Kirsty Hawkshaw (born 29 March 1969) is an English electronic music vocalist and songwriter. In addition to her work as a solo artist, she is known as the lead vocalist of early 1990s dance groupOpus III, and her collaborative work with other musicians and producers.
Kirsty Hawkshaw is the daughter of the late Britishproduction music/film music composer anddisco record producerAlan Hawkshaw, who was known for composing themes for TV programmes such asGrange Hill[2] andChannel 4 game showCountdown. Her mother is German-born Christiane Bieberbach.[3]
At the age of 19, the singer's career in show business was started with the help of famous German producerFrank Farian, who in 1988 released her dance single "Yummy, Yummy, Yummy" on theCBS record label.[4] At that time, she was introduced to the public under the stage name Kirsty Shaw. The single "Yummy, Yummy, Yummy" attracted the attention of promoters of commercial radio stations, and the video of the same name was quite actively rotated on music television channels in a number of European countries.[5] The catchy melody in the Eurodance style became popular among visitors todiscos. In addition to 3 versions of the single, the song was also published on several dance music compilations in different countries.[6][7]
At arave in 1990, she was noticed by producers Ian Munro, Kevin Dodds and Nigel Walton, who at the time were known as A.S.K. and were signed toMCA Records UK. The trio had released a single called "Dream", when she was invited to appear on stage as their dancer. It was through this meeting that they would form a dance act calledOpus III. Their first single, a cover version of the song "It's a Fine Day" from their debut albumMind Fruit, was an international success and Top 10 hit onUK Singles Chart,[8] and reached No. 1 on the USBillboardHot Dance Music/Club Playchart in 1992. A reversed sample of Hawkshaw's singing from this track was used in theOrbital track "Halcyon", the music video for which featured Hawkshaw. Opus III also had another US number 1 hit on the same chart in 1994 with "When You Made the Mountain", from their second and final album,Guru Mother.
In a 2009 interview, she recalled her decision to end her association with Opus III, saying she felt that she did not want to be part of a "commercialized" act, wanted to go in a different direction, and felt that she did not have sufficient input in writing and production, which led to conflict with the rest of the band; she has also ruled out any plans for a reunion if it ever happens. She has also been critical of the dance music industry more broadly, especially performerslip synching other people's songs, and using original artists' vocals without permission or credit.
After the group broke up in 1994, Hawkshaw pursued a solo career and has since been in demand by other acts in the dance, house,Eurodance, trance, and electronica community, includingTiësto,Delerium,BT,Fragma,Seba, andParadox, among others.
Her solo single "Fine Day" peaked at number 62 in theUK Singles Chart in November 2002.[9]
Hawkshaw contributed a track titled "Telephone Song" to the children's compilation albumFor the Kids Too!, released in 2004.
On 10 October 2005, she releasedMeta-Message, a collection of older and newer songs, after a growing interest in her out-of-print album,O.U.T.
The record labelMagnatune released her ambient album,The Ice Castle, in 2008.
