Brown released her debut album Stop! in 1988 and in total has released seven studio albums, one live album, one EP, and three compilation albums, as well as three albums as part of the group Homespun. She developed serious problems with her singing voice in 2007 after which she stopped recording and singing live until 2023 when she released the album Number 8.
Early years
Samantha Brown was born on 7 October 1964, in Stratford, east London, England. She is the daughter of musician Joe Brown and session singer Vicki Brown.[2] Brown's first work in the music industry was in 1978 aged 14, when she sang backing vocals on the final studio album by the Small Faces, 78 in the Shade.[2] She also worked as a backing vocalist with several other bands, including Spandau Ballet, and with her mother on former Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord's third solo album Before I Forget.[2]
Career
Brown signed a recording contract with A&M in 1986.[1] Her most successful song with A&M was "Stop!", released as a single in 1988. She issued an album of the same name that same year.[1] Other singles taken from the album included "Walking Back to Me", "This Feeling" and her cover version of "Can I Get a Witness". The album Stop! has sold over two-and-a-half million copies worldwide,[2] doing particularly well in the UK and Australia. Brown's second studio album, April Moon (1990), included two hit singles, "Kissing Gate" and "With a Little Love".[1] Three further singles were released from the album: "Mindworks", "Once in Your Life" and "As One".
Brown's third studio album, 43 Minutes..., was made around the same time that her mother was dying from breast cancer.[2] A&M, Brown's record label at the time, were not satisfied with the album and wanted some potential hit singles recorded and added to the track listing.[2] Brown, unwilling to compromise and after a protracted legal battle, bought back the master recordings of the album and released them in 1992 on her own label Pod Music, a year after the death of her mother.[2] Few copies were initially released, but it was reissued in 2004.
Brown provided backing vocals for Pink Floyd on their 14th studio album, The Division Bell, released in 1994, and accompanied them on their tour to promote the release.[2] Her involvement was documented on the following year's Pink Floyd release, Pulse, in which she sang backing vocals and was the first lead vocalist on the song "The Great Gig in the Sky". In 1995, she had a minor chart hit with a duet with fellow singer-songwriter Fish, entitled "Just Good Friends". In 1997, Brown returned with her fourth studio album Box, released via the independent record label Demon Music Group. Tracks on this album included "Embrace the Darkness", "Whisper" and "I Forgive You" which was co-written with Maria McKee. McKee's version of the song originally appeared on her second album, You Gotta Sin to Get Saved.
In 2000, her fifth studio album, ReBoot, was released via another independent label, Mud Hut, as was the single "In Light of All That's Gone Before." In 2003, Brown formed the band Homespun with Dave Rotheray.[1] The group has released three albums. Brown also released several solo recordings in this period, including an EP, Ukulele and Voice.[1] In 2004, Jon Lord released Beyond the Notes, for which she wrote almost all the lyrics.[3] In late 2006, she undertook an extensive UK tour as special guest of her father, Joe Brown. The shows also included appearances by her brother, Pete Brown.
In 2007, seven years after her last album, Brown released Of the Moment. She also returned to the Top 10 of the UK Albums Chart in October 2007, when "Valentine Moon" was included on Jools Holland's hit album Best of Friends.
That same year she developed problems with her singing voice, and for unknown reasons has not been able to sing consistently since. In an interview in 2013 she explained that "I can't get vocal cord closure and achieve the proper pitch simultaneously. It feels like there are some muscles that aren't working." After a cyst was found on her vocal cords, she had the cyst successfully removed, but problems with her voice persisted, leaving her unable to hold a note.[4]
Seeking alternative musical occupation, Brown started a ukulele club in 2010 and expanded to several clubs in Oxfordshire, Dorset, London and online which have continued to thrive.[5][6][7]
In 2021 she released her only live album, Wednesday The Something of April, a recording of a one-woman show from 2004 featuring songs from across her career.[8] Brown's first studio album in fifteen years, Number 8, was released in January 2023. It was written and recorded with long-time collaborator Danny Schogger and makes use of Melodyne software to help Brown's vocals.[8][9]
Taken in order of release, the initial letters of the titles of Brown's seven solo studio albums and one live album spell out her name:
Stop!
April Moon
(43) Minutes...
Box
ReBoot
Of the Moment
Wednesday the Something of April
Number 8
Brown said that she was unaware of the pattern until it was pointed out after the release of ReBoot in 2000. Once it was brought to her attention she vowed to continue the trend, asking fans to submit suggestions for the next title beginning with 'O'. Of the Moment was released in September 2007: its title was suggested by a fan via Brown's website.[15]
David Jon Gilmour is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist who is a member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined in 1967, shortly before the departure of the founder member Syd Barrett. By the early 1980s, Pink Floyd had become one of the highest-selling and most acclaimed acts in music history. Following the departure of Roger Waters in 1985, Pink Floyd continued under Gilmour's leadership and released three more studio albums.
The Division Bell is the fourteenth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 28 March 1994 by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and on 4 April by Columbia Records in the United States.
"Comfortably Numb" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on their eleventh studio album, The Wall (1979). It was released as a single in 1980, with "Hey You" as the B-side.
"The Great Gig in the Sky" is the fifth track on The Dark Side of the Moon, a 1973 album by English rock band Pink Floyd. The song features music by keyboard player Richard Wright and improvised, wordless vocals by session singer Clare Torry. It is one of only three Pink Floyd songs to feature vocals from an outside artist. The Great Gig in the Sky was released as a digital single in February 2023 to promote The Dark Side of the Moon 50th Anniversary box set.
About Face is the second solo studio album by English singer and musician David Gilmour, released on 5 March 1984 by Harvest in the UK and Columbia in the United States, a day before Gilmour's 38th birthday. Co-produced by Bob Ezrin and Gilmour, the album was recorded in 1983 at Pathé Marconi Studio, in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. The lyrics of two tracks, "All Lovers Are Deranged" and "Love on the Air", were written by Pete Townshend of the Who. Townshend's version of "All Lovers Are Deranged" appears on his solo album Scoop 3.
Carol Kenyon is a British singer. She is best known for her vocals on the Heaven 17 hit song "Temptation", which reached number two in the UK Singles Chart in 1983. When the song was re-released as a remix by Brothers in Rhythm in 1992, again featuring Carol's vocals, it made number 4. She was also featured on the Paul Hardcastle hit "Don't Waste My Time", which got to number 8 in 1986.
"High Hopes" is a song by English rock band Pink Floyd, composed by guitarist David Gilmour with lyrics by Gilmour and Polly Samson. It is the closing track on their fourteenth studio album, The Division Bell (1994); it was released as the second single from the album on 17 October 1994. An accompanying music video was made for the song and was directed by Storm Thorgerson.
Claudia Fontaine was a backing vocalist from Peckham, London.
"Learning to Fly" is a song by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, written by David Gilmour, Anthony Moore, Bob Ezrin, and Jon Carin. It was the first single from the band's thirteenth studio album A Momentary Lapse of Reason. It reached number 70 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 1 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart in September 1987, remaining three consecutive weeks at the top position in the autumn of the same year. Meanwhile, the song failed to chart on the official U.K. top 40 singles charts. On the other hand, in Spain, the song peaked at number 1 on the Los 40 Principales chart.
"One Slip" is a song from Pink Floyd's 1987 album A Momentary Lapse of Reason.
Durga McBroom is an American singer who has performed backing vocals for Pink Floyd and is a member of the house music band Blue Pearl, best known for their hit single "Naked in the Rain". She works as an actress, dancer, and singer in the United States and internationally.
"The Dogs of War" is a song by Pink Floyd from their 1987 album, A Momentary Lapse of Reason. It was released as a promotional single from the album. Live versions have an extended intro, an extended middle solo for the saxophone, a guitar and sax duel and a longer outro as compared to the album version. The track was a minor rock radio hit in the US and reached #16 on MTV's Video Countdown in May 1988.
"A Great Day for Freedom" is a song by Pink Floyd from their 1994 album, The Division Bell.
"Point Me at the Sky" is the fifth UK single by the English band Pink Floyd, released on 6 December 1968. It was their last single in the UK for nearly a decade. The song was an early collaboration by bassist Roger Waters and guitarist David Gilmour. The single was not released in the US, but was in Canada, Japan, and some European countries.
Debi Doss is an American-born photographer and singer.
"What Do You Want from Me" is a song by Pink Floyd featured on their 1994 album, The Division Bell. Richard Wright and David Gilmour composed the music, with Gilmour and his then-girlfriend and subsequent wife Polly Samson supplying the lyrics. A live version from Pulse was released as a single in Canada, reaching number 28 in the Canadian Top Singles charts.
Vicki Brown was an English pop, rock and contemporary classical singer. She was a member of both The Vernons Girls and The Breakaways and was the first wife of fellow singer and musician Joe Brown and mother of the singer Sam Brown.
"Wish You Were Here" is a song by English rock band Pink Floyd, released as the title track of their 1975 album of the same name. Guitarist/vocalist David Gilmour and bassist/vocalist Roger Waters collaborated in writing the music, with Gilmour singing lead vocals.
Rattle That Lock is the fourth solo studio album by English musician David Gilmour. It was released on 18 September 2015 via Columbia Records. The artwork for the album was created by Dave Stansbie from The Creative Corporation under the direction of Aubrey Powell, who has worked with Gilmour and Pink Floyd since the late 1960s.
"This Feeling" is a song by the English singer-songwriter Sam Brown, written by Brown and Margo Buchanan. It was released by A&M and appears on her debut studio album, Stop! (1988). It is also one of two songs from the album to feature the guitar work of then Pink Floyd member David Gilmour. "This Feeling" was a top 30 hit in Belgium, while peaking at number 91 on the UK Singles Chart.
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