Samantha Jones's Italian recordings

Our pick of the pops

British singer Samantha Jones went from girl group member to solo singer in 1964. She never scored a hit in the UK but had some success in the rest of Europe, and issued a number of records in Italian.

Her debut British release was 1964’s It’s all because of you. She recorded a version in Italian, which was released through United Artists’ arm in Italy. In translation, the song became Una goccia d’amore, and was backed by Un uomo forte non s’arrende, a version of I woke up crying.

In Britain, she’d been scheduled to release As long as you’re happy, until Sandie Shaw pipped her to the post. Instead, she released the song in Italian, as Io non lo dico mai, backed by Un amore così, a version of her Just call and I’ll be there, in 1965.

She made several visits to Italy to promote her records and appeared at the Venice Song Festival. In 1967 she released the exuberant Surrounded by a ray of sunshine in Italy and a version of Francis Lai’s Vivre for vivre, Live for life.

In 1970 she also issued a duet with Kris Ife, Feelin’ better, under the name Krimson Kake.

She released one further Italian song, in 1970, Perché adesso ti amo, a version of Best of both worlds, a song she’d released in English and which Scottish singer Lulu had also recorded.

Io non lo dico mai

1965

Perché adesso ti amo

1970

Un uomo forte non s'arrende

1964

Una goccia d'amore

1964

Samantha's UK career