Ellen Foley webzine

Nightline (Glen Ballard / Brie Howard / David Faragher)

Randy Crawford recorded Nightline in 1983 and scored a massive hit with it across Europe with an arrangement VERY similar to Ellen's version. Michael Jackson also recorded the song for his Thriller album but his version has never been officially released. The writer, Glen Ballard later masterminded Alanis Morrisette's Jagged Little Pill comeback album eleven years later.

Nightout (Philip Rambow)

--> Young Lust (Philip Rambow)

Rambow's original version of Nightout was available on a 1976 US-only various artists compilation called Live At Max's Vol 2. A re-recorded version appeared as the B-side to his 1981 UK single A Star In Her Own Right. Said Ellen: "Philip Rambow is a Canadian guy who had a band called the Winkies and a friend of Mick Ronson's. It was a real fated meeting. I was working with Ronson, doing some preproduction, and Philip came into the country for one day and we met, and he gave me those songs (Nightout and Young Lust). I never saw him again. Like Peter Pan coming through the window!"

Phases Of Travel (Ellen Foley)

--> Beat Of A Broken Heart (Ellen Foley / Fred Goodman)
--> Ghost Of A Chance (Ellen Foley / Fred Goodman)
--> Guardian Angel (Ellen Foley / Fred Goodman)
--> Keep It Confidential (Ellen Foley / Jeff Kent / Ellie Greenwich)
--> Read My Lips (Ellen Foley / Desmond Child)
--> Run For My Life (Ellen Foley / Jeff Kent / Ellie Greenwich)
--> We Belong To The Night (Ellen Foley / Fred Goodman)

Described by Ellen "as a song that concerns the drudgery of constant long journeys, alienation and isolation," Phases Of Travel is the only song she wrote without the help of outside writers.

Read My Lips (Ellen Foley / Desmond Child)

--> Let Me Be The One You Love (Desmond Child / John Landau)

Desmond Child has written songs for Kiss, Cher and Bon Jovi to name but a few. Ellen met him through Elaine Caswell and Maria Vidal who both were in his band Rouge in the late 70s. Elaine and Maria both sang on Ellen's Another Breath album and they also starred in the Boys In The Attic video.

Another song reportedly credited to Desmond Child and Ellen Foley is Dancing In The Dark but I have no information about this one. Anyone?

Sad Song (Mark Middler / Peter Mason)

Sad Song was written by Mark Middler with Peter Mason, and they recorded a version credited to Mark Middler for a Warner Brothers single in 1978. It was also recorded by Rachel Sweet for her 1979 album "Fool Around" (featuring a verse not on Ellen's version). Said Ellen: "I think ours was a little fuller sounding. Her's was sparser. She had extra verses and parts I'd never heard and we got it off a demo."

Stagger Lee (Harold Logan / Lloyd Price)

Stagger Lee is an old blues standard, first made popular by Lloyd Price in 1958. Ellen used to close her 1983 concerts with this song.

Spy In The House Of Love (Ellen Foley / Bob Riley)

--> Another Breath (Bob Riley)

Ellen reportedly wrote several songs with Bob Riley for her Another Breath album, but Spy In The House Of Love is the only one that got released. Bob was a member of Ellen's band for a couple years in the early 80s.

Stupid Girl (Mick Jagger / Keith Richards)

--> Let's Spend The Night Together (Mick Jagger / Keith Richards)

Stupid Girl was originally recorded by the Rolling Stones for their 1966 album Aftermath, one of Ellen's all time favourites. Said Ellen: "I wanted to do a Stones song for the album and I did Stupid Girl because I wanted to see the reaction I'd get. The fact is that people take things too seriously, and I wanna ba able to laugh at myself and my ego and my vanity, and see it in other people. I just wanted to get some attention."

The Death Of The Psychoanalyst Of Salvador Dali (Joe Strummer / Mick Jones)

--> In The Killing Hour (Joe Strummer / Mick Jones)
--> M.P.H. (Joe Strummer / Mick Jones)
--> The Shuttered Palace [Sons Of Europe] (Joe Strummer / Mick Jones)
--> Theatre Of Cruelty (Joe Strummer / Mick Jones)
--> Torchlight (Joe Strummer / Mick Jones)

Said Ellen: "We tried to capture the feel of one of his paintings. I got in a kind of trance for the vocal. It's an aural interpretation".

USELESS TRIVIA DEPARTMENT: Another band competing in the category "songs about Salvador Dali" is Television Personalities with their song Salvador Dali's Garden Party.

The Hit Parade (TBA)

Performed live in concert in 1980.

The Shuttered Palace [Sons Of Europe] (Joe Strummer / Mick Jones)

--> In The Killing Hour (Joe Strummer / Mick Jones)
--> M.P.H. (Joe Strummer / Mick Jones)
--> The Death Of The Psychoanalyst Of Salvador Dali (Joe Strummer / Mick Jones)
--> Theatre Of Cruelty (Joe Strummer / Mick Jones)
--> Torchlight (Joe Strummer / Mick Jones)

Said Ellen: "I wrote it for Europe, but unfortunately people missed the meaning. It's meant to be me - I'm an American in Europe; this is what it's like."

The Time Is Now (Kenny Young / Perry Ford)

Recorded for a Cleveland International charity album, The Time Is Now has Ellen duetting with Jimmy Hall. Royalties from this album went to the non-profit Northern Ohio Children's Performing Music Foundation. The song was originally an anti-Vietnam protest song released in 1969 by the band Everybody's Children. The writer Kenny Young's most famous song is Under the Boardwalk, recorded by The Drifters in 1964.

Jimmy Hall was lead vocalist and saxophonist with Wet Willie during the 70s, and he had just released his first solo album, Touch You when this track was recorded. In the 80s and 90s he worked with Jeff Beck, and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocalist for Jeff Beck's 1985 Flash album.

Theatre Of Cruelty (Joe Strummer / Mick Jones)

--> In The Killing Hour (Joe Strummer / Mick Jones)
--> M.P.H. (Joe Strummer / Mick Jones)
--> The Death Of The Psychoanalyst Of Salvador Dali (Joe Strummer / Mick Jones)
--> The Shuttered Palace [Sons Of Europe] (Joe Strummer / Mick Jones)
--> Torchlight (Joe Strummer / Mick Jones)

Theatre Of Cruelty was another song written for Ellen by Joe Strummer and Mick Jones from the Clash.

Thunder And Rain (Graham Parker)

Graham Parker was another friend of Nightout producer Mick Ronson, and Parker's own version of Thunder And Rain can be found on his excellent 1977 Stick To Me album. Said Ellen: "It is such a great, compact piece and I think the strongest thing in it is the guitar hook. The story is so great, so cinematic; man and his romance battling against the elements."

Torchlight (Joe Strummer / Mick Jones)

--> In The Killing Hour (Joe Strummer / Mick Jones)
--> M.P.H. (Joe Strummer / Mick Jones)
--> The Death Of The Psychoanalyst Of Salvador Dali (Joe Strummer / Mick Jones)
--> The Shuttered Palace [Sons Of Europe] (Joe Strummer / Mick Jones)
--> Theatre Of Cruelty (Joe Strummer / Mick Jones)

Ellen's duet with Mick Jones was perhaps the highlight of the Spirit Of St. Louis album, and Torchlight got quite a lot of airplay.

Twentieth Century Fox (Jim Morrison, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek, John Densmore)

This cover of the classic Doors tune features samples of Jimi Hendrix's Foxy Lady and finishes with the intro to Light My Fire. It was the only track on the Pandora's Box album not penned by Jim Steinman. The Doors' original version can be found on their selftitled 1966 debut album.

Want Ad (Jim Steinman)

--> All Revved Up With Nowhere To Go (Jim Steinman)
--> Heaven Can't Wait (Jim Steinman)

Want Ad was the most memorable monologue on Jim Steinman's Pandora's Box album.

We Belong To The Night (Ellen Foley / Fred Goodman)

--> Beat Of A Broken Heart (Ellen Foley / Fred Goodman)
--> Ghost Of A Chance (Ellen Foley / Fred Goodman)
--> Guardian Angel (Ellen Foley / Fred Goodman)
--> Hideaway (Fred Goodman)

Said Ellen: "We Belong To The Night is really all about New York. I've lived in the city for seven years. It never took any getting used to for me because I felt really comfortable as soon as I arrived there. (In the song) I wanted to put things in larger-than-life terms. Rather than saying 'I love you baby, you love me,' terms like 'the city' and 'night' are equated with your love. I'm interested in desperate situations, not ordinary ones, but extremes. I look for a sense of real needs. Because the lyric has sort of an anthem quality, we wanted an anthic/epic sound, and the wall that we created can be compared to (Phil) Spector. "

What's A Matter Baby (Clyde Otis / Joy Byers)

Timi Yuro was another of Ellen's favourites, and her original rhythm and blues version of What's A Matter Baby was a US hit when it was released in 1962. The writers Otis/Byers also wrote songs for Elvis Presley. In 1965, The Small Faces took the song to #13 on the UK charts (as B-side to their debut single Whatcha Gonna Do About It?) and it has been covered by many artists since.

Young Lust (Philip Rambow)

--> Night Out (Philip Rambow)

Said Ellen: "When we were ready to do the vocals, they (Hunter/Ronson) dimmed all the lights, and they created a real club atmosphere. Ronson took out his guitar, and we all pretended it was a performance in this very sensual setting to create a great vocal. It was a bit demonic, but really interesting." Philip Rambow was a friend of Nightout producer Mick Ronson. Ronson had worked with Rambow in 1977 and Young Lust was one of the songs they did - and he used the same arrangement for Ellen's version. Rambow's own version appeared on his 1979 Shooting Gallery album. Interestingly (trivia time!), Mick Jones played on Rambow's 1979 version - this was before he met Ellen.