Helen Terry
Encyclopedia
Helen Terry is a British
singer, known for her backing vocal
work with Culture Club
. As a solo performer, she scored a Top 40 hit single
in 1984 with "Love Lies Lost", and released one album
in 1986, Blue Notes.
She then pursued a career in film and television production, most prominently behind the scenes as a producer and executive producer for the TV broadcast of the BRIT Awards
since 2001.
's debut album, Kissing to Be Clever
, after lead singer Boy George
met her at a London club. Her soulful vocals
became a key element of the Culture Club sound on the group's debut album and its follow-up, Colour By Numbers
. She is featured in several of the band's videos, including "Time (Clock of the Heart)", "Church of the Poison Mind
" and "Victims", and often appeared on television with them.
Her solo career began in 1984 on Culture Club's label Virgin
with the single "Love Lies Lost" (which she wrote in collaboration with group members Boy George and Roy Hay). The single went to #34 in the UK, reached the same position in Australia, and was a #28 hit in Ireland. That year she also co-wrote and recorded "Now You're Mine" with producer Giorgio Moroder
for the soundtrack to the film
, Electric Dreams, and released the single "Stuttering".
In 1985 she guested on Phil Collins
', No Jacket Required
, and sang the song "Take That Look Off Your Face
" for the tribute album Performance: The Very Best of Tim Rice
& Andrew Lloyd Webber
. The soundtrack to the film Quicksilver
featured her duet with Ray Parker, Jr.
, on the song "One Sunny Day".
Terry's album Blue Notes was released in 1986 and produced by Don Was
. It spawned three singles, "Stuttering", "Act of Mercy" and "Come On and Find Me".
Her involvement with Culture Club was minimal after 1985, although she made a guest appearance during Boy George's 1987 UK solo tour.
In 1989, after signing to Parlophone, she released an EP, Fortunate Fool, featuring three new songs. Two of these, "Fortunate Fool" and "Lessons in Loneliness," were also released as singles, but differences with her record company led to a deadlock over plans for an album and she abandoned the contract.
Blue Notes has been re-released as a remastered limited edition CD
with bonus tracks in 2009.
She was featured on a track on the last Scissor Sisters
album. Helen Terry contributed some backing vocals to the track "Whole New World".
TV broadcast since 2001, becoming the executive producer in 2005. The 2008 broadcast
attracted 6.1 million viewers.
Tracklisting
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
singer, known for her backing vocal
Backing vocalist
A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
work with Culture Club
Culture Club
Culture Club are a British rock band who were part of the 1980s New Romantic movement. The original band consisted of Boy George , Mikey Craig , Roy Hay and Jon Moss...
. As a solo performer, she scored a Top 40 hit single
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...
in 1984 with "Love Lies Lost", and released one 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...
in 1986, Blue Notes.
She then pursued a career in film and television production, most prominently behind the scenes as a producer and executive producer for the TV broadcast of the BRIT Awards
Brit Awards
The Brit Awards are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain" or "Britannia", but subsequently became a backronym for British Record Industry Trust...
since 2001.
Recording career
Terry was asked to perform on Culture ClubCulture Club
Culture Club are a British rock band who were part of the 1980s New Romantic movement. The original band consisted of Boy George , Mikey Craig , Roy Hay and Jon Moss...
's debut album, Kissing to Be Clever
Kissing to Be Clever
Kissing to Be Clever is the debut album by new wave soul band Culture Club, released in 1982.-Overview:The album was anchored by the international hit "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me". The album's first two singles were "White Boy" , and "I'm Afraid of Me"...
, after lead singer Boy George
Boy George
Boy George is a British singer-songwriter who was part of the English New Romantic movement which emerged in the early 1980s. He helped give androgyny an international stage with the success of Culture Club during the 1980s. His music is often classified as blue-eyed soul, which is influenced by...
met her at a London club. Her soulful vocals
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...
became a key element of the Culture Club sound on the group's debut album and its follow-up, Colour By Numbers
Colour by Numbers
Colour by Numbers is the second album by New Wave band Culture Club, released in 1983.-Overview:The album features several international hits such as "Church of the Poison Mind" and the worldwide hit "Karma Chameleon" which had sales of over one million in the United Kingdom alone...
. She is featured in several of the band's videos, including "Time (Clock of the Heart)", "Church of the Poison Mind
Church of the Poison Mind
"Church of the Poison Mind" is a 1983 hit single for Culture Club. It was the first single to be released from their second album Colour by Numbers....
" and "Victims", and often appeared on television with them.
Her solo career began in 1984 on Culture Club's label Virgin
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
with the single "Love Lies Lost" (which she wrote in collaboration with group members Boy George and Roy Hay). The single went to #34 in the UK, reached the same position in Australia, and was a #28 hit in Ireland. That year she also co-wrote and recorded "Now You're Mine" with producer Giorgio Moroder
Giorgio Moroder
Hansjörg "Giorgio" Moroder is an Italian record producer, songwriter and performer based in Los Angeles. When in Munich in the 1970s, he started his own record label called Oasis Records, which several years later became a subdivision of Casablanca Records...
for the soundtrack to the 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...
, Electric Dreams, and released the single "Stuttering".
In 1985 she guested on Phil Collins
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
', No Jacket Required
No Jacket Required
The album is named after an incident at The Pump Room restaurant in Chicago, Illinois. Collins , was denied admittance because he did not meet the restaurant's dress code of "jacket required" for dinner, while Plant was allowed in. Collins was wearing a jacket, and argued about it. The Maître d'...
, and sang the song "Take That Look Off Your Face
Take That Look Off Your Face
"Take That Look Off Your Face" is the title of a hit song by musical theatre composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. Collaborating with lyricist Don Black, it was written for the song cycle show Tell Me on a Sunday in 1978. It was sung and released by Marti Webb in 1980, and became a No.3 hit in the UK charts...
" for the tribute album Performance: The Very Best of Tim Rice
Tim Rice
Sir Timothy Miles Bindon "Tim" Rice is an British lyricist and author.An Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, Rice is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus...
& Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
. The soundtrack to the film Quicksilver
Quicksilver (film)
Quicksilver is a 1986 feature film starring Kevin Bacon. Written and directed by Thomas Michael Donnelly, the film also includes Jami Gertz, Paul Rodriguez, Louie Anderson, Laurence Fishburne, and Rudy Ramos.-Plot:...
featured her duet with Ray Parker, Jr.
Ray Parker, Jr.
Ray Erskine Parker, Jr. , is an American guitarist, songwriter, producer and recording artist. Parker is known for writing and performing the theme song to the motion picture Ghostbusters, for his solo hits, and performing with his band Raydio as well as the late Barry White.-Early life and...
, on the song "One Sunny Day".
Terry's album Blue Notes was released in 1986 and produced by Don Was
Don Was
Don Was is an American musician, bassist and record producer.-Life and career:Was was born in Detroit, Michigan. He graduated from Oak Park High School in the Detroit suburb of Oak Park, then attended the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor but dropped out after the first year...
. It spawned three singles, "Stuttering", "Act of Mercy" and "Come On and Find Me".
Her involvement with Culture Club was minimal after 1985, although she made a guest appearance during Boy George's 1987 UK solo tour.
In 1989, after signing to Parlophone, she released an EP, Fortunate Fool, featuring three new songs. Two of these, "Fortunate Fool" and "Lessons in Loneliness," were also released as singles, but differences with her record company led to a deadlock over plans for an album and she abandoned the contract.
Blue Notes has been re-released as a remastered limited edition CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
with bonus tracks in 2009.
She was featured on a track on the last Scissor Sisters
Scissor Sisters
Scissor Sisters are an American band "spawned by the scuzzy, gay nightlife scene of New York" who took their name from a sexual position between two women also known as tribadism...
album. Helen Terry contributed some backing vocals to the track "Whole New World".
Media production career
After she stopped singing professionally, Helen Terry moved into film and television production, beginning as a children's TV researcher in 1990. She has worked as a producer for the BRIT AwardsBrit Awards
The Brit Awards are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain" or "Britannia", but subsequently became a backronym for British Record Industry Trust...
TV broadcast since 2001, becoming the executive producer in 2005. The 2008 broadcast
2008 BRIT Awards
The 2008 BRIT Awards was the 28th edition of the biggest annual music awards in the United Kingdom. They are run by the British Phonographic Industry and took place on 20 February 2008 at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London. The ceremony attracted 6.1 million viewers, 800,000 more than the...
attracted 6.1 million viewers.
Singles
| Single | Year | Label | 7" B-side | Additional tracks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Love Lies Lost" | 1984 | Virgin | "Laughter On My Mind (live)" | "Love Lies Lost (extended version)" (on 12") |
| "Now You're Mine" | 1984 | Virgin | "Now You're Mine (instrumental)" | "Now You're Mine (extended)" (on 12") |
| "Stuttering" | 1984 | Virgin | "Stuttering (dub mix)" | "Stuttering (club mix)" (on 12") |
| "Act of Mercy" | 1986 | Virgin | "Over The Border" | "Love Money And Sex" (on 12") |
| "Come On and Find Me" | 1986 | Virgin | "Reach Out" | "Come On And Find Me (Alternative Mix)", "The River" (on 12") |
| "Lessons in Loneliness" | 1989 | Parlophone | "Lessons In Loneliness (radio version)" | "Lessons In Loneliness (lessons learned)", "Lessons In Loneliness (Olympic version)", "Fortunate Fool (radio version)" (on CD single) |
| "Fortunate Fool" | 1989 | Parlophone | "Heart Of A Woman" | "Lessons In Loneliness", "Fortunate Fool (extended version)" (on EP) |
Album
- Blue Notes (1986)
Tracklisting
- "Act of Mercy" (Lamont DozierLamont DozierLamont Herbert Dozier is an American songwriter and record producer, born in Detroit, Michigan. Dozier has either co-written or produced several US Billboard #1 hits.-Career:...
) - "Come On and Find Me" (Helen Terry/Boy George O'Dowd/Roy Hay)
- "Love Money and Sex" (Terry/Willis)
- "Right In Front Of You" (Helen Terry/Raymond Jones)
- "Forbidden Fruit" (Phil Pickett/Robertson)
- "All Night Makes It Right" (Raymond Jones)
- "The Perfect Kiss" (Terry/Dudley)
- "Feelin' Your Heart" (Helen Terry/Boy George O'Dowd/Roy Hay)
- "Close Watch" (John CaleJohn CaleJohn Davies Cale, OBE is a Welsh musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground....
) - "Stuttering" (Terry/Matkosky/Prestopino)
- "The River" (Dudley/Bell) (on tape and CD only)