''Sons and Lovers'' is the second album by English singer
Hazel O'Connor
Hazel Thereasa O'Connor (born 16 May 1954) is a British singer-songwriter and actress. She became famous in the early 1980s with hit singles " Eighth Day", " D-Days" and " Will You?" She also starred in the 1980 film '' Breaking Glass''.
Caree ...
, released in November 1980 by Albion Records. It was reissued on CD with bonus tracks on 30 March 2018 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 ...
.
Background and release
Prior in 1980, O'Connor had starred in the film ''
Breaking Glass'' as well as writing and singing
the soundtrack album
''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...
. Both were extremely successful, thrusting O'Connor into the limelight. However, afterwards, O'Connor wanted to differentiate herself from her character, Kate, in the film and make a clean break as a singer.
The album was produced by
Nigel Gray
Nigel Gray (1947 – 30 July 2016) was an English record producer. His album credits include ''Outlandos d'Amour'' (1978), ''Reggatta de Blanc'' (1979), and ''Zenyatta Mondatta'' (1980) for the Police, ''Kaleidoscope'' (1980) and '' Juju'' (1981) ...
, known for his work with
The Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Police ...
and
Siouxsie and the Banshees
Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts. ''Q'' magazine in ...
. Three singles were released from the album: "Time" failed to chart on 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 ...
, but did peak at number 30 on the
Indie Chart;
"Waiting" was only released in Australia by
Liberation Records
Liberation Records is an American record company based in the Los Angeles area known for do it yourself ethos and pioneering guerrilla marketing strategies. It was formed by then 16-year-old underground rock music fanzine publisher David Taba i ...
; and "
D-Days" was the album's biggest hit, peaking at number 10 on the Singles Chart. The album itself was intended to be released in January 1981, however it was finished early, so was released at the end of November 1980 to coincide with the start of O'Connor's first major British tour.
Because of the calibre of the producer and the Top-Ten hit single, it was expected that the album would have some success commercially.
However, the album failed to chart on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
, although it did peak at number 4 on the Indie Chart.
The album's success may have been hindered by the fact that
A&M Records
A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...
were still promoting ''Breaking Glass'', which is also something that could be said for O'Connor's following album ''
Cover Plus
''Cover Plus'' is the third album by English singer Hazel O'Connor, released in August 1981 by Albion Records. The album charted at number 32 on the UK Albums Chart. It was reissued on CD with bonus tracks on 17 November 2017 by Cherry Red Recor ...
''.
The expanded edition re-release of the album in 2018 included five bonus tracks. The first two, "Ain't It Funny" and "
Suffragette City
"Suffragette City" is a song by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was originally released in April 1972 as the B-side of the single "Starman" and subsequently appeared on his fifth studio album ''The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and ...
", were recorded live at the
Dominion Theatre
The Dominion Theatre is a West End theatre and former cinema on Tottenham Court Road, close to St Giles Circus and Centre Point, in the London Borough of Camden. Planned as primarily a musical theatre, it opened in 1929, but the following year ...
in London and were the B-sides on the 12" release of "Time". "Suffragette City" is a cover of the
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
song and also features
Simon Le Bon
Simon John Charles Le Bon (born 27 October 1958) is a British singer. He is best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist of the new wave band Duran Duran and its offshoot Arcadia. Le Bon has received three Ivor Novello Awards from the British ...
of
Duran Duran
Duran Duran () are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger ...
as they were the supporting tour act for O'Connor. There are also two versions of "D-Days" as bonus tracks: the single version which was remixed by
Tony Visconti
Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...
from the album version, and an alternate 'New' version also from 1981. The other bonus track is the original 1979 version of "Time is Free", which was the B-side to O'Connor's debut single "Ee-I-Adio" (it was then re-recorded for the B-side to "D-Days").
Reception
Reviewing the album for ''
Record Mirror
''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the ''NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in ''Re ...
'', Simon Ludgate wrote "O'Connor desperately wants to be recognised just as a singer and the new image is a frantic attempt to prove that. She's in the ironic position of trying to escape her own publicity, her own image, which is pushing her into a very small corner." "If only Hazel would sing her songs in a straightforward way and forget all that heavy nasal inflection. It's alright the once, but like
Dexy's, after a whole album's worth all that stylised tweeting and moaning gets on your tits. Hazel has the talent somewhere – the potential is hinted at again and again. The trouble is, it don't seem to surface that often."
Reviewing for ''
Smash Hits
''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand fo ...
'',
David Hepworth
David Hepworth (born 27 July 1950) is a British music journalist, writer and publishing industry analyst who was instrumental in the foundation of a number of popular magazines in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Along with the journalist, editor and b ...
wrote "On the plus side, Hazel is vocally well-equipped, able to turn out a tolerably neat tune and her band are correspondingly neat and to the point. On the minus side, she exhibits a distressing tendency to overplay the importance of nearly every line she utters; consequently, even the best of her compositions on this first solo album proper come over as stilted, shrill and occasionally extremely annoying."
In a retrospective review for ''
Louder Than War
''Louder Than War'' is a music and culture website and magazine focusing on mainly alternative arts news, reviews, and features. The site is an editorially independent publication that was started by journalist John Robb in 2010 and is now ru ...
'', Ian Canty described the album as seeming "to fall between two stools. On one hand the urge to move away from her recent past, but on the other the music kept roughly the same format as Breaking Glass and she came over a bit melodramatic and actor-ish vocally" and that "the album did contain a fair dose of listenable
New Wave Pop, the type of which was perhaps showing its age by the end of 1980, but still was enjoyable enough in small doses. Occasionally the vocal delivery and songs come over as a bit hectoring if you’re not in the mood for them, but for the most part the occasional heavy touch of the lyrics is offset by the bouncy musical accompaniment and all round brio. Too often it did seem Hazel was trying a little too hard and often appeared a little overwrought. O’Connor could write some interesting stuff in her songs, but it also must be noted that a few times there are more cringe-worthy efforts too."
Track listing
2018 bonus tracks:
Personnel
Musicians
*
Hazel O'Connor
Hazel Thereasa O'Connor (born 16 May 1954) is a British singer-songwriter and actress. She became famous in the early 1980s with hit singles " Eighth Day", " D-Days" and " Will You?" She also starred in the 1980 film '' Breaking Glass''.
Caree ...
– lead vocals
*
Andy Qunta
Anderson Amos Temba "Andy" Qunta (born 9 January 1951) is an English singer, songwriter, composer and musician. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Qunta is best known as the keyboardist of the Australian rock band Icehouse from between 19 ...
– keyboards
* Neil O'Connor – guitar
* Wesley Magoogan – saxophone
* Wild Oscar – bass
*
Gary Tibbs
Gary Tibbs (born Gary Brian Tibbs, 25 January 1958) is a bass guitarist and actor. He is best known as a member of Adam and the Ants and Roxy Music. He appeared alongside Hazel O'Connor in the film '' Breaking Glass'' (1980) as bass guitarist ...
– bass
* Eddie Case – drums
* Lizzie Donovan – backing vocals
Technical
* Pete Buhlmann – engineer
*
Edward Bell – sleeve artwork
Charts
References
{{Authority control
1980 albums
Albums produced by Nigel Gray
New wave albums by English artists
Post-punk albums by English artists