Ellen Reid

Last updated

Ellen Reid
Ellen Reid March 2019.jpg
Ellen Reid performing with Crash Test Dummies in 2019
Background information
Birth nameEllen Lorraine Reid
Born (1966-07-14) 14 July 1966 (age 57)
Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada
GenresRock music
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)Vocals, keyboards, accordion
Years active1989–present
Labels Arista, ViK., Cha-Ching, Deep Fried

Ellen Lorraine Reid (born 14 July 1966) [1] is a Canadian musician. She provides backing vocals, piano, keyboards and accordion for the Canadian rock band Crash Test Dummies. [2] [3]

Contents

Early life and education

Reid was born and grew up in Selkirk, Manitoba. [4] [5] She studied piano as a child, [6] and later attended the University of Winnipeg. [7]

Career

While studying in Winnipeg in the late 1980s, Reid joined a band "Brad Roberts and the St.James Rhythm Pigs" who were playing in local taverns. She mainly played piano and sang backup vocals behind lead singer Brad Roberts. The group, renamed "Crash Test Dummies", performed at the Winnipeg Folk Festival in 1989, and released an album, The Ghosts That Haunt Me, in 1991. [8]

Reid recorded with the Crash Test Dummies on all of their albums; [9] on the band's fourth album, she sang lead vocals on "Just Chillin'", "Get You in the Morning" and "A Little Something". [8] She also shared lead vocals with Roberts on the single B-sides, "Filter Queen" and "Party's Over". She also sang lead during some concerts on "Samson and Delilah (If I Had My Way)" and on the hit, "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead", a cover of the XTC song. [1]

In 2001, Reid released a solo album, Cinderellen . [1] [10] [11] and toured in support of the album in early 2002. [12]

In 2002 Reid took part in the recording of the Crash Test Dummies' Christmas album, entitled Jingle All the Way . In 2004 she was also involved in the recording of the Dummies' Songs of the Unforgiven album.

Reid, Brad Roberts and Stuart Cameron continued to record together, and toured throughout 2010/2011 in support of The Crash Test Dummies album Oooh La La! [13] The band came together again for tours in 2017 and 2018. [14]

Discography

Crash Test Dummies

Solo

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crash Test Dummies</span> Canadian rock band

Crash Test Dummies are a Canadian rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Manitoba has produced much Canadian music, especially since the early 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brad Roberts</span> Canadian singer and guitarist

Bradley Kenneth Roberts is the lead singer and guitarist for the Canadian folk-rock band Crash Test Dummies, of which he has also been the only constant member since its inception. He sings in the bass-baritone range. The band is best known internationally for their 1993 album God Shuffled His Feet and single "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" and best known in Canada for the 1991 single "Superman's Song".

<i>God Shuffled His Feet</i> Album by Crash Test Dummies

God Shuffled His Feet is the second album by Canadian band Crash Test Dummies, released in 1993. It features their most popular single, "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm". The cover art superimposes the band members' faces over the figures of Titian's painting Bacchus and Ariadne. It was their most successful album commercially, as it sold over eight million copies worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm</span> 1993 single by Crash Test Dummies

"Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" is a song by Canadian rock band Crash Test Dummies, and written by its singer Brad Roberts. It was released in October 1993 by Arista and BMG as the band's lead single from their second album, God Shuffled His Feet (1993). The song received positive critical reviews upon its release, though retrospective reviews have been more negative. The song reached number four on the US Billboard Hot 100 and topped the national charts of Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden. In the band's native Canada, it stalled at number 14 on the RPM 100 Hit Tracks chart. The accompanying music video was directed by Dale Heslip.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Headline News ("Weird Al" Yankovic song)</span> 1994 single by "Weird Al" Yankovic

"Headline News" is a parody song by "Weird Al" Yankovic. It is a parody of the Crash Test Dummies' 1993 hit "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm". It was released as the lead-off single for the compilation box set Permanent Record: Al in the Box on September 27, 1994. The song was written after Yankovic's label insisted he craft a new song to promote the album; Yankovic in turn combined the music of the Crash Test Dummies' song with three news stories that were popular in late 1993 and early 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afternoons & Coffeespoons</span> 1994 single by Crash Test Dummies

"Afternoons & Coffeespoons" is a song by Canadian rock band Crash Test Dummies, released by Arista in June 1994 as the third single from the band's 1993 album God Shuffled His Feet. "Afternoons & Coffeespoons" has been called the band's most popular song amongst fans. It is also one of their most successful songs commercially, peaking at number two in Iceland, number seven in Canada, number 16 in Finland, and number 66 in the United States.

<i>A Worms Life</i> 1996 studio album by Crash Test Dummies

A Worm's Life is the third album by Canadian band Crash Test Dummies, released in 1996. It was the follow-up to the band's triple-platinum God Shuffled His Feet. By February 1999, A Worm's Life had sold more than 1 million copies worldwide.

<i>I Dont Care That You Dont Mind</i> 2001 studio album by Crash Test Dummies

I Don't Care That You Don't Mind is the fifth studio album by Crash Test Dummies. The album began as a solo album for Brad Roberts, while he was recuperating in the town of Argyle, Nova Scotia after suffering a near-fatal car accident in September 2000. Crash Test Dummies' name was put on the album after the band agreed to tour the album.

<i>Songs of the Unforgiven</i> 2004 studio album by Crash Test Dummies

Songs of the Unforgiven is the eighth studio album recorded by Crash Test Dummies, released in 2004.

<i>The Ghosts That Haunt Me</i> 1991 studio album by Crash Test Dummies

The Ghosts That Haunt Me is the 1991 debut album by the Canadian folk rock group Crash Test Dummies. It featured their hit "Superman's Song".

<i>Give Yourself a Hand</i> 1999 studio album by Crash Test Dummies

Give Yourself a Hand is the fourth album by Crash Test Dummies, released in 1999 through ViK. Recordings. It is their final album for BMG. The album spawned a quirky hit "Keep a Lid on Things". The Times review of the album described it as "the best music of their career...an album of rare wit and vitality."

<i>Jingle All the Way</i> (Crash Test Dummies album) 2002 studio album by Crash Test Dummies

Jingle All the Way is a 2002 Christmas album by Crash Test Dummies.

<i>Puss n Boots</i> (album) 2003 studio album by Crash Test Dummies

Puss 'N' Boots is the seventh studio album by Crash Test Dummies, released in 2003. The album began life as a Brad Roberts solo project. While the lyrics were written by Brad Roberts, most of the music was written by Stuart Cameron. Ellen Reid sang backing vocals and Dan Roberts played bass, though much of the music was performed by other musicians.

Dan Roberts is the bassist for the Canadian rock band, Crash Test Dummies, and brother of their lead singer, Brad Roberts.

<i>Oooh La La!</i> (Crash Test Dummies album) 2010 studio album by Crash Test Dummies

Oooh La La! is the ninth and most recent studio album by Crash Test Dummies, released 11 May 2010 on Deep Fried Records, distributed by MRI Records. The songs on the album are inspired by the Optigan and Omnichord toy instruments.

The discography of Canadian folk rock/alternative rock band Crash Test Dummies consists of eight primary studio albums, 23 singles, one live album, a greatest hits compilation, and two video releases. This list does not include material recorded by band members individually or with other side projects.

And It's Beautiful is a song by Canadian group Crash Test Dummies and was the promotional single from their 2010 album Oooh La La!. Brad Roberts describes the song as the first love song he has ever written, with the song being more happy and upbeat than the band's previous material.

"Now You See Her, Now You Don't" is a song by Canadian group Crash Test Dummies and was the second promotional single from their 2010 album Oooh La La!. As with most songs from the album, the song is based on an Optigan melody, with this song emulating a Big band swing style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Promised Land (Crash Test Dummies song)</span> 2015 single by Crash Test Dummies

"Promised Land" is a collaboration between producer/composer/singer/guitarist Marc Mysterio, rock band Crash Test Dummies and Mark Crozer meant to honor and benefit the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies whose resources, doctors, nurses and lawyers were severely stressed – to near breaking point – by the influx of refugees descending upon Europe in 2015. Mysterio and Crash Test Dummies previously collaborated in March 2015, when Mysterio released a remix of the band's 1993 hit Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Ellen Reid | Biography & History". AllMusic. 14 July 1966. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  2. ↑ "Crash Test Dummies God Shuffled His Feet" Archived 11 June 2017 at the Wayback Machine . Drowned in Sound, by Colin Weston 7 January 2001
  3. ↑ "The Crash Test Dummies". The Canadian Encyclopedia, Durrell Bowman, 9 December 2009
  4. ↑ "After 25 years, Crash Test Dummies still Mmm, Mmm good". Winnipeg Free Press, Jill Wilson | 10/11/2018
  5. ↑ "At home with Ellen". Selkirk Journal Newspaper Archives, 31 December 2001 - Page 17
  6. ↑ "Selkirk's Reid hits the big time". Stonewall Interlake Spectator, via Newspaper Archives. 14 August 1991 - Page 12
  7. ↑ "Crash Test Smarties". Macleans, Nicholas Jennings, 27 March 1995
  8. 1 2 Kevin King. "MORE THAN JUST ANOTHER DUMMY". Selkirk Journal, via Newspaper Archives. 6 November 1995 - Page 18.
  9. ↑ "Hometown reunion for Roberts, Dummies". Winnipeg Free Press - 10 October 2010, Winnipeg, Manitoba
  10. ↑ "Ellen Reid Cinderellen". Exclaim, By Michael Edwards. 1 May 2002
  11. ↑ "Ellen Reid Cinderellen". AllMusic Review by Jason MacNeil
  12. ↑ "A Dummy makes a savvy debut". Alan Niester, "The Globe and Mail", 1 February 2002
  13. ↑ "Crash Test Dummies – Oooh La La". by Matt Melis, 12 May 2010,
  14. ↑ "Weather Turns Perfect Just In Time for Barenaked Ladies at Burls Creek" [ permanent dead link ]. Jewel 88.5 Toronto, 23 July 2018
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.