Ever So Lonely
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
Ever So Lonely is a single written by Steve Coe and originally recorded by Monsoon with Sheila Chandra on vocals. The song went on to be a #12 hit in the UK in April 1982.
Monsoon’s "Ever So Lonely" was the first “world music” hit. It was a hit in the UK, Europe and Australia but was never released as a single in the USA. Sheila Chandra was just 16 and she’d just left school and her first single was a massive landmark hit.
The single was originally released by Indipop Records. After they were signed to Phonogram it was released under the label "Mobile Suit Corporation". Several different remixes were made including 3 by Monsoon, 2 by Ben Chapman, and several by Jakatta) named "So Lonely", one of which reached #8 in the UK.
Sheila became the first Asian singer to appear on the BBC TV’s longstanding chart show Top Of The Pops. Even though Sheila wore a sari on “Top Of The Pops” to underline how proud she was of this, many Asians refused to believe she was Asian.
Sheila nearly never made it to “Tops Of the Pops” - she was in hospital with appendicitis the week before "Ever So Lonely" entered the Top 20. Just before the single was released, the record company decided they wanted Sheila to change her name to “Boo”. She politely declined.
Some people thought Sheila’s name was ”Monsoon” - Sheila sang all the songs, did all the interviews and the publicity shots by herself. Sheila Chandra was the only Asian artist to have mainstream chart success in the 1980s. Contrary to popular belief "Ever So lonely" was never released as a single on the Indian Subcontinent.
Actually on a trip to India in 1985, Sheila discovered that the track had been pirated and included in a South Indian Telegu film called “Darling, darling, darling”. The soundtrack quality was poor.
