Tracie Young

Tracie Young (often just billed as Tracie; born 1965) was an English pop singer in the 1980s. She achieved success after becoming a protégée of Paul Weller.

Career

Born in Derby and raised in Essex, Young was discovered by The Jam frontman, Paul Weller, through an advertisement in Smash Hits magazine for his Respond Records label. The ad solicited demo tapes from female singers between the ages of 18 and 24, for the purpose of hiring a vocalist alongside the group The Questions. Although just 17 years old, Young replied and sent Weller a cassette of a Phoebe Snow-inspired version of the Betty Wright hit "Shoorah Shoorah". Young's tape was singled out from among the hundreds received, and shortly thereafter was invited to London for an audition. Performing old soul numbers "Band of Gold" and "Reach Out (I'll Be There)" for the audition, Young impressed Weller enough to win the job and become his priority signing for the Respond label.

Before recording solo work for Respond, Weller sought to increase exposure for Young. He promptly used her for backing vocals on The Jam's final single, "Beat Surrender", which was released on 26 November 1982 and became the band's fourth No. 1 single. Weller also had Young join the group for their appearance on Top of the Pops to promote the song.