Sugar Shuffle

"Sugar Shuffle" is a song written by Lynsey de Paul and Barry Blue.^[1] It first appeared as the lead-in track on de Paul's album Love Bomb as an ethereal, chilled and dreamy song about nightlife and dating.^[2][3] AllMusic rated "Sugar Shuffle" as one of de Paul's song highlights.^[4] Musician and music critic Bob Stanley wrote in The Guardian, "Sugar Shuffle is an especially gorgeous, woozy mid-70s confection, fit to sit at the table with Liverpool Express's You Are My Love".^[5]

Although never released as a single in de Paul's UK home market, it was released in edited form as a single in the US,^[6][7] where it was play-listed by radio stations such as KBBC-Phenix^[8] and in Japan, where it was backed by the song "Dreams".^[9] In the US, de Paul version received positive reviews in Record World^[10] and Cashbox.^[11] Most recently it was played on Flaneur Radio: MacArthur Park^[12] and France's Radio Nova, played by Bill Brewster.^[13]

An updated cover version of the song was released on the 1984 album Cryptograph by the Japanese artist Asami Kobayashi (小林麻美).^[14][15] This version had lyrics by Kobayshi and Yumi Matsutoya.^[16] It received the "Best Album" award at the 26th Annual Japan Record Awards (Nihon Record Taisho)^[17] and reached the top 10 in the Japanese album chart in 1984.^[18][19] It was also included on Kobayashi's "Best Collection" album, released in 1986.^[20]

The song was released on CD in the US as a track on the Renaissance Records release of Love Bomb in 2010.^[21] A remastered version of the de Paul version of the song was finally released on CD on her 2013 compilation CD Into My Music.^[22] The song is also a track on the 2020 album, Bob Stanley presents 76 in the Shade,^[23] with Martin Ruddock highlighting it as one of the standout tracks, writing in his review of the album "The poolside cool of Lynsey De Paul’s sedate Sugar Shuffle".^[24] The album entered the Dutch compilations chart at No. 23^[25] and reached No. 78 on the UK Official Compilations Chart in September 2020.^[26]