Tracie Young (often just billed as Tracie; born 25 March 1965) is a former English pop singer in the 1980s. She achieved success after becoming a

protégée Mentorship is the influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the personal and p ...

Paul Weller Paul John Weller (born John William Weller; 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/ new wave/mod revival band the Jam (1972–1982). He had further success with the blue-eyed soul m ...

Career

Born in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

, England, Young was discovered by

The Jam The Jam were an English mod revival/ punk rock band formed in 1972 at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, Surrey. They released 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 198 ...

frontman The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

, through an advertisement in ''

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 ...

'' magazine for his Respond Records

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed dir ...

. The ad solicited demo tapes from female singers between the ages of 18 and 24, for the purpose of hiring a vocalist alongside the group

The Questions The Questions were a Scottish pop band, active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. History They formed in the summer of 1977 at St. Augustine's High School in Edinburgh, and performed their first gig in December of that year at St. Marga ...

. Although just 17 years old, Young replied and sent Weller a cassette of a

Phoebe Snow Phoebe Snow (born Phoebe Ann Laub; July 17, 1950 – April 26, 2011) was an American roots music singer-songwriter and guitarist, known for her hit 1974 and 1975 songs "San Francisco Bay Blues", "Poetry Man", "Harpo's Blues", and her credited g ...

-inspired version of the

Betty Wright Bessie Regina Norris (December 21, 1953 – May 10, 2020), better known by her stage name Betty Wright, was an American soul and R&B singer, songwriter and background vocalist. Beginning her professional career in the late 1960s as a teena ...

hit "Shoorah Shoorah". Young's tape was singled out from among the hundreds received, and shortly thereafter was invited to London for an audition. Performing old soul numbers " Band of Gold" and " Reach Out (I'll Be There)" for the audition, Young impressed Weller enough to win the job and become his priority signing for the Respond label. Before recording solo work for Respond, Weller sought to increase exposure for Young. He promptly used her for backing vocals on The Jam's final single, "

Beat Surrender "Beat Surrender" was The Jam's final single, and was released on 22 November 1982. It became the band's fourth and last No. 1 hit in the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in December 1982. Title The song's title was a play on words combining the ti ...

", which was released on 26 November 1982 and became the band's fourth No. 1 single.Munn (2008), p. 30. Weller also had Young join the group for their appearance on ''Top of the Pops'' to promote the song. In January 1983, Young contributed vocals for

The Style Council The Style Council were a British musical ensemble, band formed in late 1982 by Paul Weller, the former singer, songwriter and guitarist with the punk rock/New wave music, new wave/mod revival band the Jam, and keyboardist Mick Talbot, previousl ...

's first single, " Speak Like a Child", and also appeared in the promotional video for the song.Munn (2008), p. 32. As an unofficial member of the group, Young toured with The Style Council for part of 1983, while also performing as a solo artist as part of a Respond package tour.Munn (2008), p. 37. Young was featured on the cover of the 9 April 1983 issue of ''

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' with the banner "Tracie: The girl star Paul Weller would build".Munn (2008), p. 36. She was also voted "Most Fanciable Female" in ''Smash Hits'' 1983 readers' poll. Signed to Respond, she had UK

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

s in March 1983 with "The House That Jack Built" and, in July, with "Give it Some Emotion" (both credited simply to 'Tracie') Her debut album, '' Far from the Hurting Kind'', was released in 1984 under the name Tracie. It was reissued in Japan in 1996. Weller produced and backed the record and wrote some of the songs. A featured track was the

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...

song "(I Love You) When You Sleep", which he wrote for her. Young recorded with The Style Council again in 1985, contributing backing vocals to the song "Boy Who Cried Wolf", a single taken from the album ''

Our Favourite Shop ''Our Favourite Shop'' is the second studio album by the English group the Style Council. It was released on 8 June 1985, on Polydor, and was recorded ten months after the band's debut ''Café Bleu''. It features guest vocalists, including Lenny ...

''.Munn (2008), p. 75. Respond ceased operations in 1986 and Young was briefly signed by

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

. The second album she recorded whilst signed to Polydor, titled ''No Smoke Without Fire'', was never released by them. It was eventually released in May 2014 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 ...

. Since the late 1990s, Young has enjoyed a second career as a radio presenter, currently working at

Radio Essex Radio Essex is an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting to Essex, England via DAB and Mid and South Essex via FM, from studios in The Icon Building on Southend seafront, owned by the Adventure Radio Group. As of September 2022, the st ...

and also Connect FM in

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

and

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

. In 2009, Young did a one-off gig, supporting Billy Franks (formerly of The Faith Brothers) at the

Shepherd's Bush Empire Shepherd's Bush Empire (currently known as O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the BBC Television Theatre) is a music venue in Shepherd's Bush, West London, run by the Academy Music Group. It was originally ...

. The show was on 6 June 2009 and Young was backed by the

Southend Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

rock band, Soliss. In the wake of the show, Young released a self-produced, limited edition six-song EP of previously released material, titled ''It Happened One Night... And Other Songs'' . In 2010, with the co-operation of Young, Cherry Red Records reissued her 1984 debut '' Far from the Hurting Kind'', marking the first time the album has been available in the UK on CD. The 20 track CD features the 10 tracks from the original album release plus 10 bonus tracks.

Discography

Albums

*'' Far from the Hurting Kind'' (June 1984) - UK Albums Chart, UK No. 64 *''No Smoke Without Fire'' (May 2014)

EPs

*''It Happened One Night... And Other Songs'' (June 2009)

Singles

*"The House That Jack Built" (April 1983) - UK No. 9 *"Give It Some Emotion" (July 1983) - UK No. 24 *"Souls on Fire" (March 1984) - UK No. 73 *"(I Love You) When You Sleep" (May 1984) - UK No. 59 *"I Can't Leave You Alone" (July 1985) - UK No. 60 *"Invitation" (October 1985) *"We Should Be Together" (July 1986) *"(When You) Call Me" (October 1986)

As backing vocalist

" (with

the Jam The Jam were an English mod revival/ punk rock band formed in 1972 at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, Surrey. They released 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 198 ...

, November 1982) - UK No. 1 *" Speak Like a Child" (with

the Style Council The Style Council were a British musical ensemble, band formed in late 1982 by Paul Weller, the former singer, songwriter and guitarist with the punk rock/New wave music, new wave/mod revival band the Jam, and keyboardist Mick Talbot, previousl ...

, March 1983) - UK No. 4 *"

Boy Who Cried Wolf The Boy Who Cried Wolf is one of Aesop's Fables, numbered 210 in the Perry Index. From it is derived the English idiom "to cry wolf", defined as "to give a false alarm" in e''Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable'' and glossed by the ''Oxford E ...

" (with the Style Council, 1985) - NZ No. 21

References

External links

Tracie Young's page on the Southend Radio website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Tracie 1965 births Living people English radio presenters The Style Council members Musicians from Derby English women pop singers British women radio presenters Mod revival musicians Polydor Records artists Cherry Red Records artists