Lisa Edwards | |
|---|---|
| Born | Lisa Anne Edwards (1958-09-25)25 September 1958 (age 67) |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, musician |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, percussion, flute |
| Years active | 1978–present |
| Labels |
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| Website | lisaedwards |
Lisa Anne Edwards (born 25 September 1958) is an Australian solo and session singer and musician. In July 1992 she had a top 5 hit on theARIA Singles Chart with hercover version ofGodley and Creme's "Cry". Edwards is primarily a backing vocalist and has worked for fellow Australian and international artists, includingJohn Farnham andKylie Minogue.
Edwards also provided vocals onReal Life's "Send Me an Angel" andOlivia Newton-John's "Stronger Than Before". As a solo artist, Edwards has issued two studio albums,Thru the Hoop (1993) andState of the Heart (2005).
Lisa Anne Edwards was born in 1958 inAdelaide.[1][2] Her father is a jazz pianist and her mother was a stage performer. Edwards made her stage debut aged seven with her father, who regularly took her with him. In secondary school, with three other students, she formed a quartet, Harmony, which went from talent programs to performing on the club circuit.[3] For most of her career she has been based in Melbourne.[2] Edwards' domestic partner is Michael Turner, a barrister, and the couple have a child.[2]
Lisa Edwards began her career as a solo artist and backing singer in the late 1970s, in South Australia and Sydney, supporting artists includingthe Seekers,the Platters,the Drifters andthe Pointer Sisters.[3] In September 1981 she issued her debut single, "Centre Spread", on Mushroom Records.[4] It was the theme song for a film soundtrack ofthe same name.[5][6] The song was written and co-produced by John C. Sharp, which was recorded and mixed at Pepper Studios in Adelaide.[5][6]
Her second single, "You Are My Melbourne", was a duet with Adrian Campbell in 1985.[4][7] According to George Wilson ofThe Sydney Morning Herald it was written by Indian-born Australian resident, Raj Marwah.[8] It was provided to celebrate of the 150th anniversary of thefoundation of Melbourne.[8] Also in that year she provided vocals onJoe Lamont's album,Secrets You Keep.[7][9]
In 1986 Edwards was lead vocalist in Short Circuit, a dance-disco group with Trevor Courtney on drums.[4][7] Both Edwards and Courtney joined White Light Orchestra,[7][9] a 36-member ensemble, which issued an album,Halley's Comet, in April.[10] Mike Daly ofThe Age described the track, "Moon and Stars", as an "uninspiring piece of technopop", which, written by "Bill Miller, is sung by [Edwards]."[10] Edwards and Lindsay Field provided vocals for the score of the comedy feature film,"Crocodile" Dundee (April 1986), with music composed byPeter Best.[11] Edwards sang "Playing with Fire", music by Frank Strangio and lyrics by Eve Dembowski, for the feature film,Dead End Drive-In (August 1986).[12]
Turbo Luv Nuns was a group, in 1987, with Edwards on backing vocals, Ronnie Charles (ex-The Groop) on lead vocals, Peter Coughlan on bass guitar, Mark Greig (ex-Australian Crawl) on lead guitar and Des McKenna on drums.[7] They issued an album,They Don't Know.[7] She also provided vocals for Short Circuit's album,Waiting for the Big One (1988).[4] In that year she joined with members ofSchnell Fenster –Phil Judd on guitar, trumpet, keyboards and vocals;Nigel Griggs on bass guitar;Noel Crombie on drums and percussion; andMichael den Elzen on guitars, guitar synth, fretless guitar and keyboards – to form Noel's Cowards withVika Bull on vocals; Michael Harris on fiddle;Wendy Matthews on lead vocals; and Louis McManus on mandolin.[4][7] They provided six songs for the soundtrack of the feature film,Rikky and Pete (1988).[4]
In April 1992 Edwards issued a single, "Cry", which reached the top 5 on theARIA Singles Chart.[13] It is a cover version ofGodley and Creme's single (March 1985).[4] On the ARIA End of Year Singles Chart for 1992, it reached No. 41.[13] She released her debut solo album,Thru the Hoop, in May 1993,[14] with backing vocals from Farnham andJack Jones (of John Farnham Band andSouthern Sons).[15] Bevan Hannan ofThe Canberra Times, rated the album as seven out of ten.[15]
Hannan praised the opening track, "Satisfy Me", as having a "funky feel [that] grabs you by the ears, the type of sound which you would swear was stripped from Kate Ceberano'sBrave orThink About It."[15] He opined that the rest of the album "doesn't sink to wallowing depths, but the conservative nature of the other nine tracks only earns it a solid rating."[15] Edwards wrote the track, "Stay with Me", which Hannan described as "first class".[1][15] Subsequent singles, "So Dangerous' (1992)", "Until the Day" (June 1993) and "Lose Myself in You" (September), had less chart success,[13] and Edwards returned to performing as a backing singer.[15]
From 1993 Edwards has contributedChristmas carols for the annualThe Spirit of Christmas album series, which is produced and compiled by fellow John Farnham Band backing singer, Lindsay Field.[7] Her tracks include "Do You Hear What I Hear?" inNovember 1993, "I'll Be Home for Christmas" (duet with Field) and "Amazing Grace" (quartet with Field, Farnham andVenetta Fields) inNovember 1994, "Grown-Up Christmas List" (duet with Field) inNovember 1994 and compiled inNovember 1998 and "The Twelve Days of Christmas" (duet with Field) inNovember 2002.[7]
In 2001, Edwards,Debra Byrne andWendy Stapleton toured withGirls, Girls, Girls a tribute show of hits bythe Supremes,Cilla Black,Dusty Springfield,Patsy Cline andLulu.[16][17] After a month, Edwards returned to backing vocals forJohn Farnham on his The Last Time Tour;[16][17] she was replaced by Nikki Nicholls,Girls, Girls, Girls continued touring into 2002.[16][17]
She released her second solo studio album,State of the Heart, in August 2005, which included a cover version ofIcehouse's single, "Man of Colours" (February 1988).[18]State of the Heart reached No. 19 on the ARIA Hitseekers Albums Chart.[13] Georgie Bryant of MediaSearch website felt it was "quite interesting" how Edwards handles "famous Australian songs with [her] own interpretation."[19] Edwards' solo performances are often based around tributes to her childhood idols:Ella Fitzgerald,Sarah Vaughan,Billie Holiday,Diana Ross andNatalie Cole.
Edwards released her third studio album,I'm Still the Woman in 2022.[20]
Aside from vocals Lisa Edwards playspercussion andflute: initially she was recruited as a flautist for the John Farnham Band in 1988.[21] She has been one of his backing vocalists for both studio sessions and touring fromAge of Reason (July 1988) toJack (October 2010), inclusive.[7][9][21]
Aside from Farnham, Edwards has provided vocals for fellow Australian artists,Noiseworks, Real Life's "Send Me an Angel" (May 1983), Black Sorrows'Hold On To Me (September 1988),Ross Wilson,Billy Thorpe,Brian Cadd andKate Ceberano.[3][7][9] She was one of the backing vocalists on Kylie Minogue'sEnjoy Yourself Tour in 1990. As a result, she performed with Yoko Ono for the John Lennon tribute concert in Liverpool. She returned to Australia to supportOlivia Newton-John andTom Jones on the Australian legs of their tours.[3] She again worked with Minogue in 1998 on the singer'sIntimate and Live Tour of Australia. Other international artists she has supported includeRay Charles,Cyndi Lauper,Lenny Kravitz,Bryan Adams andSting.
Edwards continues to perform, both as a solo artist, a member of Farnham's band and as a backing singer. She was part of the "Tour of Duty" concert for theAustralian Army troops in appreciation of the peacekeeping effort inEast Timor. She is anAustralia Day ambassador for the state ofVictoria.[3]
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| AUS [13][22] | ||
| Thru the Hoop |
| 120 |
| State of the Heart(Lisa Edwards with Phil Turcio) |
| 204 |
| I’m Still the Woman |
| - |
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Certification | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS [13] | ||||
| 1981 | "Power" (from 'Centrespread') | - | non album single | |
| 1985 | "You Are My Melbourne" (Lisa Edwards and Adrian Campbell) | - | non album single | |
| 1992 | "Cry" | 5 | Thru the Hoop | |
| "So Dangerous" | 106 | |||
| 1993 | "Until the Day" | 86 | ||
| "(I Can Just) Lose Myself in You" | 106 |
TheARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres ofAustralian music. They commenced in 1987.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Paul Goldman for "Cry" by Lisa Edwards | Best Video | Nominated | [24] |
| Doug Brady for "Cry" & "So Dangerous" by Lisa Edwards | Engineer of the Year | Nominated |
