Jan Johnston (born February 21, 1965 in Salford, Lancashire, England) is an English female singer. In the early 1990s she was signed to Columbia Records as part of the pop duo J.J. However when this project failed she changed musical genres and started appearing on many dance and trance releases, mostly on the Perfecto Records label. Her voice is featured in some of Brian Transeau’s and many other trance music producer titles.
Discography:
J.J.
Albums: 1991 Intro…
Singles: 1990 “If I Never See Sunday” 1990 “Slide Away” 1991 ” If This is Love” 1991 ” Crying Over You”
Jan Johnston:
Albums 1994 Naked But for Lillies 2000 Emerging
Singles 1994 “Paris” 1994 “Alive” 1998 “Asking Too Much” (featuring Jamie Myerson) (US only; non-album) 2001 “Flesh” (debut Perfecto Records single release; non-album) 2001 “Silent Words” (second Perfecto single release; from unreleased album Emerging) 2002 “Am I on Pause?” (third Perfecto single release; vinyl only; non-album) 2003 “Calling Your Name” (Thrillseekers re-recorded version with new vocals; Platipus Records; vinyl only; non-album)
Collaborations and guest vocals 1995 Libra Presents Taylor - “Anomaly - Calling Your Name” (BT-produced track which samples “The Prayer” (“Paris” B-side)) 1997 Submerge - “Take Me By the Hand” 1997 BT - “Remember” and “Lullaby for Gaia”* (from the BT album ESCM (*US Version only)) 1998 Freefall - “Skydive” (single release, re-issued in 2000) 1999 BT - “Mercury & Solace” (single release from BT album Movement in Still Life) 1999 BT - “Dreaming” (single release) & “Running Down the Way Up” (backing vocals) (from the BT album Movement in Still Life) 1999 BT - “Sunblind” (from the Japanese version of Movement in Still Life/BT Compilation R&R) 1999 Cloak - “Quiet Then” (from the OST compilation album “Hackers Vol. 2”) 1999 Libra presents Taylor - “Anomaly” (overhauling remix a single release with new video) 2000 Tomski - “Love Will Come” (single release) 2001 Tiësto - “Close to You” (from the Tiesto album In My Memory) 2002 Cosmic Gate - “Raging (Storm)” (single release) 2003 DJ Cor Fijneman - “Venus” (European and US single release) 2003 Paul van Dyk - Reflections album featuring Johnston on vocals on “Kaleidoscope”, “Homage”, “Like a Friend”, “Spellbound”; “Nothing But You” features Norwegian vocals “Jeg har ingenting men jeg har alt nar jeg har deg” which translates to “I have nothing but I have everything when I have you.” - also a single release. 2003 Svenson & Gielen - “Beachbreeze” (single release) 2003 “Calling Your Name” (re-recorded with new verses & releases as a Jan Johnston single) 2003 BT - “Communicate” (from the 2003 BT album Emotional Technology) (unofficial single, 2 known remixes have been made) 2004 Serge Devant - “Transparent” (single release with multiple mixes) 2005 Cosmic Gate - “I Feel Wonderful” 2005 Paul Oakenfold - “Delerium” - (from The Club OST Soundtrack Mix album (TV series OST)) 2006 Leama & Moor - “Waiting” - (from the Leama & Moor album Common Ground)
Unreleased material:
Emerging Jan recorded a second solo album entitled Emerging in 1999/2000 as a result of signing to Paul Oakenfold’s Perfecto label. Upon delivering the album to the label it was considered not dancey enough for the club kids Oakenfold wanted to sell it to and the album was shelved and sadly never released. The album track list was:
“Silent Words” “Emerging” “Before” “Alligator Waters” “Unafraid” “Superstar” “Freeze Frame” “Is Disaster Coming” “As the Cracks Appear” “No Excuses” “21st Century Cinderella” “God’s Plan”
Even though not recorded for Emerging, a track entitled “Flesh” which Johnston wrote and recorded with Brian Transeau in 1997 during the same sessions as “Remember” was decided to be released as the first single on the Perfecto label. The original BT mix is still unreleased to this date. The version used on the single release was a Paul Oakenfold edited version of the famous Tiesto Remix.
“Silent Words” was released as follow up single to “Flesh” in a shortened butchered edit.
Some of the other album tracks did appear on various releases;
“Unafraid” was remixed by Paul Oakenfold and featured on the soundtrack album to the 2001 film Swordfish. “Superstar” (a cover of the Carpenters classic) was originally intended as the lead single from Emerging and was remixed by Todd Terry amongst others. A video was even made for the song but has never been seen. Remixes of this track appeared on various Oakenfold compilation albums. Remixes of “As the Cracks Appear” appeared on the Oakenfold vinyl only promo release A Perfecto Summer.
Miscellaneous: Johnston wrote and recorded a track entitled “Religion” with Paul Oakenfold in 1999 which was performed live but has never seen a commercial release. A demo entitled “Daring” (which recalled the more Emerging-sound and singer/songwriter feel of earlier material) leaked on the internet in 2005.
