Starting a solo recording career At age 17, Arena signed a record deal with Graffiti Records, which released her debut single, "Turn Up the Beat", in 1985. Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, described it as having a "dance-pop" style. The Sydney Morning Heralds Tim Elliott said that it "failed to impress". It had been recorded in the previous year with Brian Cadd producing at Flagstaff Studios in Melbourne. When the single did not appear in the top 50 her planned album was scrapped.
Starting a solo recording career At age 17, Arena signed a record deal with Graffiti Records, which released her debut single, "Turn Up the Beat", in 1985. Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, described it as having a "dance-pop" style. The Sydney Morning Heralds Tim Elliott said that it "failed to impress". It had been recorded in the previous year with Brian Cadd producing at Flagstaff Studios in Melbourne. When the single did not appear in the top 50 her planned album was scrapped.