After Dinner Speakers: Candi Staton, Seal, The Rt Hon Lord Denis Healey

Candi Staton-Sussewell, 13 March 1940, Hanceville, Alabama, USA. A former member of the Jewel Gospel Trio, Staton left the group, and her first husband, for a secular career. She was then discovered performing at a club by Clarence Carter, who took the singer to the Fame Records label. Carter wrote her debut hit, the uncompromising "I'd Rather Be An Old Man's Sweetheart (Than A Young Man's Fool)", and helped to guide the singer's early releases. She later began pursuing a country-influenced path, especially in the wake of her successful version of Tammy Wynette's "Stand By Your Man". Staton and Carter were, by now, married, although this relationship subsequently ended in divorce. Staton left Fame for Warner Brothers Records in 1974 but it was two years before "Young Hearts Run Free", an excellent pop-styled hit (UK number 2), consolidated this new phase (the track has become a perennially popular staple at dance clubs). "Nights On Broadway", written by the Bee Gees, reached UK number 6 in July 1977, although it unaccountably flopped in America. The singer has continued to enjoy intermittent UK success but US hits have been restricted to the R&B chart. "You Got The Love", a collaboration with the Source, was a popular dancefloor track and a UK number 4 hit in February 1991. In the 90s Staton recorded in the gospel field, but she made a return to the UK charts in 1997 with the successful re-release of "Young Hearts Run Free", prompted by its inclusion on the soundtrack of the movie William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet.