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The World Starts Tonight

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The World Starts Tonight
Studio album by
Bonnie Tyler
Released4 February 1977[1]
Recorded1976
GenrePop
Length37:02
LabelRCA Victor
Producer
Bonnie Tyler chronology
The World Starts Tonight
(1977) 		Natural Force
(1978)
Singles from The World Starts Tonight
  1. "Lost in France"
    Released: September 1976
  2. "More Than a Lover"
    Released: January 1977

The World Starts Tonight is the debut studio album by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler, released in February 1977 by RCA Records. Most of the songs were written by Ronnie Scott and Steve Wolfe, who worked as her managers while she was signed to RCA. They also produced the album alongside David Mackay. Musically, the album features country and pop songs.

Two singles were released from the album. The first, "Lost in France", was certified silver by the BPI for sales of over 250,000 copies. "More Than a Lover" was also a hit, but failed to make progress in the UK Singles Chart after the BBC banned the song for its controversial lyrical content. Shortly after recording the album, Tyler had surgery to remove nodules from her vocal cords. The operation left Tyler with a permanently raspy voice.

The World Starts Tonight was received positively by contemporary critics, who praised Tyler for releasing a "promising debut". The album was hugely popular in Sweden, where it reached number two. Despite this, it failed to chart in any other country.

Background

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Bonnie Tyler (then known as Gaynor Hopkins) spent seven years performing in local pubs and clubs around South Wales between 1969 and 1976, first as part of Bobbie Wayne & the Dixies, and then with her own band Imagination.[2] In 1975, she was discovered singing with Imagination by talent scout Roger Bell.[3] She was invited to London to record two demos; "My! My! Honeycomb" and "Lost in France". After months passed, RCA Records contacted Tyler announcing that they would be releasing "My! My! Honeycomb" as a single in April 1976.[1]

Recording

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Tyler recorded The World Starts Tonight in Morgan Studios and Roundhouse Recording Studios in London between 1975 and 1976.[1] The session began with recording four demos; "My! My! Honeycomb", with its B-Side "Got So Used to Loving You", and "Lost in France", with its B-Side "Baby I Remember You". Ronnie Scott and Steve Wolfe wrote most of the songs from the album, and produced it with David Mackay.

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]

Tomas Mureika of AllMusic has retrospectively described The World Starts Tonight as "filled with promise and indications of great things to come". He called the album a "formidable debut" but that it only paved the way for her pairing with Jim Steinman in the 1980s.[4] The Sydney Morning Herald gave a positive contemporary review, naming "Lost in France" the "stand-out track", whilst praising her cover of Janis Joplin's "Piece of My Heart".[5]

Commercial performance

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On the week ending 10 March 1978, over a year since its release, The World Starts Tonight debuted at number thirteen on the Swedish Albums Chart. It reached its peak position at number two in the following week, remaining there for a total of three weeks. In the fifth running week on the chart, The World Starts Tonight fell to number six, replaced by Tyler's second studio album Natural Force. Following this, The World Starts Tonight slowly fell from the Swedish Albums Chart, after a total of eight weeks on the chart.

Singles

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"Lost in France" was released as the lead single from The World Starts Tonight in September 1976.[1] The Sydney Morning Herald described the song as the "stand-out track" from the album.[6] "Lost in France" became Tyler's first charting single, peaking at no. 9 in the UK.[7] It was certified silver by the BPI for sales of over 250,000 copies.

"More Than a Lover" was released as the second single from The World Starts Tonight in January 1977. In December 1976, Tyler informed Record Mirror that her follow-up single to "Lost in France" would be "much more gutsy".[1] Record Mirror described the song as "more meaty" than "Lost in France", but did not think the song was as commercial as its predecessor.[1] Following a performance of the song on Top of the Pops,[8] it was banned by the BBC due to "unsuitable lyrical content".[1] The ban resulted in the song only reaching number 27 in the UK.[9]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Ronnie Scott and Steve Wolfe, except where noted

The World Starts Tonight — Standard edition[10]
No.TitleLength
1."Got So Used to Loving You"3:17
2."Love of a Rolling Stone" (Jerry Chesnut)3:30
3."Lost in France"3:59
4."Piece of My Heart" (Bert Berns, Jerry Ragovoy)3:52
5."More Than a Lover"3:52
6."Give Me Your Love"3:15
7."The World Starts Tonight"3:36
8."Here's Monday"3:46
9."Love Tangle"3:16
10."Let the Show Begin"4:15
Total length:37:02

Personnel

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Credits are adapted from liner notes of The World Starts Tonight.[11]

Technical and production

  • Dave Harris – assistant engineering
  • Ashley Howe – engineering
  • Andrew Hoy – production co-ordination
  • David Mackay – arranging, engineering, producer
  • George Nicholson – engineering
  • Ronnie Scott – producer
  • Simon Wakefield – assistant engineering
  • Steve Wolfe – producer

Charts

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Chart (1978) Peak
position
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[12] 2

Release history

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Country Date Format(s) Label Ref.
Europe 1977 Vinyl RCA [10]
United States Chrysalis
Europe 1991 CD Castle Classics [13]
United Kingdom 2009
7T's [14]
United States 17 April 2012 Digital download Rdeg [15]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Hendriks, Phil (2009). "The World Starts Tonight". In The World Starts Tonight (pp. 2–4) [CD booklet]. London: Cherry Red Records.
  2. ^ Saner, Emine (13 May 2013). "Bonnie Tyler: 'I'm not part of the 80s, I'm part of now'". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  3. ^ "Swansea University honours Bonnie Tyler". Swansea University. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  4. ^ a b Mureik, Tomas. "The World Starts Tonight > Review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  5. ^ "How Luck Changed for Bonnie". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. 24 July 1977. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  6. ^ "How Luck Changed for Bonnie". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. 24 July 1977. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  7. ^ "Lost in France – Bonnie Tyler". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  8. ^ Powell, Peter (31 March 1977). "Top of the Pops". London. BBC. BBC1. {{cite episode}}: Missing or empty |series= (help)
  9. ^ "More Than a Lover – Bonnie Tyler". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  10. ^ a b "The World Starts Tonight by Bonnie Tyler". iTunes Store. Apple. January 1977. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  11. ^ The World Starts Tonight (Compact disc liner notes). Bonnie Tyler. Cherry Red Records. 2009. GLAM CD 95.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  12. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Bonnie Tyler – The World Starts Tonight". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  13. ^ "The World Starts Tonight: Amazon.co.uk: Music". Amazon.co.uk. 30 June 1992. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  14. ^ "The World Starts Tonight by Bonnie Tyler". iTunes Store. Apple. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  15. ^ "The World Starts Tonight: Amazon.com: Music". Amazon. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
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