Sarah Cracknell

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Sarah Cracknell
Sarah Cracknell performing in December 2012
Sarah Cracknell performing in December 2012
Background information
Birth nameSarah Jane Cracknell
Born (1965-04-12) 12 April 1965 (age 58)[citation needed]
Chelmsford, Essex, England[1]
Genres
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter
Years active1987–present
Labels
WebsiteSaint Etienne website

Sarah Jane Cracknell[2] (born 12 April 1965) is an English singer-songwriter[3] and lead singer of the electronic music band Saint Etienne.

Career[edit]

Cracknell's career started with the Windsor-based indie band The Worried Parachutes in 1982.[4] Following the demise of the band she released two solo singles, "Love Is All You Need," and "Coastal Town" in 1987. With friend Mick Bund, she then formed a new band, Prime Time, who released a handful of singles.[4]

Cracknell was one-half of the duo Lovecut DB who released three singles between 1991-1992 including "Heart Spin," "Fingertips" b/w "Live To Breathe," and "Journey To The Centre Of Love."

Cracknell performing with Saint Etienne at Rise Festival in London, July 2007

Saint Etienne was originally to be an indie dance act featuring various vocalists. After Moira Lambert sang on their initial 1990 single "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" and Donna Savage was heard on the follow-up single "Kiss and Make Up", Cracknell lent her vocals to "Nothing Can Stop Us"[5] and ended up doing the rest of the singing on their debut album Foxbase Alpha. Cracknell has been Saint Etienne's permanent vocalist since then.

Preceded by the single "Anymore" in 1996, Cracknell released a solo album, Lipslide, in May 1997. Originally released in the UK only by Gut Records, the album featured dance, indie and pop tunes and received good reviews from critics, but was not a big seller (Cracknell has in interviews placed some of the blame on lack of proper promotion by Gut).

Lipslide finally surfaced in the U.S. three years later, when Instinct Records released it in February 2000. With completely different cover art, the original album's track listing was also modified: five tracks were removed and four new songs plus a remix were added. Months later, Instinct released the Kelly's Locker EP, which contained the five tracks originally removed from the UK version of Lipslide, along with two previously unreleased songs and a new remix.[6]

Cracknell was Spiller's first choice for the vocals of his number-one hit "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" in 2000,[citation needed] but she never got to record the song, which instead featured Sophie Ellis-Bextor. She has recorded tracks with various artists such as David Holmes ("Anymore", "Gone"), Xploding Plastix ("Sunset Spirals"), Cheapglue ("You've Just Won Me Over") and Paul Van Dyk ("The Riddle (Tell Me Why)," although billed as a collaboration between Van Dyk and St. Etienne but with Cracknell on vocals).

She recorded a duet of Dusty Springfield's 1968 song "I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten" with Marc Almond for his album Stardom Road, released in June 2007.

In December 2007, BBC radio began playing "The Journey Continues" by Mark Brown featuring Cracknell. The song consists of extensive samples from a composition by Elena Kats-Chernin entitled Eliza's Aria, well known to UK TV viewers as the music from the computer-animated 'For the Journey' commercials for Lloyds TSB bank. The single was released in February 2008 on Positiva. The song peaked at #11 in the UK after being released.

Cracknell has collaborated with French pop star Etienne Daho on several occasions. She co-wrote and sang back-up vocals on "Les passagers" from his 1996 album Eden, and also co-wrote "Le premier jour" which was released as a single from his greatest hits compilation Singles. With Saint Etienne, they collaborated on the Reserection EP. Saint Etienne's single "He's on the Phone" (which featured both Cracknell and Daho) was actually an English-language adaptation of Daho's French language 1984 single "Weekend à Rome".

On 21 August 2014, Cherry Red Records announced that it had signed Cracknell to a worldwide deal under which she would release a new solo album. The album, entitled Red Kite, was recorded in December 2014 and released on 15 June 2015. A series of live shows by Cracknell in support the album were planned for the weeks following its release.[7]

Personal life[edit]

Cracknell married Martin Kelly (joint managing director of Heavenly Recordings and Heavenly Films) in Kensington and Chelsea, London on 5 December 2004. They have two children, born in Westminster, London in 2001 and 2004.[8]

Cracknell is the daughter of Stanley Kubrick's first assistant director Derek Cracknell[citation needed] and actor and singer Julie Samuel (born 1944).[9]

Discography[edit]

Sarah Cracknell discography
Studio albums2
Compilation albums2
Singles10

The discography consists of two studio albums, two compilations, six solo singles and four singles as a featured artist.

Albums[edit]

Studio albums[edit]

Title Details Peak chart positions
UK
[10]
Lipslide
  • Released: May 1997, February 2000 (US)
  • Format: Digital download, CD
  • Label: Gut Records/Honey Lane, Virgin Records, Instinct (US)
Red Kite
  • Released: June 2015
  • Format: Digital download, CD, Vinyl
  • Label: Cherry Red Records
49
Kites
  • Released: July 2016
  • Format: 10' Vinyl
  • Label: Cherry Red Records
"—" denotes an album that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Compilation albums[edit]

Title Details
Kelly's Locker
  • Released: 12 September 2000
  • Format: Digital download, CD
  • Label: Instinct
Lipslide – Deluxe Edition
  • Released: 12 November 2012
  • Format: Digital download, CD
  • Label: Heavenly Records, Universal UMC

Singles[edit]

As lead singer[edit]

Year Title Peak chart positions Album
UK
[10]
1987 "Love Is All You Need" / "Coastal Town"
(7" single)
Non-album singles
"Coastal Town"
(12" single)
1996 "Anymore" 39 Lipslide
1997 "Goldie"
"Desert Baby"
2015 "Nothing Left To Talk About"
(featuring Nicky Wire)
Red Kite
2015 "Take the Silver" Red Kite
"—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

As featured artist[edit]

Year Title Peak chart positions Album
UK
[10]
1996 "Gone"
(David Holmes featuring Sarah Cracknell)
75 This Film's Crap Let's Slash the Seats
2003 "Sunset Spirals"
(Xploding Plastix featuring Sarah Cracknell)
The Donca Matic Singalongs
2007 "I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten"
(Marc Almond featuring Sarah Cracknell)
Stardom Road
"The Journey Continues"
(Mark Brown featuring Sarah Cracknell)
11 Non-album single
"Growth of Raindrops"

(Warm Digits feat. Sarah Cracknell)

Wireless World
"—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Guest appearances[edit]

List of guest appearances, with other performing artists, showing year released and release details
Title Year Other artist(s) Release
"I Fell in Love with a Stranger" unknown Inter Nation featuring Sarah Jane I Fell in Love with a Stranger (promo single)
"Fingertips" 1991 LoveCUT>>DB* featuring Sarah Jane Fingertips / Live To Breathe (single)
"Supermarket" 1992 Supermarket (aka Denim) We Are Icerink (compilation)
"Worthless" 1993 Mexico 70 Worthless/ Heaven in Your Eyes (double 'a' side single)
"Les Passagers" 1996 Étienne Daho Eden (album)
"Tokyo to London" 1997 Hideki Kaji Mini Skirt (album)
"The Man I Love" 1998 Kid Loco Red Hot + Rhapsody: The Gershwin Groove (compilation album)
"Week-end à Rome" Étienne Daho Singles (compilation album)
"Kissing Things" 1999 The 6ths Hyacinths & Thistles (album)
"Elysium" Madness Wonderful (album)
"Tomorrow's Girl" 2002 Funky Monkey Join Us in Tomorrow (album)
"You Just Won Me Over" Cheapglue You Just Won Me Over (EP)
"The Last Weekend" 2015 Akasha Hail The Sun (album)
"We Look at the Stars" 2016 Lisbon Kid We Look at the Stars (digital release)
"Growth of Raindrops" 2017 Warm Digits Growth of Raindrops (single)
"Do You Like My New Hair?" 2020 The Pre New Do You Like My New Hair? / In The Perfect Place (EP)

References[edit]

  1. ^ Larkin, Colin (2000). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music. Virgin. ISBN 9780753504277.
  2. ^ "I CLOSE MY EYES". ASCAP. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
  3. ^ "Sarah Cracknell – New Songs, Playlists & Latest News – BBC Music". BBC. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Saint Etienne – Interview". Pennyblackmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  5. ^ "Nothing Can Stop Us". Last FM. 21 November 2022.
  6. ^ Goula, Steve (April 2000). A saint's holiday Saint Etienne's Sarah Cracknell takes a solo spin. p. 15. Retrieved 3 July 2010. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  7. ^ "Cherry Red Secures New Release and Catalogue Gems in Latest Signings". Pressparty.com. 22 August 2014. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  8. ^ "Birth, marriage and death records 1837 – 2006: Search on findmypast". Archived from the original on 28 February 2009. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  9. ^ The Footage Detectives, Taking Pictures TV, 25 December 2022
  10. ^ a b c Peak positions for singles in the United Kingdom:

External links[edit]