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Archive: HELEN'S NEWSLETTER - June 2001
Dear friends,
Last week Doug (my husband) and I had a great day recording with Chris Winter, the producer of my new album, at his studio here in England. We are so excited about what he has accomplished on my final two songs – they’re kicking! They are also classy and could easily be something you’d hear in the charts. I am delighted and can’t wait to record my final vocals to the tracks.
When I first got to hear these recent recordings with Doug, my reaction was to run over to the mastermind Mr Winter to give him a big hug! (I think he was a bit shocked, but at least he knew I liked the way he’d produced them!)
One of these final songs is called Running Scared, which Doug and I wrote together nearly ten years ago! Maybe you remember it? We sang it in pubs, clubs and youth events here in the UK, when we were a duo called The Promise. Well, today it sounds like a completely different song with a new lease of life, now that it has been revamped in a style similar to that of Dido. I am amazed at how well it works in this new contemporary style. Also, I decided it would be a great idea to sing Running Scared as a duet with Chris Winter. So we spent a good part of the day going through the song and recording vocals.
The other latest song, called Give My Life, is a mature kind of Britney-meets-Brian Adams style, if you can imagine that! It’s the first time in years that I’ve been this excited about my songs, because they have been produced in a style that I really like and I’ve actually been able to express my opinions on this record because Doug is financing it. (I think we’ll have to move to a smaller house soon!)
At the end of our day’s work in the studio, we sat down and had a chat (dogs included!). The conversation came to talking about a certain current top producer in the UK, and I just started saying “You know, I don’t know what’s wrong with me these days, maybe it’s because I’m getting older! but ‘big names’ don’t impress me any more. Yes, I can appreciate their talents or gifts, and I have a certain amount of admiration for them, but I’ve got to that place in my music and my life where I think that people are just people.”
The only name that does impress me is a name beginning with ‘J’ - and no folks, I don’t mean my dog Jack!
Bye for now, thanks for reading and thanks also for all your encouraging emails.
Love, Helen Jayne McKellar
COMPETITION! If you know the 'J' that impresses Helen, click here to enter our prize draw, and we'll pick the winner from a hat on 1st July! They will receive a free signed copy of 'Give My Life...' Helen's brand new album!