Back in Your Arms
Encyclopedia
Back In Your Arms is the third compilation album by French
singer Amanda Lear
, released in May 1998 by Dig It Int'l. The release follows her two previous greatest hits albums, Ieri, Oggi
(1982) released in Italy, and Poet Amanda Lear
(1990) released in the former U.S.S.R.. The compilation combines re-recordings of nine of her hits from her career in the 70's with selected remixed tracks from her 1995 euro disco album Alter Ego
and contains also the previously unreleased cover version of Louis Prima
's swing classic "Just A Gigolo".
Back In Your Arms, which was unsuccessful on its original release, was later re-launched on the German market by BMG-Ariola as Amanda '98 - Follow Me Back in My Arms with a revised tracklisting. Since the company held the rights to the original recordings, they replaced some of the re-interpretations with these as well as adding tracks not included on its Italian predecessor.
, "Follow Me" and "Enigma (Give a Bit of Mmh to Me)" from 1978 Sweet Revenge
, "Fashion Pack" and "The Sphinx" from 1979 Never Trust a Pretty Face
, and "Fabulous (Lover, Love Me)" from 1980 Diamonds for Breakfast
.
Back in Your Arms was co-produced by Michael Gordon, who also work with Lear for her latest studio album Alter Ego. The compilation was issued by minor label Dig It Int'l and released only for the Italian market. The compilation was set to released out Europe in September under the name "Number 10", but later that same year, on October 5, German BMG-Ariola re-released the compilation under the title Follow Me Back in My Arms but then chose to replace most of these re-recordings with the original Ariola versions recorded in the seventies and the eighties.
Throughout October and beginning of November 1998 Follow Me Back in My Arms was released in France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Austria, and in all the Nordic and Eastern Europe countries.
/Mint Records. The manufacturing rights have then in turn been licensed to a large number of mid-price European labels over the past years, such as Arcade Records, Brioche Edizioni Musicali, Falcon Neuen Medien, Laser Light Digital, Jaba Music, Edel Music
/NAR International and many others. The rights to these recordings have only in two occasions been bought by subsidiaries of the so-called "Big Four record labels": Carosello (a sublabel of Universal Music, Italy) for I'm a Mystery - The Whole Story and Puzzle Productions (Sony BMG, France) for Follow Me (1999).
Consequently, these ten tracks were re-packaged and re-released on the European market, usually coupled with recordings dating from the eighties and the nineties, as being 'Lear's Greatest Hits'. The CD titles include Made of Blood & Honey, Follow Me, Divinamanda, Living Legend and others. In Europe these single disc compilations are usually in the price range under €
10, from €4.99 to €7.99 (approximately $8 – $10) and double CD compilations €10.99 - €14.99 (approximately $15 – $20) but they are often sold as "imports" at considerably higher prices via online music stores throughout the world. The 1990s versions are also regularly featured on various artists compilations again usually released by minor European record labels.
While these nine songs are some of Lear's greatest hits, the versions contained on these compilations aren't the recordings made in Munich in the seventies and early eighties with producer Anthony Monn but most obviously those from Back in Your Arms, recorded some twenty years later, a fact that these companies usually fail to mention in their sleeve notes. The original Ariola versions are only available on albums and compilation issued or licensed by Sony BMG Germany.
The only career retrospectives to have been both approved of and promoted by Lear are Forever Glam!, released when she was celebrating her thirtieth anniversary in music business, and Sony-BMG Germany's three disc set of Ariola recordings, The Sphinx - Das beste aus den Jahren 1976-1983
. Those compilations also contain tracks from hard to find albums such as Secret Passion
and Uomini Più Uomini
plus the occasional rarity.
Later BMG-Ariola to promove Follow Me Back in My Arms released two CD single only for the German market. The first was "Blood And Honey '98" (74321 59995 2), released in the end of August 1998 in Germany, Northern and Eastern Europe. This single contains two version of "Blood and Honey" and the track "Rien Ne Va Plus" from the album Alter Ego. The last single released was a Promo of "I'll Miss You (Love Version)" (74321 64070 2).
"Follow Me Back in My Arms"
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
singer Amanda Lear
Amanda Lear
Amanda Lear is a French singer, lyricist, composer, painter, TV presenter, actress and novelist....
, released in May 1998 by Dig It Int'l. The release follows her two previous greatest hits albums, Ieri, Oggi
Ieri, Oggi
Ieri, Oggi is the first compilation album by French singer Amanda Lear, released in 1982 on Ariola Records. It was released only for the italian market.-Album information:...
(1982) released in Italy, and Poet Amanda Lear
Poet Amanda Lear
Poet Amanda Lear is a compilation album of recordings by French singer Amanda Lear, released in the former U.S.S.R. by state-owned label Melodiya in 1990...
(1990) released in the former U.S.S.R.. The compilation combines re-recordings of nine of her hits from her career in the 70's with selected remixed tracks from her 1995 euro disco album Alter Ego
Alter Ego (Amanda Lear album)
Alter Ego is the eleventh studio album by French singer Amanda Lear, first released in Germany on November 21, 1995 on label ZYX Music. This album, like other several predecessors, was a commercial failure and failed to chart.- Album information :...
and contains also the previously unreleased cover version of Louis Prima
Louis Prima
Louis Prima was a Sicilian American singer, actor, songwriter, and trumpeter. Prima rode the musical trends of his time, starting with his seven-piece New Orleans style jazz band in the 1920s, then successively leading a swing combo in the 1930s, a big band in the 1940s, a Vegas lounge act in the...
's swing classic "Just A Gigolo".
Back In Your Arms, which was unsuccessful on its original release, was later re-launched on the German market by BMG-Ariola as Amanda '98 - Follow Me Back in My Arms with a revised tracklisting. Since the company held the rights to the original recordings, they replaced some of the re-interpretations with these as well as adding tracks not included on its Italian predecessor.
Album information
In 1998 Lear decided to re-record nine of her best known songs from the disco era for the album Back in Your Arms, "Blood and Honey", "Queen of Chinatown", "These Boots Are Made for Walkin' " and "Tomorrow", all originally from 1977 debut album I Am a PhotographI Am a Photograph
I Am A Photograph is the debut album by French singer Amanda Lear, released in April 1977 by West German label Ariola Records. It contains the European hit singles "La Bagarre" , "Blood and Honey" , "Tomorrow", "Alphabet" and "Blue Tango." Later editions of the album also feature the single "Queen...
, "Follow Me" and "Enigma (Give a Bit of Mmh to Me)" from 1978 Sweet Revenge
Sweet Revenge (Amanda Lear album)
Sweet Revenge is the second studio album by French singer Amanda Lear, released in February, 1978 by West German label Ariola-Eurodisc. The album contained European hit singles "Follow Me", "Enigma ", "Gold" and "Run Baby Run"...
, "Fashion Pack" and "The Sphinx" from 1979 Never Trust a Pretty Face
Never Trust a Pretty Face
Never Trust a Pretty Face is the third studio album by French singer Amanda Lear, released in January, 1979 by West German label Ariola-Eurodisc...
, and "Fabulous (Lover, Love Me)" from 1980 Diamonds for Breakfast
Diamonds for Breakfast
Diamonds For Breakfast is the fourth studio album by French singer Amanda Lear, released in January, 1980 by West German label Ariola-Eurodisc...
.
Back in Your Arms was co-produced by Michael Gordon, who also work with Lear for her latest studio album Alter Ego. The compilation was issued by minor label Dig It Int'l and released only for the Italian market. The compilation was set to released out Europe in September under the name "Number 10", but later that same year, on October 5, German BMG-Ariola re-released the compilation under the title Follow Me Back in My Arms but then chose to replace most of these re-recordings with the original Ariola versions recorded in the seventies and the eighties.
Throughout October and beginning of November 1998 Follow Me Back in My Arms was released in France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Austria, and in all the Nordic and Eastern Europe countries.
'False' compilations issued
The publishing rights of the nine Dig It Int'l recordings were later acquired by German company Siebenpunkt Verlags GmbH, a subsidiary of ZYX MusicZYX Music
ZYX Music is a German record label which was founded in 1971 by Bernhard Mikulski. Until 1992, the label's name was Pop-Import Bernhard Mikulski. The label specialized in disco and early house music. Founder Bernhard Mikulski is credited with coining the term Italo disco in the 1980s...
/Mint Records. The manufacturing rights have then in turn been licensed to a large number of mid-price European labels over the past years, such as Arcade Records, Brioche Edizioni Musicali, Falcon Neuen Medien, Laser Light Digital, Jaba Music, Edel Music
Edel Music
-History:Edel Music was founded in 1986 by Michael Haentjes in Germany as a mail order record company selling mostly soundtracks. With artists such as Scooter, SASH!, Holly Johnson and many others, it became a very successful pop music label...
/NAR International and many others. The rights to these recordings have only in two occasions been bought by subsidiaries of the so-called "Big Four record labels": Carosello (a sublabel of Universal Music, Italy) for I'm a Mystery - The Whole Story and Puzzle Productions (Sony BMG, France) for Follow Me (1999).
Consequently, these ten tracks were re-packaged and re-released on the European market, usually coupled with recordings dating from the eighties and the nineties, as being 'Lear's Greatest Hits'. The CD titles include Made of Blood & Honey, Follow Me, Divinamanda, Living Legend and others. In Europe these single disc compilations are usually in the price range under €
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
10, from €4.99 to €7.99 (approximately $8 – $10) and double CD compilations €10.99 - €14.99 (approximately $15 – $20) but they are often sold as "imports" at considerably higher prices via online music stores throughout the world. The 1990s versions are also regularly featured on various artists compilations again usually released by minor European record labels.
While these nine songs are some of Lear's greatest hits, the versions contained on these compilations aren't the recordings made in Munich in the seventies and early eighties with producer Anthony Monn but most obviously those from Back in Your Arms, recorded some twenty years later, a fact that these companies usually fail to mention in their sleeve notes. The original Ariola versions are only available on albums and compilation issued or licensed by Sony BMG Germany.
Controversy
Lear has in several interviews made it clear that she has no control of all these compilations being issued:The only career retrospectives to have been both approved of and promoted by Lear are Forever Glam!, released when she was celebrating her thirtieth anniversary in music business, and Sony-BMG Germany's three disc set of Ariola recordings, The Sphinx - Das beste aus den Jahren 1976-1983
The Sphinx - Das Beste Aus Den Jahren 1976-1983
The Sphinx - Das Beste Aus Den Jahren 1976–1983, internationally known as The Best of Amanda Lear, is a three disc 42 track box set of recordings by French singer Amanda Lear released by Sony BMG Music Entertainment in Germany in 2006....
. Those compilations also contain tracks from hard to find albums such as Secret Passion
Secret Passion
-Credits:*Produced, arranged by Christian De Walden and Steve Singer for Zig Zag Productions, USA*Executive producers: Steve Singer, Carlo Mezzano & Christian De Walden*Mixed by Greg Penny & Christian De Walden...
and Uomini Più Uomini
Uomini Più Uomini
Uomini Più Uomini is the eighth studio album by French singer Amanda Lear, originally issued on label Ricordi International in 1989. This was her first album feature only tracks sung in Italian...
plus the occasional rarity.
Singles
From Back in Your Arms were released two singles, both only for the Italian market. "Follow Me (1998 re-recording)", (TIX 071) was released in the end of 1998 and this on its B-sides including the re-recording version of "Tomorrow". The second 12" Maxi-single "Queen Of Chinatown (Paramour Radio Vox)", (M.A.G. 001) was released in the summer of 1999 by minor label Mag Music. This Maxi-single contains four mix of "Queen Of Chinatown" with remix by Italian producer Paramour.Later BMG-Ariola to promove Follow Me Back in My Arms released two CD single only for the German market. The first was "Blood And Honey '98" (74321 59995 2), released in the end of August 1998 in Germany, Northern and Eastern Europe. This single contains two version of "Blood and Honey" and the track "Rien Ne Va Plus" from the album Alter Ego. The last single released was a Promo of "I'll Miss You (Love Version)" (74321 64070 2).
Promotion
To promote the Back in Your Arms compilation, Lear did several performances worldwide. She performs a medley of "Follow Me" and "Tomorrow ('98 Dance Version)" in the Greek TV show Bravo. Lear also promote the album in Italy were she performs in several TV Shows the remix of "Tomorrow".Back in Your Arms
Follow Me Back in My Arms
Additional notes- "Fashion Pack (Studio 54)": The lyrics used for this song is the same version re-written for the album CadavrexquisCadavrexquisCadavrexquis is the teenth studio album by French singer Amanda Lear, first released in France 1993 on label Chène Music. This including her European comeback dance hit "Fantasy" plus updated versions of three of her hits from the seventies, her signature tune "Follow Me", "Fashion Pack " and "Lili...
released in 1993. - "Blood And Honey" (New Remix Version): Remix of the original version, not the re-recording.
- "Gold": This version is the radio edit of the "Ian Levine House Mix" released in 1989. Liner notes do not state that this is a remixed version.
- "Mother, Look What They've Done To Me": This song comes from the medley of the album Sweet Revenge and got a cold start and a fade-out.
Personnel
- Amanda Lear — vocals
- Jane Bogart — backing vocals
- Mara Biella — backing vocals
- Maria Martinengo — backing vocals
- NI4NI — backing vocals
- Sandrina Löscher — backing vocals
- Uli Essmann — backing vocals
- Charles Hörnemann — guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
- Piero Cella — guitar
- Klaus Roeschlisberger — photographyPhotographyPhotography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
- Michael Gordon — record producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, mixing - Walter Bassani — record producer (track 15 arranged and mixed at Novara, Italy)
- Robert Bohlen — mixing
- Tracks 2, 4, 6 , 8, 10, 12 and 13 from Follow Me Back in My Arms produced by Anthony Monn with arrangements by Peter Smits, Strum Production, Charly Ricanek, Rainer Pietsch, Harold Faltermeyer and Mats Björklund
- Track 13 from Follow Me Back in My Arms remixed by Ian LevineIan LevineIan Levine is an English songwriter, producer, and DJ. He is also a well-known fan of the long-running television show Doctor Who.Levine attended Arnold School in Blackpool from 1963 to 1970...
.
Release history
"Back in Your Arms"| Region | Date | Format | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Italy | May 20, 1998 | CD | Dig It Int'l |
"Follow Me Back in My Arms"
| Region | Date | Format | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | October 5, 1998 | CD, Cassette | Ariola International (Sony Music) |
| France | October 27, 1998 | ||
| South Africa | 1998 | CD | BMG-Ariola |
| North America (import) | January 19, 1999 | BMG Int'l | |
| Uninted Kingdm (import) | January 6, 2003 | BMG | |