"Once a Night" by Jackie English

Song#:  0442
Date:  12/20/1980
Debut:  97
Peak:  94
Weeks:  4
Genre:  R&B, Soul, Soundtrack



Pop Bits:  There is very little information around for this singer. From what I can tell, she has written songs for R&B artists and was also in a studio group called Siren with fellow singer/songwriter Beverly Bremers. As Siren, they released the single "Morning Music" in 1979 that went on to win the American Song Festival. The two continued to write songs together and this particular one was featured in the 1980 film comedy "Hopscotch," which starred Walter Matthau. This song and it's b-side appear to be the only solo recordings from English.

ReduxReview:  Here is the second song of 1980 where I could not find a single snippet or anything of the song. So what did I do? Buy the 45 online! Then copied it over to YouTube. Was the purchase worth it? Sure. It's not a great song, but it is not awful either. For a disco-ish song used in a movie, I'd say it is a cut above some of the other background songs movies have used before. The b-side of "Please Let Me Be the Other Woman" is actually a bit better. It was fun to find this single and get it posted. With a lowly peak of #94, it certainly is an obscure single.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  Although there is not much about English, her writing partner Bremers has an interesting background. She appeared on Broadway in "Hair" and also in the original Tony-nominated Broadway production (and on the cast album) of "The Me Nobody Knows" (1971). Then she signed with Scepter Records and had three pop chart songs including the #15 "Don't Say You Don't Remember." The rest of the decade she didn't seem to have much luck and her collaborations with English didn't really hit big. However, she did very well when she co-wrote "Mousercise" for Disney, a platinum seller. She also had a couple of songs for RCA under the  name Barbara Ann  that became Northern Soul hits.

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