Discography[3]
"The Art of Moving Butts" (with Shut Up and Dance, 1992) - UK #69
"Let the Music Play" (with BBG, 1996) - UK #46
"The Strutt" (with Bamboo, 1998) - UK #36
"For a Lifetime" (with Ascension, 2002) - UK #45
Erin Lordan
British singer
(8 November 1963 – 26 February 2005) was a British singer and dancer who had hits in the UK with BBG, Bamboo, Ascension and Shut Up and Dance.[1] She was a member of the dance troupe Hot Gossip. Erin was also "The Bride" in the Elton John video "Kiss the Bride". Lordan died of cancer on 26 February 2005.
Early life
Born in 16 Florence St. Neath, Glamorgan, Wales,[3] to semi-professional comedian and singer Ned Edwards, she appeared on stage at the age of four, with her sister May, as Ned Edwards' Two Little Queenies.[1]
Career
Edwards would go on to play the principal boy in many pantomimes.[4]
She presented her signature tune before radio broadcasts of Welsh Rarebit with the lyrics:
I bring you the voice of the people from over the hills and dales
and the voice of the people is brought to you by a voice that comes from Wales[1]
Edwards had a talent for comedy, and formed her own repertory company, The Maudie Edwards Players, who performed in the Palace Theatre, Swansea. In films of the 1940s, she provided a singing voice for film stars Diana Dors, Margaret Lockwood and Gene Tierney.[1] Edwards wrote some of her own material.[4]
She made her first screen appearance in 1936 and her last in 1972. In 1950, she appeared on stage with Frank Sinatra at the London Palladium. She played Elsie Lappin in the first two episodes of British soap opera Coronation Street in 1960 and was the first performer to speak during the first scene in the show's history: "Now the next thing you've got to do is to get a signwriter in - that thing above the door'll have to be changed."
Personal life and death
In 1954, Edwards married Walter Nicholas-Marcy, a businessman, in Westminster.[5][6][7] Four years later, she married Colonel William Fooks in St Pancras.[8][9][10]
Edwards spent her final years living in Putney, south west London. She died in London, aged 84, in 1991, predeceasing Fooks. Edwards bequeathed her archive material to the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Maudie Edwards
British actress and singer
(16 October 1906 – 24 March 1991), professionally known as Maudie Edwards, was a Welsh actress, radio broadcaster, comedian, dancer and singer, best remembered for having spoken the first line of dialogue in soap opera Coronation Street, and playing Elsie Lappin in the first two episodes.
Bayley has orchestrated for the Mantovani Orchestra;[1][2] Joy Tobing, the winner of Indonesian Idol 2004, on her debut album, Rise; Giorgos Alkaios' 2012 album, Déjà vu;[3] Rickard Engfors (Swedish tour 2005); arranged the vocals on the third album of Hi-5; as well as having sung on the soundtracks of the Disney films The Wild,[4] Brother Bear 2, Oliver and Company, The Three Caballeros, Saludos Amigos, Leroy and Stitch, Make Mine Music, James and the Giant Peach, Basil the Great Mouse Detective, Fun and Fancy Free, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr Toad, Brother Bear 2, The Fox and the Hound 2, Teacher's Pet, The Book of Pooh, Mickey's House of Villains, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Up, Up, and Away and Melody Time; as well as on the Tim Burton picture, The Nightmare Before Christmas, the PlayStation video game The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea, and DreamWorks' Shrek 2 – (Greek dubbed versions).
Bayley also appeared on stage playing cello at the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest during the French performance of Virginie Pouchain ; wrote the lyric to the Interval Act of the Eurovision Song Contest 2013[5][6] Final, entitled "Swedish Smörgåsbord", with Edward af Sillén and Daniel Réhn; and, with the same team, wrote the lyric for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 Semi-Final 2 Opening Number, "That's Eurovision"[7] (aka "Story of ESC"/"Story of Eurovision"), performed by Petra Mede and Måns Zelmerlöw, for which Bayley was also the recording producer and composer.
Bayley has orchestrated for the Mantovani Orchestra;[1][2] Joy Tobing, the winner of Indonesian Idol 2004, on her debut album, Rise; Giorgos Alkaios' 2012 album, Déjà vu;[3] Rickard Engfors (Swedish tour 2005); arranged the vocals on the third album of Hi-5; as well as having sung on the soundtracks of the Disney films The Wild,[4] Brother Bear 2, Oliver and Company, The Three Caballeros, Saludos Amigos, Leroy and Stitch, Make Mine Music, James and the Giant Peach, Basil the Great Mouse Detective, Fun and Fancy Free, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr Toad, Brother Bear 2, The Fox and the Hound 2, Teacher's Pet, The Book of Pooh, Mickey's House of Villains, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Up, Up, and Away and Melody Time; as well as on the Tim Burton picture, The Nightmare Before Christmas, the PlayStation video game The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea, and DreamWorks' Shrek 2 – (Greek dubbed versions).
Bayley also appeared on stage playing cello at the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest during the French performance of Virginie Pouchain ; wrote the lyric to the Interval Act of the Eurovision Song Contest 2013[5][6] Final, entitled "Swedish Smörgåsbord", with Edward af Sillén and Daniel Réhn; and, with the same team, wrote the lyric for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 Semi-Final 2 Opening Number, "That's Eurovision"[7] (aka "Story of ESC"/"Story of Eurovision"), performed by Petra Mede and Måns Zelmerlöw, for which Bayley was also the recording producer and composer.
Matheson Bayley
British musician
(born 15 December 1978) is an English pianist, composer, orchestrator, singer and television host. He was born in Chertsey, Surrey, England, and studied commercial composition at the Royal Academy of Music, London.
In 1993, Baker, then known as just Efua, released three singles: "Down Is the Drop", "Strawberry Boy", and "Somewhere". "Somewhere" was her biggest hit, reaching the top 50 in the UK, and the top 20 in Australia.[3] "Strawberry Boy" charted on the US Billboard Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart.[4] An album, Dream Juice, was released in June 1993 in the US,[1] and in November 1993 in Australia.[5]
In 1993, Baker, then known as just Efua, released three singles: "Down Is the Drop", "Strawberry Boy", and "Somewhere". "Somewhere" was her biggest hit, reaching the top 50 in the UK,[2] and the top 20 in Australia.[3] "Strawberry Boy" charted on the US Billboard Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart.[4] An album, Dream Juice, was released in June 1993 in the US,[1] and in November 1993 in Australia.[5]
Efua Baker
British singer
is a British celebrity fitness expert and trainer who also had a music career in the 1990s.
In 1993, Baker, then known as just Efua, released three singles: "Down Is the Drop", "Strawberry Boy", and "Somewhere". "Somewhere" was her biggest hit, reaching the top 50 in the UK,[2] and the top 20 in Australia.[3] "Strawberry Boy" charted on the US Billboard Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart.[4] An album, Dream Juice, was released in June 1993 in the US,[1] and in November 1993 in Australia.[5]
Prior to releasing her own music, Efua worked as a model and a dancer, and appeared in a number of music videos for other artists,[6] including Clive Griffin's "The Way We Touch" and "Don't Make Me Wait", Lil Louis's "I Called U", Soul II Soul's "A Dreams a Dream" (sic), and one of the two videos filmed for Maxi Priest's "Close to You". In 1996, she appeared in Yazz's music video for "Good Thing Going". In 2019, Baker appeared in the music video for FKA Twigs' "Cellophane".[7]
Baker's best known work as a fitness expert was on the BBC One programme Fat Nation - the Big Challenge in late 2004.
William de Alburwyke was chantor of York in northern England.[2] He was also at Merton College, Oxford and a Doctor of Divinity. He was Principal of Broadgates Hall, which later became Pembroke College, Oxford. Between 1324 and 1326, he was Chancellor of the University of Oxford.
William de Alburwyke
Singer and academic administrator
was an English medieval singer, college fellow, and university chancellor.
Najma studied chemical engineering at Aston University, Birmingham: her father, brother and sister are also engineers.[3] In 1984 she won the Birmingham Asian Song Contest, and in 1987 produced her first album.[3]
She is noted for jazz modification of the traditional Urdu Indian ghazal (love songs and spiritual songs).[5]
She has also appeared as a performer in the songs and videos of other performers, such as jazz and rock saxophonist Stan Harrison.[6] Najma has also worked with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page on the No Quarter DVD.
Najma Akhtar
Singer
also known as Najma (born 18 September 1962)[1] is a British singer of Indian[2] ancestry. She was born in Chelmsford, England.
Jacqui Abbott
Jacqui Abbott
English pop rock singer
English pop rock singer (born 10 November 1973) is an English singer who was a vocalist with the band The Beautiful South from 1994 to 2000, following the departure of Briana Corrigan.
With Abbott, the band released several Top 10 singles. Amongst their most successful hits during her stint were: "Rotterdam (or Anywhere)", "Perfect 10", "Don't Marry Her" and "Dream a Little Dream of Me". Abbott was discovered by Beautiful South co-founder Paul Heaton after she and a friend met him outside a night club. Heaton invited them to a party, where Abbott's friend encouraged her to sing. Heaton was impressed with her singing, and later invited her to audition to replace Corrigan.[1]
She left the band in 2000,[2][3] because of the pressure of touring. A busy tour schedule would have conflicted with Abbott's wish to concentrate on looking after her son, who had just been diagnosed with autism.[1]
Abbott reunited with Paul Heaton in June 2011 to perform in his musical The 8th, while in 2013 they recorded a new album What Have We Become?[4] released on 19 May 2014. This was followed by a second album in 2015 entitled Wisdom, Laughter and Lines. They embarked on a tour in 2016.[5] Their third album, Crooked Calypso, was released in July 2017, with a tour beginning later that year.[6] In 2020, Heaton and Abbott again collaborated on Manchester Calling, their first UK Number 1 album.