Jan Johnston

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Jan Johnston

Jan on the cover of a promo release of "Flesh"
Background information
Born (1968-02-21) 21 February 1968
Origin Salford, England
Genres Trance, pop
Occupations Singer-songwriter
Years active 1991–present
Labels Perfecto
Associated acts Paul Oakenfold, Brian Transeau, Paul van Dyk, DJ Tiesto
Website Official website

Jan Johnston (born 21 February 1968, Salford, Lancashire, England) is an English professional singer, best known for collaborating with some of the world's top trance music DJs.[1]

Career

In the early 1990s she was signed to Columbia Records as part of the pop duo JJ, which gained some recognition while touring the UK.

However, when the band project failed she continued as a solo artist; signing to A&M Records. In the mid 1990s she came to the attention of trance producer, Brian Transeau, when he purchased one of her singles from a bargain bin in Manchester.[2] Impressed by her vocals, he decided to collaborate with her recording the track "Remember."

Following this, Johnston was in demand to vocal for many other trance tracks, notably for Alan Bremmer and Anthony Pappa's "Freefall" project. Upon being given the instrumental, Jan came up with the lyrics resulting in "Skydive (I Feel Wonderful)" which despite being a club anthem, never translated to a commercial hit, finally hitting the top 40 at #35 on its third release in 2001. Paul Oakenfold signed her to his Perfecto Records label in 1999 to record an album. The resulting album 'Emerging' was delayed numerous times, with her first Perfecto release being a track she recorded with BT years earlier entitled "Flesh", rather than an actual track from the album, which reached #36 in the charts. The original version of "Flesh" has never been released, only remixes. A cover of The Carpenters' song, "Superstar", was lined up to be the album's first single, with remixes produced by Todd Terry and Bill Hammel, but would ultimately go on to be unreleased. Only one track from 'Emerging' was released as a single; "Silent Words" in 2001, with the album ultimately being unreleased.

Remixes of one of the album tracks, "As The Cracks Appear", emerged on a Perfecto promo release, as did a remix of "Superstar", and a remix of the album track "Unafraid", appeared on the soundtrack to the film, Swordfish.

Following the failure of the 'Emerging' project, Johnston continued to write and record with trance producers, contributing five tracks to Paul van Dyk's Grammy Award nominated, Reflections album,[3] amongst other projects.

In 2008, new solo tracks by Johnston began to emerge, with two of them "Sleeping Satellite" and "Obsession", released digitally in 2009 by Perfecto.

Discography

See Jan Johnston Discography

JJ

Albums

  • 1991 Intro...

Singles

  • 1990 "If I Never See Sunday"
  • 1990 "Slide Away"
  • 1991 "If This is Love"
  • 1991 "Crying Over You"

Jan Johnston

Albums

  • 1994 Naked But for Lilies (A&M Records)
  • 2000 Emerging (unreleased) (Perfecto Records)

Singles

  • 1994 "Paris" (A&M Records)
  • 1994 "Alive" (A&M Records)
  • 1998 "Asking Too Much" (featuring Jamie Myerson) (Sound Gizmo)
  • 2001 "Flesh" (Perfecto Records)
  • 2001 "Superstar" (unreleased Perfecto Records)
  • 2001 "Silent Words" (Perfecto Records)
  • 2001 "As The Cracks Appear" (Perfecto Records promo only)
  • 2002 "Am I on Pause?" (Perfecto Records)
  • 2003 "Calling Your Name" (Thrillseekers re-recorded version with new vocals; Platipus Records)
  • 2008 "Everything I Need (Sea Of Dreams)" (Perfecto Records Promo only)
  • 2009 "Happy Ending" (Metallic Recordings)
  • 2009 "Sleeping Satellite" (Perfecto Digital)
  • 2009 "Obsession" (Perfecto Digital)

Collaborations (Singles)

  • 1995 Libra Presents Taylor - "Anomaly - Calling Your Name" (BT-produced track which samples "The Prayer" ("Paris" B-side)) UK #71
  • 1997 Submerge - "Take Me By the Hand" UK #28
  • 1997 BT - "Remember" UK #27
  • 1998 Freefall - "Skydive" (single release, re-issued in 2000 and 2001) UK #75 (1998), UK #43 (2000), UK #35 (2001)
  • 1999 BT - "Mercury & Solace" UK #38
  • 1999 Libra presents Taylor - "Anomaly" (Remix/Re-release with new video) UK #43
  • 2000 Tomski - "Love Will Come" UK #31
  • 2002 Cosmic Gate - "Raging (Storm)" UK #48
  • 2003 DJ Cor Fijneman - "Venus" UK #109
  • 2003 Paul van Dyk - "Nothing But You" (also featuring Hemstock & Jennings and Kym UK #14.
  • 2003 Svenson & Gielen - "Beachbreeze" UK #163 (through import sales) (Originally titled "Ocean")
  • 2004 Serge Devant - "Transparent"
  • 2005 Cosmic Gate - "I Feel Wonderful" (an update of her song recorded with Freefall "Skydive") UK #122
  • 2006 Leama & Moor - "Waiting" (originally titled "UR My Book")
  • 2007 DJ Shah - "Beautiful"
  • 2007 R&Y - "It's Cold Outside"
  • 2007 J Joy - "Rush"
  • 2008 DJ Trenix - "Let The World Fall Apart"
  • 2008 Jussi Soro - "Merge"
  • 2008 Nektarios meets F-used - "Invisible Walls" (collaboration with Nektarios and trance singer Kirsty Hawkshaw)
  • 2010 San - "Perfect Dream"
  • 2010 Tenishia - "Flesh 2010" (an update of her track "Flesh")
  • 2011 Cosmic Gate - "Raging 2011" (an update of the track released in 2002)
  • 2011 Tartarus - "Something's Missing"
  • 2011 Nektarios meets F-used - "Invisible Walls 2011"
  • 2012 Dave D'Mello - "Remember" (an update of her track with BT)
  • 2012 Alexey Sonar - "Freedom"
  • 2012 Tenishia - "As It Should"
  • 2013 SNR & Rikkaz - "Beautiful Change"
  • 2013 Dr. K & Nii vs Shiha - "Dangerous"
  • 2013 DJ Feel - "Illuminate"
  • 2014 Obsidian Radio - "Love Like This"

Album collaborations

In addition to the singles she has provided vocals for, Jan has also provided vocals to some artist albums with some of the tracks being released as singles.

  • 1997 BT - ESCM album featuring Johnston on vocals on "Remember" and "Lullaby for Gaia" (US Version only) UK #35
  • 1999 BT - Movement in Still Life album featuring Johnston on vocals on "Mercury & Solace", "Sunblind" (Japanese version only) and featuring Johnston on backing vocals on "Dreaming" & "Running Down the Way Up" UK #87
  • 1999 Cloak - "Quiet Then" (from "Hackers Vol. 3" OST compilation album)
  • 2001 Tiësto - "Close to You" (from the Tiësto album In My Memory) UK #133
  • 2003 Paul van Dyk - Reflections album featuring Johnston on vocals on "Kaleidoscope", "Homage" (originally titled 'I Don't Care'), "Like a Friend", "Spellbound" and "Nothing But You" which features Norwegian vocals "Jeg har ingenting men jeg har alt nar jeg har deg" which translates to "I have nothing but I have everything when I have you." UK #81
  • 2003 BT - Emotional Technology album featuring Johnston on vocals on "Communicate" (unofficial single, 2 known remixes have been made)
  • 2005 Paul Oakenfold - "Delirium" (from The Club OST Soundtrack Mix album (TV series OST)) (originally recorded with DJ Manalo)
  • 2006 Cosmic Gate - Earth Mover album featuring Johnston on vocals on "This Is The Party" and "I Feel Wonderful"
  • 2006 Leama & Moor - Common Ground album featuring Johnston on vocals on "Waiting"
  • 2006 Ernie Lake - "Daring" (from From the Hamptons to Ibiza, Vol. 2 (Ernie Lake Presents Chill a Bit of Soul) compilation album)
  • 2007 Paul Oakenfold - "More Than Human" (from [Vexille] OST compilation album)
  • 2008 DJ Shah - "Songbook" featuring Johnston on vocals on "Beautiful (Glimpse Of Heaven)"
  • 2012 Glassesboys - "Time Indefinite"
  • 2012 Tenishia - "Memory of a Dream" album featuring Johnston's vocal on the track "As it Should"

Other works

Johnston has written and recorded many other tracks with various artists which have gone on to be unreleased or even released on promotional copies.

  • BT - "Confession" (2001)[2]
  • BT - "Shine" (2001)
  • DJ Manalo - "Delirium" (2002) (later remixed and released on 'The Club OST' credited to Paul Oakenfold)[4][5]
  • DJ Manalo - "Falling Away" (2002)
  • DJ Manalo - "Eternity" (2002)
  • DJ Manalo - "Imagination" (2002)
  • DJ Manalo - "Between Two Worlds" (2002)
  • Paul van Dyk - "Should I Back" (2003)
  • Serge Devant - "Asteroid" (2004)
  • DJ Manalo - "I Can't Move On" (2005)
  • Matt Darey - "Broken Wings" (2006)[6]
  • Upacchi - "Read My Lips" (2006)

Other unreleased solo works:

  • "Out There" (1999)
  • "Religion" (1999) (later remixed and renamed as "Halo" which was intended to be a Double A Side release along with "Obsession")[7]
  • "Bittersweet" (2000) (an instrumental of God's Plan from the Emerging album )
  • "Crawl To The Edge"
  • "Go Away"
  • "Faking Smiles" (2004)
  • "Not Mine" (2004)

References

  1. ↑ Jan Johnston
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "[i:Vibes] - your guide to electronic dance music (trance, techno, house, progressive etc.)". Ivibes.nu. Retrieved 2011-10-15. 
  3. ↑ "Paul Van Dyk's Historic Grammy Nomination". Internetdj.com. Retrieved 2011-10-15. 
  4. ↑
  5. ↑ "Guest Book". Janjohnston.com. Retrieved 2011-10-15. 
  6. ↑ "Calendar". Janjohnston.com. Retrieved 2011-10-15. 
  7. ↑ "Calendar". Janjohnston.com. Retrieved 2011-10-15. 

External links

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