Julia & Company 'Breaking Down (Sugar Samba)'

Chart Peak: 15

YouTube

Of all the tracks on the album, this was the most obscure to me. A song title I didn't recognise, by an act I'd never heard of, and the picture of Julia McGirt on the back of the album didn't look very familiar. The track doesn't seem to have been very widely released on CD either. And obviously this was their only hit (although they did sneak one more Top 75 entry), which makes it a bit surprising that they rushed this onto the album when it had only reached 38 by the apparent cut-off at the end of February.

When I actually played it, though, I was surprised to realise that I had heard it before after all. Probably not for about 25 years though. That's slightly too early in my life for me to have any associations with it, really, I just knew it wasn't new to me. The version on Now 2 isn't the full seven-minute track I found on the YouTubes, but an edit I timed at 3:05. Even at this length, there isn't a lot of lyrical variation, but the record has some energy to it, and is suitable for embarrassing dancing in front of the record player. I think it's catchier than 'Break My Stride' in fact, and whilst it's never going to be my all-time favourite, I'm glad to have reacquainted myself with this.