Back in Your Arms

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 Photograph, "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 previously had worked with Lear on her latest studio album at the time Alter Ego. The compilation was issued by minor label Dig It Int'l and released only on the Italian market. The compilation was set to be released throughout Europe in September under the name Number 10, but later that same year, on October 5, German BMG-Ariola instead re-released it under the title Amanda '98 - Follow Me Back in My Arms, and then chose to replace most of the Italian re-recordings with the original Ariola versions, all recorded in Munich in the seventies and early eighties. Throughout October and the beginning of November 1998 Amanda '98 - Follow Me Back in My Arms was released in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, and in all the Nordic and Eastern European countries.

'False' compilations issued

The publishing rights of the nine Dig It Int'l re-recordings were later acquired by German company Siebenpunkt Verlags GmbH, a subsidiary of ZYX Music/Mint Records. The manufacturing rights have then in turn been licensed to a large number of mid-price European labels over the past decade, 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 also on two occasions been bought by subsidiaries to 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 tracks haven been 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', a truth with modification. The CD titles include Made of Blood & Honey, Follow Me, Divinamanda, Living Legend and others. The 1990s versions are also regularly featured on various artists compilations, again usually released by minor European record labels.

While these nine songs indeed are some of Lear's greatest hits, the versions contained on these compilations are not the original recordings made in Munich in the seventies and early eighties with producer Anthony Monn, but 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 as a rule only available on albums and compilations 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.

Singles

Two singles from Back in Your Arms were released, both only on the Italian market. "Follow Me (1998 re-recording)", (TIX 071) was released at the end of 1998, backed with the re-recorded 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 contained four mixes of the re-recorded "Queen of Chinatown", remixed by Italian producer Paramour.

BMG-Ariola Germany subsequently issued Amanda 98- Follow Me Back in My Arms and also released two CD singles for the German market. The first was "Blood And Honey '98" (74321 59995 2), released at the end of August 1998 in Germany, and the rest of Continental Europe. This single contains two remixes of the original Ariola recording of "Blood and Honey", and the track "Rien Ne Va Plus" from Lear's 1995 studio album Alter Ego. The second single released was a promo of "I'll Miss You (Love Version)", a remixed version of a track from Alter Ego (74321 64070 2).

Promotion

To promote the Back in Your Arms compilation, Lear made a few personal performances in Europe. She sang a medley of "Follow Me" and "Tomorrow ('98 Dance Version)" on the Greek TV show Bravo. Lear also promoted the album in Italy where she performed the remix of "Tomorrow" on several TV shows.

Amanda '98 - Follow Me Back in My Arms

Additional notes

Personnel

Release history

"Back in Your Arms"

"Amanda '98 - Follow Me Back in My Arms"