Kit HainDancing in the office
How many times must I have heard Miki’s Boogie Nights CD? Yet today, programming in a client’s office with Radio iPod on the noise-cancelling headphones, I found a once-familiar voice nestled in one ear.

1977 was my last summer in England before the many years abroad. I used to like stopping after work at the café at the ICA in the Mall for a drink and some live music. I was enthusiastic then about Phil Ram, who sang rock, and Kit Hain. For years I used to listen to a tape I’d made from one of her sessions; I was particularly fond of her voice, especially on a cover of “City of New Orleans”.

Did I buy her debut album Spirits Walking Out from her in a pub in Shepherds Bush? After her folky sound at the ICA I was surprised by its lush pop production, and delighted by the vigour of the singing and writing. I remember playing the title track to Bonnie Shaljean just before I moved to Australia; Bonnie, who was then itching to record her own material appeared moved almost to tears — of frustration and envy, I supposed.

Kit’s voice was part of my inner landscape in Sydney in the 1980s; I remember Spirits Walking Out formed the soundtrack to a weekend spent surfing and sleeping on NSW beaches. On a visit to London I saw her second album (twice) advertised on buses, and scooped up a copy of School For Spies in an HMV store before running for my plane.

What I didn’t know was that while I was larking about in Denmark in 1978 she’d become a One-Hit Wonder when “Dancing In The City” became a disco hit. Her solo albums must have followed that success, which slipped unnoticed past my hermitage.

And then her voice resurfaced in my ear. A glance at the iPod identified Marshall Hain, which was a match on one name at least, and Google brought the story up to date. After the two solo albums, she moved to New York City and quit singing to concentrate on songwriting. The albums appear to be unobtainable, if you don’t count the boxes of vinyl I stashed with a friend before leaving Sydney. You can find her now at The Stereo Society.

Posted by SJT at July 26, 2006 04:00 PM