Shakespears Sister
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Shakespears Sister |
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Shakespears Sister is a synth-pop-rock band formed by former Bananarama singer-songwriter Siobhan Fahey in 1988. It was Fahey's first musical project since leaving Bananarama. Later in 1989, American backing vocalist and guitarist Marcella Detroit was featured more as London Records presented the band as a duo. The name is taken from the title of the song "Shakespeare's Sister" by The Smiths and in reference to Virginia Woolf's work A Room of One's Own.
There have been minor variations in the spelling of the band's name over the years, which lost the final "e" from "Shakespeare" (and the apostrophe) when a friend made a woodcut logo for Fahey with the name carved as "Shakespear".
Initally a solo project, Shakespears Sister developed into a duo; then reverted to Fahey on her own again till 1996. After a 13 year hiatus, in 2009, Siobhan Fahey resurrected the name Shakespears Sister and released a new body of work.
History
1988 - 1990: Sacred Heart
Originally conceived as a Fahey solo project, Shakespears Sister's first release was the double A-sided single "Break My Heart (You Really)"/"Heroine" in October 1988. In 1989, with Shakespears Sister now presented as a duo of Fahey with Marcella Detroit, the next single, "You're History", became a top ten hit in the UK. The debut album, Sacred Heart, also went top ten, though further singles taken from the album were less successful.
1991 - 1993: Hormonally Yours
Taking some time off due to both members' pregnancies, Shakespears Sister returned in late 1991 with the release of the single "Goodbye Cruel World", which peaked at number 59 in the UK Singles Chart. However, in early 1992, the duo released what would become their biggest hit single, "Stay". The single reached number one in the UK for eight weeks. It was also a 6 week number one in Ireland, and became their biggest US hit, reaching number four on the Billboard Hot 100. The success of the single was enhanced by a campy, futuristic accompanying music video. Their second album, Hormonally Yours, was critically acclaimed and peaked at number three in the UK Albums Chart (spending approx one year on the chart)
After a year-long worldwide tour throughout 1992, Fahey cancelled further European touring due to physical and emotional exhaustion and subsequently admitted herself into a psychiatric unit with severe depression.
Following this, Shakespears Sister were nominated for several BRIT Awards, including best group, best album, best video, best single and best female artist (for Fahey). However, out of these they only won Best Video for "Stay", which was voted for by the British public.
At the 1993 Ivor Novello Awards, Fahey announced she had split with Marcella Detroit. Allegedly, the pair have not spoken since.[citation needed]
1994 - 1996
Shakespears Sister carried on as Fahey by herself, and in 1994 she recorded "Prehistoric Daze" for the soundtrack to the film The Flintstones as well as "Waiting" for the Sadie Frost/Jude Law film Shopping.
In 1996, Fahey resurfaced again as Shakespears Sister with "I Can Drive", a single picked by the record company from her forthcoming third album, instead of Fahey's choice of "Do I Scare You". After the single peaked at number 30, London Records declined to release the full album. Fahey later parted company with the label, leaving the album unreleased. This year also marked Fahey's divorce from Dave Stewart, whom she had married in 1987.
2003 - 2005: #3, The Best of Shakespears Sister and Long Live the Queens!
In 2003, Fahey regained the master tapes for the unreleased album #3, which had been recorded in 1995-1996. The album was finally given an independent release in 2004 on Fahey's own record label, SF Records.
A greatest hits CD/DVD retrospective (The Best of Shakespears Sister) was also released in late 2004, containing all of the group's singles and music videos, as well as tracks intended for the #3 album. An additional compilation album, Long Live the Queens!, featuring a tracklisting of remixes and b-sides, was released in late 2005.
2009 - present: Songs from the Red Room
After not having released any new Shakespears Sister material for many years, Fahey announced that she has written and recorded an album, on her official MySpace page on 27 February 2008[1]. The album Songs from the Red Room was released 16 November 2009. Contained in the track list are several songs Fahey released previously as stand-alone singles.[2]
On November 20, 2009 Fahey performed a gig in London as Shakespears Sister, receiving a hugely enthuastic response from the crowd; this was her first time using the band's name since 1996.[3] Siobhan Fahey also appeared on the Loose Women television show in London, on Nov 17th. Fahey chatted about the new album, her London gig and her limited knowledge of current girlbands.