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Bette Bright (bornCatherine Anne Martin, 23 December 1953) is anEnglishrocksinger.[1]
Anne Martin was born inTankerton, a suburb of Whitstable in Kent, in south-east England.[2][3][4] She attendedRochester Grammar School, with A-levels in English, French, and Art. Afterwards she attendedNotre Dame College of Education, in Liverpool.[5]
Anne Martin marriedGraham McPherson, aka Suggs, lead singer ofMadness, in 1981.
Her sister Alanah, who became a broadcaster and scriptwriter for the BBC, was born on 17 January 1952; Alanah died in October 2012 of pancreatic cancer. Her husband was Keith Porritt.
| This section of abiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Bette Bright" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(March 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
In the late 1970s, Bright was a singer for theart rockbandDeaf School.[6] After Deaf School disbanded, Bright wentsolo with herbacking band, 'The Illuminations'.[6] Band members wereHenry Priestman (formerly with bandYachts),Rusty Egan (Visage) andGlen Matlock (Sex Pistols). In 1978, theirsingle debut, acover of "My Boyfriend's Back", was followed by another cover, "Captain of Your Ship", which became a minorairplayhit.[6]
Bright's third single, "Hello, I Am Your Heart", dropped the Illuminations from the billing, and was her only chart hit.[6] Issued in February 1980, and featuring Lee 'Kix' Thompson on saxophone, it spent a week in theUK Singles Chart at No. 50.[7]
Around this same time, Bright (using her birth name, Anne Martin) spent some time as the singer of theDutch bandGruppo Sportivo, and she also appeared inMalcolm McLaren's Sex Pistolsfilm,The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle.[citation needed]
In 1981, she issued thealbumRhythm Breaks the Ice,[8] which featured songs she had written herself, but also classics like "Shoorah, Shoorah" as well as new interpretations of songs by Deaf School.[6] Her backing band on this album - still called The Illuminations - was completely different from the group on her earlier singles, and had a similar line-up toClive Langer & the Boxes: Clive Langer (guitar/sitar),Ian Broudie (lead guitar), James Eller (bass); Jo Allen (drums); and Ben Barson,brother ofMadnesskeyboardistMike Barson (keyboards).[6] Martin Hughes subbed for Allen on two cuts; Clive Langer & The Boxes consisted of Langer, Eller, Barson and Hughes. The album wasproduced byClanger/Winstanley.
Working with Barson, Langer andAlan Winstanley, Bright got to know Madness, and she and Madness singerSuggs, fell in love. Theymarried in 1982, and she retired.[6] She appeared in 1984 as ahomeless person in themusic video of "One Better Day" by Madness and rejoined her fellow Deaf School members for a reunion and alive album in 1988.
In 1992, she provided spoken word on "Walk You Home", a track onTim Finn's fourth album,Before & After. In recent years, she has joined the reformed Deaf School for one-off appearances. In December 2007, atThe O2 venue Indigo2 for Madness' aftershow party, the band were joined on stage by her daughters, who sangbacking vocals. She also sang with her husband, Suggs. Bright reunited with Deaf School once again in December 2009, for a selection of UK dates in London and Liverpool, including a date at the100 Club.
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