Customer Reviews

The GTO Years (Have a Nice Day / Love Songs & Fairytales / The Girl is Back)

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I don't have much of a history with Dana. I'm a bit too young to remember her winning the Eurovision song contest in 1970 with 'All Kinds Of Everything' but I do recall several more of her hits from later on. I even bought one of these LPs, 'Love Songs And Fairytales' back in '76.

As I've said before, Dana, like Lynsey De Paul and Olivia Newton-John, struggled to find her place in the UK music scene. All 3 girls were TV regulars and seasoned live performers but found it hard to maintain singles success and had next to no luck with their album releases. Indeed, Dana and Lynsey's charting careers ended with the decade when they were both still only in their late twenties. Olivia, of course, broke America becoming an all round superstar there for many years and was fortunate enough not to have to rely on the UK for her income!

So, this excellent 2 CD set contains 3 albums and a further 9 bonus tracks. Certainly great value. It begins with 1975's 'Have A Nice Day', which featured Dana's big hit, 'Please Tell Him That I Said Hello'. As an album, it reminds me very much of Olivia's (her again!) 1974 'Long Live Love' set in that it's very quirky and 'English' sounding. Indeed, some of the songs cross the fine line between charming and downright embarrassing! Tracks like 'Are You Still Mad At Me', 'The Goodbye Song', 'Darlin' Come Home Soon' and the insanely catchy 'Rivers Are For Boats' are very 'Eurovision', but in a lovely 1970's way. Although not the best technically of the 3 LPs, it's perhaps my favourite so far...

The one I bought on LP, 'Love Songs And Fairytales' is next. It's definitely the weakest of the 3, mainly because it's basically a covers album. It's big hit, 'Fairytale' is the only original and doesn't represent the album well as it's a modern ('76 modern) disco-ish track that leaves you wanting more of the same. To be fair to Dana, she does try to do something different with these songs like her cod-reggae attempt at 'Rose Garden' and her jazzy take on the New Seekers' 'I Get A Little Sentimental Over You', both of which work to some degree. Her uneven, peculiar version of 10CC's 'I'm Not In Love' (already over-familiar even then) and the (mostly) accapella rendion of the dreaded 'Over The Rainbow' aren't what I paid good money for, though.

3 years on and Dana's gone all 'Totally Hot'! Well, not really, but it was her first contempory pop LP. The lead single, 'Something's Cookin' In The Kitchen' was one of those smart songs that ticks all the right boxes, gets great reviews but still doesn't sell. It should have. Second single, the title track, 'The Girl Is Back', is another fine effort though perhaps a little convoluted for a 7". The album has many styles including the lovely, jazzy 'I Can't Get Over Getting Over You' (yet another flop) and the gorgeous Barry Blue (who produced the album, incidentally) and Lynsey De Paul penned 'The Thieves Of Paris' sticking in the head particularly. It's a really good album overall and should have been the start of great things for Dana, but sadly, it wasn't to be.

Still, at least these albums are out on CD for the first time. Her fans must be thrilled with the bonus tracks, too. I was especially pleased to hear her seasonal 1975 hit, 'It's Gonna Be A Cold, Cold Christmas' again, but I do prefer ONJ's version of 'Have Love Will Travel' to Dana's, it must be said!

A great package then. 7ts have to be applauded for bringing these old albums back to life and remastering them so well, too. This set is obviously a must for Dana fans but should be of interest to anyone to has a fondness for simple, pleasant pop music from a more innocent time.

Born in London as Rosemary Brown, Dana was raised mostly in Ireland as her parents returned to their native land when Dana was just five. Dana's biggest hit was her 1970 Eurovision-winning song, All kinds of everything, which made number one in Britain and was a huge hit in many European countries. However, it proved difficult to follow and Dana eventually parted company with the record label and signed with the label from which the tracks here are compiled.

Dana's spell with GTO did not yield another song as popular as All kinds of everything, but it nevertheless gave us two UK top ten hits (Please tell him that I said hello, It's gonna be a cold, cold Christmas) and a UK top twenty hit (Fairytale) as well as an Irish number one hit (Totus tuus) that failed to chart in the UK. All these hits, together with some minor hits, B-sides and non-hits, are included in this set.

Dana recorded three albums while with GTO and the first two of these (Have a nice day, Love songs and fairytales) occupy the first CD. I originally had these on vinyl but let them go reluctantly in a mass clear-out in the early nineties. I'm very pleased to see them re-issued on CD, something I wasn't necessarily expecting. The first album, featuring Please tell him that I said hello, contains mainly original material though it includes a cover of The crying game. The second album contains just two originals, these being Never gonna fall in love again (written by Eric Carmen, this song became a minor UK hit for Dana) and Fairytale. The remaining songs on this album are covers of classic songs.

The first half of the second CD comprises Dana's third and last GTO album (The girl is back), which yielded no major hits but reverted to using mainly original material. The difference in style is noticeably funkier and jazzier (particularly noticeable in her cover of Cry like a baby; if this song had been included in one of the earlier albums, it would have sounded very different), but perhaps wasn't enough of a change to attract new fans. The second half of the second CD contains the bonus tracks, which didn't appear on any of the three original albums. These tracks begin with a German language version of Please tell him that I said hello, together with its B-side, as well as It's gonna be a cold, cold Christmas and Totus tuus.

Prior to this release, Dana was poorly represented on CD, with just the occasional compilation, but this double CD sets that right big-time.

For those who liked this singer, The first to win the Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland, this is a good compilation of her output of the early 70's. Some hits here - Cold, Cold Christmas, Please Tell Him that I Said Hello, All Kinds of Everything - the Eurovision winner and her tribute to the visit of John Paul II's visit to Ireland in 1979 - Totus Tuus features in the bonus tracks. I also like her treatment of Are You Still Mad At Me?. Some of the songs are dull like Rose Garden and I Get A Little Sentimental Over You. All in all a good collection for the price.