Kiki Dee - vocals; Freddy Mandel - keyboards; Davey Johnstone - lead guitar, vocals; Dennis Conway - drums; Rob Matosa - bass; Baz Buschel - guitar; Wendy Haas - backing vocals; Brea Howe - backing vocals; Guest - Elton John vocals and piano on "Don't Go Breaking My Heart"
Two years after she came to global prominence, Kiki Dee was recorded in her native U.K. for a BBC radio broadcast. The show was aired later the same year on the King Biscuit Flower Hour, and is special in that it features one of the few times she recorded her #1 hit, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart," live with Elton John, with whom she recorded it with in the studio.
John, who happened to be back in the U.K. on the night this show was recorded, decided the international broadcast was too good of an opportunity to waste. He showed up before the show closer to reprise his duet with Dee on "Don't Go Breaking My Heart," which understandably brought the house down.
This recording features a bevy of material from her first two albums, which were bigger hits in the U.K. and Europe than they were in the U.S. "(You Don't Know) How Glad I Am" is a Gospel-inspired joyous romp, and is followed by "First Thing In The Morning," a catchy pop tune. "Step By Step," "Sugar On The Floor," "In Return," and "Chicago" are among the other highlights of the show, and "I've Got The Music In Me" (which borrows heavily from the Faces' version of "I'm Losing You") is the perfect closer, especially with its repeat vamp at the end.
Kiki Dee was a small figure on the British blue-eyed soul scene during the late 1960s and early 1970s, and even though she was one of the few white acts signed to Motown in Europe, she remained virtually unknown until Elton John decided to sign her to his Rocket Records label in 1974. The result was the electrifying single, "I've Got The Music In Me," which shot straight up the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. Eighteen months later, John would sing a duet with Kiki Dee he wrote called "Don't Go Breaking My Heart." That one shot straight up to #1 position globally, and remains one of John's biggest hits today.
Dee still had a hard time breaking out as a star on her own. She always made good records, but the fact that she used a myriad of different writers, producers, and session musicians over a series of five albums before a distinct identity had been forged with public would hurt her in the end.