Harriet Wheeler
| Harriet Wheeler | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Harriet Ella Wheeler[1] |
| Born | June 26, 1963 |
| Genres | Alternative rock |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Associated acts | The Sundays Jim Jiminee |
Harriet Wheeler (born 26 June 1963) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer of the 1980s/1990s alternative rock band, The Sundays.[2][3]
Early years
Wheeler grew up in Sonning Common, near Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, the daughter of an architect and a teacher.[4] She was enrolled as an English literature student at Bristol University when she met David Gavurin.[4] The two shared a common passion for music, and despite little musical training (although Wheeler had sung in a band called Jim Jiminee before meeting Gavurin), released demos to various clubs in London.[4][5]
The Sundays
Wheeler and Gavurin were the core of a popular alternative band, The Sundays, with Paul Brindley on bass and Patrick Hannan on drums.[4] They decided upon the name by default as it was the only one they could all agree on.[4] The Sundays performed their first show in August 1988.[4]
Their debut album, Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic, was released in 1990.[4] Rolling Stone reviewer Ira Robbins called it "an alluring slice of lighter-than-air guitar pop, a collection of uncommonly good songs graced by Harriet Wheeler's wondrous singing."[4] The album sold over half a million copies around the world.[4]
The band released their second album, Blind, in 1992, and it also sold nearly half a million copies, giving the band another gold record.[4] Wheeler's vocals received the lion's share of praise.[4] One reviewer wrote, "Her singing is fluttery, mischievous, and full of unexpected, perverse flashes of tenderness."[4]
In February 1995, Wheeler and Gavurin had their first child, a daughter named Billie.[4] Parenthood prolonged the recording of their third album, but they eventually released Static & Silence in 1997. While some critics said The Sundays sounded exactly the same as before,[4][6] Kevin Raub of Ray Gun called Static & Silence "the band's most solid effort to date."[4]
Two years after the release of Static & Silence, Wheeler and Gavurin had their second child, a son named Frank in 1999.[7]
References
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- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas Static & Silence at Allmusic Retrieved 9 May 2011
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