January February: The Best of Barbara Dickson

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Barbara was bestowed with a lifetime achievement ‘Tartan Clef’ award by Nordoff-Robbins Scotland in 2012 and in 2016 was honoured to receive the Variety Club of Scotland Outstanding Scottish Achievement award. She then plays live in New Zealand, at the Wellington Arts Festival, and makes a promotional visit to Australia. Don’t miss this very special concert and hear hits such as ANOTHER SUITCASE IN ANOTHER HALL, CARAVANS, JANUARY FEBRUARY, MACCRIMMON’S LAMENT, EASY TERMS plus lots more! Barbara continues to play live locally - venues include the Kinema Ballroom, The Green Tree and the Belleville Hotel in Dunfermline plus a residency at the Rosyth Hotel. The next few years saw her gradually ‘paying her dues’ on the Scottish and English folk circuit, steadily building a reputation and working with the likes of Billy Connolly, Gerry Rafferty, Rab Noakes and Archie Fisher. Early folk albums, which she recorded for Trailer and Decca Records, were well received.

A 19 date UK concert tour begins on 8 June, followed by a'Highlands and Islands' mini-tour of Scotland in September.An appearance at the Big Stone Celtic festival in Virginia in 2014 led to an invitation to return to play again for American audiences two year later. Barbara and partner, 'Spend Spend Spend' writer Steve Brown, win TV quiz show 'Pointless Celebrities'' music special on November 14th. She flies home to Britain to promote her second hit, "Another Suitcase In Another Hall," from "Evita," which reaches UK # 18. Another privately-issued album, "Folk Song '67" is released via Scottish folk clubs and includes Barbara's live recording of 'The Dreadnought'. Caravan Song" is eclipsed by "January February" which Epic rush-release in January. The new single reaches # 11 on the charts.

On April 8th, she releases a new EP, 'Reunited', with Rab Noakes.April also sees the first of 18 UK live dates with Rab. Whilst Barbara remains modest about her many achievements, with seventeen Platinum and Gold albums to her name she remains Scotland’s biggest-selling female singer of all time. Barbara is honoured with the 'Outstanding Scottish Achievement' award at the 2016 Scottish Variety Awards on March 19th. Also during September, Barbara performs her first US concerts as part of the Big Stone Gap Festival in Virginia.Barbara tours the UK in the play "Friends Like This" inFebruary/March with Roy Hudd and Susan Penhaligon.

She gets her big break when she is offered the part of the singer and pianist in Willy Russell's play "John Paul George Ringo... and Bert" - it opens at the Liverpool Everyman Theatre in May. The show is a smash hit and transfers to the Lyric Theatre in London in August. The show was a huge success and after a sell-out Liverpool season it transferred to London’s West End After seeing Barbara’s performance in the show, impresario Robert Stigwood, the head of RSO Records, signed her to his label. Barbara presents 'Hearts and Hands and Voices', a 5-part series onhymns, for BBC Radio 2 between January and February. Barbara joins 'The Great Fife Road Show' and tours Scotland with artists including Rab Noakes, Davey Stewart and Cilla Fisher. A civil servant by day, Barbara performs in folk clubs by night and at weekends. She contributes a song, 'The Waters of Tyne', to the privately-pressed LP 'Folksong '65'.

Release

Resigning from the Civil Service, Barbara turns professional. She travels to Denmark for a six week engagement at the Tivoli in Copenhagen. During September and October she plays several dates as the special guest of Peter Karrie and in also in October plays 7 UK solo concerts.

In 1985 Barbara’s single ‘I Know Him So Well,’ recorded with Elaine Paige and taken from the musical ‘Chess’, was released. It reached Number One in the UK and went on to become a Top Ten hit around the world, eventually selling over 900,000 copies. She records a new six-part comedy series "Dinnerladies" for BBCRadio 4 -it is transmitted during October and November. In August the album "Don't Think Twice It's All Right" is released on Columbia Records - it reaches # 32 on the UK album chart. The song signalled a new direction in her career, moving into the mainstream pop genre. [ citation needed] It was written and produced by Alan Tarney who had recently resurrected Cliff Richard's career with his 1979 no.1 hit " We Don't Talk Anymore". Guitar on the song was played by Issac Guillory who also appeared on the music video and helped promote the song on TV.Recent collaborations include an array of leading figures from the music scene, including Sam Lee, Rab Noakes and Emily Smith. She signs a new deal with CBS Records and records "Sweet Oasis", her debut album for the label in Los Angeles. Barbara's first Christmas special, 'Joy To the World', is broadcast by BBC RadioScotland on Christmas Day. Barbara appears as the musical guest in 8 episodes of the BBC's "The Two Ronnies", seen weekly by 20 million viewers.