Charlie Dore -

Charlie Dore is an English songwriter and occasional singer who made the 1979 Alan Tarney-produced Island album Where to Now, followed by the 1981 Chrysalis release Listen! She scored a 1980 US country-pop hit with “Pilot of the Airwaves” and wrote “Strut,” a 1984 hit for Sheena Easton.

Background

Charlie Dore was born in 1956 in Pinner, Middlesex, and grew up in a musical household, where singing and piano lessons formed part of family life. The family included a pianist mother who had played in the 1940s dance band the Tetherdown Night Owls. Dore studied drama at the Arts Educational School in Tring and London.

The Tyneside Theatre Company hired Dore for repertory work in Newcastle. Dore worked for two years with the company, first in the touring unit Stagecoach, then in productions directed by Michael Bogdanov. Her subsequent London theatre work led to an eighteen-month placement on the Thames Television program Rainbow, where Dore wrote and performed songs with drama-school friend Julian Littman and actor-musician Karl Johnson. Dore, Littman, and Johnson then wrote and recorded the theme for the BBC pre-school series You and Me.

Blues guitarist Sam Mitchell asked Dore to cover a Monday-night engagement at Obelisk, a pancake house in Westbourne Grove. Dore brought in Littman and Johnson for the set, and the group expanded into Hula Valley with banjo and dobro player Stuart Johnson. The band played bluegrass, western swing, and hillbilly material, then worked originals into the set. They moved through the names Prairie Oyster, Fresh Oyster, and Charlie Dore’s Back Pocket while Dore worked the London pub and club circuit at the Hope & Anchor, the Half Moon, Dingwalls, and the Rock Garden. Island Records signed Dore to recording and publishing deals in 1978, after which Dore and Littman commenced sessions for her first album.

Where to Now

Charlie Dore released her debut album, Where to Now, in 1979 on Island.

Where to Now contains eight Dore originals and two Dore–Julian Littman co-writes carried over from her Back Pocket/Hula Valley period. Alan Tarney and Shadows legend Bruce Welch oversaw the seven remaining songs, including “Pilot of the Airwaves,” “Falling,” “Sleepless,” and the title track, all rendered in a modern-pop sound tied to the 1979–80 Tarney roster.

“Where to Now” revs with finger-picked stride and rolled couplets about a false prophet who lures his flock into darkness (possibly Jonestown inspired). “Falling” saunters on heavy downbeats with deft interplay amid spacious harmonies around Dore’s admissions, sung with airy English reserve. “Sleepless” slopes on a languid trip-beat with down-tone keys and fatigued interplay around Dore’s inexhaustible romantic uncertainties.

“Sad Old World” dials in with luminous synth lines across summery evening rhythmic ambience, colored with remote sax and harmonies around Dore’s humble invitation to a night indoors. “Pilot of the Air Waves” signals with a unison “public” call-out to a beloved disc jockey, reminisced to an upbeat arrangement with breezy strum, rich harmonies, and subtle twang.

A1. “Pilot of the Air Waves” (3:53)
A2. “Falling” (4:34)
A3. “Sad Old World” (4:08)
A4. “Where to Now” (3:58)
A5. “Sleepless” (3:46)

B1. “Fear of Flying” (3:26)
B2. “Wise Owl” (3:18) – Dore, Littman
B3. “Hula Valley” (4:17)
B4. “Pickin’ Apples” (2:34) – Dore, Littman
B5. “Sweetheart” (3:46)

Island first sent Dore and Julian Littman to Nashville for sessions with producer Audie Ashworth at Crazy Mama’s Studio. Ashworth produced “Wise Owl,” “Hula Valley,” and “Pickin’ Apples.” Ashworth’s Nashville titles use bassists Tommy Cogbill and Mike Leech, drummers Jerry Carrigan and Karl Himmel, keyboardists Bobby Wood and David Briggs, and guitarists Dale Sellars, Reggie Young, and Sonny Curtis. Additional parts come from lap-steel guitarist Larry Sasser, accordionist Jerry Roberts, harmonica player Charlie McCoy, percussionist Farrell Morris, string players Roy Christensen and Shelly Kurland, and backing vocalist Johnny Christopher.

Island then brought in Alan Tarney and Bruce Welch to rework the remaining seven titles. Tarney entered the project from Run for Your Life, the 1979 Tarney/Spencer Band album. Welch produced the 1978 Cliff Richard album Green Light. During a break in the Dore sessions, Tarney presented Welch a new song, “We Don’t Talk Anymore,” which prompted Welch to book a single session with Cliff, then busy on Rock n Roll Juvenile with producer Terry Britten.

Tarney and Welch produced “Pilot of the Air Waves,” “Falling,” “Sad Old World,” “Where to Now,” “Sleepless,” “Fear of Flying,” and “Sweetheart.” The seven titles place Dore with drummer Trevor Spencer, keyboardist Cliff Hall, saxophonist Mel Collins, backing vocalist Gary Taylor, and guitarist-mandolinist Julian Littman. Tarney adds guitar, bass, keyboards, and backing vocals. His sonic imprint on Where to Now inaugurated the classic “Tarney sound,” continued on his 1980 productions for Cliff (I’m No Hero), Leo Sayer (Living In a Fantasy), and Barbara Dickson (The Barbara Dickson Album).

Island lifted “Fear of Flying” as a June 1979 single (b/w “Sweetheart”), followed in September by “Pilot of the Airwaves” (b/w “Falling”), which reached No. 66 on the UK Singles Chart.

In January 1980, Island issued the US edit of “Pilot of the Airwaves” (b/w “Sleepless”), which reached No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 4 on Adult Contemporary. “Where to Now?” became the next single in February 1980 (b/w “Fear of Flying”).

Listen!

Charlie Dore released her second album, Listen!, in August 1981 on Chrysalis.

Listen! places Dore inside a Los Angeles session setup with Maxus keyboardist Robbie Buchanan, former Hookfoot/Elton guitarist Caleb Quaye, and percussionists Lenny Castro and Victor Feldman, plus three Toto players: bassist Mike Porcaro, drummer Jeff Porcaro, and guitarist Steve Lukather. Ex-Zappa keyboardist Ian Underwood handled synth programming. Carl Graves formed the vocal-backing group with Donny Gerrard and Jay Gruska.

“Wise to the Lines” ticks on a dry, plucked keyboard figure as Dore measures a rival who keeps names, spies, and romantic damage under tight control. High, muted male backing vocals shadow the lead in close unison, which gives the song an unnervingly masked quality. After the second chorus, wordless vocal sighs pull the track into a desolate break, like the narrator has stepped into a maze of “smoke and mirrors.” The final section rises by three semitones, sharpening the question of whether her own name sits on the rival’s list.

“Didn’t I Tell You” darts forth with a tight synth riff that frames a Lolita’s flowering before an over-eager suitor, lamented by a third-party skeptic across a hopping backbeat. “Don’t Say No” looms subtle with resigned, conflicted vocals of romantic double-think, which intensifies amid lurching volume swell. “I’m Over Here” rocks even with a double-stroked LBaLBHoM-like riff*, stretched and strayed amid the emotional contours of the middle-eight.

A1. “Listen” (4:54) – Dore
A2. “Do Me a Favour, Don’t” (3:23) – Dore
A3. “You Should Hear (How She Talks About You)” (3:27) – Pitchford, Snow
A4. “Falling” (3:01) – Dore
A5. “Don’t Say No” (3:54) – Dore, Buchanan

B1. “Wise to the Lines” (4:14) – Dore, Buchanan
B2. “I’m Over Here” (3:46) – Dore, Littman
B3. “Like They Do It in America” (3:16) – Dore
B4. “Sister Revenge” (3:26) – Dore, Littman
B5. “Didn’t I Tell You” (3:22) – Dore, Buchanan

Sessions occurred in April and May 1981 at Hollywood Sound Recorders with producer Stewart Levine and engineers Al Schmitt, Rik Pekkonen, and Ross Pallone.

Listen! appeared in a sleeve with art direction by Peter Wagg, calligraphy by Alan Dempsey, illustration by Alexander Vettiers, and photography by Brian Aris.

Chrysalis issued “Listen” as an August 1981 single (b/w “Falling”). “You Should Hear” became the second UK single in October 1981 (b/w “Like They Do It in America”).

Stateside, Chrysalis issued “You Should Hear (How She Talks About You)” as a November 1981 single (b/w “Do Me a Favour, Don’t”). In 1982, “You Should Hear (How She Talks About You)” became a crossover pop hit for Melissa Manchester.

*Juice Newton reference

Discography: