Carole Pope
Encyclopedia
Carole Pope is a Canadian
rock
singer-songwriter
, whose provocative blend of hard-edged New Wave
rock with explicit homoerotic and BDSM
-themed lyrics made her one of the first openly lesbian
famous entertainers in the world. She is the sister of Emmy Award
-winning television producer and screenwriter Elaine Pope
.
Pope was raised in Scarborough, Ontario
, where she met her longtime musical partner, Kevan Staples at an audition for another band. In 1968, they began performing together as a duo in Yorkville
, which was Toronto's live music and arts district at the time. In 1970, they adopted the name O, changing it to The Bullwhip Brothers the following year.
In 1975, they added several other musicians to the lineup and changed the band's name to Rough Trade
. Pope often performed in black leather
pants and bondage attire.
She won the Juno Award
for Most Promising Female Vocalist in 1981, and subsequently won the Juno Award for Best Female Vocalist in 1982 and 1983. She and Staples co-wrote the 1983 single "Transformation," recorded by Nona Hendryx
. Pope also appeared as a guest vocalist on the Payola$ single "Never Said I Loved You," which was a top ten hit in 1983. She teamed up in 2000 with the Payola$ founder, Paul Hyde, to sing the duet "My Brilliant Career" on his album "Living Off the Radar".
During the 1980s Rough Trade won a Genie Award
, and earned four gold and two platinum records.
Although the band did not record or perform extensively after its final Deep Six in '86 tour, they did not officially break up until 1988. Three years later Pope moved to Los Angeles
to pursue film and television soundtrack work. Although she has recorded and toured to promote several solo albums, and has played reunion shows with Rough Trade, her solo career has been lower-profile than her time with the band.
In 1997, Pope did the voice for the schoolteacher in the animated version of Pippi Longstocking
.
In 2000, Random House
published Pope's autobiography, Anti-Diva. The book was Pope's first public acknowledgement that she had been in a relationship with British singer Dusty Springfield
in the early 1980s. Pope also claimed to have had a brief romance with Andrea Martin
of SCTV
fame.
Soon afterward, Pope re-recorded the Rough Trade single "High School Confidential" for the Queer as Folk
(Season 1) soundtrack. She also appeared in the Toronto production of The Vagina Monologues
in 2001, then moved to New York City
to continue writing and recording.
In 2005, after returning to Los Angeles, Pope released a full-length solo album, Transcend. Six years later, in 2011, she released her second full-length album, Landfall, featuring a duet with Rufus Wainwright
.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
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-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
, whose provocative blend of hard-edged New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
rock with explicit homoerotic and BDSM
BDSM
BDSM is an erotic preference and a form of sexual expression involving the consensual use of restraint, intense sensory stimulation, and fantasy power role-play. The compound acronym BDSM is derived from the terms bondage and discipline , dominance and submission , and sadism and masochism...
-themed lyrics made her one of the first openly lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
famous entertainers in the world. She is the sister of Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
-winning television producer and screenwriter Elaine Pope
Elaine Pope
Elaine Pope is a writer and film producer. She began her career writing TV specials for Lily Tomlin and the HBO series Not Necessarily the News. She won an Emmy Award for co-writing the episode "The Fix-Up" of the TV series Seinfeld and was the producer and co-writer for the 2004 remake of Alfie...
.
Pope was raised in Scarborough, Ontario
Scarborough, Ontario
Scarborough is a dissolved municipality within the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Geographically, it comprises the eastern part of Toronto. It is bordered on the south by Lake Ontario, on the west by Victoria Park Avenue, on the north by Steeles Avenue East, and on the east by the Rouge River...
, where she met her longtime musical partner, Kevan Staples at an audition for another band. In 1968, they began performing together as a duo in Yorkville
Yorkville, Toronto
Yorkville is a district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, well known for its shopping. It is a former village, annexed by the City of Toronto. It is roughly bounded by Bloor Street to the south, Davenport Road to the north, Yonge Street to the east and Avenue Road to the west, and is considered part of...
, which was Toronto's live music and arts district at the time. In 1970, they adopted the name O, changing it to The Bullwhip Brothers the following year.
In 1975, they added several other musicians to the lineup and changed the band's name to Rough Trade
Rough Trade (band)
Rough Trade was a Canadian new wave rock band in the 1970s and 1980s, centred on singer Carole Pope and multi-instrumentalist Kevan Staples. The band was noted for their provocative lyrics and stage antics; singer Pope often performed in bondage attire, and their 1981 hit "High School...
. Pope often performed in black leather
Leather
Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...
pants and bondage attire.
She won the Juno Award
Juno Award
The Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...
for Most Promising Female Vocalist in 1981, and subsequently won the Juno Award for Best Female Vocalist in 1982 and 1983. She and Staples co-wrote the 1983 single "Transformation," recorded by Nona Hendryx
Nona Hendryx
Nona Hendryx is an American vocalist, producer, songwriter, musician, author, and actress.Hendryx is known for her work as a solo artist as well as for being one-third of the trio Labelle, who had a hit with "Lady Marmalade." Her music has ranged from soul, funk, dance, and R&B to hard rock, art...
. Pope also appeared as a guest vocalist on the Payola$ single "Never Said I Loved You," which was a top ten hit in 1983. She teamed up in 2000 with the Payola$ founder, Paul Hyde, to sing the duet "My Brilliant Career" on his album "Living Off the Radar".
During the 1980s Rough Trade won a Genie Award
Genie Award
Genie Awards are given out to recognize the best of Canadian cinema by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. From 1949-1979, the awards were named the Canadian Film Awards...
, and earned four gold and two platinum records.
Although the band did not record or perform extensively after its final Deep Six in '86 tour, they did not officially break up until 1988. Three years later Pope moved to Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
to pursue film and television soundtrack work. Although she has recorded and toured to promote several solo albums, and has played reunion shows with Rough Trade, her solo career has been lower-profile than her time with the band.
In 1997, Pope did the voice for the schoolteacher in the animated version of Pippi Longstocking
Pippi Longstocking (1997 film)
Pippi Longstocking is a 1997 animated musical film from AB Svensk Filmindustri and Nelvana, based on the eponymous children's books by Astrid Lindgren. It was distributed theatrically by Legacy Releasing and on DVD by Warner Bros., and was served as a pilot of a spin-off television series on HBO in...
.
In 2000, Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
published Pope's autobiography, Anti-Diva. The book was Pope's first public acknowledgement that she had been in a relationship with British singer Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...
in the early 1980s. Pope also claimed to have had a brief romance with Andrea Martin
Andrea Martin
Andrea Louise Martin is an American and Canadian actress and comedienne. She has appeared in films such as My Big Fat Greek Wedding, on stage in productions such as My Favorite Year, Fiddler on the Roof and Candide, and in the television series, SCTV.-Personal life:Martin, the oldest of three...
of SCTV
Second City Television
Second City Television is a Canadian television sketch comedy show offshoot from Toronto's The Second City troupe that ran between 1976 and 1984.- Premise :...
fame.
Soon afterward, Pope re-recorded the Rough Trade single "High School Confidential" for the Queer as Folk
Queer as Folk (US TV series)
Queer as Folk is an American and Canadian television series co-production, produced by Showtime and Temple Street Productions, which was based on the British series of the same name, created by Russell T Davies...
(Season 1) soundtrack. She also appeared in the Toronto production of The Vagina Monologues
The Vagina Monologues
The Vagina Monologues is an episodic play written by Eve Ensler which ran at the Off Broadway Westside Theatre after a limited run at AFRICA in 1996. Ensler originally starred in the production which was produced by David Stone, Nina Essman, Dan Markley, The Araca Group, Willa Shalit, Mike Skipper...
in 2001, then moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to continue writing and recording.
In 2005, after returning to Los Angeles, Pope released a full-length solo album, Transcend. Six years later, in 2011, she released her second full-length album, Landfall, featuring a duet with Rufus Wainwright
Rufus Wainwright
Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter. He has recorded six albums of original music, EPs, and tracks on compilations and film soundtracks.-Early years:...
.
Singles
- Nothing But A Heartache/I'm Not Blind 1988
- Johnny Marr 2007
- Shining Path/Tell Me 2010
- Viral 01/Viral 02 2011