Sarah Cracknell | |
|---|---|
 Sarah Cracknell performing in December 2012 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Sarah Jane Cracknell |
| Born | 12 April 1967 [1] Chelmsford, Essex, England [2] |
| Genres | |
| Occupation | Singer-songwriter |
| Years active | 1987–present |
| Labels | |
| Website | Saint Etienne website |
Sarah Jane Cracknell [3] (born 12 April 1967) is an English singer-songwriter [4] and lead singer of the electronic music band Saint Etienne.
Cracknell's career started with the Windsor-based indie band The Worried Parachutes in 1982. [5] Following the demise of the band she released two solo singles, "Love Is All You Need," and "Coastal Town" in 1987. With friend Mick Bund, she then formed a new band, Prime Time, who released a handful of singles. [5]
Cracknell was one-half of the duo Lovecut DB who released three singles between 1991 and 1992 including "Heart Spin," "Fingertips" b/w "Live To Breathe," and "Journey To The Centre Of Love."
Saint Etienne was originally to be an indie dance act featuring various vocalists. After Moira Lambert sang on their initial 1990 single "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" and Donna Savage was heard on the follow-up single "Kiss and Make Up", Cracknell lent her vocals to "Nothing Can Stop Us" [6] and ended up doing the rest of the singing on their debut album Foxbase Alpha . Cracknell has been Saint Etienne's permanent vocalist since then.
Preceded by the single "Anymore" in 1996, Cracknell released a solo album, Lipslide , in May 1997. Originally released in the UK only by Gut Records, the album featured dance, indie and pop tunes and received good reviews from critics, but was not a big seller (Cracknell has in interviews placed some of the blame on lack of proper promotion by Gut).
Lipslide finally surfaced in the U.S. three years later, when Instinct Records released it in February 2000. With completely different cover art, the original album's track listing was also modified: five tracks were removed and four new songs plus a remix were added. Months later, Instinct released the Kelly's Locker EP, which contained the five tracks originally removed from the UK version of Lipslide, along with two previously unreleased songs and a new remix. [7]
Cracknell was Spiller's first choice for the vocals of his number-one hit "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" in 2000,[ citation needed ] but she never got to record the song, which instead featured Sophie Ellis-Bextor. She has recorded tracks with various artists such as David Holmes ("Anymore", "Gone"), Xploding Plastix ("Sunset Spirals"), Cheapglue ("You've Just Won Me Over") and Paul Van Dyk ("The Riddle (Tell Me Why)," although billed as a collaboration between Van Dyk and St. Etienne but with Cracknell on vocals).
She recorded a duet of Dusty Springfield's 1968 song "I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten" with Marc Almond for his album Stardom Road , released in June 2007.
In December 2007, BBC radio began playing "The Journey Continues" by Mark Brown featuring Cracknell. The song consists of extensive samples from a composition by Elena Kats-Chernin entitled Eliza's Aria, well known to UK TV viewers as the music from the animated 'For the Journey' commercials for Lloyds TSB bank. The single was released in February 2008 on Positiva. The song peaked at #11 in the UK after being released.
Cracknell has collaborated with French pop star Etienne Daho on several occasions. She co-wrote and sang back-up vocals on "Les passagers" from his 1996 album Eden , and also co-wrote "Le premier jour" which was released as a single from his greatest hits compilation Singles. With Saint Etienne, they collaborated on the Reserection EP . Saint Etienne's single "He's on the Phone" (which featured both Cracknell and Daho) was actually an English-language adaptation of Daho's French language 1984 single "Weekend à Rome".
On 21 August 2014, Cherry Red Records announced that it had signed Cracknell to a worldwide deal under which she would release a new solo album. The album, entitled Red Kite, was recorded in December 2014 and released on 15 June 2015. A series of live shows by Cracknell in support the album were planned for the weeks following its release. [8]
Cracknell married Martin Kelly (joint managing director of Heavenly Recordings and Heavenly Films) in Kensington and Chelsea, London on 5 December 2004. They have two children, born in Westminster, London in 2001 and 2004. [9]
Cracknell is the daughter of Stanley Kubrick's first assistant director Derek Cracknell and actor and singer Julie Samuel (born 1944). [10] [11]
| Sarah Cracknell discography | |
|---|---|
| Studio albums | 2 |
| Compilation albums | 2 |
| Singles | 10 |
The discography consists of two studio albums, two compilations, six solo singles and four singles as a featured artist.
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [12] | ||||||||||||
| Lipslide |
| — | ||||||||||
| Red Kite |
| 49 | ||||||||||
| Kites |
| — | ||||||||||
| "—" denotes an album that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Kelly's Locker |
|
| Lipslide – Deluxe Edition |
|
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [12] | ||||||||||||
| 1987 | "Love Is All You Need" / "Coastal Town" (7" single) | — | Non-album singles | |||||||||
| "Coastal Town" (12" single) | — | |||||||||||
| 1996 | "Anymore" | 39 | Lipslide | |||||||||
| 1997 | "Goldie" | — | ||||||||||
| "Desert Baby" | — | |||||||||||
| 2015 | "Nothing Left To Talk About" (featuring Nicky Wire) | — | Red Kite | |||||||||
| 2015 | "Take the Silver" | — | Red Kite | |||||||||
| "—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [12] | ||||||||||||
| 1996 | "Gone" (David Holmes featuring Sarah Cracknell) | 75 | This Film's Crap Let's Slash the Seats | |||||||||
| 2003 | "Sunset Spirals" (Xploding Plastix featuring Sarah Cracknell) | — | The Donca Matic Singalongs | |||||||||
| 2007 | "I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten" (Marc Almond featuring Sarah Cracknell) | — | Stardom Road | |||||||||
| "The Journey Continues" (Mark Brown featuring Sarah Cracknell) | 11 | Non-album single | ||||||||||
| "Growth of Raindrops" (Warm Digits feat. Sarah Cracknell) | — | Wireless World | ||||||||||
| "—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||
| Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Release |
|---|---|---|---|
| "I Fell in Love with a Stranger" | unknown | Inter Nation featuring Sarah Jane | I Fell in Love with a Stranger (promo single) |
| "Fingertips" | 1991 | LoveCUT>>DB* featuring Sarah Jane | Fingertips / Live To Breathe (single) |
| "Supermarket" | 1992 | Supermarket (aka Denim) | We Are Icerink (compilation) |
| "Worthless" | 1993 | Mexico 70 | Worthless/ Heaven in Your Eyes (double 'a' side single) |
| "Les Passagers" | 1996 | Étienne Daho | Eden (album) |
| "Tokyo to London" | 1997 | Hideki Kaji | Mini Skirt (album) |
| "The Man I Love" | 1998 | Kid Loco | Red Hot + Rhapsody: The Gershwin Groove (compilation album) |
| "Week-end à Rome" | Étienne Daho | Singles (compilation album) | |
| "Kissing Things" | 1999 | The 6ths | Hyacinths & Thistles (album) |
| "Elysium" | Madness | Wonderful (album) | |
| "Tomorrow's Girl" | 2002 | Funky Monkey | Join Us in Tomorrow (album) |
| "You Just Won Me Over" | Cheapglue | You Just Won Me Over (EP) | |
| "The Last Weekend" | 2015 | Akasha | Hail The Sun (album) |
| "We Look at the Stars" | 2016 | Lisbon Kid | We Look at the Stars (digital release) |
| "Growth of Raindrops" | 2017 | Warm Digits | Growth of Raindrops (single) |
| "Do You Like My New Hair?" | 2020 | The Pre New | Do You Like My New Hair? / In The Perfect Place (EP) |
Saint Etienne are an English band from Greater London, formed in 1990. The band consists of Sarah Cracknell, Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs. Commonly associated with the indie dance scene of the 1990s, their music blends club culture with 1960s pop and other disparate influences.
Étienne Daho is a French singer-songwriter. He has released a number of synth-driven and rock-surf influenced pop hit singles since 1981.
Tales from Turnpike House is the seventh studio album by English alternative dance band Saint Etienne, released on 13 June 2005 by Sanctuary Records. It is a concept album in which the songs depict characters who all live in the eponymous block of flats in London.
Travel Edition 1990–2005 is a compilation album by the British pop band Saint Etienne. It was released 22 November 2004 in the United States only on the Sub Pop label.
Sound of Water is the fifth studio album by Saint Etienne, released in 2000.
Foxbase Alpha is the debut studio album by English band Saint Etienne, released on 16 September 1991 by Heavenly Recordings.
Good Humor is the fourth studio album by English alternative dance band Saint Etienne. It was released on 4 May 1998 by Creation Records. The American spelling of humor is used in the title as the band were, according to Sarah Cracknell, "fed up with the 'quintessentially English' tag, so there was a bit of a backlash against that."
Ian Catt is a British record producer and multi-instrumentalist associated with several popular indie groups, including Saint Etienne, with whom he has been a touring member. He has also collaborated with Saint Etienne's vocalist Sarah Cracknell on her solo album, Lipslide. Catt also produced several albums for Heavenly and is a long-standing collaborator of Bobby Wratten, working with his groups The Field Mice, Northern Picture Library, Trembling Blue Stars and Occasional Keepers. He was also an official member of the latter group for a short time. His solo project, Katmandu, released a single and album on the Vinyl Japan label in 1994.
Lipslide is the debut solo album from Saint Etienne lead singer Sarah Cracknell. The album was co-produced by Cracknell and a variety of producers and released in the UK by Gut Records in 1997. Upon its release Lipslide earned favorable reviews from music critics, although it was not a commercial success. Musically the album does not stray too far from Cracknell's work with Saint Etienne, as it contains electronic and indie-styled pop music.
Kelly's Locker is an EP released by Saint Etienne lead singer Sarah Cracknell. Issued by Instinct Records in 2000, the EP served as a companion piece to Cracknell's debut album Lipslide. Four tracks which were on the UK version of Lipslide were included here, as well as the original mix of "Home", shown on Kelly's Locker as the "Armchair Mix". Two previously unreleased songs were also included, as well as a remix of "Anymore" which originally appeared on the 1996 UK single release.
Too Young to Die – Singles 1990–1995 is a compilation album by English indie dance band Saint Etienne released on 13 November, 1995, collecting the group's singles spanning the period of 1990 to 1995.
"Only Love Can Break Your Heart" is a song written by Canadian-American singer-songwriter, musician, and activist Neil Young. It has been covered by many other artists.
"You're in a Bad Way" is a song by British pop group Saint Etienne, released in February 1993 by Heavenly and Warner as the second single from their second album, So Tough (1993). The song is a deliberately old-fashioned throwback to 1960s pop music. In an interview with Melody Maker magazine, Bob Stanley claims that it was written in ten minutes as a simple imitation of Herman's Hermits, and was only intended to be a B-side to "Everlasting", but the record company decided that it should be a single. "Everlasting" was dropped as a single and remained unreleased until it was eventually included on disc 2 on the deluxe edition of So Tough in 2009.
"He's on the Phone" is a song by British pop group Saint Etienne in collaboration with French singer-songwriter Étienne Daho, released in October 1995 by Heavenly and MCA as a single from their third compilation album, Too Young to Die (1995). A fast-paced dance track, it is one of Saint Etienne's biggest hits, reaching number 11 on the UK Singles Chart, number 31 in Iceland, number 41 in Sweden and number 33 on the US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. The lyrics tell of an "academia girl" trying to escape from a relationship with a married man: He's on the phone / And she wants to go home, / Shoes in hand, / Don't make a sound, / It's time to go. At the centre of the track is a spoken-word section by Daho.
"Avenue" is a song by British pop group Saint Etienne, released in October 1992 as the first single from their second album, So Tough (1992). It was originally titled "Lovely Heart" or "Young Heart". The album version is a 7-minute version with lengthy instrumental sequences; it was edited down to around 4 minutes for radio play, though the commercial single contained the full-length version, with the radio edit only released on promotional material. The edit wasn't released commercially until 2005's Travel Edition 1990-2005.
"Like a Motorway" is a song by British pop group Saint Etienne. It appears on their third album, Tiger Bay (1994) and was released as a single by Heavenly Records in May 1994, reaching number 47 on the UK Singles Chart and number 13 on the UK Dance Singles Chart. The US release of Tiger Bay also features an "alternate version" with more complex percussion and electric guitar stings. It also appears on the original soundtrack for the 1994 film Speed, although the single is never heard in the actual film itself.
"Kiss and Make Up" is a song by Saint Etienne, released as a single in 1990. It is a cover version of "Let's Kiss and Make Up", a song by The Field Mice from their 1989 album, Snowball.
"Nothing Can Stop Us" is a song by English band Saint Etienne, released in May 1991 by Heavenly Records as the third single from their debut album, Foxbase Alpha (1991). It is the first release to feature Sarah Cracknell, who would continue to front the band from this release on. The single reached the number one spot on the American dance charts for one week. The song is based on a looped sample from Dusty Springfield's recording of "I Can't Wait Until I See My Baby's Face".
"Hug My Soul" is a song by British band Saint Etienne. It was the third single from their third album, Tiger Bay (1994), and was released in September 1994 by Heavenly Records. It was written by vocalist Sarah Cracknell along with songwriting partners Guy Batson and Johnny Male.
Words and Music by Saint Etienne is the eighth studio album by English alternative dance band Saint Etienne, released on 18 May 2012 by Heavenly Recordings. The band announced the album in a Christmas message on their official website on 11 December 2011. The album features collaborations from longtime Saint Etienne associate Ian Catt, as well as Richard X and former Xenomania members Tim Powell and Nick Coler.
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