Julia Fordham: think of her and she will appear

Last night, when we were doing the live blog of the Brits Nominations, we nearly added Julia Fordham to the pairing of Mari Wilson and Sam Brown.

So it was slightly spooky to get an email this morning alerting us to the release of a new album by Ms Fordham. It's her tenth, and it's one of those downloadable affairs. It's got a wonderful cover version of I Keep Forgettin', which almost sounds like a duet with the ghost of Michael McDonald.

If you've never come across her before: imagine if Annie Lennox wasn't so constantly impressed by being Annie Lennox. But only the good bits.

CASHING IN ON SUCCESS...?

We were startled by Contact Music's suggestion that Julia Fordham's sister was "cashing in on her success" by writing a book about her; it's not as if Fordham has been challenging Kylie and Coldplay at the top end of the charts - we always thought that Woman Of The 80s was a bit of a mistake to record at the time; twenty-odd years on, and it seems a fatal error.

Still, we always had a soft spot of Fordham, who we always thought of as an approachable Alison Moyet; her sister's book is a self-deprecating account of her life as Julia's assistant.

Look, you can buy it:

Claire Fordham: Plus One - A Year In The Life of a Hollywood Nobody. It's got a puff on the front from Tracy Ullman, which probably tells you everything you need to know.

Meanwhile, Julia is about to become a mother for the first time any moment now.


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