Helen McCookerybook (born Helen McCallum, now Dr Helen Reddington) was the bass guitar player and lead singer with Brighton-based punk rock band The Chefs during the late 1970s and early 1980s. She later formed Helen and The Horns (with Dave Jago on trombone, Paul Davey on sax and Chris Smith on trumpet), before continuing her career as a solo artist, writer and lecturer. Her most recent album is Take One, released on Barbaraville in October 2010. She plays live gigs as a solo act as well as (very) occasional revivals of Helen and the Horns.
Her first book (as Helen Reddington) The Lost Women of Rock Music: Female Musicians of the Punk Era was published in July 2007. The book featured interviews with The Slits, Gina Birch, The Mo-dettes, Enid Williams (Girlschool), Dolly Mixture, Gaye Black (Adverts), Vi Subversa (Poison Girls), Rhoda Dakar, Lucy O'Brien, Attila the Stockbroker, Caroline Coon, Geoff Travis and the late John Peel.
She holds a doctorate from the University of Westminster and has been a lecturer at the University of East London since 2006.[1]