The Singing Kettle
Encyclopedia
The Singing Kettle is a folk music
group who are well known for performing traditional children's songs
with a distinctly Scottish
flair.
The idea came of turning "The Singing Kettle" album into a show, as they were unimpressed by other, few, children's theatre shows at the time. The show toured to primary schools, with the idea of clues for songs found inside kettles, and for this they recruited their friend, musician Gary Coupland. The touring show eventually developed into a more plot-led piece of musical theatre and they began performing in large scale theatres across the country. Over the years the Singing Kettle have presented their own specially written shows including The Boogie Woogie Zoo, The Time Machine, Pirates, Wild West Show, Busy Road Show, World Tour, Funny Farm, and Homemade Band.
During some point in the show, there is show within a show
called Willie and his Maw whereby Artie would dress up as schoolboy Willie and Cilla would be his Maw (Scottish dialect for 'mother'). Songs Willie and his Maw performed would be about everyday challenges, e.g. homework, sibling rivalry and baking a cake (then later eating it all).
They were joined for a time by Cilla and Artie's daughter, Jane, who left to be in the electro band Motormark
, replaced by Kevin McLeod – the former company stage manager. In 2003 Smithsonian Folkways Recordings released The Singing Kettle: Singalong Songs from Scotland
, the group's first recording to be widely distributed outside the United Kingdom.
Alongside being performers, The Singing Kettle sang the theme song to a Scottish TV series for children, cartoon programme Meeow!
, which ran from 2000–2002. Meeow!
was latterly shown on wknd@stv
in 2009.
Aside from their several albums of traditional children's music, The Singing Kettle has also released several DVDs and made five television series with BBC Scotland
. They also tour regularly throughout the United Kingdom, performing their highly successful stage show. They have performed command performance
s before both Prince Charles and Jordan
's royal family. The three founding members of The Singing Kettle (Cilla, Artie, and Gary) have each been honored with the MBE
. There is a Singing Kettle Shop in Kingskettle
.
at the age of 9. She started performing with Artie in 1974. She still occasionally sings solo in pubs and clubs for adults.
Her brother, Archie, and sister, Ray, both made a smash in the folk music industry when they were young.
In other work, he gives talks to American tourists and Danish school teachers about The Singing Kettle's work.
He joined the group for their "Jungle Party Tour" in 2002 and has been in the group ever since. Kevin also plays the character of Jock, Henry and Bonzo during the shows.
and is now in FANGS.
He joined "Cilla & Artie" for a Scottish tour thence starting The Singing Kettle.
Gary has been providing entertainment and music for a host of occasions such as weddings, family parties, schools, corporate events, tea dances, ceilidhs, themed nights and cabaret throughout the central area of Scotland for the past twenty five years.
Gary is well known as the singing kettle's own The Music Man – Gary Coupland and received an MBE in 1999.
He is also the patron of Down Syndrome Scotland.
He has composed and produced music for the BBC and ITV,appeared at events such as the Glasgow year of culture and the Edinburgh Festival, and has played on numerous CDs and DVDs.
His musical ability on Accordion, Keyboards and Trombone are second to none – The Glasgow Herald quotes Gary as being "as slick as brill cream".
Bonzo has become a favourite with The Singing Kettle's fans. He was made into a toy and it was a bestseller in the groups merchandise. A collection of Bonzo's appearances on the tours, along with special recordings was releaced on DVD in 2005.
Highlights of all of the series apart from "The Singing Kettle" were released on various videos.
"Sing all about it" was a follow up to the Singing Kettle News, following the same plotline of the group as roving reporters. However this series was fresher and more updated with a new set etc. compared to the previous series.
|-
! Year
! Title of Show
! Notes
|-
|1989
| "The Singing Kettle at Christmas"
|-
|rowspan="2"|1990
| "Down in the Jungle"
|-
| "Crackers at Christmas"
|-
|rowspan="2"| 1991
| "Street Party"
|-
|"Inspector Parrot and the Big Green Planet"
|-
|1992
| "Wild West Show"
|-
|rowspan="4"| 1993
| "The Boogie Woogie Zoo"
|-
| "World Tour"
|First Live Video in 1994
|-
| "Christmas Kettle Show"
|Exclusive to Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
|-
| "Christmas in Kettleland"
|Exclusive to Glasgow SECC
|-
|rowspan="3"| 1994
|align="centre"| "Down in the Jungle"
|-
| "Time Machine"
|-
| "Giant Christmas Present"
|-
|rowspan="2"| 1995
| "Pirates!"
| As Seen on Scottish Television
.
|-
| "Christmas Party"
| First appearance of Jane.
|-
|rowspan="3"| 1996
| "Wild West Show"
|-
| "Seaside Special"
|-
| "Christmas Wishes"
|-
|rowspan="3"| 1997
| "Party Time"
|-
| "Busy Road Show"
| As Seen on Border Television
.
|-
| "Jingle Bells"
|-
|rowspan="3"| 1998
| "The Big Band Show"
|-
| "World Tour"
|-
| "Santa's Musical Workshop"
|-
|rowspan="2"|1999
| "Funny Farm"
|-
| "Millennium Christmas Party"
|-
|rowspan="2"|2000
| "Homemade Band Show"
|First appearance of Bonzo.
|-
| "Pirates at Christmas"
|-
|rowspan="3"|2001
| "Pirates!"
|Remake (1995 show)
|-
| "Silly Circus"
|-
| "Winter Wonderland"
|Last appearance of Jane and first appearance of Kevin [Both appear on Winter Wonderland Cassette] Maw.
|-
|rowspan="2"|2002
| "Jungle Party"
|First filmed appearance of Kevin and Henry.
|-
| "Toytown"
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2003
| "Medieval Madness"
|First show released on DVD.
|-
| "Merry Christmas Show"
|Last Christmas show to be released on DVD or Video.
|-
|rowspan="2"|2004
| "Deep Sea Adventures"
|-
| "Santa's Big Surprise"
|-
|rowspan="2"|2005
| "Blast Off" (Last show to be released on Video)
|-
| "Christmas Magic"
|-
|rowspan="3"|2006
| "Magic Shop"
|-
| "Old MacDonald's Farm"
|-
| "Christmas Wonderland"
|-
|rowspan="2"|2007
| "Wild West Show"
|-
| "Party Time"
|-
|rowspan="2"|2008
| "Pirate Island"
|-
| "Christmas Toyshop"
|-
|rowspan="3"| 2009
| "Magical Toyshop"
|-
| "Boogie Woogie Zoo"
|First appearance of Jock and Jeremy
|-
| "Christmas Pyjama Party"
|-
|rowspan="5"| 2010
| "Pyjama Party"
|Last appearance of Willie and Henry.
|-
| "Calamity Castle
"
|-
| "Silly Songs"
|-
| "Pirate Party"
|Exclusive to Shetland and Orkney.
|-
| "Fun Factory
"
|-
|2011
|"The Funny Farm"
|Remake from 1999
|-
|farmyard party / pirate party
|-
|christmas fancy dress party
|-
|2012
|fancy dress party
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
group who are well known for performing traditional children's songs
Children's Songs
Children's Songs is an album by Jazz pianist Chick Corea, released in 1984.Children's Songs mainly consists of short songs with simple themes. There is little development in the pieces, which capture a variety of melodies and moods...
with a distinctly Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
flair.
Career
Husband and wife Cilla Fisher and Artie Trezise started touring as a folk singing duo in the mid 1970s. The group name "The Singing Kettle" came about in 1982. Their first venture under this title was a children's album, featuring everything from traditional Scottish rhymes to songs learned on their folk tour of the states. For certain tracks, real children were used, including their daughter Jane, creating the first set of "Kettle Kids".The idea came of turning "The Singing Kettle" album into a show, as they were unimpressed by other, few, children's theatre shows at the time. The show toured to primary schools, with the idea of clues for songs found inside kettles, and for this they recruited their friend, musician Gary Coupland. The touring show eventually developed into a more plot-led piece of musical theatre and they began performing in large scale theatres across the country. Over the years the Singing Kettle have presented their own specially written shows including The Boogie Woogie Zoo, The Time Machine, Pirates, Wild West Show, Busy Road Show, World Tour, Funny Farm, and Homemade Band.
During some point in the show, there is show within a show
Story within a story
A story within a story, also rendered story-within-a-story, is a literary device in which one narrative is presented during the action of another narrative. Mise en abyme is the French term for a similar literary device...
called Willie and his Maw whereby Artie would dress up as schoolboy Willie and Cilla would be his Maw (Scottish dialect for 'mother'). Songs Willie and his Maw performed would be about everyday challenges, e.g. homework, sibling rivalry and baking a cake (then later eating it all).
They were joined for a time by Cilla and Artie's daughter, Jane, who left to be in the electro band Motormark
Motormark
Motormark were a Scottish electronic punk band formed in 2001. In early 2007 Motormark split up and members Jane and Marko founded a new band with two new members called FANGS. The band consisted of Jane Fisher and Mark Law .-Biography:Jane was in folk singing group, The Singing Kettle, with her...
, replaced by Kevin McLeod – the former company stage manager. In 2003 Smithsonian Folkways Recordings released The Singing Kettle: Singalong Songs from Scotland
Singalong Songs from Scotland
The Singing Kettle: Singalong Songs From Scotland is a record containing 17 children’s songs. This is The Singing Kettle's first recording to be widely distributed outside the United Kingdom. The songs are performed by Cilla Fisher, Artie Trezise and Gary Coupland...
, the group's first recording to be widely distributed outside the United Kingdom.
Alongside being performers, The Singing Kettle sang the theme song to a Scottish TV series for children, cartoon programme Meeow!
Meeow!
Meeow! is an animated children's series based on the books by Aileen Paterson, produced in both English and Gaelic. Scottish Television in association with The Gaelic Committee, decided to make the book in to a cartoon series, with Siriol Animation doing the animation. Meeow was narrations by...
, which ran from 2000–2002. Meeow!
Meeow!
Meeow! is an animated children's series based on the books by Aileen Paterson, produced in both English and Gaelic. Scottish Television in association with The Gaelic Committee, decided to make the book in to a cartoon series, with Siriol Animation doing the animation. Meeow was narrations by...
was latterly shown on wknd@stv
Wknd@stv
wknd@stv is a short-lived children's programming strand on Scottish television channel, STV. The block aired on Saturdays and Sundays, usually starting at 9.25am . It began on Saturday 17 January 2009 with a three-hour edition...
in 2009.
Aside from their several albums of traditional children's music, The Singing Kettle has also released several DVDs and made five television series with BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland is a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It is, in effect, the national broadcaster for Scotland, having a considerable amount of autonomy from the BBC's London headquarters, and is run by the BBC Trust, who...
. They also tour regularly throughout the United Kingdom, performing their highly successful stage show. They have performed command performance
Command Performance
Command Performance is a radio program which originally aired between 1942 and 1949. The program was broadcast on the Armed Forces Radio Network with a direct shortwave transmission to the troops overseas. It was not broadcast over domestic U.S...
s before both Prince Charles and Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
's royal family. The three founding members of The Singing Kettle (Cilla, Artie, and Gary) have each been honored with the MBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
. There is a Singing Kettle Shop in Kingskettle
Kingskettle
Kingskettle is a small village in Fife, Scotland. It is situated in the Howe of Fife, around a mile south of Ladybank. It is home to The Singing Kettle shop. It has a bowling club that needs more members....
.
Cilla Fisher
Cilla Fisher MBE (born September 26, 1952) made her musical debut on BBC Radio ScotlandBBC Radio Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland is BBC Scotland's national English-language radio network. It broadcasts a wide variety of programming, including news, sport, light entertainment, music, the arts, comedy, drama, history and lifestyle...
at the age of 9. She started performing with Artie in 1974. She still occasionally sings solo in pubs and clubs for adults.
Her brother, Archie, and sister, Ray, both made a smash in the folk music industry when they were young.
Artie Trezise
Artie Trezise MBE (born April 3, 1947) left his teaching job to tour in pubs and clubs in Scotland as a folk singer. He started performing with Cilla in 1974.In other work, he gives talks to American tourists and Danish school teachers about The Singing Kettle's work.
Kevin Macleod
Kevin Macleod (born March 9, 1969) worked as The Singing Kettle's stage manager for years before joinging the group.He joined the group for their "Jungle Party Tour" in 2002 and has been in the group ever since. Kevin also plays the character of Jock, Henry and Bonzo during the shows.
Jane Fisher
Jane Fisher is daughter to Cilla and Artie. She had worked as a backing vocalist on some of The Singing Kettle's LP's and albums before joining the group as a front in 1994. She left the band after the "Winter Wonderland Tour" in 2002 to join MotormarkMotormark
Motormark were a Scottish electronic punk band formed in 2001. In early 2007 Motormark split up and members Jane and Marko founded a new band with two new members called FANGS. The band consisted of Jane Fisher and Mark Law .-Biography:Jane was in folk singing group, The Singing Kettle, with her...
and is now in FANGS.
Gary Coupland
Gary Coupland MBE (born March 27, 1964) is the musician for the group. He plays at social functions and weddings, and played for Prince Charles.He joined "Cilla & Artie" for a Scottish tour thence starting The Singing Kettle.
Gary has been providing entertainment and music for a host of occasions such as weddings, family parties, schools, corporate events, tea dances, ceilidhs, themed nights and cabaret throughout the central area of Scotland for the past twenty five years.
Gary is well known as the singing kettle's own The Music Man – Gary Coupland and received an MBE in 1999.
He is also the patron of Down Syndrome Scotland.
He has composed and produced music for the BBC and ITV,appeared at events such as the Glasgow year of culture and the Edinburgh Festival, and has played on numerous CDs and DVDs.
His musical ability on Accordion, Keyboards and Trombone are second to none – The Glasgow Herald quotes Gary as being "as slick as brill cream".
Willie, Henry and Maw
Willie and Maw (played by Artie Trezise and Cilla Fisher) started during the 90's in "cutaway" scenes from the group on their stage and TV shows. Willie and Maw were highlights of The Singing Kettle's tours until the 2002 line-up change, when Willie's "long lost brother" Henry (played by Kevin Macleod) and Maw was dropped from the shows. Willie and Henry haven't been seen since the "Christmas Pyjama Party Tour" in the 2009/10 Christmas season show.Bonzo
Bonzo the Dog (played by Kevin Macleod) is the "pet" of the group who first appeared in "The Homemade Band Show" as an angry next door neighbour. After the success of The Homemade Band Show and the interest in the character of Bonzo, he returned for "The Jungle Party" and has been in all the tours since.Bonzo has become a favourite with The Singing Kettle's fans. He was made into a toy and it was a bestseller in the groups merchandise. A collection of Bonzo's appearances on the tours, along with special recordings was releaced on DVD in 2005.
Jock and Jeremy
Jock and Jeremy (also played by Artie Trezise and Kevin Macleod) replaced Willie and Henry for the "Boogie Woogie Zoo" tour (and onwards) as two chefs.TV series
- The Singing Kettle (for BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
)* - The Singing Kettle's Adventures in Kettle Land (for BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
)* - The Singing Kettle News (for ITVITVITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
) - The Singing Kettle: Sing All About It (for ITVITVITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
) - The Singing Kettle (for ITVITVITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
)
Highlights of all of the series apart from "The Singing Kettle" were released on various videos.
"Sing all about it" was a follow up to the Singing Kettle News, following the same plotline of the group as roving reporters. However this series was fresher and more updated with a new set etc. compared to the previous series.
- *Only featured the original Band members, Cilla, Gary and Artie.
Live shows
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"|-
! Year
! Title of Show
! Notes
|-
|1989
| "The Singing Kettle at Christmas"
|-
|rowspan="2"|1990
| "Down in the Jungle"
|-
| "Crackers at Christmas"
|-
|rowspan="2"| 1991
| "Street Party"
|-
|"Inspector Parrot and the Big Green Planet"
|-
|1992
| "Wild West Show"
|-
|rowspan="4"| 1993
| "The Boogie Woogie Zoo"
|-
| "World Tour"
|First Live Video in 1994
|-
| "Christmas Kettle Show"
|Exclusive to Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall is an arts venue, in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is operated by Glasgow Life, an agency of Glasgow City Council, which also runs Glasgow’s City Halls and Old Fruitmarket venue...
|-
| "Christmas in Kettleland"
|Exclusive to Glasgow SECC
Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre
The Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre , located on the north bank of the River Clyde, in Glasgow, is Scotland's largest exhibition centre....
|-
|rowspan="3"| 1994
|align="centre"| "Down in the Jungle"
|-
| "Time Machine"
|-
| "Giant Christmas Present"
|-
|rowspan="2"| 1995
| "Pirates!"
| As Seen on Scottish Television
Scottish Television
Scottish Television is Scotland's largest ITV franchisee, and has held the ITV franchise for Central Scotland since 31 August 1957. It is the second oldest ITV franchisee still active...
.
|-
| "Christmas Party"
| First appearance of Jane.
|-
|rowspan="3"| 1996
| "Wild West Show"
|-
| "Seaside Special"
|-
| "Christmas Wishes"
|-
|rowspan="3"| 1997
| "Party Time"
|-
| "Busy Road Show"
| As Seen on Border Television
Border Television
Border Television is the ITV franchise holder for the Border region, spanning the England/Scotland border and covering Dumfries & Galloway region, a small part of the south-west area of Ayrshire, the Scottish Borders, parts of north and west Northumberland and the majority of Cumbria...
.
|-
| "Jingle Bells"
|-
|rowspan="3"| 1998
| "The Big Band Show"
|-
| "World Tour"
|-
| "Santa's Musical Workshop"
|-
|rowspan="2"|1999
| "Funny Farm"
|-
| "Millennium Christmas Party"
|-
|rowspan="2"|2000
| "Homemade Band Show"
|First appearance of Bonzo.
|-
| "Pirates at Christmas"
|-
|rowspan="3"|2001
| "Pirates!"
|Remake (1995 show)
|-
| "Silly Circus"
|-
| "Winter Wonderland"
|Last appearance of Jane and first appearance of Kevin [Both appear on Winter Wonderland Cassette] Maw.
|-
|rowspan="2"|2002
| "Jungle Party"
|First filmed appearance of Kevin and Henry.
|-
| "Toytown"
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2003
| "Medieval Madness"
|First show released on DVD.
|-
| "Merry Christmas Show"
|Last Christmas show to be released on DVD or Video.
|-
|rowspan="2"|2004
| "Deep Sea Adventures"
|-
| "Santa's Big Surprise"
|-
|rowspan="2"|2005
| "Blast Off" (Last show to be released on Video)
|-
| "Christmas Magic"
|-
|rowspan="3"|2006
| "Magic Shop"
|-
| "Old MacDonald's Farm"
|-
| "Christmas Wonderland"
|-
|rowspan="2"|2007
| "Wild West Show"
|-
| "Party Time"
|-
|rowspan="2"|2008
| "Pirate Island"
|-
| "Christmas Toyshop"
|-
|rowspan="3"| 2009
| "Magical Toyshop"
|-
| "Boogie Woogie Zoo"
|First appearance of Jock and Jeremy
|-
| "Christmas Pyjama Party"
|-
|rowspan="5"| 2010
| "Pyjama Party"
|Last appearance of Willie and Henry.
|-
| "Calamity Castle
Calamity Castle
Calamity Castle is the 2010 tour of the long-running children's and folk singing band, The Singing Kettle. Members at the show are Cilla Fisher, Artie Trezise, Kevin McLeod, and Gary Coupland.--86.163.166.110 12:24, 8 October 2011 -Characters:...
"
|-
| "Silly Songs"
|-
| "Pirate Party"
|Exclusive to Shetland and Orkney.
|-
| "Fun Factory
Fun Factory (The Singing Kettle Tour)
Fun Factory is the 2010/11 Christmas period tour for Scottish folk singing group, The Singing Kettle.-Cast:*Cilla Fisher*Artie Trezise*Kevin MacLeod*Gary Coupland*Bonzo *Jock...
"
|-
|2011
|"The Funny Farm"
|Remake from 1999
|-
|farmyard party / pirate party
|-
|christmas fancy dress party
|-
|2012
|fancy dress party