Top Ten Female Singers from the U.K.

I'll freely admit to being swayed by a great live concert, and as such I've not been able to stop playing Swing Out Sister discs and videos since last Monday's show. Watching the videos again today, appreciating what a great singer Corinne Drewery is, I got the notion to formulate a top ten list of female singers from the U.K. Here it is.

  1. Corinne Drewery (Swing Out Sister)
  2. Julia Fordham
  3. Dido
  4. Sharleen Spiteri (Texas)
  5. Tanita Tikaram
  6. Andrea Corr (the Corrs)
  7. Eddi Reader
  8. Sade
  9. Tina Dico (Zero 7)
  10. Jem

Here are some more excellent singers from the U.K. Please add any that I might have overlooked and if you are so inclined, please post a comment with your own top ten.

Sophie Barker (Zero 7)
Maire Brennan (Clannad)
Kate Bush
Christine Collister
Kiki Dee
Sandy Denny (Fairport Convention)
Lisa Hannigan (Damien Rice)
Annie Haslam (Renaissance, now transplanted to Doylestown, PA)
Chrissie Hynde (another transplant)
Annie Lennox
Karen Matheson (Capercaillie)
Alison Moyet
Mairead Ni Mhoanaigh (Altan)
Beth Orton
Maddy Prior (Steeleye Span)
Kate Rusby
Sia (Furler, Zero 7)
Joss Stone
Linda Thompson
Tracey Thorn (Everything But the Girl)
Margo Timmins (Cowboy Junkies)
Martina Topley-Bird

Comments

Charlie Ricci said…
Two who should make the list are Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac and going way,way back, Petula Clark. Your list covered most of the rest.
6/20/2005
Anonymous said…
Cathy Dennis
Lisa Stansfield
Tasmin Archer
3/22/2006
seetheoceanblue said…
Well done - nice to see another Corinne fan out there!! She is beautiful and brilliant - and thanks to the other readers for mentioning Lisa Stansfield, Cathy Dennis, Annie Lennox, Dusty Springfield...I would also include those in my best of British leading ladies.
12/08/2007
Anonymous said…
HELLOOOOOOO The BEST voice has to be ELKIE BROOKS
3/19/2010
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Remembering the Main Point, 1964 - 1981

Image
WXPN Most Memorable Musical Moment #5 Begining in 1964, The Main Point in Bryn Mawr provided the Philadelphia area with one of its most enjoyable venues for live music. Although it started as a folk based coffeehouse, all styles of music were presented over the years. Financial problems continually plagued the Main Point, and in spite of frequent benefit shows by artists who loved the place as much as the audience, the club finally closed in 1981. The following brief history is contained in an obituary of Jeanette O. Campbell, one of the founders and owners of the Main Point who died on October 22, 2006, written by Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer Sally A. Downey as reprinted on the Save Ardmore Coalition website. Jeanette Orndoff Campbell, 89, former owner of the Main Point, a music hall in Bryn Mawr where young talents including Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and James Taylor were introduced to local audiences, died of complications from hip surgery Oct. 22 at Stap...
Read more

Cream and Blind Faith at the Spectrum, Philadelphia, 1968 & 1969

Image
WXPN Most Memorable Musical Moment #3 (L-R) Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, & Eric Clapton I could not have foreseen it at the time, but looking back on a concert going history now entering it's fifth decade, my first three concerts were absolutely formative in the development of the music obsession that has driven life as we know it from that point forward. Attending a rock concert pre drivers license was no small feat, that I even got to these shows is the first indication that I knew I was onto something even if I couldn't quite explain it. I've already detailed my first concert (The Beatles at JFK Stadium) in my MMMM#1 . My second and third concerts took place at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, they were less than a year apart, and due to the fact that concerts never end at the time predicted, these concert experiences both ended with a very angry driver stuck waiting in the car outside the venue until the last encore had finished. I shot both concerts with the same starter...
Read more

And We Danced - Filming the Hooters Video, 7/27/85

Image
WXPN Most Memorable Musical Moment #4 "And We Danced" (picture sleeve above) was released in 1985 as the second single from the album, Nervous Night , the Hooters' major label debut for Columbia Records. Here's the video. The call went out to the Hooters' mailing list the last week of July 1985 that an audience with cars would be needed on the coming Saturday for a video shoot. Participants would report to the Exton Drive-In by late morning and be prepared to stay all day until after dark. This stage set, early in the day, was a warm-up for the crowd and probably a dry run for the production team for the night-time performance to be filmed later. The banner backdrop does not appear in the video. Some of the antique and custom cars that were on hand for the shoot. The production crew prepares the ticket booth for its shot. This is the film crew shooting the acoustic intro part of the song. The acoustic intro was shot twice, first with t...
Read more