Swing Out Sister

Named after a musical film, Swing Out Sister formed in Manchester in 1985 and started crafting soulful indie dance tracks that would breeze into the charts and earn the description sophisti-pop. Consisting of producer/keyboard player Andy Connell, singer Corinne Drewery and drummer Martin Jackson, the band shot to fame with the upbeat summer anthem 'Breakout' which reached number four in the UK and became a big hit in America. Follow-up single 'Surrender' also reached the top ten before their debut album 'It's Better to Travel' topped the UK charts and earned the band two Grammy nominations.

With their jazz influences and vibrant use of brass sections, the band again made the top ten with second album 'Kaleidoscope World' (1989) and reached number five in Canada with their last big hit 'Am I the Same Girl?' in 1992. Their cover of the Delfonics song 'La La La (Means I Love You)' featured on the soundtrack to the hit movie 'Four Weddings and a Funeral', but later records 'The Living Return' (1994) and 'Beautiful Mess' (2008) failed to make much of an impact and the band adopted a more easy listening jazz style.

They celebrated the 25th anniversary of their first album in 2012 with a re-issue, performed at Islington Assembly Hall and released limited edition singles of 'Love Won't Let You Down' and 'Breakout'. They opened a page on PledgeMusic where they asked fans to help them get their new project off the ground. 'Almost Persuaded' became their tenth album, released in 2018.