Alison Goldfrapp

Alison Goldfrapp

Alison Goldfrapp (born Alison Elizabeth Goldfrap) is an English singer-songwriter. Goldfrapp was born on May 13 1966, in Enfield, London and raised in Alton, Hampshire, the youngest of six children. At age 19, she moved to Belgium to work as a singer for a theatrical composer and on her return to England, attended Middlesex University's School Of Art, where she studied Fine Art. It was at Middlesex that she was discovered by Orbital during a now infamous show in which she milked a cow while yodelling.

After acquiring her degree from Middlesex, Goldfrapp toured internationally with British rapper Tricky, appearing on his album Maxinquaye. Her mainstream success began when she started collaborating with film composer Will Gregory under the name Goldfrapp.

Goldfrapp (with cropped peroxide blonde hair) made an early acting appearance in Your Night Tonight, the 1988 graduation film of colleague Paul Gilbert.

Age

Alison is famously reluctant to reveal her true age, although speculation has put her date of birth as early as 1960 and as late as 1971. Her birthday is thought to be May 13. In a 2006 interview with Q Magazine, she said she was 37. In an interview on TRL UK in 2005, Alison said she was born in the Chinese year of the horse. The births register in the Family Records Centre in Islington, London shows an "Alison Goldfrap" (sic) who was registered in the second quarter of 1966 in Enfield (to a mother whose maiden name was "Barge"). It is thought that this is Alison. Furthermore, 1966 was a year of the horse. In a video podcast available on iTunes, a fan asked, "How old are you? I heard you were 37, but that is impossible. I thought late 20s?" Alison responded, "You never ask how old she is, it's very rude.... And yes, I'm only 24.". Searching for directors of UK companies on Armadillo.co.uk brings up an entry for an Alison Elizabeth Goldfrap born on 13th May 1966.

Work outside of Goldfrapp

• Alison sang the harmony vocals on Paul Castle's theme song for Jane Hissey's "Old Bear Stories", a children's TV series originally on ITV, but later seen on Channel 5.
• Alison is credited as contributing to the Add N To X album Avant Hard. Although no specific track is mentioned on the album credits, the sleeve for the single 'Revenge of the Black Regent' credits her as vocalist. It is likely that she also did the vocals on the song 'Oh Yeah, Oh No'.
• Her earliest studio recordings are with the band Dreadzone on the 1993 album 360°.
• Alison provided vocals for several of Orbital's albums, including the single Are We Here? featured on Snivilisation

Her confirmation name is Magdalene.

Sources

• Interview from Q, issue 231, October 2005
• Old Bear Stories TV Theme Song
• She went to Alton Convent School, was apparently expelled from there, then went to Eggars School and finally to Alton College, Alton, Hampshire.

External links

• Last.FM: Alison Goldfrapp group
• Alison Goldfrapp discography at Discogs
• Alison Goldfrapp discography at MusicBrainz
• Goldfrapp at AllMusic
• Alison Goldfrapp at IMDb