Sandra Ann Goodrich was born and brought up in Dagenham, Essex, England. On leaving school, she worked at the nearby Ford Dagenham factory, ...
Sandra Ann Goodrich was born and brought up in Dagenham, Essex, England. On leaving school, she worked at the nearby Ford Dagenham factory, and did some part-time modelling before coming second as a singer in a local talent contest. As a prize, she appeared at a charity concert in London, where her potential was spotted by singer Adam Faith. He introduced her to his manager, Eve Taylor, who won her a contract with Pye Records in 1964 and gave her the stage name of "Sandie Shaw".nTaylor teamed Shaw with songwriter Chris Andrews, who wrote her first single, "As Long as You're Happy Baby", which failed to make the charts. However, for her second single Taylor gave her the Bacharach and David song "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me", which had been a No. 49 US pop hit for singer Lou Johnson.Shaw's version rose quickly to No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart in the autumn of 1964,] and also charted in the United States at No. 52 on the Billboard Hot 100 early the following year."I'd Be Far Better Off Without You" was issued as the follow-up, but DJs preferred its B-side, "Girl Don't Come", also written by Andrews, and the sides were switched. "Girl Don't Come" reached No. 3 in the UK and became her biggest US hit, reaching No. 42. It was followed by further hits in the UK including "I'll Stop at Nothing", "Long Live Love", her second UK No. 1 in 1965, and "Message Understood".The singles were produced by Taylor, Andrews and Shaw herself (though she was never credited), with help from Pye Records arranger Ken Woodman.nSandie Shaw was a regular on popular British TV programmes of the time such as Top of the Pops, Ready Steady Go! and Thank Your Lucky Stars. She was seen as epitomising the "swinging Sixties", and her trademark barefoot performances endeared her to the public at large. She also recorded most of her hit singles in Italian, French, German and Spanish boosting her popularity in Europe. She was popular across South America, performed behind the Iron Curtain, and sang at concerts in pre-revolutionary Iran. Shaw also released several original albums in the 1960s: Sandie; Me; Love Me, Please Love Me; The Sandie Shaw Supplement and Reviewing the Situation. These albums generally consisted of Andrews-penned songs mixed with cover versions of songs made popular by other musicians.nBy 1967 Shaw's record sales were declining and her manager decided on more of a cabaret appeal.She was invited by the BBC to represent the UK in that year's Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna. She had reservations , Although she disliked the song and thought it was unrepresentative of her material, the song won the contest by a near-record margin of votes, and made Shaw the first person to win the contest for the UK. It gave her a third UK No. 1 single, a record for a female at the time."Puppet on a String" also became a worldwide hit (though not in the US) and the largest-selling single of the year in Germany, qualifying for a gold disc for one million plus sales in the UK and Europe.n(source Wikipedia)nFootage from "DRENCHED Spring Water "Advert featuring" Brains from Thunderbirds" Less
