''The Dollar Album'' is the third and final studio album by
pop vocal duo
Dollar
Dollar is the name of more than 20 currencies. They include the Australian dollar, Brunei dollar, Canadian dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Jamaican dollar, Liberian dollar, Namibian dollar, New Taiwan dollar, New Zealand dollar, Singapore dollar, U ...
, released on 22 October 1982 by
WEA Records
Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and th ...
. The album featured five Top 40 hit singles, including their biggest "
Mirror Mirror".
Background
By its release in 1982, Dollar had seen a revival in fortunes following their previous, unsuccessful album ''
The Paris Collection'' (1980). After teaming up with producer
Trevor Horn
Trevor Charles Horn (born 15 July 1949) is an English music producer, label and recording studio owner, musician and composer. He is best known for his production work in the 1980s, and for being one half of the new wave band The Buggles (wit ...
in 1981, the group had enjoyed their biggest success with four hit singles; "Hand Held in Black and White", "
Mirror Mirror (Mon Amour)", "
Give Me Back My Heart
"Give Me Back My Heart" is a song by British pop duo Dollar, released in March 1982 as the third single from their third album ''The Dollar Album''. The song was their second biggest hit out of the five top twenty hit singles off the album, after " ...
" and "
Videotheque
"Videotheque" is a song by British pop duo Dollar. It appeared on the album ''The Dollar Album''. The song spent 10 weeks on the UK charts, peaking at #17. It also reached the same chart position in Ireland.
A demo version by producer Trevor Ho ...
" - all of which reached the UK Top 20. Members
David Van Day
David Van Day (born David Paul Day, 28 November 1956) is an English singer, songwriter and politician who was formerly a member of the pop music, pop vocal duet (music), duo Dollar (group), Dollar. He was also a member of the 1970s vocal group Gu ...
and
Thereza Bazar
Theresa Lorraine Bazar (born 23 May 1955) is a Canadian-born singer, best known as one half of the pop duo Dollar.
Career
Bazar met with success in her late teens as a member of 1970s group Guys 'n' Dolls, who scored a 1975 hit with "There's ...
began work on a new album and wrote and produced the remainder of the tracks themselves. Although all their own songs were credited as joint compositions, a number of them were written by only one of them, such as "Dangerous Blondes", "Guessing Games" and "Anyone Who's Anyone" by Bazar and "You Made Me Love You" and "I Got Your Number Wrong" by Van Day.
The production was also largely handled by Bazar herself after she had spent much time working closely with Horn in the studio. A fifth single, "Give Me Some Kinda Magic", was released to coincide with the album. Although it became another Top 40 hit, it failed to chart as highly as the previous four singles. Despite containing five Top 40 singles and a television advertising campaign, the album itself did not fare as well as expected, though it still became their biggest seller, peaking at No. 18 (their highest charting album) and was certified Silver by the
BPI. Thereza Bazar has since said of the album that she is proud of their own songs (particularly "Pink and Blue") but regrets that Trevor Horn couldn't have worked on more of it. She says that the four songs he did with them were very expensive due to the vast amount of time spent in the studio on them, but they were "worth every penny".
In early 1983, Dollar were on a promotional tour of
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 ...
with their new single "Two Hearts". The formerly dating couple were by this time finding it difficult to continue working together and decided to split. The single was never released in the UK. Dollar reformed in 1986 and despite four single releases, including a Top 10 hit, the group never released another album.
Many of the tracks on this album were released on
compact disc
The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...
on a 2006 compilation, ''The Platinum Collection.'' The whole album was released on compact disc in February 2010 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 ...
, and included six bonus tracks.
Cherry Red Records - Dollar
Track listing
Side one
#" Mirror Mirror (Mon Amour)" (Trevor Horn
Trevor Charles Horn (born 15 July 1949) is an English music producer, label and recording studio owner, musician and composer. He is best known for his production work in the 1980s, and for being one half of the new wave band The Buggles (wit ...
, Bruce Woolley
Bruce Martin Woolley (born 11 November 1953) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He wrote songs with artists such as The Buggles and Grace Jones, including "Video Killed the Radio Star" and " Slave to the Rhythm", an ...
) – 3:30
#"Give Me Back My Heart
"Give Me Back My Heart" is a song by British pop duo Dollar, released in March 1982 as the third single from their third album ''The Dollar Album''. The song was their second biggest hit out of the five top twenty hit singles off the album, after " ...
" (Horn, Simon Darlow) – 5:01
#"Hand Held in Black and White" (Horn, Woolley) – 3:20
#"Pink and Blue" (David Van Day
David Van Day (born David Paul Day, 28 November 1956) is an English singer, songwriter and politician who was formerly a member of the pop music, pop vocal duet (music), duo Dollar (group), Dollar. He was also a member of the 1970s vocal group Gu ...
, Thereza Bazar
Theresa Lorraine Bazar (born 23 May 1955) is a Canadian-born singer, best known as one half of the pop duo Dollar.
Career
Bazar met with success in her late teens as a member of 1970s group Guys 'n' Dolls, who scored a 1975 hit with "There's ...
) – 4:13
#"I Got Your Number Wrong" (Van Day, Bazar) – 3:49
#"Guessing Games" (Van Day, Bazar) – 3:42
Side two
#"Give Me Some Kinda Magic" (Van Day, Bazar) – 3:43
#"Videotheque
"Videotheque" is a song by British pop duo Dollar. It appeared on the album ''The Dollar Album''. The song spent 10 weeks on the UK charts, peaking at #17. It also reached the same chart position in Ireland.
A demo version by producer Trevor Ho ...
" (Horn, Darlow) – 3:34
#"Dangerous Blondes" (Van Day, Bazar) – 4:13
#"You Made Me Love You" (Van Day, Bazar) – 4:09
#"Anyone Who's Anyone" (Van Day, Bazar) – 3:18
#"The Second Time Around" (Van Day, Bazar) – 5:01
Bonus tracks (2010 re-issue)
#"Hand Held in Black and White" (Alternative Trevor Horn 1981 Mix) – 3:21
#"Mirror Mirror" (Alternative Trevor Horn 1981 Mix) – 3:52
#"Give Me Back My Heart" (Alternative Trevor Horn 1982 Mix) – 5:13
#"Videotheque" (Alternative Trevor Horn 1982 Mix) – 3:33
#"I Got Your Number Wrong" (Alternative Mix) – 4:24
#"Guessing Games" (Alternative Mix) – 3:51
Personnel
Credits are adapted from the ''The Dollar Album'' liner notes.
Musicians
*David Van Day
David Van Day (born David Paul Day, 28 November 1956) is an English singer, songwriter and politician who was formerly a member of the pop music, pop vocal duet (music), duo Dollar (group), Dollar. He was also a member of the 1970s vocal group Gu ...
– vocals
*Thereza Bazar
Theresa Lorraine Bazar (born 23 May 1955) is a Canadian-born singer, best known as one half of the pop duo Dollar.
Career
Bazar met with success in her late teens as a member of 1970s group Guys 'n' Dolls, who scored a 1975 hit with "There's ...
– vocals
*Graham Broad
Graham Broad (born 10 March 1957) is an English drummer who has been playing professionally since the age of fifteen, after attending the Royal College of Music in 1970. He is a former pupil of drumming educator Lloyd Ryan, who also taught Ph ...
– LinnDrum
The LinnDrum, also referred to as the LM-2, is a drum machine manufactured by Linn Electronics between 1982 and 1985. About 5,000 units were sold.
Its high-quality samples, flexibility and affordability made the LinnDrum popular; it sold far mo ...
, Simmons kit, percussion
*John Reid – bass guitar
*William C Lyall – piano, keyboards, synthesizers
*Richard Cottle – Prophet-5
The Prophet-5 is an analog synthesizer manufactured by the American company Sequential (company), Sequential. It was designed by Dave Smith (engineer), Dave Smith and John S. Bowen (sound designer), John Bowen in 1977, who used Microprocessor, m ...
synthesizer
*Danny McIntosh Jr. – guitar
*Trevor Horn
Trevor Charles Horn (born 15 July 1949) is an English music producer, label and recording studio owner, musician and composer. He is best known for his production work in the 1980s, and for being one half of the new wave band The Buggles (wit ...
– bass guitar
*Bruce Woolley
Bruce Martin Woolley (born 11 November 1953) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He wrote songs with artists such as The Buggles and Grace Jones, including "Video Killed the Radio Star" and " Slave to the Rhythm", an ...
– keyboards, synthesizers
*Simon Darlow – keyboards, synthesizers
*Anne Dudley
Anne Jennifer Dudley (née Beckingham; born 7 May 1956) is an English composer, keyboardist, conductor and pop musician. She was the first BBC Concert Orchestra's Composer in Association in 2001. She has worked in the classical and pop genre ...
– keyboards, synthesizers
*George McFarlane – bass guitar
Production and artwork
*Thereza Bazar and David Van Day – production on tracks 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12
*Trevor Horn – production on tracks 1, 2, 3, 8
*Thereza Bazar, David Van Day, William C. Lyall – arrangements
*Gerry Kitchingham – engineer
*Gary Langan
Gary Michael Langan (born 19 April 1956) is an English engineer, record producer, mixer and musician.
Biography
His career started at age 18 when he worked as an assistant engineer at Sarm East Studios, learning the craft from Gary Lyons and M ...
– engineer
*Stefano Massimo – photography
*Nicky Clarke
Nicky Clarke (born 17 June 1958) is an English hair stylist and media personality. He initially became famous for styling the hair of various celebrities on several television shows, before earning fame in his own right.
Career
Clarke's inter ...
– hair
*Glauca Rossi – make-up
*Bill Smith – design
Chart performance
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dollar Album, The
1982 albums
Albums produced by Trevor Horn
Dollar (band) albums
Warner Music Group albums