Lorraine Bowen
Lorraine Bowen | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Also known as | The Lorraine Bowen Experience |
| Born | 31 October 1961 Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, musician |
| Website | www |
Lorraine Bowen (born 31 October 1961, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England) is an English singer, songwriter and musician.[1] Born in Cheltenham, Bowen was brought up in Chelmsford, Essex.
Early Career
She studied music at the University of Surrey,[1] and then busked around London. She was a member of two bands in the 1980s: See You in Vegas and The Dinner Ladies, as well as performing regularly with Billy Bragg on stage and on record. She has also made many appearances on BBC Radio 4 including John Shuttleworth's show Radio Shuttleworth and the 1999 all-female sketch show Heated Rollers, starring Lynda Bellingham, Gwyneth Strong and Joanna Monro. She has also written for BBC Radio 4's Loose Ends.[1]
Solo Career
In 1990, Billy Bragg encouraged Lorraine to start a solo career. Armed with three songs, a Casio keyboard and an ironing board, she started to perform solo shows under name of The Lorraine Bowen Experience. This has led to shows all over the world, including festivals in Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Vancouver, San Fransisco, Orlando, Michigan, and in the UK, Glastonbury, Edinburgh, Glasgay, Bestival, The Big Chill, and The Secret Garden, and many shows in Italy and Spain. Her songs are quirky, funny and often with a sense of kitsch.[2] Themes include: food, film stars (one of her most popular songs is about Julie Christie), mobile phones and launderettes. They have catchy choruses and she encourages audience participation.[2]
Polyester Fiesta!
Lorraine Bowen's Vital Organs
Comfort Zone
Cabaret Campanology
Lorraine Bowen Meets Barbara Moore
Work with other Artists
Billy Bragg
Lorraine was discovered by Billy Bragg at the Hackney Empire performing with The Dinner Ladies[3]. After a successful audition, she found herself performing her first show with Billy at the Liverpool Opera House as part of the Workers Playtime Tour. She then toured East Germany just prior to reunification, performing in Army camps and stadia.
John Shuttleworth
Lorraine made an appearance in two episodes of Radio Shuttleworth with John Shuttleworth (Series 1, episode 2 and Series 2, episode 3).
Radio
Lorraine Bowen's Stereo Spectacular[4] is a much loved quirky sonic experience made up of binaural field recordings, interviews and eclectic tracks. Award winning, featured on Radio Reverb, the shows are now available as a podcast[5].
Films
Lorraine provided the soundtrack for No Deposit, No Return by Dallas Campbell[6]. Lorraine Bowen's original song "Julie Christie" appeared on the Canadian independent film, Better Than Chocolate soundtrack.[7] Bowen also provides vocals on "There Must Be An Angel" in Sorrentino's 2013 film, The Great Beauty.[8]
Television
She sang on the Fantastic Plastic Machine cover of "There Must Be an Angel", which featured in the British sitcom Spaced.[9][10]
Discography
- Greatest Hits Volume One (1995)[11]
- Greatest Hits Volume Two (1998)[12]
- Bossy Nova (2000)[13]
- Songs from the Living Room (2002, Italian)
- Vital Organs (2006)[14]
- Suburban Exotica (2010)[15]
OTHER ARTISTS BILLY BRAGG
THE DAMNED
- So, Who's Paranoid? (2008)[18]
Teaching Work
Bowen also worked as a part-time music teacher in schools across Hackney. Since relocating to Brighton, she has been running singing workshops at the Brighton Dome[19] and Bexhill's De La Warr Pavilion. [20]
References
- ^ a b c Gregory, Andy (2002) International Who's Who in Popular Music, Europa, ISBN 1-85743-161-8, p. 56
- ^ a b Maupin, Elizabeth (1993) "Bowen's Perkiness Won't Stop: Bubbly and Uninhibited Lorraine Bowen Even Gets the Audience Involved in Her Wackiness", Orlando Sentinel, 29 April 1993, p. E1
- ^ http://www.discogs.com/Dinner-Ladies-These-Knees-Have-Seen-The-World/release/1845941
- ^ http://arts.commedia.org.uk/news/modulate-project-recording/
- ^ https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/lorraine-bowens-podcasts-stereo/id507208805?i=135852165&mt=2
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/films/p004pws9
- ^ [Better Than Chocolate discogs page]
- ^ IMDB page
- ^ Fantastic Plastic Machine's imdb page
- ^ Fantastic Plastic Machine - Les Plus discogs page
- ^ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Greatest-Hits-Lorraine-Bowen-Experience/dp/B0000258BD/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1421582770&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=lorraine+bowen+greatest+hits+vol+1
- ^ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Greatest-Hits-Lorraine-Bowen-Experience/dp/B0000252AF/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1421582832&sr=1-2-fkmr0&keywords=lorraine+bowen+greatest+hits+vol+2
- ^ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bossy-Nova-Lorraine-Bowen-Experience/dp/B000056JQJ/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1421582888&sr=1-1&keywords=lorraine+bowen+bossy+nova
- ^ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lorraine-Bowens-Vital-Organs-Bowen/dp/B000GIXWF6/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1421582943&sr=1-1&keywords=lorraine+bowen+vital+organs
- ^ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Suburban-Exotica-Lorraine-Bowen/dp/B004A9T18Y/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1421582977&sr=1-1&keywords=lorraine+bowen+suburban+exotica
- ^ http://www.discogs.com/Billy-Bragg-The-Internationale/release/739981
- ^ http://www.discogs.com/Billy-Bragg-Dont-Try-This-At-Home/release/1712955
- ^ http://www.discogs.com/Damned-So-Whos-Paranoid/release/2087087
- ^ http://brightondome.org
- ^ http://www.dlwp.com/event/deck-the-halls-with-bexhill-voices
External links
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