Shona Laing "Genre" 1985, rem. 1993

...Manfred Mann heard Laing’s song ‘Don’t Tell Me’ and she was asked to join Manfred Mann’s Earth Band for the two years it took to rehearse and record the 1983 album Somewhere in Afrika. Chris Thompson, the group’s lead singer, was also from New Zealand...
...When Laing returned to New Zealand in 1983 for a month’s holiday, she found her homeland difficult to leave and she stayed. There was no immediate opportunity to record but Larry Parr’s Mirage Films was about to start the Pagan Records label, managed by Trevor Reekie. Shona Laing went into Mandrill Studios with producer Bruce Lynch and recorded the album Genre (1985). Lynch had also returned to New Zealand after working in London from 1973 to 1981 where he played on six albums by Cat Stevens and many tours.
The single ‘America’ reached No.44 on the NZ Singles Chart. The song that created a buzz on Genre – ‘(Glad I'm) Not A Kennedy’ – became the key track on her next album South (1987) where Laing wanted to explore modern synth sounds, co-producing with Stephen McCurdy and Graeme Myre. Australian song publisher Chris Gilbey heard ‘(Glad I'm) Not A Kennedy’ on Genre and signed Laing’s publishing. Gilbey’s belief in the song led to Australian and European releases on Virgin Records. It was remixed by English producer Peter Wilson (Style Council). The Top 20 success of the single in Australia and Sweden led to the release of South on the indie TVT label in the USA. Shona Laing would tour Australia opening for Midnight Oil (with guitarist Gary Verberne), and opening for Erasure in the USA (with guitarist Dave McArtney)...to be continued... - Murray Cammick and AudioCulture

trax:
01 America 02 Resurrection 03 Day Trip 04 Not a Kennedy 05 Haunted 06 Migrant and Refugee 07 One in a Million 08 Metropolitan Moon 09 Neat and Tidy 10 Cat Burglar 11 Somebody Found You 12 Sally Gap
…served by Gaius…