Tracey Thorn

Tracey Thorn

Tracey Thorn (born Tracey Anne Thorn on September 26, 1962, in Brookmans Park, Hertfordshire) is an English pop singer and songwriter. She is best known as being one half of the duo Everything but the Girl.

She grew up in Hatfield, Hertfordshire and studied English at the University of Hull, where she graduated in 1984 with First Class Honours. She lives with her EBTG partner Ben Watt in North London. The couple have twin daughters born in 1998, and a son born in 2001.

Career

Marine Girls (1980-1983)

Thorn began her musical career in the group Marine Girls. The band released two albums (Beach Party in 1981 and Lazy Ways in 1982) and several singles. The group disbanded when Thorn decided to concentrate on Everything But The Girl.

Everything but the Girl (1982-2002)

Thorn met Ben Watt at the University of Hull where they were both students, and both signed as solo artists to Cherry Red Records. Their first album together was Eden, released in 1984. As a band, Everything But The Girl released a body of work that spanned two decades. Their biggest chart success came in 1994, when DJ Todd Terry remixed a song from their Amplified Heart album. "Missing" became a huge hit all over the world, especially in the U.S., where it reached number two in the Billboard Hot 100.

Everything But The Girl has been on extended hiatus since 2002. Ben Watt has concentrated on his DJ work, and Thorn has been raising their children and, most recently, writing and recording her solo album.

The name "Everything but the Girl" was the slogan of a furniture store called Turners on Beverley Road in Hull. Anyone driving from Paragon Station to the University of Hull would drive past the store. Turners has since been demolished.

Solo career and collaborations

Thorn's first solo work was a mini-album entitled A Distant Shore (1982). A re-recorded version of the track "Plain Sailing" was released as a single, and was included on the Pillows & Prayers Cherry Red records compilation album.

She collaborated with Massive Attack on several projects, including the soundtrack for the motion picture Batman Forever where she contributed with "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game". Their first project together was the song "Protection EP" from the album by Massive Attack of the same name. She also sings on the track "Better Things".

In the 1980s, Thorn also contributed guest vocals and backing vocals for The Style Council on the track Paris Match (found on 'Chilled Jazz' compilation) , The Go-Betweens, Working Week, and Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, and Adam F(The Tree Knows Everything, from Colours). Her most recent collaboration, after a lengthy singing hiatus, was on the song "Damage" by the band Tiefschwarz on the album Eat Books.

In March 2007, Tracey Thorn released her second solo album Out of the Woods on Virgin Records (Worldwide) and on Astralwerks (USA). It includes contributions from Cagedbaby, Ewan Pearson, Charles Webster, Sasse, Darshan Jesrani and Martin Wheeler. Thorn's MySpace page includes several mixes of the single and the music video. The 1st single from her 2007 album, "It's All True", accompanied by remixes from the likes of Kris Menace & Martin Buttrich, was released in February 7th and the second single, "Raise the Roof" was released on June 18. The third single, "Grand Canyon" was released on October 30. A fourth single, "Kings Cross" (which is a cover version of Pet Shop Boys) is now available as of December 12th.

In mid-October 2007, Thorn commented that she has begun to write and collaborate with producer, Ewan Pearson, for the follow-up to Out of the Woods.

Discography

Studio Albums

Year	Album
1982	A Distant Shore
2007	Out of the Woods

Singles

Year	Title	Album
1982	Plain Sailing	A Distant Shore
1995	Protection EP with Massive Attack	Protection (Massive Attack)
2007	Damage with Tiefschwarz	Eat Books (Tiefschwarz)
2007	It's All True	Out of the Woods
2007	Raise the Roof	Out of the Woods
2007	Grand Canyon	Out of the Woods
2007	Kings Cross	It's All True

Collaborations

Appears on :

Year	Song	Album
1994	Protection with Massive Attack	Protection with Massive Attack
1994	Better Things with Massive Attack	Protection with Massive Attack
1996	The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game with Massive Attack	Batman Forever (soundtrack)
1997	The Tree Knows Everything with Adam F	Colours with Adam F
2002	The Paris Match with Style Council	Chilled Jazz with Style Council
2007	Damage with Tiefschwarz	Eat Books with Tiefschwarz

External links

• Official Tracey Thorn website
• Official Everything But The Girl website
• Tracey Thorn Official Myspace
• 20 Questions with Tracey Thorn: The Line Of Best Fit
• Ewan Pearson On Thorn's New Album