BONNIE TYLER

Bonnie Tyler was born Gaynor Hopkins in Skewen, near Swansea, South Wales, on 8 June 1951 into a large family of three sisters, two brothers and her mother and father. Music played a large role in the Hopkins household and the young Bonnie grew up listening to and loving the Motown records of the era and the raw power of two singers who would have a huge influence on her future singing style, Tina Turner and Janis Joplin. At the age of 17 "Gaynor Hopkins" entered a 1970 talent contest singing a song made famous by another Welsh girl singer with the same surname, Mary Hopkin (who was born in Pontardawe a stones throw from Skewen) . Gaynor sang "Those Were The Days" and won the second prize of £1.00 ($1.60), losing to a professional singer. "The excitement I felt made me want to do it again. I really loved singing.....That competition started it all for me." "I went for an audition and they were looking for two girls and a boy for a group in a residency in Swansea. I got picked as one of the girls and I stayed with the group, "Bobby Wayne and the Dixies", for two years. After that I formed my own band, "Imagination" and we were doing all the pubs and clubs". " I decided I would change my name for the stage. I put together a list of surnames and christian names from a newspaper. I thought Bonnie Tyler sounded better than Hopkins. Now I like Gaynor and wish that I hadn't changed my name." A new name and a 9 year apprenticeship around the pubs and clubs of South Wales were to follow, before Bonnie got her long awaited big break. BAND OF GOLD On the 4th July 1973 at the age of 20 Bonnie married Robert Sullivan. A former judo champion, Robert had represented Great Britain in the 1972 Olympics and is now a successful business man in his own right - in 1986 he owned two nightclubs in Wales and was the director of a finance and investment company. Robert now works in real estate. Bonnie describes their first meeting in a 1986 interview: "I was on stage at the time going through this song. Robert just skidded across the floor in front of me to draw attention to himself. Mind you, he couldn't dance to save his life! But I'm as much in love with him now as when we first met". THE WORLD STARTS TONIGHT Bonnie was eventually spotted, by songwriters and producers Ronnie Scott and Steve Wolfe, singing in "The Townsman Club" in Swansea. They signed Bonnie to a management deal and were to stay with her as her managers, songwriters and producers for 6 years from 1976-1981. A record deal followed with RCA Records and in 1975 Bonnie released her first single "My My Honeycomb". It failed to make the charts. ("My My Honeycomb" though is a real "must" for Bonnie fans to hear as it features Bonnie before the throat operation and before the "huskiness" appeared in her voice. The song itself is no great shakes and is fairly typical of the pop fodder of the early 70's. Bonnie never liked the record and it has never surfaced on any of her albums or the countless compilation albums that have been officially - and more ofter than not - unofficially released. To find a copy you will need to visit every second hand record store in the UK and visit every Record Fair and after doing that for several years, I STILL haven't found a copy!). IF I SING YOU A LOVE SONG In 1976 Bonnie was forced to undergo surgery for nodules found on her throat. The operation was to have an enormous impact on her later career. Her voice became more huskier in register, similar to both Tina Turner and Kim Carnes, with whom she was frequently compared and the tag stuck "the female Rod Stewart". "I did think that it (her career) was going to finish but I had to have a throat operation and I had to stop singing for 6 weeks. And you can imagine not being able to talk for 6 weeks you have to write everything down on paper and it gets very frustrating not being able to talk." "I was going to visit my brother in hospital and I was taking my mother and we had bought some strawberries and things like that and I had left them in the fridge. So I'm driving the car and I'm taking my mother to visit my brother and I suddenly remember that I haven't got these things. So I just can't ask my mother did she remember them. I have to pull in the car, get the pen and the paper out." "Ma did you remember the strawberries?" And she says, "Oh no" and I went, "Aaaaaaggghhhhh!" "So I think this is what happened to my voice.....................so I don't advise anyone who had the same operation to scream, if you don't want to end up talking like this!!!!" LET THE SHOW BEGIN Within months of her operation Bonnie was celebrating her breakthrough hit. Her second single "Lost In France" (recorded before her operation and the last not to feature the husky "new" Bonnie) climbed to No.9 in the UK charts. The track was then released in Europe and became an even bigger hit, staying in the Top Ten in Germany for over six months! The follow up single, was (for the early 70's) the fairly risque "More Than A Lover". Although a far superior record to "Lost In France" it failed to match the former singles success reaching only No.27 in the UK charts. Bonnie recorded her first album "The World Starts Tonight" and began to tour extensively in Europe. Further success was, however, not far away. TWO OUT OF THREE AIN'T BAD The next single "It's A Heartache", reached No 4 in the UK charts, and No.1 in most of Europe, selling more than six million copies worldwide (and remains Bonnies biggest hit single........ to date!!). On the back of this huge success "It's A Heartache" climbed into the top 5 in the USA. What should have been next was a stream of hits. But the stream quickly dried up and Bonnies next SEVEN singles failed to make the UK Top 40! Some deserved to be hits "Here Am I", "Heaven","Loisianna Rain" (written by Tom Petty and one of his favourite covers of his songs). Others deserved to be flops, including the dismal "My Guns Are Loaded". The next album "Natural Force" was a pleasant surpise. Far more "Bonnie" than her previous album, it featured the million selling single "It's A Heartache", the follow up singles and some inspired and gutsy cover versions. But as it had only the one hit single, it failed to get the recognition it deserved. The next hit (though only reaching No.35 in the UK charts) was "Married Men" the theme song from the film "THE WORLD IS FULL OF MARRIED MEN" and Bonnies first (and so far as I know last film appearance - Bonnie is shown singing the song as the end titles roll). Her last two albums on RCA, "Diamond Cut" and "Goodbye To The Island" leaned more towards country than someone who lists Janis Joplin and Tina Turner as her favourite female singers. The title song of the album "Goodbye To The Island", again written by Scott and Wolfe, was entered in the Tenth World Popular Song Contest held in Tokyo in 1979. Bonnie, in a dazzling shiny trouser suit was one of the two winners of the Grand Prix (sharing first place with "In The City Of The Strangers" by "Crystalwalking"). The triumph of winning the contest however did not transfer to the subsequent single release and Bonnie had yet another flop. The downturn in Bonnies fortunes were not lost on her and although she almost signed a further contract with Scott and Wolfe, who were trying to take her further into country music, at the last moment she changed her mind. "Don't talk to me about those days. I didn't have any control over what I was doing at all. I was signed to a production company and the guys who managed me were also songwriters. So they'd only let me record THEIR material. I didn't have any choice. Before I signed with them I had my own band, "Imagination" and we used to do raunchy soul stuff by people like Rufus, Chaka Khan and Tina Turner. But they wanted me to sing country songs because they were aiming at the Nashville market. Some of the material was quite good, I suppose, but after I'd had seven flops in a row in a two year period my heart went out of it. When my contract expired, I just walked out." BEFORE WE GET ANY CLOSER It's easy to dismiss the RCA albums. They weren't very good when you compare them with the masterpieces that Bonnie would produce when she had control of her own career. But they were not as bad as perhaps we were lead to believe. "Prince" is a good comparison here. He never produces a totally bad album, there is always some little gem hidden on his albums you just have to find it! ("Chaos and Disorder" had "Dinner With Delores", "Come" had "Letitgo"). The same can be said of Bonnies early albums: THE WORLD STARTS TONIGHT - had "More Than A Lover" and the wonderfully orchestrated and honky tonk piano of her inspired cover of "Piece Of My Heart". NATURAL FORCE - Bonnie's strongest RCA album - had the hit (It's A Heartache"), the should have been hits ("Here Am I" and "Heaven") and also two brilliant cover versions in "Living For The City" and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" - a version only bettered by Aretha Franklin. DIAMOND CUT - is a truly frightening album to listen to! This is the way Scott and Wolfe wanted Bonnie to go - Country!!! (If you want to be truly terrified check out the promo film for one of the albums better tracks, "Louisianna Rain" in which Bonnie looks like a young Tammy Wynette!! Agghhh!) There is however one true gem on this album, "Too Good To Last", a song which still sounds great today - and one I wish Bonnie would update in the accoustic section of her show. GOODBYE TO THE ISLAND - a disappointing album . One of Bonnies better singles of this period opened it "I'm Just A Woman" but from there it was all downhill. Versions of "Whiter Shade Of Pale" and "Wild Side Of Life" which Bonnie should have ripped apart with the power of her voice were "lost" in dull countryfied backing. Only the country rocker "The Closer You Get" gave Bonnies voice any real reign. The nicest thing that can be said about this album is that the cover shot of Bonnie in a white t.shirt in the sea was.......... well, just was!!!! YOU'RE THE ONE The early part of 1982 was spent in finding the right songs and producer for the album that Bonnie really wanted to record. Jeff Lynne, Phil Collins and Jim Steinman were all in the running. New Management followed in the form of David Aspden and a new recording contract with CBS Records. And history tells us who she chose................................................................................Jim Steinman!!! Jim had written the massive selling "Bat Out Of Hell" and proved to a perfect partner. He assembled a crack team of studio personnel, including Rick Derringer and Max Weinburg of the E Street Band. The resultant album "Faster Than The Speed Of Night", featured songs from Blue Oyster Cult and Clearwater Revival, alongside Steinman's own rock compositions. CALL ME In an interview at around the time of "Secret Dreams...", it implies Bonnie made contact with Jim herself. I quote: .....it was she who called a halt to the winsome folk-rock direction of her early career and she who pestered Big Jim with phone calls and demos until he said yes, Bonnie Tyler would be the first artist to benefit from a Steinman production. Their first meeting was strange to say the least. " Have you ever seen ET," she (Bonnie) asks?" "Well it had just been released at the time we met, and do you remember the little trail of sweets, like Smarties (M&M's), in the film? Well we came out of the lift on his floor of the appartment block and from half way down the corridor right to his door was this row of sweets, showing us how to find him..........." "Anyway he came to the door and do you know what he looks like? Well I'll tell you. Do you remember The Thing from the Adams Family? That's what he looks like, all this hair, a mixture of grey and black. I thought, ooh shit, this guy is going to be weird." There followed a Gothic scene which was pure Jim Steinman. Imagine a large darkened room....and set a big grand piano in the middle of it. Usher in Bonnie Tyler to find the man himself sitting at it like the Phantom of the Opera declaiming the old Creedance Clearwater Revival classic "Have You Ever Seen The Rain?" and an Ian Hunter/Eric Bloom collaboration, "Going Through The Motions". "I loved them both. Which was a good thing because he told me later that if I hadn't he wouldn't have worked with me. Then he played me the two songs he'd written himself and I knew we were away." TAKE A CHANCE Jim's version on that first call (from an interview for the "Ladybirds" documentary series): . "The situation that this came about was a total surprise in that out of nowhere I get a call from Mutt Winwood who was the Head of A&R at CBS asking if I would like to produce an album by Bonnie Tyler. Now I knew Bonnie as most Americans do primarily from the amazing single "It's A Heartache" which was a number 1 single in America, gold single, gold album and I hadn't really heard anything about her since." "I just knew it was pretty much something that you could call a classic song and it's also amazing as it would be called a "cross over" hit in that it was a huge hit in country, pop, rhythm and blues, black stations as well as rock and roll, which is pretty unusual and pretty much to be treasured when that happens." " But I didn't know what had happened to her and then this call comes and my first thought was this is a pretty strange thing to ask me to produce because I was primarily known for doing records with Meatloaf which were these thunderous, nearly Wagnarian epic, stormy records and I never thought of Bonnie in those terms. And I was a little surprised to think they'd ask me." "But my second thought was for one thing it was a real challenge because of that. Because I had been asked to do a lot of heavy metal groups and this was different. Also, I did think she was one of the greatest voices I had ever heard and also she had not really been used well". "When I heard the album from "It's A Heartache" I just felt they weren't realy getting out what she was capable of. The voice itself is probably one of the most passionate voices I have ever heard in rock and roll. You'd have to say I don't think there's been a voice in this style that any female singers had since Janis Joplin. There have been a lot of pretty good rock and roll singers but no one who's had that kind of raw nerve sound. When "It's A Heartache" came out the general consensus was to compare it a little to Rod Stewart because it has some of the hoarse qualities but I think that's a little deceptive. Rod Stewart's voice to me has always had a kind of silky smooth very kind of slick quality. Great voice but a bit different. Bonnie seems to be more of a passionate exposed nerve and much more raw." On " Faster Than The Speed Of Night" Jim descibes it as: "An exorcism you can dance to. That sounds terrible but I think it's appropriate. It's an exorcism partly of Bonnie's old image I think which was an unfair image which did present her as a more middle of the road artist which she never was. I think she was a sensational rock and roll singer who was never given the chance to do what she was capable of. And it was an attempt to exorcise those labels and allow her to be seen as a really passionate, demonic almost, powerful rock and roller." Whew!!!! HEAVEN "Total Eclipse Of The Heart" was the first single and within four weeks of it's release had knocked Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" from the top of the UK charts. "A high gloss high-impact, semi operatic tour de force, the production had Steinmans fingerprints all over it." The song repeated its success all over Europe and culminated in a US Number 1. During its four week stay at the top of the US charts Bonnie kept at bay "Air Supply" another group who were enjoying success with a Jim Steinman song and production "Making Love Out Of Nothing At All" (ironically later recorded by Bonnie) keeping it at the number 2 position. "Total Eclipse Of The Heart" went on to sell over 5 million records. The song, as great and powerful as it was (and still is) was helped by a completely over the top video story-boarded by Jim Steinman (with a few ideas "borrowed" from the movie "FUTURE WORLD" - the follow up to the Yul Brunner futuristic thriller "WESTWORLD). Bonnie said at the time: "We've just made a video to go with the single. We filmed it at Holloway Asylum, a doctor who invented a drug used all the money he made from it to build it, to help his patients. Hellish frightening it is though, they've got six security guards and six dogs and the dogs will go in every room of the place except the morgue and they won't step over into the rooms where they gave patients electric shocks. It's funny how dogs seem to know these things." "It starts off with me daydreaming in this window and I'm supposed to be fantasizing about all these things that happen in the video. There's about twenty boys in it and I'm supposed to be fantasizing about all these boys. There's American footballers, Hells Angels, Fencers and there's one scene where all the boys are sat around in dinner suits looking all suave, there's this big dinner table and they're all drinking champagne out of silver goblets and then they kick the table over and start fighting. "Two of them actually ended up in hospital because they kicked the table over and a champagne bottle broke and a glass dish broke and two of them fell in the glass and cut themselves. We started filming at nine thirty in the bitter cold and we were still there at 3.30 in the morning. At about 1.30am it was pouring with rain and I was there in the pitch black, running through the grass, falling in the muck with these pagan dancers, all of us practically rolling in the muck. It was quite interesting!" The eagerly awaited album "Faster Than The Speed Of Night" shot straight into the UK album charts at No.1, making Bonnie the first ever female artist to have achieved this and only the second female artist to have a UK number 1 album (the first being Kate Bush's "Never For Ever"). The album went on to achieve platinum statues in the UK, SWEDEN, SOUTH AFRICA, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, SWITZERLAND and the USA and many other countries around the world. Bonnie was honoured with two Grammy Nomination for best female vocalist on a rock single and album and best pop vocal. Although Bonnie failed to win (losing to Pat Bennetar and Kim Carnes), it was nevertheless a great honour and a great recognition of her talent. Further nominations included a Brit award and the Variety Club award in the UK for best single of 1983, "Total Eclipse Of The Heart", which Bonnie won. Disappointingly, further singles released from the album failed to repeat the success of "Total Eclipse". "Faster Than The Speed Of Night" only reaching No. 43 and "Have You Ever Seen The Rain" (which surely should have been the natural follow up to "Eclipse") stalling at No. 47 (look out for the limited edition "poster sleeve" that was wrapped around the 7" UK edition of the single. The poster opens up into the sleeve of the "Faster" album, without any of the graphics). REBEL WITHOUT A CLUE Bonnies next hit was a duet with another Welsh singer, Shakin' Stevens. Like Bonnie "Shaky" had spent his apprenticeship around the club circuit delivering a blend of old time rock and roll, firstly with his band The Sunsets, and then as a solo performer. Perversly he became a teeny idol and was a huge star, with a stream of top ten singles (including two No 1's) to his name. During this high profile period he recorded a cover of an old Brook Benton/Dinah Washington hit. "A Rockin' Good Way" with Bonnie which returned her to the top ten where it reached No. 5 in the UK charts. Bonnie's follow up single (this time without the odious Shaky - yeah you can guess I never liked him) was "Here She Comes". The song was originally written with Donna Summer in mind but was given to Bonnie (an all time hero of the writer, Georgio Moroder) after Donna Summer refused to record it due to her and Moroder falling out. The song was taken from the Georgio Modorer score of the film "Metropolis". It was never a hit but the accompanying video caused some controversy. Was the video an advert for the single or for the new Ford car featured so strongly in it? TOO GOOD TO LAST Bonnies next album with Jim Steinman was 1986's "Secret Dreams And Forbidden Fire". Jim had wanted to call the album after its first song "Ravishing" but Bonnie thought it would be a little hard to live up to (wrongly) and named it "Secret Dreams And Forbidden Fires". (A line taken from one of the standout tracks "Loving You's A Dirty Job But Somebody's Got To Do It) The album failed to repeat the success of "Faster Than The Speed Of Night" and neither the critics or the public seemed to warm to it. Disappointingly, single after single flopped. Even with the help of massively expensive video's (see "If You Were A Woman And I Was a Man" and "Loving You's A Dirty Job But Somebody's Got To Do It"), nothing could save the album and it bombed. In June 1988 Bonnie said of "Loving You's A Dirty Job". "It didn't make it in this country (UK), but I know for a fact it will sell, it will be a hit. It's one of those occasions where eighteen months will pass after the release and suddenly it's a hit. It's going to be a hit, it's too gorgeous not to be, he's got a beautiful voice (Todd Rungren) and the song is gorgeous. I'll eat my hat if it's not a hit here - in two years." (We are now nine years down the line, the single was never a hit, but I share Bonnies belief, the song IS too "gorgeous" not to be a hit. I only hope that it's Bonnie who gets the hit and not someone else covering it as has been too often the case). "Ravishing" the opening track - also the opening song of the "Hide Your Heart" UK tour - was also recorded in a slightly different version. "One of the biggest names in wrestling over there (USA) is called HULK HOGAN. He had a listen to "Ravishing" and loved it so much he wanted to use it as his theme song." "He came to the studio and he wanted a slightly different version. We didn't want to go straight into the lyrics for what they play when he's in the arena. He wanted some chants for the beginning of it, so all through the introduction we were in the studio's chanting "Hulk! Hulk! Hulk!" on the beat." I don't know if this was ever released as a single, but what a story and what a record!!! Another track recorded in the same sessions for the album, but not making the final track listing (although it was included on the cassette version), was something of a rarity, a song co-written by Bonnie, "Under Suspicion" (later to surface on the B side of several of Bonnies singles). "Under Suspicion" was a total surprise and a knockout track with "some really good riffs on it". This track should have inspired Bonnie on to write more of her own material, the talent is certainly there, but for some reason this remains something of a rarity, along with "I'm Not Foolin'". The last track on the album was a foray into disco territory, "Holding Out For A Hero". The song was also featured on the soundtrack of that years big film "Footloose" and the soundtrack album stayed at the top of the US charts for months and selling over 10,000,000 albums around the world and spawned four hit singles (none of which were by Bonnie). Although a huge "gay" disco hit, "Holding Out For A Hero" (has anyone else seen the lyrical similarity in Paula Coles "Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?") the song flopped on its initial release. Then eighteen months later it was used as a theme to the American Football programme. At the same time it was picked up by an American soap "Cover Up" (however the track they used was not sung by Bonnie, but by a Bonnie soundalike!). "Cover Up" was tremendously popular and Bonnies version of "Holding Out..." was rush released. The song rocketed up the UK charts and spent 3 weeks at No.2 only being kept off the top spot by David Bowie/Mick Jagger's version for "Live Aid" of "Dancing In The Street". FORGET HER Bonnie needed another change of direction, Despite the fact that Jim Steinman had already written material for their projected "third" collaboration. Bonnie had, she admitted, become frustrated by the length of time it had taken to record "Secret Dreams" and felt the time was right for another change of direction. Initially the plan was that Bonnie would record with four of five producers and she flew to New York to meet one of them, Desmond Child. Desmond had already written two of the highlites on "Secret Dreams", "If You Were A Woman (And I Was A Man)" and "Lovers Again" but now Bonnie wanted him to try his hand at producing her. Bonnnie spent 5 weeks with Desmond and came back with 10 almost complete tracks which would make up the album "Hide Your Heart" (known as "Notes From America" in the USA with a completely different sleeve to the UK release). The album was recorded at the Bearsville studion, near Woodstock, New York, USA, the same studio as Bonnies hero, the tragic '60's rock star Janis Joplin had also recorded: in fact Bonnie was staying in the same road where Janis used to stay. "When I was 15 she was who I used to listen to. I've always loved Janis so much that we started to play "Turtle Blues" one night. Jimmy started to sing and the atmosphere was incredible. We did the whole thing in three takes...." The track was recorded after a 2am jam session with the Australian singer, Jimmy Barnes (who later also recorded with INXS) and continues to be played as one of the encores in Bonnies live shows. The track "Hide Your Heart" was specially written for Bonnie by Paul Stanley of KISS - other tracks included "Notes From America", a classic Bonnie Tyler song recorded with fifty people they pulled in off the street to sing the chorus with her! (Don't you just wish something like that could happen to you!) However the album failed to return Bonnie back to the top. In my view down to poor promotion by the record company as the songs on it and singles released from it were of such a high standard they were screaming out to be hits. And hits they were - but for other people!! "The Best" and "Save Up All Your Tears" became hits for Tina Turner and Cher. The cover of the Bee Gees classic "To Love Somebody" became a hit for Jimmy Somerville and "Don't Turn Around" a hit for the reggae group, Aswad. All was not lost though as the album convinced Bonnie that she had not lost the knack of finding good material. A promotional tour for the album returned Bonnie to the UK where she played at London's HAMMERSMITH ODEON (a place Bonnie had always dreamed of playing), the DOMINION THEATRE and a place on the bill at that years READING ROCK FESTIVAL (where she and fellow performer Meatloaf were pelted with bottles and mud - before Bonnie bravely fought back with sheer power and energy winning the "fans" over) . In the programme for the tour Bonnie listed her top 10 favourite songs at the time, which were: 1. Born To Run - Bruce Springsteen 2. Me And Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin 3. Who's Loving You - Terence Trent D'Arby 4. River Deep Mountain High - Ike And Tina Turner 5. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - U2 6. Bullet The Blue Sky - U2 7. Bat Out Of Hell - Meatloaf 8. Midnight Hour - Wilson Picket 9. Oh Well - Fleetwood Mac !0. These Dreams - Heart Later that year Bonnie took part in Beatles producer, George Martin's, recording of "Under Milk Wood - a return to her Welsh roots. A change is gonna come.......... GIVEN IT ALL Bonnie took a break from recording and re-thought her career again, eventually signing directly to Hansa Musik, BMG in Germany in 1990. Deciding on a multi-producer album gave Bonnie the opportunity to work with a team of international songwriters, producers and musicians. The album was 1991's "Bitterblue". "Bitterblue" was a comeback and a change of direction at the same time. Bonnie sang a duet with Giorgio Moroder who wrote and produced four songs (Bonnie had previously worked with him on the single "Here She Comes"). Nik Kershaw (a big pop star in the 80's with a string of hits to his own name) wrote the superlative track "He's Got A Hold On Me"- one of the highlights of the album. Dieter Bohler worked as songwriter and producer and further compositions came from the legendary songwriter Albert "It Never Rains In California" Hammond. First class musicians helped as well: Roy Bittan (piano), Wadd Watche (guitar), Randy Johnson (bass) and Kenny Aronoff (drums), amongst others. Bonnie was rewarded with gold and platinum albums from Germany, Switzerland, Austria and many other countries as well as rapturous receptions from her numerous fans during her extensive tours. In Norway the album went double platinum a few weeks after release and for a second time in her career knocked Michael Jackson off the top of the charts. The one "bitter" blow for her UK fans was that the album never received the acolade it should have in Bonnies home country, as the album was never released in the UK! This pattern was repeated with the "Angel Heart" and "Silhouette in Red" album. In fact during this whole period UK fans were treated to only one new release from Bonnie, the single "Where Were You". This single, a hit all over Europe, should have given Bonnie the hit she so deserved in her home country. But as is the case with so many Bonnie singles in the UK - it bombed. ANGEL HEART Bonnies next album "Angel Heart" was recorded in the same way ("I don't always like to change a winning formula") as the multi award winning "Bitterblue" only with different people. Dieter Bohlen rejoined for a second colaboration, Mutt Lange (famous for his work with Bryan Adams and Def Leppard), Jerry Lynn Williams and a repeat duet with Frankie Miller (who Bonnie had previously worked with on "Tears" from the "Faster Than The Speed Of Night" album). The album repeated the success of "Bitterblue" and showered Bonnie with more gold and platinum records! The start of the German compilations followed (a nightmare for collectors as it seems there is a new compilation nearly every month! - few it should be said approved by Bonnie). However, "The Very Best Of Bonnie Tyler" proved to be another massive hit selling over 600,000 copies. Voted the best female vocalist in Germany in 1994 (beating Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey) and selling over 1,000,000 albums and singles that year brought the ANGEL HEART period to a VERY nice end. GOIN' THROUGH THE MOTIONS "Silhouette In Red" was Bonnies tenth studio album in seventeen years. This was another success but a strange album. For me it is Bonnies weakest album since leaving RCA. For others it is up there with her best. Certainly the title track was impressive, recorded with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, but for me the Deiter songs were becoming tiresome and predictable. The album lacked the spark of the previous two and it was clear that another change in direction was needed and Bonnie knew it. BACK HOME In 1995 Bonnie returned to playing live in Wales, her first time for several years. This was a triple celebration in that Bonnie had just signed a major recording contract with the prestigious EAST WEST record label for Europe and ATLANTIC RECORDS (the home of so many of Bonnies heros) for the USA. The Swansea Music Festival was held over a weekend of three days and nights in August and Bonnie headlined the Saturday. The concert was held in Singleton Park a stones throw from the sea and literally 5 minutes from where Bonnie lives. This was some homecoming concert!! Backstage was FULL of Bonnies relatives (one of the support bands of the day also featured close relatives of Bonnies so it was a real family occasion). When she took the stage her relatives crammed the sides. At one point Bonnie asked her mother, who you could be visibly seen on the side of the stage, to come on stage and sing, what was to be the debut live performance of the forthcoming single, "Making Love Out Of Nothing At All....", but her mother declined. (Bonnies mother is the operatic voice heard on the single). That night fans were to hear a set made up of most of the material from the forthcoming new album, "FREE SPIRIT" which at that stage was due to be released in the UK the following month (but did not actually get released until the following year). This was undoubtedly the best concert I've ever seen Bonnie perform. The crowd were with her from her opening note to her closing one. There were several costume changes, Bonnie looked "ravishing" and her voice never sounded better. It was crystal clear that Bonnie was loving every second. Set Listing For Swansea Music Festival Saturday 5 August 1995: Driving Me Wild