Kate St John
Encyclopedia
Katharine Elinor Margaret St John (born 2 October 1957, London
) is an English
musician
, vocalist, composer
, record producer
, and arranger
. She plays the oboe
, saxophone
, accordion
, piano
and cor anglais
.
and Nicky Holland. The band released no records, and St John left in 1982. In the mid-1980s, she was a part of The Dream Academy
, with Nick Laird-Clowes
and Gilbert Gabriel
. The Dream Academy's biggest success was its 1985 song "Life in a Northern Town
", a tribute to 1970s solo artist Nick Drake
. The band, after being unable to keep its standings in the charts, broke up in 1991. During her time with The Dream Academy, St John also worked with Tears for Fears
, Steve Nieve
and recorded with Julian Cope
and Kirsty MacColl
.
, Nigel Kennedy
, Joe Boyd
, Jools Holland
and Egberto Gismonti
. In 1992, she made The Familiar, a collaborative album with Roger Eno
. Also that year, Eno and St John, along with Bill Nelson
, Laraaji
and Mayumi Tachibana, created the supergroup
Channel Light Vessel, which released two albums.
She has worked with her old Dream Academy colleagues at various times, including Nick Laird-Clowes
on a track for The Invisible Circus
soundtrack, and Gilbert Gabriel
on the unreleased album Angels and Fools by The Believers; and on the track "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want", a cover of the song by The Smiths
.
St John performed on the soundtrack of the Noel Coward play - based movie Easy Virtue, in 2009.
St John played piano, accordion, and cor anglais on the 2011 album Tim Robbins
& The Rogues Gallery Band.
St John has released two solo albums with All Saints Records
: Indescribable Night (1995) and Second Sight (1997).
with Boris Grebenshchikov
and HaLo
. She has also produced music for the comedian
Harry Enfield
for his early sketch shows Harry Enfield's Television Programme
and Harry Enfield and Chums.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
) is an English
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...
musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, vocalist, composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, record producer
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...
, and arranger
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
. She plays the oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
, 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...
, accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
, piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and cor anglais
Cor anglais
The cor anglais , or English horn , is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family....
.
1980s
Kate began her career in the Ravishing Beauties, an early 1980s group with Virginia AstleyVirginia Astley
Virginia Astley is an English singer-songwriter most active during the 1980s and 1990s. From the start of her songwriting career in 1980, Astley took her inspiration from many sources. Her classical training influenced her as did a desire to be experimental with her music...
and Nicky Holland. The band released no records, and St John left in 1982. In the mid-1980s, she was a part of The Dream Academy
The Dream Academy
The Dream Academy was a folk rock band from England, comprising singer/guitarist Nick Laird-Clowes; multi-instrumentalist Kate St John; plus keyboardist Gilbert Gabriel. They are most noted for their hit single, "Life in a Northern Town".-History:Laird-Clowes and Gabriel met each other in the late...
, with Nick Laird-Clowes
Nick Laird-Clowes
Nick Laird-Clowes is a musician, most famous for his membership as the lead singer and one of the principal songwriters for the band called The Dream Academy...
and Gilbert Gabriel
Gilbert Gabriel
Gilbert Alexander Gabriel is an African-English multi-instrumental musician and lyricist. He was a member of the English folk rock trio, The Dream Academy, which had three albums and a worldwide hit in 1985, called "Life in a Northern Town", which he helped co-write.He has also recorded a solo...
. The Dream Academy's biggest success was its 1985 song "Life in a Northern Town
Life in a Northern Town
"Life in a Northern Town" is a pop song by The Dream Academy, an English dream pop group. The song is the first single from their 1985 self-titled debut, The Dream Academy. Reaching #7 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in February 1986, it is also their highest-peaking chart single in the US...
", a tribute to 1970s solo artist Nick Drake
Nick Drake
Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...
. The band, after being unable to keep its standings in the charts, broke up in 1991. During her time with The Dream Academy, St John also worked with Tears for Fears
Tears for Fears
Tears for Fears are an English new wave band formed in the early 1980s by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith.Founded after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate, they were initially associated with the New Wave synthesiser bands of the early 1980s but later branched out into...
, Steve Nieve
Steve Nieve
Steve Nieve is an English keyboardist, best known for his work with Elvis Costello and the Attractions and Elvis Costello and the Imposters.-Musical career:...
and recorded with Julian Cope
Julian Cope
Julian Cope is a British rock musician, author, antiquary, musicologist, poet and cultural commentator...
and Kirsty MacColl
Kirsty MacColl
Kirsty Anna MacColl was an English singer-songwriter.MacColl scored several pop hits from the early 1980s to the early 1990s...
.
1990s-2000s
During the nineties, St John worked with Van MorrisonVan Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
, Nigel Kennedy
Nigel Kennedy
Nigel Kennedy is a British born violinist and violist. He made his early career in the classical field, and he has performed and recorded most of the major violin concerti...
, Joe Boyd
Joe Boyd
Joe Boyd is an American record producer and former owner of the Witchseason production company. Boyd was instrumental in launching the careers of Nick Drake, Fairport Convention, and The Incredible String Band.-Career:...
, Jools Holland
Jools Holland
Julian Miles "Jools" Holland OBE, DL is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer, and television presenter. He was a founder of the band Squeeze and his work has involved him with many artists including Sting, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, The Who, David Gilmour and Bono.Holland is a...
and Egberto Gismonti
Egberto Gismonti
Egberto Gismonti Amin is a Brazilian composer, guitarist and pianist.Gismonti began his formal music studies at the age of six on piano. After studying classical music for 15 years, he went to Paris to study orchestration and analysis with Nadia Boulanger and the composer Jean Barraqué, a disciple...
. In 1992, she made The Familiar, a collaborative album with Roger Eno
Roger Eno
Roger Eugene Eno was born in Woodbridge, England in 1959. He is known primarily as an ambient composer.He began euphonium lessons at twelve and at sixteen entered Colchester College to study music...
. Also that year, Eno and St John, along with Bill Nelson
Bill Nelson (musician)
Bill Nelson is an English guitarist, songwriter, producer, painter and experimental musician...
, Laraaji
Laraaji
Laraaji is an American musician. Born Edward Larry Gordon in Philadelphia, he studied violin, piano, trombone and voice in his early years in New Jersey. He attended Howard University, a historically black university in Washington, D.C. on a scholarship to study composition and piano...
and Mayumi Tachibana, created the supergroup
Supergroup (music)
In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups"....
Channel Light Vessel, which released two albums.
She has worked with her old Dream Academy colleagues at various times, including Nick Laird-Clowes
Nick Laird-Clowes
Nick Laird-Clowes is a musician, most famous for his membership as the lead singer and one of the principal songwriters for the band called The Dream Academy...
on a track for The Invisible Circus
The Invisible Circus (film)
The Invisible Circus is a 2001 drama film, directed by Adam Brooks, and starring Cameron Diaz, Jordana Brewster, Christopher Eccleston and Blythe Danner. It is based on Jennifer Egan's best-selling novel.-Storyline:...
soundtrack, and Gilbert Gabriel
Gilbert Gabriel
Gilbert Alexander Gabriel is an African-English multi-instrumental musician and lyricist. He was a member of the English folk rock trio, The Dream Academy, which had three albums and a worldwide hit in 1985, called "Life in a Northern Town", which he helped co-write.He has also recorded a solo...
on the unreleased album Angels and Fools by The Believers; and on the track "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want", a cover of the song by The Smiths
The Smiths
The Smiths were an English alternative rock band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the song writing partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr , the band also included Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce...
.
St John performed on the soundtrack of the Noel Coward play - based movie Easy Virtue, in 2009.
St John played piano, accordion, and cor anglais on the 2011 album Tim Robbins
Tim Robbins
Timothy Francis "Tim" Robbins is an American actor, screenwriter, director, producer, activist and musician. He is the former longtime partner of actress Susan Sarandon...
& The Rogues Gallery Band.
St John has released two solo albums with All Saints Records
All Saints Records
All Saints Records is a British independent record label. It was established in 1991 by Dominic Norman-Taylor. They have published Ambient music from the likes of Brian Eno or Biosphere.-History:...
: Indescribable Night (1995) and Second Sight (1997).
Production and arrangement
St John has done work for various artists, including AquariumAquarium (group)
Aquarium or Akvarium is a Russian rock group, formed in Leningrad in 1972 by Boris Grebenshchikov, then a student of Applied Mathematics at Leningrad State University, and Anatoly Gunitsky, then a playwright and absurdist poet.-History:...
with Boris Grebenshchikov
Boris Grebenshchikov
Boris Borisovich Grebenshchikov also known as Boris Purushottama Grebenshikov, is one of the most prominent members of the generation which is widely considered the "founding fathers" of Russian rock music...
and HaLo
HaLo
HaLo is a Japanese pop musician. Hirakata can be heard on Lori Carson's The Finest Thing. Hirakata has also worked with Kate St John and Sid Griffin, and has a separate recording career in Japan.-References:...
. She has also produced music for the comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
Harry Enfield
Harry Enfield
Henry Richard "Harry" Enfield is a BAFTA-winning English comedian, actor, writer and director.-Early life:...
for his early sketch shows Harry Enfield's Television Programme
Harry Enfield's Television Programme
Harry Enfield's Television Programme was a British sketch show starring Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse...
and Harry Enfield and Chums.
External links
- [ Kate St. John @ Allmusic]