Kelly Marie (born Jacqueline McKinnon; 16 October 1957) is a Scottish singer, best known for the song "

Feels Like I'm in Love "Feels Like I'm in Love" is a song written and recorded by Ray Dorset with his band Mungo Jerry. It was a number-one hit on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in September 1980 for Scottish singer Kelly Marie. Original version Written by Ray ...

", a No. 1

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

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 s ...

". This exposure led to her signing with

Pye Records Pye Records was a British record label. Its best known artists were Lonnie Donegan (1956–1969), Petula Clark (1957–1971), the Searchers (1963–1967), the Kinks (1964–1971), Sandie Shaw (1964–1971), Status Quo (1968–1971) and Brotherhoo ...

, 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 entertainer, recording artist, and pop singer. Chiefly known in Ireland for his association with showbands and for his innovative style and high pitched singing ...

. Her 1977 single, "Run to Me", was a hit in the

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(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, 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 "

" in a music publishing office:

Ray Dorset Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (g ...

had written it in 1977 in hopes of having

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

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 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 lineup always fronted by Ray Dorset, the group's biggest hit was "In the Summertime ...

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 been ...

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" failed to become a hit in the UK, but it did become a popular disco item 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, after a No. 61 debut on the chart dated 2 August "Feels Like I'm in Love" 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 Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, No. 2 in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, No. 6 in Australia, No. 5 in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, No. 3 in the Netherlands and No. 1 in Ireland. In addition, the track reached No. 10 on the U.S. dance charts in 1981.

Later career

The intense success of "Feels Like I'm in Love" did not result in any significant

stardom ''Stardom'' is a 2000 Canadian comedy-drama film directed by Denys Arcand and written by J.Jacob Potashnik and Arcand. It stars Jessica Paré and Dan Aykroyd. It tells the story of a young girl who tries to cope with her rise to stardom after bei ...

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", " Runaway", "

Millennium A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, 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 point (ini ...

", " I Need a Man" and "

River Deep - Mountain High A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

" 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 ''To Sir, with Love'' is a 1967 British drama film that deals with social and racial issues in an inner city school. It stars Sidney Poitier and features Christian Roberts, Judy Geeson, Suzy Kendall and singer Lulu making her film debut. James ...

" and "

Your Disco Needs You "Your Disco Needs You" is a song by Australian singer and songwriter Kylie Minogue, taken from her seventh studio album ''Light Years'' (2000). The song was written by Minogue, Guy Chambers and Robbie Williams and produced by Chambers and Steve ...

". On 7 May 2005, Marie appeared on the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

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 pop 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 to ...

Discography

Studio albums

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

, 1976) * ''Make Love to Me'' (Pye Records, 1978) * ''Do You Like It Like That?'' (Calibre Records, 1979) * ''Feels Like I'm in Love'' (PRT Records, 1981)

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 Kelly Marie songs