''Respect the Beat'' is the second (and final) studio album by New Zealand band

Aishah and The Fan Club Aishah and The Fan Club, better known as The Fan Club or just Fan Club, were a New Zealand-based singing group in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The group released their first album ''Sensation'' in 1988, which spawned three top-20 singles in ...

, released in 1989 by

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...

as well as

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

in some territories. The album, produced by

Mark S. Berry Mark S. Berry is an American music and film producer, and the chairman of AMG. He has worked with Grammy and Juno nominated artists such as Carly Simon, Paul McCartney, David Bowie, Duran Duran, Billy Idol, Boy George, Yes, Joan Jett, Cameo, ...

, reached No. 28 in New Zealand, where it was nominated for Album of the Year at the 1989 New Zealand Music Awards.Award History
(search for 'Fan Club'). ''Aotearoa Music Awards''. Retrieved 30 July 2021. Its success resulted in The Fan Club earning the International Recognition award at the 1990 Awards. However, ''Respect the Beat'' was the band's final album as lead singer

Aishah Aisha ( ar, , translit=ʿĀʾisha bint Abī Bakr; , also , ; ) was Muhammad's third and youngest wife. In Islamic writings, her name is thus often prefixed by the title "Mother of the Believers" ( ar, links=no, , ʾumm al- muʾminīn), referr ...

decided to return to her native Malaysia, where the band was most successful, to pursue a solo career recording in the

Malay language Malay (; ms, Bahasa Melayu, links=no, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , Rejang script, Rencong: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language that is an official language of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, and that is also spo ...

Background and development

The Fan Club's first album, 1988's ''Sensation'', had not only reached No. 15 in New Zealand but also attracted some international notice, including from

Epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements Epic or EPIC may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and medi ...

, who were later involved in international releases of ''Respect the Beat''. This resulted in ''Respect the Beat'' having more global collaborators, including Americans such as producer Berry and songwriters Eric Beall and Alexandra Forbes, than its predecessor, which was mostly a New Zealand-made effort. Recording of the album took place at Airforce Recording Studios in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

while mixing was done at Platinum Recording Studios in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Release and legacy

The album's first release was in 1989 with some international releases in 1990. Three singles were released to promote ''Respect the Beat''; the first, 1989's "I Feel Love," reached the top 10 of the

New Zealand singles chart The Official New Zealand Music Chart ( mi, Te Papa Tātai Waiata Matua o Aotearoa) is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The Music ...

, peaking at No. 8. It was also nominated for Single Of The Year at the 1989 New Zealand Music Awards and Best Music Video at the 1990 event, winning the latter but losing the former to

Margaret Urlich Margaret Mary Urlich (24 January 1965 – 22 August 2022) was a New Zealand singer who lived in Australia for most of her career. Urlich's 1989 debut solo album, ''Safety in Numbers'', won " Breakthrough Artist – Album" at the 1991 ARIA Awa ...

's "

Escaping Escape or Escaping may refer to: Computing * Escape character, in computing and telecommunication, a character which signifies that what follows takes an alternative interpretation ** Escape sequence, a series of characters used to trigger some so ...

." The following two singles, 1990's "Never Gave Up On You" and "Don't Let Me Fall Alone," respectively peaked at No. 25 and No. 28 in New Zealand. As well as New Zealand, the singles had some brief success internationally, including in the United States, where "Don't Let Me Fall Alone" was played on some of the largest and most influential Top 40 radio stations. However, the band found most success promoting the album in Aishah's home country.Gareth Shute (18 Jun 2019)
New Zealand Women in the NZ Top 10
. ''Audioculture''. Retrieved 30 July 2021.Murray Cammick (19 Oct 2017)
Paul Ellis Profile
. ''Audioculture''. Retrieved 31 July 2021. While they had difficulty attracting crowds for live performances in New Zealand in spite of their charting singles, they could easily fill venues in Malaysia. Even though its global success may have been short-lived, ''Respect the Beat'' cemented Aishah's legacy as one of the first Malaysian musicians to gain attention internationally.

Track listing

Source: CD liner. Retrieved 31 July 2021 fro
''Discogs''

Personnel

– vocals (all tracks), backing vocals (all tracks), vocal arrangements *

– production (all tracks), engineering, musical arrangements, vocal arrangements, mixing *

Paul Moss Paul Raymond Moss is the general manager of Media Prima network's media portal and a judge in 8TV's '' One in a Million'' singing contest. Moss was the AS A&R director of record company Positive Tone from its inception in 1994 until last year. ...

– programming (all tracks), guitar (tracks 1-2, 5, 9), backing vocals (track 6), musical arrangements, vocal arrangements * Malcolm Smith – programming (all tracks), backing vocals (track 6), musical arrangements, vocal arrangements * Glenn Peters – bass (all tracks), backing vocals (track 6) * Dave Larsen – drums (all tracks), backing vocals (track 6) *

Suzanne Lynch Suzanne Joy Lynch (née Donaldson, born 20 March 1951) is a New Zealand singer who has worked professionally under the names Suzanne Donaldson, Suzanne Lynch and Suzanne. Career Lynch first came to wide public knowledge in the 1960s as half o ...

– backing vocals (tracks 1-2, 4, 6-8, 10) *

Bunny Walters Bunny Te Kokiri Miha Waahi Walters (31 May 1953 – 14 December 2016) was a New Zealand singer who had a number of New Zealand hits during the 1970s. He is best known for the hits "Brandy" and "Take the Money and Run". Background Of Ngāi Te Ra ...

– backing vocals (tracks 1-2, 4, 6-8, 10) * Walter Blanco – saxophone (tracks 1-2, 3, 8) * Sam Panetta – keyboards (tracks 1-2, 4, 8) siren (track 10) * Nick Morgan – engineering (all tracks), recording * Mark Forrester – engineering (tracks 1, 3) * Tony Salter – tape operation (all tracks) * Paul Kosky – engineering (tracks 2, 4, 5-10) * La Koi – rap vocals (tracks 3-4) * John Cooper – backing vocals (track 6) * Glenn McNair – backing vocals (track 6) * Liam Ryan – piano (track 8) * Polly Walker – graphic design, photography * Debbie Watson – graphic design, styling * Rachel Churchward – graphic design Source: CD liner.

Charts

Weekly charts

References

{{Authority control 1989 albums CBS Records albums