Bette Bright
Encyclopedia
Bette Bright is an English
rock
singer
.
band
Deaf School
. After Deaf School disbanded, Bright went solo
with her backing band, 'The Illuminations'. Band members were Henry Priestman
(formerly with band Yachts
), Rusty Egan
(Visage
) and Glen Matlock
(Sex Pistols
). Their single
debut, a cover
of "My Boyfriend's Back
" in 1978, was followed by another cover, "Captain of Your Ship
", which became a minor airplay hit
.
Their third single, "Hello, I Am Your Heart" entered the UK Singles Chart
and spent a week at #50 (and featured Lee 'Kix' Thompson on saxophone
). In between, Bright (using her real name, Anne Martin) spent a while as singer of Dutch
band Gruppo Sportivo
, and she also appeared in Malcolm McLaren
's Sex Pistols film
, The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle
.
In 1981, she issued the album
Rhythm Breaks the Ice, which featured songs she had written herself, but also classics like "Shoorah, Shoorah" as well as new interpretations of songs by Deaf School. Her backing band on this album - still called The Illuminations - had a similar line-up to Clive Langer & the Boxes
: Clive Langer (guitar
/sitar
), Ian Broudie
(guitar), James Eller (bass
); Jo Allen and Martin Hughes (drum
s); and Ben Barson, brother
of Madness
keyboardist
Mike Barson
(keyboards
). The album was produced
by Clanger/Winstanley
.
Working with Barson, Langer and Alan Winstanley
, Bright got to know Madness, and she and Madness singer Suggs
, fell in love. They married
in 1982, and she retired to private life. She did appear, however, in 1984 in a video
to accompany Madness' "One Better Day
" single, playing the part of a homeless person
. In 1988, she joined her fellow Deaf School members for a reunion and a live album
.
In 1992 she provided a spoken human voice
overlay to "Walk You Home", a track on Tim Finn
's fourth album, Before & After. In recent years, she has joined the reformed Deaf School for one off gigs
, In December 2007 at The O2
venue Indigo2 for Madness' aftershow party, the band were joined on stage by her daughters, who sang backing vocals
. She also sang with her husband, Suggs. Bright reunited with Deaf school once again in December 2009 for a selection of UK dates in London and Liverpool, including a date at the 100 Club
.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
singer
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
.
Career
In the late 1970s Bright was a singer for the art rockArt rock
Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, with influences from art, avant-garde, and classical music. The first usage of the term, according to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, was in 1968. Influenced by the work of The Beatles, most notably their Sgt...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
Deaf School
Deaf School
Deaf School are an English rock band, formed in the mid 1970s and hailing from Liverpool. Their style is somewhere in between pub rock, punk, glam rock and art rock. They originally disbanded after their third album but their influence lived on...
. After Deaf School disbanded, Bright went solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
with her backing band, 'The Illuminations'. Band members were Henry Priestman
Henry Priestman
Henry Priestman is an English rock singer, keyboardist, record producer and songwriter.-Biography:...
(formerly with band Yachts
Yachts (band)
Yachts were a British pop/rock band, best remembered for their 1977 single, "Suffice To Say", and “minor new wave classic”, "Love You, Love You".-Career:...
), Rusty Egan
Rusty Egan
Rusty Egan was the drummer for the British new wave band, The Rich Kids. They were founded by former Sex Pistol, Glen Matlock, bass guitarist and backing vocals, occasional lead vocals; with Steve New guitarist and backing vocals, occasional lead vocals; and fronted by Midge Ure guitarist, lead...
(Visage
Visage
Visage are a British New Wave rock band. Formed in 1978, the band became closely linked to the burgeoning New Romantic fashion movement of the early 1980s, and are best known for their 1980 hit "Fade to Grey".-New Wave years :...
) and Glen Matlock
Glen Matlock
Glen Matlock is an English bass guitarist most famous for being in the original line-up of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols. Drummer Paul Cook has said that Matlock came up with much of the music for the band's songs and most of the lyrics, while lead singer Johnny Rotten made some adjustments...
(Sex Pistols
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
). Their single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
debut, a cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of "My Boyfriend's Back
My Boyfriend's Back (song)
"My Boyfriend's Back" was a hit song in 1963 for The Angels, an American girl group. It was written by the songwriting team of Feldman, Goldstein and Gottehrer . The recording was originally intended as a demo for The Shirelles, but ended up being released as recorded...
" in 1978, was followed by another cover, "Captain of Your Ship
Captain of Your Ship
"Captain of Your Ship" is the title of a pop song first recorded by the US girl group Reparata and the Delrons and released as a single in 1968 on the Bell record label...
", which became a minor airplay hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
.
Their third single, "Hello, I Am Your Heart" entered the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
and spent a week at #50 (and featured Lee 'Kix' Thompson on saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
). In between, Bright (using her real name, Anne Martin) spent a while as singer of Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
band Gruppo Sportivo
Gruppo Sportivo
Gruppo Sportivo are a Dutch pop band, from The Hague, formed in 1976, who enjoyed some measure of international success in the late 1970s and 1980s...
, and she also appeared in Malcolm McLaren
Malcolm McLaren
Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren was an English performer, impresario, self-publicist and manager of the Sex Pistols and the New York Dolls...
's Sex Pistols film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle
The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle
The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle is a mockumentary film directed by Julien Temple and produced by Don Boyd and Jeremy Thomas about the British punk rock band Sex Pistols....
.
In 1981, she issued the album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
Rhythm Breaks the Ice, which featured songs she had written herself, but also classics like "Shoorah, Shoorah" as well as new interpretations of songs by Deaf School. Her backing band on this album - still called The Illuminations - had a similar line-up to Clive Langer & the Boxes
Clive Langer
Clive Langer is a British record producer active from the mid 1970s onwards. He usually works with Alan Winstanley. He composed the music for the films Still Crazy and Brothers of the Head. Prior to his record producing career he was a guitarist with the British cult band Deaf SchoolLanger...
: Clive Langer (guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
/sitar
Sitar
The 'Tablaman' is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages...
), Ian Broudie
Ian Broudie
Ian Broudie is a British singer-songwriter, musician and record producer from Liverpool, England. After emerging from the post punk scene in Liverpool in the late 1970s as a member of Big in Japan, Broudie went on to form the short-lived groups Original Mirrors and Care in the early 1980s as well...
(guitar), James Eller (bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
); Jo Allen and Martin Hughes (drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s); and Ben Barson, brother
Sibling
Siblings are people who share at least one parent. A male sibling is called a brother; and a female sibling is called a sister. In most societies throughout the world, siblings usually grow up together and spend a good deal of their childhood socializing with one another...
of Madness
Madness (band)
In 1979, the band recorded the Lee Thompson composition "The Prince". The song, like the band's name, paid homage to their idol, Prince Buster. The song was released through 2 Tone Records, the label of The Specials founder Jerry Dammers. The song was a surprise hit, peaking in the UK music charts...
keyboardist
Keyboardist
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...
Mike Barson
Mike Barson
Michael "Mike" Barson is a British musician, best known as a founding member and keyboardist of the second wave ska band, Madness.-Biography:...
(keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
). The album was produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
by Clanger/Winstanley
Clive Langer
Clive Langer is a British record producer active from the mid 1970s onwards. He usually works with Alan Winstanley. He composed the music for the films Still Crazy and Brothers of the Head. Prior to his record producing career he was a guitarist with the British cult band Deaf SchoolLanger...
.
Working with Barson, Langer and Alan Winstanley
Alan Winstanley
Alan Kenneth Winstanley is a British record producer active from the mid-1970s onwards. He usually works with Clive Langer.-Notable studio albums produced by Alan Winstanley and Clive Langer:* One Step Beyond... – Madness...
, Bright got to know Madness, and she and Madness singer Suggs
Suggs (singer)
Graham McPherson , better known as Suggs, is an English singer, actor, former radio DJ, TV personality, and most famous as the frontman of the band Madness.-Early life:...
, fell in love. They married
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
in 1982, and she retired to private life. She did appear, however, in 1984 in a video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
to accompany Madness' "One Better Day
One Better Day
"One Better Day" is a song by British band Madness from their 1984 album Keep Moving. The song was written by Graham McPherson and Mark Bedford. The song was released as a single in the UK, and spent 7 weeks in British charts peaking at number 18....
" single, playing the part of a homeless person
Homelessness
Homelessness describes the condition of people without a regular dwelling. People who are homeless are unable or unwilling to acquire and maintain regular, safe, and adequate housing, or lack "fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence." The legal definition of "homeless" varies from country...
. In 1988, she joined her fellow Deaf School members for a reunion and a live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
.
In 1992 she provided a spoken human voice
Human voice
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, etc. Its frequency ranges from about 60 to 7000 Hz. The human voice is specifically that part of human sound production in which the vocal folds are the primary...
overlay to "Walk You Home", a track on Tim Finn
Tim Finn
Brian Timothy "Tim" Finn, OBE is a New Zealand singer and musician. Finn is most known for his music with New Zealand 1970s and 1980s rock group Split Enz, and later for his solo work, a temporary membership in his brother Neil's band Crowded House and his joint efforts with Neil Finn as the Finn...
's fourth album, Before & After. In recent years, she has joined the reformed Deaf School for one off gigs
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
, In December 2007 at The O2
The O2 (London)
The O2, visually typeset in branding as The O2, is a large entertainment district on the Greenwich peninsula in South East London, England, including an indoor arena, a music club, a Cineworld cinema, an exhibition space, piazzas, bars and restaurants...
venue Indigo2 for Madness' aftershow party, the band were joined on stage by her daughters, who sang backing vocals
Backing vocalist
A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
. She also sang with her husband, Suggs. Bright reunited with Deaf school once again in December 2009 for a selection of UK dates in London and Liverpool, including a date at the 100 Club
100 Club
The 100 Club is a music venue in London situated at 100 Oxford Street, W1, originally called The Feldman Swing Club.The 100 Club attained legendary status in modern British music, having played host to live music since 24 October 1942....
.