New Box Set ‘The East West Years’ Coming in September
Cherry Red Records has announced a new three-disc box set, The East West Years, which covers Bonnie’s recordings from 1995 to 1998.
Germany has always been a stronghold for Bonnie, and her deal there with eastwest led to the release of Free Spirit in October 1995.
Featuring songs from a number of established and acclaimed songwriters including Frankie Miller and the Scorpions’ Rudolph Shenker and Klaus Meine, it included an equally varied array of producers, from ELO’s Jeff Lynne to Humberto Gatica, Christopher Neil and David Foster. This album is particularly notable for seeing Bonnie teaming up with her mentor, Jim Steinman, to record epic reworkings of his classic songs “Making Love (Out of Nothing At All)”, a previous hit for Air Supply, and a dance version of “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad”, taken from Meat Loaf’s multi-platinum selling Bat Out of Hell.
Three years later, Bonnie released her second album for East West. All in One Voice was mainly produced by Irish guitarist Jimmy Smyth, and features contributions from Mike Batt (The Wombles, Katie Melua) and Harold Faltermeyer (Beverly Hills Cop). The lead single, “He’s the King”, appeared in a popular German television series called Der König von St. Pauli, which featured a cameo by Bonnie. Always a truly international artist, the second single from the album, “Heaven”, first appeared as the runner up at Sweden’s selection show for the Eurovision Song Contest in 1997.
The bonus disc includes a cover of “Limelight” by the Alan Parsons Project, and several remixes and radio edits of various tracks.
This box set marks the very first reissue of Bonnie’s recordings from the late-90s. The East West Years will be released on 17 September 2021. Housed in a three-disc digipak, it is available from cherryred.co.uk and other online retailers.
DISC 1: “Free Spirit”
1. Nothing to Do with Love
2. You’re the One
3. Making Love (Out of Nothing At All)
4. Given It All
5. What You Got
6. Bridge Over Troubled Water
7. Time Mends a Broken Heart
8. Driving Me Wild
9. Sexual Device
10. Make It Right Tonight
11. All Night to Know You
12. Forget Her
13. Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad
14. Sexual Device (The Vari Mix)
DISC 2: “All in One Voice”
1. Heaven
2. Like an Ocean
3. Soon Will Be Too Late
4. You Always Saw the Blue Skies
5. We Can Start Here
6. Angel of the Morning
7. The Reason Why
8. Return to Blue
9. You’re Breaking My Heart Again
10. I Put a Spell on You
11. I’ll Never Let You Down
12. The Rose
13. He’s the King
14. Silent Night
DISC 3: Singles & Bonus Tracks
1. Making Love (Out of Nothing At All) (Radio Version)
2. Making Love (Out of Nothing At All) (Long Version)
3. Making Love (Out of Nothing At All) (Shnauzer Plus)
4. Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad (Radio Version)
5. Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad (Kobe Edit)
6. Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad (Ralphi’s Soft Dub)
7. Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad (Ralphi’s Cha-Cha Dub)
8. Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad (Ralphi’s Extended Vox)
9. Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad (Ralphi’s Tribal Beats)
10. Limelight (Radio Version)
11. Limelight (Overture Mix)
12. He’s the King (Radio Version)
13. He’s the King (Acoustic Mix)
14. Heaven (Chamber Mix)