"Plain Sailing" is the debut solo single by English singer-songwriter

Tracey Thorn Tracey Anne Thorn (born 26 September 1962) is a British singer. She is best known as being one half of the duo Everything but the Girl from 1982 to 1999. She was a member of the band Marine Girls between 1980 and 1983 and since 2007 has bee ...

Overview

The original version appeared on Thorn's first solo album '' A Distant Shore'' in 1982. It was re-recorded and released as Thorn's first single on 7" vinyl later that year. The B-side "Goodbye Joe" is a cover version of a song by fellow Cherry Red Records recording artists

Monochrome Set The Monochrome Set are an English post-punk/ new wave band, originally formed in London in January 1978. The most recent line-up consists of Bid, Andy Warren, Athen Ayren and Stephen Gilchrist. History Original band: 1978–1985 The Monoc ...

. The re-recorded version of "Plain Sailing" was included on the Cherry Red ''

Pillows & Prayers ''Pillows & Prayers'' (subtitled ''Cherry Red 1982-1983'') is a compilation album released Christmas 1982, featuring artists on the Cherry Red record label. The record was originally sold at 99 pence (in fact, "pay no more than 99p" was printed ...

'' compilation album. The single sleeve featured the

Robert Doisneau Robert Doisneau (; 14 April 1912 – 1 April 1994) was a French photographer. From the 1930s, he photographed the streets of Paris. He was a champion of humanist photography and with Henri Cartier-Bresson a pioneer of photojournalism. Dois ...

photograph ''Le baiser de l'hôtel de ville (Kiss by the Hôtel de Ville)'' and hand-lettering by Thorn herself. Thorn did not release another solo single until " It's All True" 25 years later. In June 2010, Thorn performed "Plain Sailing" live for the first time in nearly 30 years, during an appearance on the

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

programme '' World Cafe''.

Track listing

7 inch single

# "Plain Sailing" # "Goodbye Joe"

References

1982 songs 1982 debut singles Tracey Thorn songs Songs written by Tracey Thorn Cherry Red Records singles {{1980s-pop-song-stub