Sunny
As
recorded by Sophie
REVIEW
The new
CD single of Bobby Hebb’s classic “Sunny”, as recorded in the Mediterranean
country of Malta by Sophie (Debattista
found at TotallySophie.com,) is a dynamic, charging pop performance that
display’s the singer’s appealing voice in a high energy dance setting with the
title of the song repeated over producers Elton Zarb
and Giles Squire’s quasi industrial backing track.
On Jan 1, 2006 French chanteuse Sophie Villamayor released her rendition of
this song of declaration that “the bright days are here” following in the
footsteps of so many other female vocalists including (but certainly not
limited to) Mieko Hirota, Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson, Cher, Mary Wells,
Italian pop singer Mina, Dusty Springfield and - of course - Melba Moore - who
sings back-up with Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson on Bobby Hebb’s hit
version.
The
official release date of the new single - “Sunny” by Sophie - is December
9. Produced at Freetime Studios in Malta
the disc is on Thru The Mill, Ltd., on Amazon, iTunes and on TotallySophie.com
The
Sophie Interview
JV:Hello
Sophie, I was listening to your version of "You Can't Hurry Love". It
has a nice pop attitude like the original 1966 Supremes version along with that
Phil Collins drumbeat from his 1983 rendition. Almost thirty years have
passed since Collins and almost 50 years for Diana Ross, Mary Wilson and the
Supremes...how did you develop your version?
Sophie: Hi there! Well yes rightly
said, lots of time has passed since Phil Collins and The Supremes version of
‘You Can’t Hurry Love’. Personally I’ve always loved this song, it’s an all
time favourite for many people and so easy to sing along to. I first started to
sing the cover version after hearing Phil Collins perform it live on British
TV. After that I took my version into the recording studio with me one day and
I just watched it grow and grow from there!
JV:
"Up The Wall" is a good song - what can you tell us about it?
Sophie: Thank you very much! ‘Up The
Wall’ is actually one of my favourite original songs to sing live on stage. I
wrote it when I was in a relationship that drove me crazy, and not in a good
way. It’s basically about a guy (in my case) or a girl that is absolutely
annoying your socks off and I dedicate this song to that particular person.
JV:
When I read the title "Love to Love You" I initially thought you were
covering Donna Summer, but this sounds like a classic Brit Pop song and is very
appealing. How did the recording of "Love to Love You" evolve?
Sophie: I love a bit of pop! When we
recorded ‘Love To Love You’ I was in a very happy place of life and all I
wanted to sing and write about was Love. That’s why at that moment in time it
felt so right to take Love To Love You to the next level and evolve it into a catchy
pop song everyone can sing along to and relate to, because there is nothing
without love.
ON
SUNNY - the Sophie interview
(Editor's note: Sophie will appear on Joe Viglione's VISUAL RADIO LIVE on Thursday evening, December 6, 2012 8 PM Eastern Time via telephone. You can tune in on http://www.wincam.org This first interview was conducted via e mail).
JV:
Sophie, when do you remember first hearing "Sunny", and by which
artist?
Sophie: To be honest I can’t remember the
very first time I heard the song because it has been at the top of my all time
greats for such a long time! The version I first heard and fell in love with
was definitely Bobby Hebb’s, he sings it with such ease and has a voice I could
listen to all day, it’s so pure!
JV:
Your publicist stated "'Sunny' is one of Sophie's favorite tracks of all
time, and she was thrilled when she learned that she would be recording a
remake of the song as part of her first album" Who chose the
song to be on your debut album?
Sophie: I was super excited when I
learned that we were going do a remake of Sunny for my debut album!! The idea
was suggested to me by my management and as soon as they mentioned Sunny as a
possible song for the album, I was over the moon!! I knew there were lots of
artists who had created amazing covers of the song in their own way, so I was
intrigued to see what the producers and I could come up with when we started
working on Sunny in the studios in Malta!
JV: How
did you create your studio version of "Sunny" ?
Sophie: I created my version of
Sunny by working with two brilliant producers in Freetime Production Studios
Malta who are Giles Squire and Elton Zarb. We started off by creating a slow
tempo version of Sunny and kept it’s original bluesy feel. We then looked at
the possibility of mixing it up a bit and bringing out the pop side if the
song. We kept on playing about with the track and fine tuning certain bits
until we were finally happy with the result.
JV: The
song is available on the internet on Totally Sophie.com http://totallysophie.com/music.html and your site says it is about to be released by Tesco. In which countries will the physical CD be
available?
Sophie: To begin with my management Thru The Mill will
officially release the single on
the 9th December, starting as an online download to see
how it goes via internet before creating physical CDs to sell. Saying this,
there have been an amount of hard copies produced, and these will be
distributed to TV and Radio Stations. Also if my management were to agree then
I was hoping to give a couple of signed copies away through an online
competition.
JV:Will
you be performing the song live - or have you already performed
"Sunny" in concert and - if so - who are the performers backing you
up?
Sophie: Yes I definitely intend on
performing Sunny live on stage, this is one of the best bits for me! In fact
throughout the Summer I was on tour of the UK, performing in around 20 various
events, festivals and gigs, accompanied by the beautifully talented ladies from
Italia Conti (London)! The aim of the tour was to make new friends and promote
my next single ‘Sunny’! This song formed part of my repertoire every time I
performed, and although the lyrics didn’t always reflect in the weather,
‘Sunny’ always put a smile on the audience’s face!
JV:
Will "the fabulous ladies from the Italia conti academy,
London,
Mia-Jay
Clarson x - Jo Shah x - Jane Ridler x - Marni-Lee Clarson x
www.italiaconti.co.uk be performing with you on
"Sunny"?
Sophie: Well coming up in the months
of November and December I will be performing at a couple of Christmas Lights
Switch On festivals and some other events in the UK too. I will naturally be
performing my version on Sunny throughout the shows, however unfortunately the
ladies from Italia Conti won’t be performing with me on every event.
JV::
Bobby Hebb performed "Sunny" on tour with The Beatles in 1966 in
America, have you heard the song in the nightclubs of England or Germany
where we understand it is still a big dance hit?
Sophie: To be honest with you I have
been so busy lately that apart from a one of ladies night in Malta I haven’t
been out to many clubs, as most of my spare time is taken up by songwriting and
playing the guitar. :)
JV:
Have you ever heard Mieko Hirota perform "Sunny"...she's known as the
"Connie Francis of Japan" and may have recorded her version before
Bobby's was issued. What
do you think of Mieko's early version?
Sophie: Wow! I have never heard that
version of Sunny. Thank you so much for passing on this link. Mieko Hirota has
a stunning voice! It actually has some similarities to Bobby Hebb’s version,
which I love, but it’s so unique at the same time!!
JV:
"Sunny" makes waves around the world, from South America to
Asia. Would you mind commenting on this phenomenon and how a contemporary
version like yours keeps the magic alive, as do these other performers who sing
Bobby Hebb's work:
Sophie: I think it is extremely
important for artists to keep remaking all time greats like ‘Sunny’ to keep a
phenomenon going!! ‘Sunny’ has evolved into something much bigger than just one
simply song. It is only thanks to artists like these listed below that this
phenomenon keeps growing and keeps reaching a bigger audience and new
generations!
JV: Luis
Miguel, "The Sun of Mexico", performs "Sunny"
south-of-the-border, as we say here in the states. and Lee Soon-kyo -
also known as "Sunny" is said to have performed the song in Korea and
Japan. Have you heard either of these versions?
LUIS
MIGUEL, "SUNNY" Studio Version
Sophie:This is
a great version by Luis Miguel and although I don’t understand Spanish, I love
the fact that he has translated the song. Like this people who understand
Spanish and not English can get a gist of what ‘Sunny’ is all about by
listening to this version.
Lee Soon-kyu (born on May 15, 1989), who uses the stage name
Sunny, is a Korean singer, dancer, DJ, MC, model,
musical actress and member of the Korean girl group
Girls' Generation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ComrpQxDOjY
Sophie:Wow
what amazing stage presence Lee has! She demands attention when she’s
performing. I really love the idea of choosing ‘Sunny’ as her stage name, it
suits her as she looks like she’s got a very bubbly character, and whenever you
hear her stage name you naturally think of the song. Her version of Britney’s
song is awesome, I love it!
Ameimi
also has a rendition. What do you think of it?
Sophie: Wow this is a lovely version of Sunny! Very uptempo and bouncy. Whenever
artists cover a song, one thing I always look out for is the originality they
show and the new flavours they find in a song, and from the versions I have
heard, they have all managed to do just that!
JV:
When did you first start singing in public?
Sophie: I first started singing in
public when I was around nine years old. It was when I formed part of a duet
with my best friend Yazmin. Though back then it was all a bit of fun, ever
since I’ve always known that I wanted to live my life through music.
JV:
How did you put your group together and pick your producer and your team?
Sophie: I love working with great
people and being surrounded by positivity! So when I came to putting my team
together, that was something I looked out for. I have worked with Elton Zarb at
Freetime Studios for a very long time and we have such a great musical
relationship, and the same goes for my executive producer Giles Squire who is
also my manager. Also when I first went on tour of the UK last Summer I was in
need of some fresh young backing dancers, as my Maltese group couldn’t travel
with me. So after a long audition process we chose the 4 lovely ladies from
Italia Conti who are Mia-Jay, Jo, Marni-Lee and Jane, they are absolutely
fabulous!
JV:
Do you have any plans for touring the United States or any other countries and
exotic places?
Sophie: Right now the plans are to
see how people receive my music and see where it takes me. We spent lots of
time getting the music to sound as we want it to, so for know we’ll let the
music do the talking!
JV::What's
the title of your debut album?
Sophie: I don’t think I’m supposed
to reveal that yet! However I can probably give you a little clue without
getting told off by my management. The name to the album is going to have
something to do with my first name! :)
JV:Sophie,
thanks for your time and for performing Bobby Hebb's classic song.
Sophie: Thank you :)
Tune in to http://www.wincam.org on Thursday, December 6, 2012 at 8 PM EDT for the Sophie interview on Visual Radio.
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