Shakespears Sister
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| Shakespears Sister | |
|---|---|
 Siobhan Fahey and Marcella Detroit in a promotional photograph for the album Hormonally Yours.
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| Background information | |
| Origin | London, England |
| Genre(s) | Rock Synthpop |
| Years active | 1988 – 1996 |
| Label(s) | London Records |
| Members | |
| Siobhan Fahey | |
| Former members | |
| Marcella Detroit | |
Shakespears Sister (originally Shakespeare's Sister) was a synth-pop-rock band formed by former Bananarama singer/songwriter Siobhan Fahey initially on her own in 1988, the same year which she left Bananarama. Later in 1989, backing vocalist Marcella Detroit was featured more as London Records presented the band as a duo. The name is taken from the title of the song "Shakespeare's Sister" by The Smiths, which in turn refers to a section of Virginia Woolf's feminist essay A Room of One's Own, in which Woolf argues that if William Shakespeare had a sister of equal genius, as a woman she would not have had the opportunity to make use of it.
The band's name lost its final "e" when a friend making a woodcut logo for Fahey misspelt the most common modern spelling of Shakespeare. The cover of the first album, Sacred Heart, clearly includes an apostrophe (i.e. Shakespear's Sister), but this too was subsequently lost through simple carelessness and apathy.[1]
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Fahey-Detroit era
From 1988 to 1993 Shakespears Sister released two albums, Sacred Heart and Hormonally Yours.
The band's single "Stay" is their best known work, achieving number one in both the UK (for eight weeks, one of the longest in chart history) and Ireland singles charts. It was their highest entry in the UK charts, being the only time they entered the top five. The single also became their biggest US hit, reaching number four on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1992. The campy, futuristic accompanying music video was also a hit, if somewhat controversial. In it, Fahey portrays Death and fights with Detroit over the fate of her dying lover in an allegory of life and death that mirrored her own internal struggles[citation needed].
After a year-long worldwide tour throughout 1992, Fahey cancelled further European touring due to physical and emotional exhaustion and subsequently admitted herself into a psychiatric unit with severe depression.
When the nominations for the 1993 Brit Awards were announced in late 1992, it was clear that Shakespears Sister had had a significant impact on British popular music. Nominations included: Best group, best album, best video, best single and best female (for Fahey). However, out of these they only won Best Video for "Stay", which was, more importantly voted for by the British public.
In 1993, "My 16th Apology" was released as a single but failed to make the UK top 40. Soon after that, at the 1993 Ivor Novello Awards, Fahey announced the split with Marcella Detroit.
Allegedly, the pair haven't spoken since.
[edit] Fahey alone backed by the band
Shakespears Sister carried on as Fahey by herself, and in 1994 she recorded "Prehistoric Daze" for the soundtrack to the film The Flintstones, as well as "Waiting" for the Sadie Frost/Jude Law film Shopping.
In 1996, Fahey resurfaced again as Shakespears Sister with the single "I Can Drive", a single picked by the record company instead of Fahey's choice of "Do I Scare You". After the single peaked at no.30, London Records refused to release the full album. Fahey later parted company with the label, leaving the album unreleased. This year also marked Fahey's divorce from Dave Stewart - the pair had been married since 1987.
In 2003, Fahey regained the master tapes for the album #3, which had been recorded in 1995-1996. The album was finally given an independent release in 2004 on Fahey's own record label, SF Records.
A greatest hits CD/DVD retrospective (The Best of Shakespears Sister) was also released in late 2004, containing all of the group's singles and music videos, as well as tracks intended for the #3 album. An additional compilation album, Long Live the Queens!, featuring a tracklisting of remixes and b-sides, was released in late 2005.
A recurrent theme of many of Shakespears Sister songs involve departure and blame ("You're History", "Goodbye Cruel World", "You Made Me Come to This", "I Don't Care"). In interviews, Bananarama members Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward have alluded to these songs being about them.[citation needed].
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Year | Album | UK | US | AUS | Additional information |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Sacred Heart | 9 | - | 22 | Debut album, with some differences between the European and the US versions |
| 1992 | Hormonally Yours | 3 | 56 | 20 | Two issues, the first one in 1992 with original versions of the songs, the second one in 1993 with the single versions of "Goodbye Cruel World", "I Don't Care" and "Hello". Also includes a new version of "Are We In Love Yet?", but the single version of "Stay" is not included. |
| 2004 | #3 | - | - | - | Siobhan Fahey without Marcella Detroit, recorded 1995-1996 and released independently in 2004 |
| 2004 | The Best of Shakespears Sister | - | - | - | CD/DVD hits compilation album, contains all of the band's music videos, except Sacred Heart. |
| 2005 | Long Live the Queens! | - | - | - | B-sides, remixes and rarities compilation album |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Song | UK singles | US Hot 100 | AUS | NZ | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | "Break My Heart (You Really)" / "Heroine" | - | - | - | - | Sacred Heart |
| 1989 | "Heroine" (US and Canada only) | - | - | - | - | |
| "You're History" | 7 | - | 20 | 28 | ||
| "Run Silent" | 54 | - | 47 | - | ||
| 1990 | "Dirty Mind" | 71 | - | 65 | - | |
| 1991 | "Goodbye Cruel World" | 59 | - | - | - | Hormonally Yours |
| 1992 | "Stay" | 1 | 4 | 3 | 5 | |
| "I Don't Care" | 7 | 55 | 18 | 11 | ||
| "Goodbye Cruel World" (re-issue) | 32 | - | - | - | ||
| "Hello (Turn Your Radio On)" | 14 | - | 97 | 43 | ||
| 1993 | "My 16th Apology" | 61 | - | - | - | |
| 1996 | "I Can Drive" | 30 | - | - | - | #3 |
[edit] Promotional videos
- "Break My Heart" (1988)
- "Heroine" (1988)
- "Sacred Heart" (1988)
- "You're History" (1989)
- "Run Silent" (1989)
- "Dirty Mind" (1990)
- "Goodbye Cruel World" (1991)
- "Stay" (1992)
- "I Don't Care" (1992)
- "Catwoman" (1992)
- "Hello (Turn Your Radio On)" (1992)
- "My 16th Apology" (1993)
- "I Can Drive" (1996)
