Lorraine Bowen | |
|---|---|
 Bowen in concert at The Vauxhall Tavern, London | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Lorraine Bowen (1961-10-31)31 October 1961 (age 63) Cheltenham,Gloucestershire, England |
| Genres | Comedy |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, comedian, musician |
| Instrument(s) | Voice, keyboard, piano, clarinet, recorder |
| Years active | 1980s–present |
| Labels | Singer |
| Website | Official website |
Lorraine Bowen (born 31 October 1961 inCheltenham,Gloucestershire) is anEnglish singer, songwriter, comedian and musician.[1] Bowen has released eleven studio and compilation albums, and multiple singles as both a solo and contributing artist.
She studied music at theUniversity of Surrey,[1] and then busked around London. She was a member of two bands in the 1980s:See You in Vegas andThe Dinner Ladies,[2] as well as performing regularly withBilly Bragg on stage and on record. She has also made many appearances onBBC Radio 4 includingJohn Shuttleworth's showRadio Shuttleworth and the 1999 all-female sketch showHeated Rollers, starringLynda Bellingham,Gwyneth Strong andJoanna Monro. She has also written for BBC Radio 4'sLoose Ends.[1]
In 1990, Billy Bragg encouraged Bowen to start a solo career. She started to perform solo shows under name ofThe Lorraine Bowen Experience; her act featured three songs, a Casio keyboard and an ironing board. This has led to shows all over the world, including festivals inWinnipeg,Toronto,San Francisco, and in the UK,Glastonbury,Edinburgh,Glasgay,Bestival,The Big Chill,Secret Garden Party andShambala and many shows in Italy and Spain.Her songs are seen as "quirky", contain humour and are often with a sense ofkitsch.[3] Themes often include food, film stars (one of her most popular songs is aboutJulie Christie), mobile phones, fish fingers and launderettes. Bowen is known for her catchy choruses in songs and encouraging audience participation.[3]
Vital Organs was the name of Bowen's first solo musical comedy tour celebrating her collection of portableCasio electronic organs,omnichord and other eccentric portable organs. First performed at London's Drill Hall, the show toured extensively between 2005 and 2009.
In 2011, Bowen discovered that composerBarbara Moore was alive and living in Bognor Regis while recording an episode ofLorraine Bowen's Stereo Spectacular radio programme. Moore was active in the British music scene for over 25 years. After starting as a member ofThe Ladybirds, went on to work withElton John,Jimi Hendrix andTom Jones amongst others, but she is not widely known today. Bowen created 'Lorraine Bowen meets Barbara Moore' to provide a platform to show others how prolific Moore had been in the 1960s and 1970s. This show presented Moore and her work to a new audience and featured in theBrighton Fringe festival in 2014.
Lorraine Bowen Comfort Zone show was a 'durational project' of three connected concerts exploringhibernation in connection with Brighton's Pink Fringe and the Nightingale Theatre. Supported byArts Council of Great Britain, the show ran through the winters of 2011 and 2012, drawing upon a series of experiences provided byCharlotte Glasson,Mick Jackson and others.[4]
Lorraine Bowen's Polyester Fiesta show celebratespolyester and has four models, a scientist and a wardrobe mistress. Bowen acts as hostess, model and sings down thecatwalk. Bowen has been a collector of vintage polyester outfits since visiting jumble sales as a girl and the collection has been featured onBBC One'sThe One Show[5] and BBC Radio 4'sWoman's Hour.[6]
Polyester Fiesta! toured during 2015, been performed atGlasgay,[7] The South Bank Vintage Festival,Brighton Fringe,[8] Colchester Arts Centre[9] andRoyal Vauxhall Tavern among others.
Bowen was a contestant onBritain's Got Talent in May 2015 and was sent through to the live semi-finals byDavid Walliams' golden buzzer after she sang her own song "The Crumble Song."Simon Cowell,Amanda Holden andAlesha Dixon buzzed the act,[10] which was about her love ofapple crumble.[11] Bowen was voted off the show in the first semi-final after singing a song about space.[12] She came fourth in the votes, which was not enough to get into the final.
This show is a musical cabaret, which features Bowen along withDerek Daniels Boogaloo Stu and the musical accompaniment ofRonnie Hazelnut Jason Peg on piano. Offering a mash-up of a Shakespearean game of musical bingo, classic 1970s tunes and largely fictional showbiz anecdotes.[13]
During the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, Bowen began collaborating with game developer Philipp Stollenmayer of KAMIBOX, a mobile game company, to compose music for various projects.[14]
In 2021, Bowen wrote the theme tune forKitty Q (also known asKatze Q) in both English and German. The game is an educational escape room experience designed to introduce children aged 12–14 to the principles of quantum physics. Developed in association with the Würzburg-Dresden Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat and funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the game features over 20 puzzles and is based on the concept of Schrödinger's cat.[15]
In 2022, Bowen composed and narrated the theme song forA Joke That's Worth $0.99, a game developed by KAMIBOX for the Playdate handheld console. The game uses the Playdate’s crank to keep a character airborne while revealing lines of a joke. It is distributed as third-party software and must be sideloaded onto the Playdate. The title references both the gameplay and its permanent discounted price of $0.99, due to Itch.io’s pricing limitations. Bowen and Stollenmayer donated their time on the project to support tree-planting initiatives in Africa.[16][17][18]
In 2025, Bowen wrote the music and lyrics forPBJ – The Musical, a mobile game centered around a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Developed by Philipp Stollenmayer, who created the storyboard and handled design and development, Bowen also produced the audio, directed the characters, and recorded the entire musical, which consists of ten acts.[19]
PBJ – The Musical received critical acclaim for its surreal and whimsical style:
During her early career, Bowen also worked as a part-time music teacher in schools across Hackney. Now based in Brighton, Bowen runs singing workshops at theBrighton Dome[25] and Bexhill'sDe La Warr Pavilion.[26]
Lorraine Bowen's Stereo Spectacular[27] is Bowen's radio show consisting of binaural field recordings, interviews and eclectic tracks. Award-winning[27] and featured on Brighton'sRadio Reverb, the shows are now available as a podcast.[28]
Bowen provided the soundtrack forNo Deposit, No Return byDallas Campbell.[29] Her original song "Julie Christie" appeared on the Canadian independent film,Better Than Chocolate soundtrack.[30] Bowen also provides vocals on "There Must Be An Angel"[31] in Sorrentino's 2013 film,The Great Beauty.[32]
In 2022, Bowen's song 'Take Time', which first appeared on ‘Suburban Exotica’ was featured in the soundtrack for the film ‘Father Earth’ (2022).[33]
Bowen is the author ofThe Crumble Lady, a collection of short stories for children published by Candy Jar Books in November 2017.
She was discovered by Billy Bragg at the Hackney Empire performing withThe Dinner Ladies.[34] After a successful audition to fill in forCara Tivey's maternity leave, Bowen found herself performing her first show with Bragg at theLiverpool Empire Theatre as part of theWorkers Playtime Tour. She then touredEast Germany just before reunification, performing in Army camps and stadia. Bowen made an appearance in two episodes ofRadio Shuttleworth withJohn Shuttleworth (S01, E02 and S02, E03).
Educational escape game introducing quantum physics to children aged 12–14.
Ten-act musical game featuring a peanut butter and jelly sandwich; music and lyrics by Lorraine Bowen.
Uses Playdate's crank to reveal lines of a joke; proceeds donated to tree planting in Africa.
Educational escape game introducing quantum physics to children aged 12–14.
Ten-act musical game featuring a peanut butter and jelly sandwich; music and lyrics by Lorraine Bowen.
