Sarah Cracknell

Sarah Cracknell
Sarah Cracknell performing with Saint Etienne in 2007
Background information
Birth name	Sarah Cracknell
Born	12 April 1967 (1967-04-12) (age 44)
Origin	Chelmsford, Essex, England
Genres	Pop, Dance, Indie
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1990–present
Labels	Heavenly Records Gut Records Instinct Records
Associated acts	Saint Etienne
Website	Saint Etienne website

Sarah Cracknell (born 12 April 1967, Chelmsford, Essex) is an English pop singer who fronts the band Saint Etienne and is known for her light, smooth singing voice. She is the daughter of Stanley Kubrick's first assistant director Derek Cracknell.

Career

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" 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, although it was not a big seller (Cracknell has in interviews placed some of the blame for this on lack of proper promotion by Gut). The UK version of the album is now out of print.

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 tracklisting 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.^[1]

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 never got to record the song. 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.

Sarah has recorded a duet "I Close My Eyes And Count To Ten" (formerly by Dusty Springfield) with Marc Almond for his album Stardom Road, released June 2007.

In December 2007, BBC radio began playing "The Journey Continues" by Mark Brown featuring Sarah 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 on February 2008 on Positiva. The song peaked at #11 in the UK after being released.

Cracknell collaborated with French pop star Etienne Daho several times. 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 together 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".

Personal life

Cracknell married Martin Kelly (joint MD of Heavenly Recordings) in Kensington and Chelsea, London on 5 December 2004. They have two children, both born in Westminster, London: Spencer Michael (born 2001) and Sam Dion (born 2004).^[2]

Discography

Albums

• Lipslide (1997, 2000)

EPs

• Kelly's Locker EP (2000)

Singles

• "Love Is All You Need" / "Coastal Town"
• "Coastal Town" (12 inch single)
• "Anymore" (2 X CD single) - UK #39^[3]
• "Goldie"
• "Desert Baby"
• "The Journey Continues" (Mark Brown featuring Sarah Cracknell)

Other appearances

• Red Hot + Rhapsody w/ Kid Loco The Man I Love (Belleville Lovers mix)
• Tokyo To London (w/ Hideki Kaji)
• We Are Icerink compilation; or Denim Novelty Rock Supermarket;
• w/ Lawrence from Felt Supermarket (edit); Supermarket (Mad Q mix); Supermarket (Ray Keith mix)
• The 6ths Hyacinths & Thistles Kissing Things
• Cheap Glue Sexy Horses You Just Won Me Over (duet)
• Funky Monkey Join Us In Tomorrow Tomorrow's Girl; or 7” Tomorrow's Girl (edit)
• Etienne Daho Singles French live bonus CD He's On The Phone; Week-End A Rome (medley)
• Etienne Daho Eden Les Passages
• Xploding Plastix Sunset Spirals; Sunset Spirals (rune lindbæk remix); Sunset Spirals (sternklang papers and pins remix); Sunset Spirals (take 2)
• Marc Almond Stardom Road I Close My Eyes And Count To Ten
• Akasha The Last Weekend
• Mark Brown feat. Sarah Cracknell - The Journey Continues (2008) UK#11. Features a sample of Elena Kats-Chernin's vocals from the aria of the ballet Wild Swans, for which Kats-Chernin composed the music. Featured on her 2006 album, also called Wild Swans, it was popularised by a Lloyds TSB advertising campaign.

References

1. ^ Goula, Steve (April 2000). A saint's holiday Saint Etienne's Sarah Cracknell takes a solo spin. p. 15. http://books.google.com/books?id=GCoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA15&dq=%22Ian+Catt%22&hl=en&ei=A6UuTInKJMKB8gbVyMWLAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=%22Ian%20Catt%22&f=false. Retrieved 3 July 2010. 
2. ^ Marriages and Births England and Wales 1984-2006
3. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 124. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. 

External links

• Furious.com/Perfect

Persondata
Name	Cracknell, Sarah
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Date of birth	12 April 1967
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