The answer is neither! In fact it was someone quite different but just how different? Well if I was to tell you that the lady responsible was a West London schoolgirl of Jewish descent, the chances are you’d think that I’d gone stark staring bonkers. But it’s completely true! In fact the whole story of how ‘Lost Summer Love’ came into existence is pretty unbelievable.
Lorraine Silver first recorded it at the tender age of thirteen in 1965 and would you believe that Woolworth’s is where it all began! Boredom during the school holidays had driven Lorraine on a shopping spree to London’s Oxford Street, whilst there she found herself sifting through the discs in the record department when she decided that she should make a record. She’d had a love of singing for as long as she could remember and had always enjoyed entering talent competitions. Music was in her blood.
Now you’re probably thinking that a general store is not the ideal place to make a record but you’d be wrong! Back in 1965 Woolworth’s was the home of the record booth, these were contraptions which would record your voice on vinyl for a couple of shillings as only the wrinklies amongst you will remember. Lorraine deposited her two shillings into the recording machine and gave a hearty rendition of ‘Sealed with a Kiss'.
Well you may say loads of people did that sort of thing for a laugh but Lorraine Silver had serious faith in her efforts and carried things a step further. She marched into PYE Records, Marble Arch, London, with this rough acappella disco which is a pretty brave move for a 13 year old girl to make in the 1960’s and she politely asked if anyone would like to listen to it.
Two months later Lorraine excitedly received a letter from the record company asking her to attend an audition following which she was given a recording contract.
Lorraine was caught up in an exciting whirlwind of events, she was originally destined to record “I’ll keep on holding on” which had been released by The Marvelettes in the USA but then she was given a slow ballad by American songstress Shelley Fabares which she was asked to cover. The tempo was raised, a big band hired, which included on bass guitar Klaus Voorman, who, unbeknown to Lorraine at the time was a close friend of The Beatles, having been with them in their Hamburg days. He also later designed The Beatles’ Revolver sleeve for their album. Lorraine did her stuff and “Lost Summer Love”, as most of us know it was born.
For a brief moment Lorraine Silver was famous. Articles about her appeared in the press, she got frequent airplay on Radio Luxembourg and appeared in a radio show, which was broadcast live at the Marquee Club in London, called ‘Ready Steady Radio’. It was here that she met many other stars of the period including Lulu. Tales of such events made Lorraine a heroine amongst her school friends who shared in her excitement and weren’t even jealous when she was allowed to miss lessons for more glamorous things such as photo sessions and interviews.
However, fame is a very fragile commodity and fate was not kind to Lorraine Silver. She was on the verge of an appearance on ‘ Ready Steady Go’ which could have thrust her into national stardom, when The Overlanders popped up. They were a group who were managed by the same agent as Lorraine and when their only big hit ‘Michele’ began to shoot up the charts Lorraine was forced to let them take her prime time television spot.
Lorraine did cut another single ‘The Happy Faces’ an original song written by Johnny Harris who was the record producer of both her singles. He went on to record numerous hits with Petula Clark. On the B Side of ‘The Happy Faces’ was a version of The Supremes ‘When the Love Light Starts Shining Thru His Eyes’. This track featured backing vocals by The Ladybirds and hand clapping by Lorraine’s father who had to accompany her to all recording sessions because of her age. ‘The Happy Faces’ just didn’t get the push that it needed from Lorraine’s agents whose attention was still fully focused on The Overlanders and the single flopped.
Disillusioned, Lorraine stepped out of the limelight and settled back into school life to complete her education. She continued to sing but just as a hobby for the time being. She did make a second bid for stardom in the 70s, when under her married name at that time, Lorraine West, she appeared in numerous cabaret clubs throughout the country and also on a hugely popular television talent show of the era ‘New Faces’. In the late 70’s she represented London in ‘The Pub Entertainer of the Year’, which was aired nationally on television.
At about the same time ‘Lost Summer Love’ was making a big impression on the Northern Soul scene with the record becoming massive at Wigan Casino and had Lorraine made her television debut under her maiden name instead of her married surname she may well have been spotted and given the recognition she deserved, However she continued to be an unknown entity and the single that she had recorded as a schoolgirl continued to sell well. In only six months ‘Lost Summer Love’ had sold around 12,000 copies following it re-release on the Casino Classics Label.
Lorraine left the stage for another few years to have her two children but couldn’t get rid of her urge to perform publicly. She joined forces with two women who she met at her local amateur dramatics group, The Redbridge Players, of whom she is still an active member. Under the banner Mixed Feelings they began appearing on the cabaret circuit and at holiday camps around the country singing a whole spectrum of musical styles ranging from accapella, comedy parody to soul standards. Lorraine Silver may never had known that the record she had made in her youth was being enjoyed by a sub-culture movement had it not been for her second husband, agent Barry Collings, reading in the Blues & Soul Magazine, a top ten selection of favourite Northern Soul tracks by DJ Nick Greg of Warrington which included ‘Lost Summer Love’ by Lorraine Silver. The issue of Blues & Soul Magazine was February 1988; 23 years after the original recording had been made.
Barry showed Lorraine the magazine and she was truly amazed. How could anyone possibly have included her single ‘Lost Summer Love’ on a list of popular Northern Soul tracks, it had never been a monster hit? She rang the Editor of Blues & Soul in disbelief and was flabbergasted when she discovered it really was her song. It was a great thrill to find out that she was a star, even if only to a specific group of people.
Now that she had been unearthed she was contacted by PYE who told her that about 34,000 copies of ‘Lost Summer Love’ had been sold world-wide and that she could now claim her royalties. Sadly she was paid according to the terms of her original contract which was in old pence so no fortune there. Bubbly Lorraine easily shrugged off her losses though, as she had derived so much pleasure and excitement from her experiences that the small amount of money she did get was an added bonus. In fact she was now fascinated by the whole set-up of the Northern Soul and Scootering scenes.
Fortunately in the late 80’s her husband/entertainment agent, Barry Collings, was involved in promoting the Northern Soul weekends at Caister Holiday Park, Great Yarmouth, bringing over such artistes as Betty Lavette, Chuck Jackson and Lew Kirton and at this time Lorraine met all the Northern Soul DJ’s who had been playing her record for many years and she was even ‘persuaded’ to get up and do a couple of PA’s of ‘Lost Summer Love’ much to the delight of the audience who were even queuing for autographs. On one weekender Harvey Scales was one of the guest artistes appearing and he invited Lorraine up for a duet.
Lorraine also discovered around this time that copies of both her original singles were quite valuable collectors’ items, and were changing hands in excess of £50, especially anyone who had a rare White Label. These singles are still increasing in value today according to the relevant collectors’ journals.
Throughout the 90’s all four of Lorraine’s tracks had been released on numerous Northern Soul compilation CDs, and she also was featured in the biography of Dusty Springfield, written by Lucy O’Brien entitled ‘Dusty’.
In 2003 Lorraine made a guest appearance on the biggest Northern Soul event of the year the 30th Anniversary of Wigan Casino which was held at the Kings Hall,Stoke-On-Trent where she performed"Lost Summer Love"to a full house of 1500 true Northern Soul Fans,she was truly amazed at the great acclaim she received, at the first all nighter she has ever appeared on.
Lorraine was also proud to have been requested to appear on the Edwin Starr Memorial concert at Tamworth Assembly Rooms. Other appearances include The Blackpool Soul Weekender,Burton on Trent Soul Club, Kettering Leisure Centre, The Shed Beeston and various Northern Soul weekenders across the country..
Lorraine Silver has a vibrant warm personality and finds it a great thrill to have at last found recognition for the singles that she recorded all those years ago.
Lorraine's first ever album The Northern Soul Sessions,full of northern soul anthems in the original style was released in September 2004 on Raise the Roof Records.it is still available on Amazon or if you would like a personally autographed copy through this web site at £7.99 including postage and packing then all you have to do is to send cheque or postal orders made payable to Barry Collings Entertainments at PO BOX 2112, HOCKLEY, ESSEX, SS5 4WD
(US$15, Euro12 outside of UK including postage and packing)
