Marcella Puppini

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Marcella Puppini (born in Bologna, Italy) is a singer and song-writer. She is the founder and lead singer of The Puppini Sisters, a musical trio specializing in 1940s-style close harmony vocal music.

[edit] Biography

Puppini started playing the piano at age 5, and hoped to become an opera singer. At the age of 18, having completed her A levels in Classics (Ancient Greek, Latin, Italian Literature and Art History), Marcella moved to London to study at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. Having acquired a degree in fashion, Marcella’s next move was to cut her teeth in the employment of Vivienne Westwood, where she spent two years.

In 1999 she left the fashion world and embarked on a degree course at Trinity College of Music, studying jazz performance and composition. This is where her career took a varied and sometimes colourful turn. While waitressing in Soho she met DJ Rich B, with whom recorded the gay Club Classic "Revolution", which she performed at various clubs such as The Fridge in Brixton and Essential in Manchester.

Then, during her jazz singing career Puppini found herself irresistibly drawn towards the alternative performance art scene. It was there that she began meeting like-minded people, such as Marisa Carnesky (who invited her to perform as one of the ghouls on her Ghost Train at Glastonbury Festival in 2005), The Whoopee Club (with whom she served as musical Director on some their burlesque productions) and Duckie.

In September 2004, Puppini started a close harmony group called The Puppini Sisters. The idea was to have fun, but soon the Puppini Sisters started getting noticed and things snowballed very quickly. Nearly four years later, and with a gold disc for sales of over 100,000 copies of Betcha Bottom Dollar, Puppini decided to return to a project that she’d had to abandon for a while – The Forget-me-nots, an all girl orchestra fronted by Marcella on vocals and accordion, and comprising a string quartet, trombone, bass clarinet and percussion. A cross between Kurt Weill, Nick Cave and Edith Piaf, they perform Marcella’s dark-hued compositions dressed as decayed dolls. Puppini and the Forget-me-nots performed Chelsea Songs at performance venue Chelsea Theatre, London in May 2008.

[edit] Sources

Stephen Holden, A Trio Winks at the 1940s and Nods at Today’s Tunes, New York Times, May 31, 2007.
David Whetstone, It's back to future for sisters "With their 40s fashions and lethal lipstick, the Puppini Sisters are going back to the future", The Newcastle Journal, October 24, 2006. Accessed via subscription 18 May 2008.
Catherine P. Lewis, The Puppini Sisters "Betcha Bottom Dollar" Verve, Washington Post, August 24, 2007, page WE09.
Helen Brown, Pop CDs of the week: The Puppini Sisters, The Daily Telegraph, July 29, 2006.
Stephen Brooks, They're Not Related, but Sister, Can They Swing, Washington Post, August 30, 2007, page C07.
Misha Berson, Pardon me boy, do you like to jive?, Seattle Times, August 21, 2007.
Sisters make chart history, The Birmingham Mail, August 11, 2006. Accessed via subscription 18 May 2008.
Vicky Addinall, Sister act "Marcella Puppini, founder of vivacious 1940s-inspired girl group The Puppini Sisters talks to Vicky Addinall about her passion for Portobello, The Cobden Club and Ruby Woo", Grove Magazine (London), April 2008.