Sade - Diamond Life (1984) - Lp

Helen Folasade Adu, CBE; born 16 January 1959), known professionally as Sade Adu or simply Sade, is a Nigerian-born British singer-songwriter, composer, arranger and record producer. With members Paul S. Denman, Andrew Hale and Stuart Matthewman, she gained worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the English band Sade.
Following a brief stint as a fashion designer of men's clothing and part-time model, Sade began backup singing for the band Pride in the early 1980s.
Growing attention from record labels led her, along with other fellow band members, to separate from Pride and form the band Sade. Following a record deal with Epic Records the band released their debut album Diamond Life (1984).
The album sold over six million copies, becoming one of the top-selling debut recordings of the 1980s, and the best-selling debut ever by a British female vocalist.
Diamond Life is the debut studio album by English band Sade. It was first released in the United Kingdom on 16 July 1984 by Epic Records and in the United States on 27 February 1985 by Portrait Records. After studying fashion design, and later modelling, Sade Adu began backup singing with British band Pride.
During this time Adu and three of the original members of "Pride" - Paul Anthony Cook, Paul Denman and Stuart Matthewman - left the group to form their own band called Sade.
Following various demos and performances, Sade received interest from record labels and later signed to Epic.
Recording for the album began in 1983 at The Power Plant in London and took a total of six weeks to complete.
The album's content was written by the group Sade whilst the production was handled by Robin Millar. A total of fifteen songs were recorded for the album with the use of live instruments that used sonically experimental material.
The album contained a variety of musical elements including soul, jazz and sophisti-pop, with lyrics revolving mainly around themes of love.
Upon release, Diamond Life was met with acclaim from music critics and went on to win the Brit Award for Best British Album in 1985.
Commercially the album was a success charting highly in the UK and US, and was later certified multi platinum in both regions.
Diamond Life went on to sell over six million copies worldwide, becoming one of the top-selling debut recordings of the '80s and the best-selling debut by a British female vocalist, until Welsh singer Duffy released her debut studio album, Rockferry in 2008.
The album spawned four singles including the hit singles "Your Love Is King" and "Smooth Operator".

Side A
A1. Smooth Operator (4:58)
       Words By, Music By – St. John, Adu  
A2. Your Love Is King  (3:40)
A3. Hang On To Your Love  (5:54)
A4. Frankie's First Affair  (4:38)
A5. When Am I Going To Make A Living  (3:25)

Side B
B1. Cherry Pie (6:20)
       Music By – Hale, Denman, Adu, Matthewman  
B2. Sally  (5:20)
B3. I Will Be Your Friend  (4:43)
B4. Why Can't We Live Together
       Engineer – Ben Rogan
        Words By, Music By – Timmy Thomas 

Credits

• Bass – Paul S Denman
• Design [Sleeve] – Graham Smith 
• Drums – Paul Cooke
• Drums, Percussion – Dave Early
• Engineer [Production] – Mike Pela
• Keyboards – Andrew Hale
• Music By – Adu (tracks: A2-A5, B2, B3), Matthewman (tracks: A2-A5, B2, B3)
• Percussion – Martin Ditcham
• Photography By – Chris Roberts 
• Producer – Robin Millar
• Saxophone, Guitar – Stuart Matthewman
• Trumpet – Gordon Matthewman, Terry Bailey
• Vocals – Sade Adu
• Words By – Adu (tracks: A2-B3) 

Notes
Released: 16 July 1984
Recorded: 1983–1984; The Power Plant (London)
Genre: Smooth soul, sophisti-pop ·
Length: 44:31
Label - Epic Records

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