Robin Beck

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Robin Beck (born 7 November 1954, Brooklyn, New York) is an American female singer. She topped the singles chart in the UK in 1988, and Germany in 1989 with her single "The First Time", which had come to the public's attention via its use in a Coca-Cola commercial. The Coca-Cola Co. had tapped the then 33-year-old American jingle singer because of her solid vocal performance on a 1987-1988 Coca-Cola jingle, that aired in most countries (although Coca-Cola spun her age to the press as 27).[citation needed]

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[edit] Career

Prior to this achievement, she had spent time as a backing singer, supporting the efforts of Melissa Manchester, Chaka Khan, and Leo Sayer. Her first album was released in 1979, and featured Irene Cara and Luther Vandross on backing vocals.[1] However, her subsequent debut LP's songs failed to achieve commercial success in the United Kingdom, although it later spawned "Save Up All Your Tears" which hit the Top 10 in Germany.

Her major hit coincided with a unique chart confluence, a bit of trivia which itself keeps her remembered; after waiting thirty-five years for the first instance of three consecutive female vocalists at the top of the UK Singles Chart, she completed the second such occurrence in under a year. The first sequence was Belinda Carlisle, Tiffany and Kylie Minogue in 1988; the second threesome consisted of Whitney Houston, Enya, and Robin Beck. She qualifies as a "one-hit wonder" in the UK, as it is her one and only single to reach the 75-position chart there. This is not the case in Germany, however, where her version of "Save Up All Your Tears" reached number 10, and she had at least three other chart singles.

Her album Trouble Or Nothin' was produced by Desmond Child and featured songs by Child, Diane Warren, Holly Knight, Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg, among others. Despite their track record of success in the U.S., the material did not break big there. "Hide Your Heart" charted in the U.S. and the UK as a single by KISS the same year as Beck's version was released; it was also recorded that year by Ace Frehley and Molly Hatchet, and was the title track of Tyler's album of the previous year. Two other songs from the Beck album had been recently released as singles by Tyler—"If You Were a Woman (And I Was a Man)" (1986) and "Save Up All Your Tears" (1988)—and one by John Waite, "Don't Lose Any Sleep" (1987). Despite the songwriters' hit track records, none of those songs were major hits in the U.S. in any of their versions. "A Crazy World Like This", co-written by Neil Giraldo, had been an album cut for Pat Benatar.

Beck went on to record further solo work with noted writers, which was best received in Germany, and continued to do guest vocal spots on other artists' albums, including a duet with Stan Bush.[2] After a hiatus, she returned in 2003 with her first album in nine years, and has followed that up with a new album every couple of years since.

In 2006, the Swedish dance outfit Sunblock sampled "The First Time" for their dance track "First Time". Beck could be seen performing this song, which was released on the 21 May, and reached number 9 in the UK Singles Chart.

Her most recent album, Livin' On a Dream, was released in 2007.[3]

  1. ^ http://www.robinbeckrocks.com/sweet.html
  2. ^ http://www.robinbeckrocks.com/duets.html
  3. ^ http://www.robinbeckrocks.com/livinonadream.html

[edit] Discography

[edit] Singles

[edit] Albums

[edit] Awards

RSH-GOLD - Radio Schleswig-Holstein-Musikpreis (Germany)

  • Best Newcomer 1989 for "First Time"

[edit] External links

Preceded by
"Orinoco Flow" by Enya		 UK number one single
November 13, 1988		 Succeeded by
"Mistletoe and Wine" by Cliff Richard