SADE – DIAMOND LIFE LP – Nr MINT A1/B1 1984 SOUL JAZZ POP

Sade – Diamond Life
(Epic Records  1984  EPC26044)
Matrix No’s: A1/B1 – UK Sleeve – European Vinyl

Gatefold Sleeve in Excellent/Very Good+ condition
– some wear to edges/corners and some ringwear/marks on back

Vinyl in Nr MINT condition
(there are some light surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality)

Sade are an English band formed in London in 1982. Three of their members were originally from Kingston upon Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Sade Adu is the lead singer of the eponymous band. Their music features elements of soul, R&B, jazz, soft rock, and funk.

Sade’s debut studio album Diamond Life, was released in 1984, reaching No. 2 in the UK Album Chart, selling over 1.2 million copies in the UK, and won the Brit Award for Best British Album in 1985. The album was also a hit internationally, reaching No. 1 in several countries and the Top Ten in the US where it has sold in excess of 4 million copies. In late 1985, Sade released their second studio album Promise, which peaked at No. 1 in both the UK and the US. It was certified double platinum in the UK, and quadruple platinum in the US. In 1986 Sade won a Grammy Award for Best New Artist. Their 2000 fifth studio album, Lovers Rock, won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. Sade’s sixth studio album Soldier of Love, was released on 8 February 2010, and peaked at No. 4 in the UK, and No. 1 in the US. In 2011, the band won their fourth Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

Sade’s US certified sales so far stand at 23.5 million units according to Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and have sold more than 75 million records worldwide to date. The band were ranked at No. 50 on VH1’s list of the “100 greatest artists of all time.”

Helen Folasade Adu, OBE; born 16 January 1959), known professionally as Sade Adu or simply Sade, is a Nigerian-born English singer-songwriter, composer, arranger, and record producer. With members Paul S. Denman, Andrew Hale, and Stuart Matthewman, she gained worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the English band Sade. Following a brief stint as a fashion designer of men’s clothing and part-time model, Adu began backup singing for the band Pride. Growing attention from record labels led her, along with other fellow band members, to separate from Pride and form the band Sade. Following a record deal with Epic Records the band released their debut album Diamond Life (1984). The album sold over six million copies, becoming one of the top-selling debut recordings of the 1980s, and the best-selling debut ever by a British female vocalist.

Following the release of the band’s debut album they went on to release a string of multi-platinum selling albums. Their follow-up Promise was released in 1985 and peaked at number-one in the UK Albums Chart, the US Billboard 200, and went on to sell four million copies in the US. Sade would later go on to make her acting debut in the British film, Absolute Beginners (1986), before the release of the band’s albums, Stronger Than Pride (1988) and Love Deluxe (1992). After the release of the fifth album, Lovers Rock (2000), the band embarked on a ten-year hiatus in which Sade raised her daughter. Following the hiatus the band returned with their sixth album, Soldier of Love (2010) which became a commercial success and won a Grammy Award.

Sade’s US certified sales so far stand at 23.5 million units according to Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)^[1] web site and have sold more than 50 million units worldwide to date. The band were ranked at number 50 on VH1’s list of the “100 greatest artists of all time”. In 2002, Adu was awarded an OBE for services to music, and stated her award was “a great gesture to me and all black women in England”. In 2010, The Sunday Times named her the most successful solo British female artist in history. In 2012, Sade was listed at number 30 on VH1’s “100 Greatest Women In Music”.

Diamond Life is the debut album by the English group Sade. It was released in the United Kingdom on 16 July 1984 by Epic Records, and in the United States on 23 February 1985 by Portrait Records. Released in the wake of Sade’s two hit singles “Your Love Is King” and “When Am I Going to Make a Living”, the album was an instant hit in the UK, peaking at #2 and spending over six months in the Top Ten. The album also reached #5 in the US, and was also highly successful in The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Austria, where it reached number one.

The album won the Brit Award for Best British Album in 1985.

Track listing

Personnel

• Sade Adu – vocals
• Andrew Hale – keyboards
• Stuart Matthewman – guitar, saxophone
• Paul S. Denman – bass
• Paul Cooke – drums
• Terry Bailey – trumpet
• Pete Brown – assistant engineer
• Tom Coyne – remastering
• Martin Ditcham – percussion
• Simon Driscoll – assistant engineer
• Dave Early – drums, percussion
• Gordon Matthewman – trumpet
• Robin Millar – producer
• Mike Pela – production engineer
• Chris Roberts – photography
• Ben Rogan – engineer
• Graham Smith – artwork, design, sleeve design