The Puppini Sisters

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The Puppini Sisters
Origin London, England
Genre(s) A cappella, pop, jazz, Close Harmony, Swing
Years active 2004-present
Label(s) UCJ (UK), Verve (U.S.)
Website ThePuppiniSisters.com
Members
Marcella Puppini
Stephanie O'Brien
Kate Mullins

The Puppini Sisters are a musical trio specializing in 1940s-style close harmony vocal music. Arion Berger described as part of "Retro's futuristic vanguard" and their sound described as swing-punk due to its being louder and more in your face than traditional swing music. The group has sought to be associated with a burlesque revival.[1]

The members are Italian Marcella Puppini and English Stephanie O'Brien and Kate Mullins. Although the three are not related, they chose their name in tribute to The Andrews Sisters. Puppini first studied fashion design at St. Martins School of Art, and later music at Trinity College of Music where she met Stephanie O'Brien and Kate Mullins. The Puppini Sisters are currently supported by a three-piece band featuring Blake Wilner on guitar, Pat Levett on drums/percussion and upright bassist Henrik Jensen.

Contents

[edit] History

The group was founded in 2004 by Marcella Puppini after she was inspired by the animated film Les Triplettes de Belleville (2003). In 2005 they were signed by UCJ (Universal Classics and Jazz). The Puppini Sisters' debut single, "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy", is a cover of the hit single by The Andrews Sisters.

The Puppini Sisters television appearances include This Morning, Loose Women, The Alan Titchmarsh Show, Big Brother's Little Brother, Hell's Kitchen, CBeebies' Space Pirates, Jonathan Creek 2008 Christmas Special and The View (on ABC).

The Puppini Sisters' second album, The Rise and Fall of Ruby Woo includes original compositions by Puppini, O'Brien and Mullins.

The group is working on a third album made up entirely of original songs. There will be a more modern slant with solid dance beats geared toward people that have trouble dancing to the 1940's swing style.[2] The group appeared in the 2008 Jonathan Creek Christmas special "The Grinning Man", (performing their 2007 single "Spooky"). The band also features on the soundtracks for US TV series Greys Anatomy and Chuck.

The group performed at Glastonbury Festival 2009 on 27 June.[3]

[edit] Influences

According to the Puppini Sister's MySpace page acts that have influenced them are The Andrews Sisters, The Boswell Sisters, Marlene Dietrich, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Kate Bush, Mike Flowers, Joan Crawford, The Smiths, and Tom Waits.

According to Marcella Puppini the group sings about modern and risque subjects in a quaintly old fashioned way. This comes from their interest in 1940's songs such as Hold Tight (Want Some Seafood Mama) that have sexual undertones despite their overtly innocent lyrics. [2]

[edit] Awards

The Puppini Sisters won a Gold Disc for international sales of their first CD, Betcha Bottom Dollar, in 2007.[4]

The Puppini Sisters website won the 2008 Cream of Yorkshire awards "Gold Award" for best website. The digital advertising agency twentysix won the top award the "overall Grand Prix award" for its design of a website for Universal Music showcasing the group.[5]

[edit] Discography

[edit] Singles

[edit] Videos

[edit] Albums

[edit] Compilations

[edit] Collaboration

The group recorded a close harmony version of the song "Apart of Me", by Stephen Coates of The Real Tuesday Weld, and acted in the video for the song, playing "a corpse, murdering waitresses, worms and chickens". Two versions of the song exist, one being that which was used for the video and the other is a track on The Real Tuesday Weld 2008 CD The London Book of the Dead.

The group used period piece costumes designed by Vivienne Westwood [8]in their video for Jilted, an original song written by Marcella Puppini (not to be confused with the 1954 Theresa Brewer country number).

[edit] Further reading

[edit] Live Reviews

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Swinging Sister: Marcella Puppini Express Magazine 12 June, 2008
  2. ^ a b The Puppini Sisters Christmas Metrolife 23 December, 2008
  3. ^ Glastonbury: Best of the Rest BBC 27 June, 2009
  4. ^ https://www.classicsandjazz.co.uk/plink/The+Puppini+Sisters;jsessionid=539CE63626A4E6ADB341B4C36A3945B9.front2_1
  5. ^ twentysix wins three top awards in one night creativematch 5 November, 2008
  6. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?model.chartFormatGroupName=Albums&model.vnuArtistId=773557&model.vnuAlbumId=903738
  7. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?model.chartFormatGroupName=Albums&model.vnuArtistId=773557&model.vnuAlbumId=903738
  8. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7b3NJa3G1Y
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