Carly Simon's body of work over the past 30 years is well-known and loved, from her startling be-hatted and bra-less appearance on the cover of her 1972 breakthrough 'No Secrets' record with its 'You're So Vain' centrepiece to her James Bond soundtrack hit 'Nobody Does It Better' (one of the best Bond songs!). Carly then stayed with the movies for the success of 'Coming Around Again' (from the movie 'Heartburn') which was soon followed by her Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe awards for 'Let The River Run', the soaring anthem from 'Working Girl'.

For her 'Film Noir' CD, Carly spoiled herself rotten. She chose to work closely on this album with famous singer-songwriter Jimmy Webb, who handled most of the production and arranging duties as well as finding a quiet moment to duet with the ex-Mrs James Taylor on the Frank Loessner song from the film 'Christmas Holiday', the beautiful 'Spring Will Be A Little Late This Year'. They've also included another Carly duet with John Travolta from the noir classic 'I Walk Alone' called 'Two Sleepy People' and a breathtaking solo version of the title song from the steamy 'Laura'. Other better known songs here include the wartime hit 'Lili Marlene', 'Ev'ry Time I Say Goodbye' and 'Don't Smoke In Bed'.

The liner notes in this tastefully and appropriately styled black and white booklet are by Martin Scorsese who, between praising Carly for doing this particular genre of soundtrack music such respectful justice, manages to fire off this brief description of exactly what film noir means generally and to him: "…Film noir brought a new type of hero, or anti-hero, to the screen: a decent but weak-willed man plunged by fate into a dead-end intrigue that he either can't or doesn't want to understand. Such characters, who could only be played by post-war actors like Robert Mitchum, Burt Lancaster or Kirk Douglas, were often coaxed into their nightmares by femmes fatales played by actresses like Lauren Bacall and Rita Hayworth, both of whom had a profound effect on me as a child."

This then is Carly Simon's labour of love: 12 tracks lovingly orchestrated, arranged and performed in honour of a special period of film and music-making as well as a personalised soundtrack for her good friend Marty Scorsese's film noir female-star fantasies. He's so vain, he probably thinks these songs are about him……

Any thoughts, requests, problems, complaints, praise or interesting and relevant SA music news, please email it immediately to: sugar@cd.co.za