 (Future Legend Records, 2020) *"Find Another Fool" (remix) FLRGC02 (Future Legend Records, 2020) *"Too Sad Too Cry" FLRCG04D (Future Legend Records, 2022) * "Crying Out For Love" FLRGC.5D (Future Legend Records, 2023)

Compilation albums

*''Cult Themes from the 70's, Vol. 2'' ("Avenues & Alleyways" (the Protectors Theme) (Future Legend Records. FLEG.12CD 1999) *'' This Little Girl's Gone Rockin''' ( RPM Records UK ASIN B000024URR, 2006) *''Cult Themes Forever'' ("Nobody's Fool" (theme from Budgie) (Future Legend Records) FLEG.37CD (2019) *''In The Beginning'' (7 track EP) Early Decca singles plus remix of "Find Another Fool" (Future Legend Records) (2020) *''Second Chance'' : Glenda's long awaited solo album came out on limited edition CD in December 2022 on Future Legend Records FLR.41CD

References

External links

Future Legend Records: Glenda Collins
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Glenda 1943 births Living people Singers from London English Jews English women pop singers