Shakespear’s Sister

SHAKESPEAR’S SISTER (SHAKESPEARS SISTER)
 
 
Shakespears Sister  is a pop-rock project, formed by Irish-born singer–songwriter Siobhan Fahey in 1988, and based in the United Kingdom.  Initially, Shakespears Sister was a solo act, but by 1989, it had become a duo with the addition of the American musician, Marcella Detroit.  Together they released two Top 10 albums and a string of Top 40 hits, including the 1992 hit “Stay” which peaked at No. 1 in the UK for eight consecutive weeks.  Detroit was fired from the band in 1993, leaving Fahey as the sole member again until she ended the project in 1996.  After working under her own name for some years, Fahey revived the Shakespears Sister name in 2009.  (More from Wikipedia)
 
 
 
 
Still, buying a box of albums even at a good price is something that I rarely do. I like to see what I am buying and make individual decisions.  I was once at a flea market down here years ago where a guy was about to close down his stand.  I had picked out a handful of CD’s already – two by the CruzadosTerence Trent d’ArbyShakespear’s Sister (pictured)Blues TravelerDavid Cassidy (I had heard that this teen idol used to sing R&B songs during breaks in the filming of The Partridge Family, so I was going to see if any of that made it to disc) – when the man said, “I’ll sell you the whole rack for $35”.  I figure that I had already picked out over $20 worth, so I said yes. 
 
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Shakespear’s SisterHormonally Yours – Shakespear’s Sister (note the missing “e”) is composed of Siobhan Fahey, a former member of Bananarama, and Marcella Detroit, who was the backing vocalist for Eric Clapton in the late 1970’s.  When I was living in New York, there was a channel on our local cable TV network called Video Jukebox.  There was a number that you could call and order your video, for which you were charged a dollar or so.  While you punched in the numbers on your telephone to order the video, those numbers would show up on the TV screen if you had that channel on, and that sure was cool.  Video Jukebox showed a lot of videos not available on MTV or VH1; after awhile, it was mostly rap and hip hop videos, but there were a lot of rock numbers early on.  That channel is where I frequently saw the video of their hit song “Stay”, a Top 5 hit on both sides of the Atlantic; the first half features tender singing from Marcella Detroit followed by unexpectedly menacing vocals by Siobhan Fahey.  This, their second album (from 1991) includes that song and numerous other engaging performances. 
 
(December 2015)
 
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Since I am down to a quarterly schedule rather than a monthly schedule, my annual list is a lot shorter, so I will try listing all of the people that I have discussed in some depth rather than just the Under Appreciated Rock Band and the Story of the Month. They are all punk rock bands of one kind or another this year (2015-2016), and the most recent post includes my overview of the early rap/hip hop scene that an old friend, George Konstantinow challenged me to write – probably so long ago that he might have forgotten.
 
 
(Year 7 Review)
Last edited: April 8, 2021