Shattered Glass

"Shattered Glass" is a song written by Bob Mitchell and Steve Coe which was originally recorded in 1980 by Scottish singer Ellie Warren. The song was recorded in 1987 by American singer Laura Branigan with the Stock Aitken Waterman production team to serve as the lead single from Branigan's fifth studio album, Touch (1987). Background The song had originally been produced by Mitchell and Coe for Scottish singer Ellie Warren in 1980; Warren recalls "all the radio stations and media were totally behind 'Shattered Glass', but the record wasn't serviced properly. When the radio was playing it to death, you couldn't buy it in the shops – a ludicrous situation." "Shattered Glass" was one of two tracks Branigan cut with the Stock Aitken Waterman team. Originally the Touch album was to totally be a collaboration with producer David Kershenbaum, but after completing her recording with Kershenbaum, Branigan, who was especially interested in scoring a strong successful single, as her previous album, Hold Me, had only spawned a mildly successful single in "Spanish Eddie" (number 40), made an overnight foray to England to record at the PWL Studios in London with Stock Aitken Waterman, at the time enjoying massive chart success with releases by such acts as Rick Astley, Bananarama and Dead or Alive. The session was marked by some conflict, with Branigan challenging the producers' usual recording style, by insisting on singing the whole song through and not simply looping any repeated lyrics, and clashing with Matt Aitken over his habit of smoking in the control room. Branigan told Record Mirror in 1987, "[Waterman] told my record company that he had a great song for me. He sent it to me, I loved it, and a week later I flew to London to record it. Working with [Stock Aitken Waterman] is very different from anyone else. They're more like a factory; it's very mechanical." Besides "Shattered Glass", the PWL session produced Branigan's recording of "Whatever I Do", a Stock Aitken Waterman original previously recorded in 1984 by English singer Hazell Dean.