Take My Time

Take My Time is the debut album by UK pop singer Sheena Easton. Released in January 1981, the album reached #17 in the UK and earned her a Gold Disc.[1] Two months later, a ten track version of the album was released in the USA and Canada as Sheena Easton.[4] The album went gold in the USA and platinum in Canada.

Take My Time
Studio album by
Sheena Easton
Released18 January 1981[1]
Recorded1980
GenrePop
Length40.23 (UK)
32.40 (US)
LabelEMI
ProducerChristopher Neil
Sheena Easton chronology
Take My Time
(1981)		 You Could Have Been with Me
(1981)
Singles from Take My Time
  1. "Modern Girl"
    Released: 29 February 1980 (UK); May 1981 (US)
  2. "9 to 5"
    Released: 16 May 1980 (UK); February 1981 (USA)
  3. "One Man Woman"
    Released: October 1980
  4. "Take My Time"
    Released: February 1981
  5. "When He Shines"
    Released: April 1981
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
Record Mirror[3]

Background

After becoming suddenly famous due to her appearance on a television documentary in 1980 and with the hits “9 To 5” (which went gold) and “Modern Girl”, Easton began recording her debut album with producer Christopher Neil. Easton later said that working with Neil was a great idea, remarking "They didn't just go; 'Right, just go sing Over the Rainbow or some cover', they brought in this top producer for me to work with".[5] She says that although she didn't write the material on the album, Neil had a good ear for hit records and would send her tapes of songs from which she would decide which ones to record; "so I had a part in picking the hits, but I'm also guilty of picking the ones that were rubbish!"[5] The style of the album was a combination of pure pop (eg.“Take My Time”, “Voice on the Radio”) and dramatic ballads (“When He Shines”, “Calm Before The Storm”).

Of the other tracks recorded, Easton had already performed "When He Shines" at the Royal Variety Performance in November 1980, while "Prisoner" was a cover of a Sue Saad and the Next song released earlier in 1980. The album's opening track, "Don't Send Flowers" had recently been released as a single by British band Sailor, but had been unsuccessful.

The album charted in February 1981, just as Easton was finding fame in the US when “9 to 5” (retitled “Morning Train (Nine to Five)” to avoid confusion with a record by Dolly Parton called "9 To 5") took her to No. 1 in the charts there. In the UK, the album met with favourable response by reaching No. 17 and spent 19 weeks on the charts.[6] In the US, it was released two months later and also made the top 30. By May 1981, three more singles were released from the collection, namely; “One Man Woman”, “Take My Time” and “When He Shines”. With four of the singles reaching the top 20 in the UK (the title track reached a lower #44), Easton became the first female artist to score five top 50 singles hits from an album.[7]

In the US, the album was simply titled Sheena Easton and included only two singles (“Morning Train“ and “Modern Girl”) before Easton was to chart highly with a new song, the James Bond theme, “For Your Eyes Only”. "When He Shines" was not included on her debut, but went on to be included on her second US album, You Could Have Been With Me (it was also released as a single and reached #30 on the US Hot 100 in June of 1982). Easton quickly became a staple on Adult Contemporary radio, where "Morning Train" also hit No. 1 and "Modern Girl" reached the top 10, both in 1981.

Producer Christopher Neil continued to work with Easton and produced her following two albums in a similar vein, before Easton decided to leave behind the pure-pop image she had gained.

Take My Time was re-released on Compact disc in the US on 19 June 1999 with bonus tracks by One Way Records. The UK version of the album was re-released on CD on 19 October 2009 with bonus tracks by Cherry Red Records.[8] On 24 November 2014 the album was included in an Original Album Series box set in the UK with all of her first five albums with EMI through Warner Music Group.

Track listing
Side One
  1. "Don't Send Flowers" (Phil Pickett) 3.02
  2. "Cry" (Frank Musker, Garth Murphy) 3.32
  3. "Take My Time" (Paul Bliss, Phil Palmer) 2.39
  4. "When He Shines" (Dominic Bugatti, Florrie Palmer) 3.56
  5. "One Man Woman" (Mike Leeson, Peter Vale) 3.06
  6. "Prisoner" (D.B. Cooper, James Lance, Tony Riparetti) 3.34
Side Two
  1. "9 to 5" (Florrie Palmer) 3.20
  2. "So Much In Love" (Dominic Bugatti, Frank Musker) 3.04
  3. "Voice On the Radio" (Florrie Palmer, Peter Vale) 3.18
  4. "Calm Before the Storm" (Christopher Neil, Peter Vale) 3.28
  5. "Modern Girl" (Dominic Bugatti, Frank Musker) 3.37
  6. "No One Ever Knows" (Mike Leeson, Peter Vale) 3.47
Bonus tracks later released on CD
  1. "Paradox" (Christopher Neil) 2.40
  2. "Moody (My Love)" (Easton, Christopher Neil) 2.07
  3. "Summer's Over" (Florrie Palmer, Christopher Neil) 3.24
  4. "Right or Wrong" (Florrie Palmer) 3.17

Track listing (US, Canada)
Side One
  1. "Morning Train (9 to 5)"
  2. "Don't Send Flowers"
  3. "Cry"
  4. "Take My Time"
  5. "Prisoner"
Side Two
  1. "Modern Girl"
  2. "So Much In Love"
  3. "Voice On the Radio"
  4. "One Man Woman"
  5. "Calm Before the Storm"
Bonus tracks later released on CD
  1. "Family of One" (Mike Leeson, Peter Vale)
  2. "Please Don't Sympathize" (Thompson)
  3. "Right or Wrong"
  4. "Paradox"
  5. "Summer's Over"

Personnel
  • Sheena Easton – lead vocals
  • Derek Austin – keyboards
  • David Cullen – keyboards, horn arrangements
  • William Lyall – keyboards
  • Ian Lynn – keyboards
  • Peter Vale – keyboards, backing vocals
  • Phil Palmer – guitar
  • Andrew Brown – bass guitar
  • Peter Van Hooke – drums
  • Frank Ricotti – percussion
  • Tony Hall – saxophone
  • Sharon Campbell – backing vocals
  • Alan Carvell – backing vocals
  • Kim Goody – backing vocals
  • Frank Musker – backing vocals
  • Christopher Neil – backing vocals

Production
  • Producer – Christopher Neil
  • Engineer – Nick Ryan
  • Assistant Engineers – Tony George, Simon Hurrell and Brett Kennedy.
  • Recorded at AIR Studios (Montserrat, West Indies).
  • Remixed at Audio International Studios (London, England).
  • Design – Peter Shepherd
  • Photography – Brian Aris
  • Management – D & J Arlon Enterprises Ltd.

Chart performance
Original release date Single title UK
[7]		 US
[9]		 JP
[9]		 AUS
[9]		 IRL
[9]
February 1980 "Modern Girl" 8 18 18 24 10
May 1980 "9 to 5" / "Morning Train (9 to 5)" 3 1 17 1 2
October 1980 "One Man Woman" 14 5
February 1981 "Take My Time" 44
April 1981 "When He Shines" 12 30 9
Original release date Album title UK US JP AUS CAN
January 1981 Take My Time / Sheena Easton 17 24 4 57 9

Certifications
Country Certification Sales
United Kingdom[1] Gold 100,000
United States[4] Gold 500,000
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References
  1. BPI – Certified awards – search Sheena Easton
  2. Allmusic review
  3. de Whalley, Chas (January 24, 1981). Sheena Easton: Take My Time. Record Mirror. p. 13.
  4. Sheena Easton (album) at Allmusic
  5. Button, Simon (April 2017). "Full of Easton Promise". Classic Pop magazine. No.28: pgs 36-41.
  6. "take my time | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Retrieved 2017-05-10.
  7. "Official Charts Company - Sheena Easton". 19 January 2013.
  8. "SHEENA EASTON".
  9. "SHEENA EASTON".
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