''Secrets'' is a 1981 album by the British pop group

The Dooleys The Dooleys were a British male–female pop group comprising at its peak eight members – six of them in the Dooley family. The group achieved several UK chart hits between 1977 and 1981, including top-ten hits " Wanted", "Love of My Life" a ...

, released on

GTO Records GTO Records was a British record label which released many hits during the 1970s. It ran from 1974 to 1981 and mainly concentrated on pop music and disco. The acronym represented the Gem Toby Organization. Background The record label was co-fou ...

. It was their final album in the UK.

Background

By late 1981, the group had released two consecutive flop singles, "In a Riddle" from the previous album and "Taken at the Flood", a stand-alone single, which wasn't considered good enough for inclusion on this album. The group spent the year recording this album with new producer, former pop singer

Barry Blue Barry Blue (born Barry Ian Green, 4 December 1950) is an English singer, producer, and songwriter. As an artist, he is best known for his hit songs "Dancin' (on a Saturday Night)" and "Do You Wanna Dance" (both 1973). Blue has also been a pro ...

. In September, the lead single "And I Wish" was released. An upbeat pop song, it became their first chart entry for a year, but only managed to reach No.52. The album was released soon after. Their record label,

was at the time being taken over by

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 ...

and promotion for the album suffered. ''Secrets'' failed to chart, as did the follow-up single "The Dancer", which was released by Epic. In Japan, a third single was released; "Tokyo Feeling". Track "Tip of My Tongue" (co-written by Lynsey De Paul) had previously been recorded by Barry Blue himself and also as a single by Liquid Gold's Ellie Hope, while track "Love Me, Love Me Do" had been recorded (but never released) a year earlier by pop duo Dollar as "Living Each Day for You".''Secrets'' CD liner notes, Phil Hendricks, December 2012 Soon after the album's release three members of the group departed to live in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and a new female singer was employed, making the group now a six-piece. Some new tracks were recorded and released along with several songs from this album 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 ...

in 1982, where "And I Wish" had been a hit. The album was titled ''And I Wish'' there, while it was renamed ''The Dancer'' in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, where they had experienced some success over the past two years. The group released two more singles in the UK and did record another album in 1983, but this was only released in Japan. The single, "And I Wish" remains The Dooleys final UK chart entry. ''Secrets'' was released on compact disc by

Cherry Red Records Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded in Malvern, Worcestershire by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything But the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as well ...

in May 2013 in a double-pack with their previous album, ''Full House''. This had a number of bonus tracks, including two non-album singles released around this time.Cherry Red official website - The Dooleys

Track listing

Side one # "And I Wish" (Blue / Smith) 3.41 # "The Dancer" (Blue / Smith) 3.02 # "Tip of My Tongue" (Blue / De Paul) 3.40 # "What You Got" (Blue / Smith) 3.34 # "Love Trap" (The Dooleys) 3.35 # "Love Me, Love Me Do" (Bowkett) 3.11 Side two # "Tokyo Feeling" (Blue / Smith) 3.31 # "One Way Loving" (The Dooleys / Dixie) 3.09 # "In Real Life" (The Dooleys / Dixie) 3.40 # "Sooner or Later" (The Dooleys) 3.26 # "Will We Still Be Dancing" (Blue) 3.40 # "Secrets" (The Dooleys / Dixie) 4.06 CD bonus tracks # "Taken at the Flood" (Jordan) 4.03 on-LP A-side single, UK, 1981# "Face in the Crowd" (The Dooleys) 3.21 on-LP B-side single, UK, 1981# "Will You or Won't You" (Myers / Puzey) 3.09 on-LP A-side single, UK, 1982# "Danger Signs" (Bogan / Dixie / Dooley / Dooley) 3.17 on-LP B-side single, UK, 1982# "Only the Music's Changed" (The Dooleys) 3.19 rom 'Pop Fantasia' LP, Japan, 1980# "How am I Ever Gonna Live it Down" (Myers / Findon / Puzey) 3.13 rom 'Pop Fantasia' LP, Japan, 1980# "A Little Bit Special" (Myers / Findon / Puzey) 3.06 rom 'Pop Fantasia' LP, Japan, 1980# "Love Patrol (Extended Version)" (Myers / Findon / Puzey) 4.36 rom 12-inch single, Japan, 1980

Personnel

* Jim Dooley - vocals * Anne Dooley - vocals * Kathy Dooley - vocals * John Dooley - guitar * Frank Dooley - guitar * Helen Dooley - keyboards * Bob Walsh - bass guitar * Alan Bogan - drums * John 'Dixie' Taggart, Robin Smith, Graham Jarvis, Paul Westwood - additional musicians *

- producer *

- producer on "Love Trap", "One Way Loving", "In Real Life" and "Sooner or Later" * Robin Smith - arranger * John Cameron - arranger on "Love Me, Love Me Do" * Graham Dixon - engineer * Steve Levine - engineer * Recorded at Nova Studios, Utopia Studios and CBS Studios in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, Pennine Studios in

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

References

{{Authority control The Dooleys albums 1981 albums GTO Records albums