Once the frontwoman of UK band Blue Zone, which saw modest success with their single "Jackie", she became a major international star beginning with her guest vocal stint on Coldcut's record People Hold On.
Stansfield is probably best known for her first UK #1 single, All Around the World (1989), which also peaked at #3 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 the following year. Other worldwide hits from her debut solo album Affection include This is the Right Time (featuring a house music-styled production by Coldcut with Mark Saunders), Live Together, What Did I Do To You? and You Can't Deny It. "All Around the World" was the second song by a white female soloist to hit #1 on the Billboard R&B chart (the first being "Ooo La La La" by Teena Marie in 1988). "You Can't Deny It" also topped that chart. Affection went platinum in the U.S., and sold a total of five million copies worldwide.
In 1990, Stansfield was among a handful of high-profile artists to participate in the Red Hot + Blue charity album, which honored the songwriting career of Cole Porter, and benefitted AIDS research at a time when funding from government agencies was insufficient for those in need. She was given the chance to show her swing and jazz chops on the song "Down in the Depths" (video), which was one of a few throwback renditions to appear on the album. This likely won her the female lead in the independent film Swing (1999), for which soundtrack she also performed most of the songs. Thus began an illustrious and respected tradition of Stansfield offering jazz and torch songs to outside projects (she also sang I've Got the World on a String in the original movie soundtrack of 2003's Mona Lisa Smile).
In 1992, Stansfield won a BRIT Award as best British female solo artist. Her second album Real Love did not quite live up to the success of Affection, despite selling very well. However, it did spawn four Top 40 singles on the European charts: Change, All Woman, Time to Make You Mine and Set Your Loving Free. "Change" has since become one of her signature classics, and still receives regular air-play to this day. "All Woman" became Stansfield's third #1 single on the Billboard R&B chart, and due to the success of that song, the album went gold in the U.S. Filled with pathos and emotion, it is "kitchen sink soul", from the viewpoint of a woman taken for granted. Like "All Around the World", many critics initially believed that it had been performed by a black singer.
Stansfield continued recording disco-influenced soul throughout the 1990s. Her third album So Natural (1993) spawned three Top 40 European singles including the title track So Natural, In All the Right Places and Little Bit of Heaven, but the album was never released in the U.S. She had continued success throughout Europe, but her popularity in America had diminished.
sidenote: "In All The Right Places" was featured on the soundtrack of the movie Indecent Proposal (1993), for which Stansfield was shortlisted as the lead that eventually went to Demi Moore. You can catch her talking about it in this YouTube interview clip (@ 1:30).
Her self-titled fourth album Lisa Stansfield (1997) was a hit in Europe with two Top Ten singles - People Hold On (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Mix) (a re-released dance mix by The Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) and The Real Thing, and the Top 40 track Never, Never Gonna Give You Up (a remake of the late Barry White's 1973 hit). Upon being released in the U.S., the album scored some mainstream attention, but fared much better in the dance clubs where remixes were very successful; an astonishing four singles - "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up", Never Gonna Fall, I'm Leavin', and "People Hold On" reached #1 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart. It charted modestly, peaking at #30 Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and #55 on the Billboard 200. Subsequently, The Remix Album was released due to revived interest in Stansfield within the dance community. The music video for "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up" (video) was an eye-catcher featuring her strolling nude down a city street, acquiring a few items of clothing along the way. VH1 featured the clip and even gave it the Pop-Up Video treatment. During the promotion for the single, Stansfield appeared on the RuPaul Show, but inexplicably, did not sing the song (or any others, for that matter).
Her 2001 album Face Up was less successful, barely charting through a lack of publicity, but featured the singles Let's Just Call It Love and 8-3-1, which found her experimenting with newer styles of R&B such as 2-step while continuing with her established sound. Stansfield's husband, Ian Devaney, delivered an arrangement for the ballad How Could You?, which displayed his love of Burt Bacharach's legacy. Only one single was officially released in the UK.
Following the release of Face Up, a 2-CD greatest hits collection titled Biography: The Greatest Hits was released in 2003, which sold well in the UK and Europe. Stansfield then parted ways with Arista/BMG, ending an 18-year association with the label.
Stansfield signed with ZTT Records from the UK, and her 2004 release The Moment was produced by Trevor Horn, well-known for his work with Seal, Grace Jones, and Frankie Goes to Hollywood, among others. The album was distributed in Europe by Edel, featuring the singles Treat Me Like a Woman (released as a double A-side with Easier) and If I Hadn't Got You, a song written by Chris Braide with ex-Squeeze songwriter Chris Difford. The album found her exploring more pop-oriented material, and focusing on lush ballads.
Despite this, as with her previous release, the album and supporting singles were not a success. At the time of the project's release, ZTT was directing large amounts of its resources into re-marketing its back catalogue, and producing the Trevor Horn concert for The Prince's Trust and its accompanying double CD Produced by Trevor Horn. The release of "Treat Me Like a Woman" was twice delayed, and the label eventually paired it with "Easier". While ZTT did erect a billboard to advertise the album in Stansfield's home area of Greater Manchester, print advertising and in-store displays were reportedly absent. Later that year ZTT dropped her from their label.
Stansfield's talents also extended into acting; she starred in the 1999 film Swing with actor Hugo Speer, and recorded covers of swing classics and a few original songs written in the style for the soundtrack. She later appeared on a London stage in The Vagina Monologues. In 2006, she guest-starred in the series Goldplated. In 2007, she starred in an episode of Marple: Ordeal by Innocence, and later joined the cast of The Edge of Love.
On June 2012, Lisa told the UK newspaper, The Sunday Mirror that she's working on her seventh studio album, her first in nine years, and that it is going to be released in spring 2013. Lisa announced in November 2012 that the album will be titled 'Seven'.
Official website: http://www.lisa-stansfield.com
Don't Leave Me Now I'm In Love
Lisa Stansfield Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I need to have a word before you walk
Just before you go let me explain
That I love you
I know that this may come as a surprise
How do you think I felt when I realised?
It hit me like a bolt out of the sky
You said that you were moving on
Come Saturday that you'd be gone
I thought of life without you and I cried
So finally I know who I
Am gonna love for all my life
So say you'll be mine
Please say I can change your mind
Don't leave, don't leave now I'm in love
Don't walk away from something that could have been so good
Don't leave, don't leave me now I know
I'll love you for forever, for all the stars above
Don't leave now I'm in love
Looking back on all the opportunity
I didn't have a clue that the girl was me
So listen to me now that things have changed
I love you
So suddenly my fate is sealed
'Cos only can make it real
So say you'll be mine
Please say I can change your mind
So don't leave, don't leave now I'm in love
Don't walk away from something that could have been so good
Don't leave, don't leave me now I know
I'll love you for forever, for all the stars above
Don't leave now I'm in love
Give me a chance to hold close 'cos...
I wanna feel that you're a part of me
Know how it feels to love you tenderly
Know that I'll never have to let you go
Don't leave me now I know
Don't leave me now I'm sure
Don't leave now I'm in love
In "Don't Leave Me Now I'm In Love," Lisa Stansfield sings of a revelation that she has come to realize in regards to her feelings for someone. She wants to sit down and talk with this person before they leave because she knows that she loves them. She is surprised by her own realization, just as her love may be surprised at hearing this news. The singer confesses that the thought of the love of her life leaving her made her cry. Now that she knows how she feels about this person, she asks them not to leave because she loves them and not to walk away from something so good.
The lyrics of the song indicate that Lisa Stansfield has only recently come to love this person, and that she did not previously realize that she was the "girl" that she was searching for. The singer has had a change of heart, which she refers to as a "bolt out of the sky," and she wants to hold on to this love. Finally, the singer implores her lover to stay, saying that she wants to feel that they are a part of her, and to never have to let them go.
Overall, this song is a plea to a lover to stay, to not give up on the relationship. Lisa Stansfield pleads openly and honestly, and her warm, velvety voice expresses her emotions perfectly.
Line by Line Meaning
Come and sit a while with me and talk
Please take the time to listen to what I have to say.
I need to have a word before you walk
I have something important to tell you before you leave.
Just before you go let me explain
I need to clarify things before you leave.
That I love you
I have realized that I am in love with you.
I know that this may come as a surprise
I understand that this revelation may be unexpected.
How do you think I felt when I realised?
I was just as surprised and confused when I came to this realization.
It hit me like a bolt out of the sky
The sudden realization of my love was unexpected and overwhelming.
You said that you were moving on
You mentioned that you were leaving.
Come Saturday that you'd be gone
You said you would be leaving on Saturday.
I thought of life without you and I cried
The idea of life without you brought me sadness and tears.
So finally I know who I am gonna love for all my life
I have identified you as the person I want to love for the rest of my life.
So say you'll be mine
Please agree to be in a relationship with me.
Please say I can change your mind
Please give me the opportunity to convince you to stay and be with me.
Don't leave, don't leave now I'm in love
I am begging you to stay because I am now in love with you.
Don't walk away from something that could have been so good
Please don't leave a potential good thing between us.
I'll love you for forever, for all the stars above
I will love you forever, at all times.
Looking back on all the opportunity
Reflecting on past chances and missed opportunities.
I didn't have a clue that the girl was me
I didn't realize that I was the one you should be with.
So listen to me now that things have changed
Please pay attention to the change I am expressing in my feelings for you.
Give me a chance to hold close 'cos...
Please give me the opportunity to be close to you and express my love for you.
I wanna feel that you're a part of me
I want to feel like you are an extension of myself.
Know how it feels to love you tenderly
I want to experience the feeling of tenderly loving you.
Know that I'll never have to let you go
I want you to be my forever and never have to let you go.
Don't leave me now I know
Please don't leave me now that I have come to this realization.
Don't leave me now I'm sure
I am absolutely certain that I want to be with you and love you.
Don't leave now I'm in love
I am begging you to stay because I am in love with you and don't want to lose you.
Contributed by Sophie K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.