Dedicated (Lemar album)

Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox album Dedicated is the debut album by English singer Lemar. It was released on 24 November 2003 by RCA Records. The now defunct girl group the 411 provided backing vocals for a number of tracks.

Contents

1 Background

2 Critical reception

3 Commercial performance

4 Track listing

5 Personnel

6 Charts

6.1 Weekly charts

6.2 Year-end charts

7 Certifications

8 References

9 External links

Background

Sony Music signed Lemar to a five-year record deal after his success on the BBC Television programme Fame Academy in 2002. The album's first single "Dance (with U)" was written with Craig Hardy and Fitzgerald Scott who had previously worked with Keith Sweat. The second single "50/50" was recorded by the Norwegian Stargate production team. Fingaz, who has produced hits by British group Big Brovaz, also produced the song "What About Love". Lemar also recorded a version of "Let's Stay Together" by Al Green which was one of his featured songs by Fame Academy.

Critical reception

Template:Album ratings BBC Music critic Karen Goodchild called Dedicated "a great album that is packed full of potential hits that showcase Lemar's amazing vocal ability. That, coupled with the fact that Lemar co-wrote several of these tracks, will surely mean that he'll be around a lot longer than the other over-hyped reality TV stars."[1] Caroline Sullivan from The Guardian found that Dedicated presented Lemar "as North London's answer to Luther Vandross: a romantic of the old school who sells a song with understated sleekness and a hint of chest fur. The contents are all Obika co-writes save for a hip-hoppety version of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together;" the mid-tempo boudoir grooves hardly do justice to the voice, but at least lay the foundations for what could be a substantial future."[2] AllMusic rated the album three stars out of five.[3]

Commercial performance

The first single from the album, "Dance with U", reached number 2 on the UK singles chart in 2003. Dedicated was released in late 2003 with additional singles "50/50" and "Another Day" also achieving chart success in the UK. Following the success of the album, he commenced his first headlining tour of the UK. Dedicated was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for sales in excess of 300,000 copies.[4]

Track listing

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Personnel

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Jarl Ivar Andersen – multi instruments

Pete Beachill – trombone

Joe Belmaati – keyboards, programming

Dave Bishop – saxophone

Tim Briley – assistant engineer, mixing assistant

James Cruz – mastering

Snake Davis – saxophone

Joe Fields – engineer

Fingaz – keyboards, producer

The 411 – background vocals

Matt Furmidge – assistant engineer

Carrie Grant – vocal arrangement

Simon Hale – horn arrangements, string arrangements, horn conductor, string conductor

Michael Hansen – percussion

Craig Hardy – producer

Lawrence Johnson – vocals, choir arrangement

Marc Lane – engineer

Vanessa Letocq – production coordination

The London Session Orchestra – strings

Andy Love – producer

Nigel Lowis – producer

Paul Meehan – arranger, programming, producer

Roy Merchant – engineer, mixing

Mikkel SE – multi instruments

Matz Nilsson – mixing

Nicole Nodland – photography

Adam Phillips – guitar

Nick Raphael – A&R

Brian Rawling – arranger, producer

Fitzgerald Scott – vocal arrangement, vocal engineer, vocal producer

Alan Simpson – guitar

Alexis Smith – assistant engineer

Stargate – producer

Ren Swan – mixing

John Themis – guitar

Derek Watkins – trumpet

Gavyn Wright – orchestra leader

Jong Uk Yoon – engineer, mixing

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Charts

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Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for Dedicated

Chart (2004)

Peak
position

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Year-end charts

2003 year-end chart performance for Dedicated

Chart (2003) | Position
UK Albums (OCC)[5] | 59

2004 year-end chart performance for Dedicated

Chart (2004) | Position
UK Albums (OCC)[6] | 103

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Certifications

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References

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External links

Lemar Online page Template:Webarchive

Lemar Top of The Pops Interview

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