Kiki Dee: Love Makes the World Go Round - The Motown Years (2005)

British singer Kiki Dee remained a music industry secret in the 1960s despite releasing numerous high-quality singles during that decade. She was even offered a contract with Motown in 1969, and it was no surprise that she jumped at the opportunity to record for the prestigious American label. ‘The day will come between Sunday and Monday’ was issued as her first US single, in 1970, and an album, Great expectations, followed. Kiki Dee looks young and innocent on this recording, and her voice is beautiful as she covers some classic Motown here: an up-tempo ‘I Second That Emotion,’ a unique ‘For Once in My Life.’ The late Jimmy Miller said that Dee and Dusty Springfield were good friends. Dee covers Springfield's ‘You Don't Have to Say You Love Me,’ and it is excellent, but what is more intriguing is how much she sounds like Dusty Springfield on the lesser-known ‘Johnny Raven.’ Tackling ‘Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing’ without the duet that Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's version enjoyed is commendable, the Motown sound making a transition to showcase a white soul singer works. ‘I Can't Give Back the Love I Feel for You’ is Kiki Dee working within the wonderful confines of Berry Gordy's hit machine, it's just too bad nothing here charted. This is a wonderful album with top-notch production, great vocal work, and a classic '60s sound: Kiki Dee before she found some fame, and often more appealing than what people recognized her for. Many have covered ‘More Today Than Yesterday,’ but few as perfectly as it is captured on this forgotten album. Sadly, its title proved prophetic for Kiki: if she had hoped Motown would make her a household name, she was mistaken. However, the connections she made at the label helped her landing a new contract with Elton John’s fledgling Rocket label in 1973, which eventually proved very fruitful for her. This 18-track compilation includes the whole Great Expectations album, as well as two additional tracks from her time with the label that surfaced on the rare budget Kiki Dee album in the mid-'70s, along with four previously unreleased 1969-1970 outtakes. http://www.answers.com/

Kiki Dee permorming 'You Made Me So Very Happy' on the Benny Hill Show, 1971: