Hello (Turn Your Radio On): Shakespears Sister’s ‘Singles Party (1988-2019)’ Is Your Heroine

Tonight Shakespears Sister wind up their ‘Ride Again’ UK tour with a concert at the Brighton Dome, in the grounds of the world famous Royal Pavilion. To get into the mood, we’re listening to their album, released in June this year, ‘Singles Party (1988-2019)’. To say this has everything is really putting it mildly.

The release comes with a fully bound book, containing not just lyrics and photos, but also 2 CDs with a phenomenal 32 tracks. It’s crazy to think they’ve released that many singles, but there you go. From the first song on CD 1, ‘Break My Heart’, right through to end of CD 2, a remix of ‘You’re History’, by Brothers In Arms, it’s  safe to say every one is a winner.

If like me you grew up listening to songs such as the aforementioned ‘You’re History’, ‘Stay’, ‘Run Silent’, and ‘Heroine’, then you’ll have some idea of what to expect. The gravity-defying vocals of Marcella Detroit, in combination with the gravelly sombreness of Siobhan Fahey make for a gothic pleasure that you won’t ever forget, and makes you wonder why they ever fell out – their voices are the perfect match.

In any case, the pair have re-united, and as we said at the start, are winding up their UK tour. Starting on a very appropriate Halloween, in Nottingham, the pair have wended their way around the UK, taking in tall four corners of England, as well as Glasgow. The 14 date tour has been ably supported by rising star Delena, whose breakout singles, ‘Nothing Can Stop Us Now’, and ‘Animal’, cemented her place on the pop music map last year.

It would be easy to describe this as a “best of” album, but it’s so much more than that. There’s ‘All The Queen’s Horses’, which they released in May this year, an Americana track which came out a mere 27 years since the pair suddenly split up in 1992. It’s also the first track of theirs to be released on the London Records label, with the remainder of the classic tracks remastered, sounding crisp and clear as if they were released for the first time. If you’ve not listened to any of Shakespears Sister’s music since the 90s, then at the very least look this up and stream it on Spotify; but even better fork out the very reasonable 14 quid and buy the CD set.

Shakespears Sister perform at Brighton Dome tonight, supported by Delena. You can find further details about Siobhan and Marcella, as well as their music, on their official website.

Shakespears Sister - All The Queen's Horses (Official Video)

About the author

Lisa has been writing for over 20 years, starting as the entertainment editor on her university newspaper. Since then she's written for Popwrapped, Maximum Pop, Celebmix, and ListenOnRepeat.

Lisa loves all good music, with particular fondness for Jedward and David Bowie. She's interviewed Edward Grimes (Jedward), Kevin Godley, Trevor Horn, Paul Young, Peter Cox (Go West), Brendan B Brown (Wheatus), Bruce Foxton (The Jam), among many many more. Lisa is also available for freelance writing - please email lisa@essentiallypop.com