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Natasha England |
| Natasha was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and after winning a dance competition moved to London in the early 1970s to develop a career in the music business. She worked as a dancer and formed her own band, playing in clubs, while also working behind the scenes in the management of such stars as Marc Bolan, Rod Stewart, and David Bowie. She married Bob England in 1975, and they formed their own management and production company. They also set up the Towerbell record label, and discovered and managed the band Darts, who had a series of hits after being signed to Magnet Records. Later, the pair were responsible for setting up the Rockney label for Chas and Dave.
Natasha formed a girl group, Flirts, with sisters Betty and Jackie Burns. They recorded for Magnet in the late 1970s but with little commercial success despite scoring an airplay hit on BBC Radio One. She then recorded for Decca as Natasha and the Delites. Credited as Natasha, she released eleven solo singles on Towerbell, including "Iko Iko" in 1982. She appeared on Top of the Pops, and the song, produced by Tom Newman, rose to number 10 on the UK singles chart. It also charted in Ireland reaching number 7, Israel reaching number 6, and New Zealand where it peaked at number 5 as well as scoring the 26th biggest selling single of the year. Her follow-up record, "The Boom Boom Room", reached number 44 on the UK singles chart later in the year,and her album Captured reached number 53 on the UK albums chart. However, later singles on Towerbell, and a second, largely self-penned album Don’t Walk Away, had less success.
After her marriage to Bob England ended in the mid-1980s, she left the music business, and worked with horses and on animal rights issues.She moved to Canada and sang with the band Why before returning to England in the early 1990s. A few years later she was diagnosed with breast cancer, but eventually returned to the music industry. Relaunching her career in 2007 via Platform Records, her 1982 top 10 single Iko Iko was given its first digital release along with a 42 track anthology Back From The Mists of Time which included her entire 80's output. Album Deeper Into Reality followed in 2010, a collaboration with experimental producer Robert Logan. Further releases have included a 2013 cover of 'Get It On'(T.Rex) and 2015 single 'Work It Out'.
Natasha's version of "Iko Iko" enjoyed a resurgence when it was included on the soundtrack to the highest-grossing Italian film of 2014, Un Boss In Salotto (A Boss in the Living Room).
A new 13-track album and 2 -track single were released on August 10th 2018, entitled 'Somehow'. |
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