The song, “Always Something There To Remind Me”, was originally recorded by Dionne Warwick in 1963
Legendary songwriters Hal David (1923-2012) and Burt Bacharach (1928-2023) wrote the song “Always Something There To Remind Me” for Dionne Warwick, which she recorded in 1963, although this never progressed further than a demo. It was Lou Johnson (1941-2019) who first released it the following year and reached No.49 on the US singles chart.
Among the many versions of the song to follow, Britain’s Sandie Shaw (b.1947) recorded it the same year as Johnson and released it as her second single. It became her very first hit when it went to number one in October 1964 in the UK, South Africa and Canada. Her version of “Always Something There To Remind Me” was a top ten hit internationally and peaked at No.52 in America.
UK duo Naked Eyes, which included the late Rob Fisher, who would form a successful partnership with Simon Climie later on, recorded “Always Something There To Remind Me” in 1982 and released it as their debut single in 1983. While only reaching No.59 in the UK, the song was far more successful in The States, where it went top ten and peaked at No.8. It was also a top ten hit in Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
UK dance act Tin Tin Out (Darren Stokes and Lindsay Edwards) brought the song into the 1990’s with duo Espiritu which included singer Vanessa Quinones. Their version was released in March 1995, as their second commercial release, and peaked at No.14 on the singles chart and No.1 on the dance chart.
But which version is the best? DIONNE’s original, SANDIE’s number one, NAKED EYE’s US smash or TIN TIN OUT’s dance version?
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