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"A respectful homage to the artists who have inspired me and left deep prints in my soul and in my heart. This is the soundtrack of a time lost……."
This is how Agnetha, once of the mighty Swedish Abba, describes her new album, in the self-penned liner notes. It’s a wonderful collection of beautifully updated songs from the 1960s, mostly of love… love found and love lost.
The title track, My colouring book, is a sad, sad song which I associate with Brenda Lee, but others will think of Dusty Springfield, or even Nana Mouskouri. The lovely, poignant and ever-so-sixties ballad If I thought you’d ever change your mind, was originally done by Cilla Black – hard to imagine, but true. There are two sentimental songs from my early teens which still reach out to me now – Brian Hyland’s heartbreaker, Sealed with a kiss, and Skeeter Davis’s world-endingly tragic End of the world. There’s Sinatra’s adoring Fly me to the moon, and the nicest version of What now my love (without the tedious bom-bom-bom BOMs) I have heard. Then there’s a heart-stopping update of the Shangri-las piece de resistance, Past present and future, which will bring a tear to any eye.
And why am I bringing this soaring, beautifully arranged and performed album to your attention, dear Jackie reader? First, because you’ll like it, I promise. Second, because track 2 is, of course, When you walk in the room. Not a cover of the Searchers’ cover, but a tribute to Jackie’s original. Agnetha understands the lyrics. She feels the glowing sensation, the something pounding; you know she’s just staring, too numb to speak. Jackie, someone has recorded your song once again, the way it was meant to be heard.
~ Peter Lerner
(Editor's note: Agnetha's version of When You Walk in the Room has been released as a single in the UK, with several different dance remixes included.)
