Hepburn (band)

Hepburn were a four-piece British all-girl pop rock band. The band released an album and three singles in 1999-2000, but is best known for their first single, "I Quit", which reached #8 on the UK charts,^[1] and was best known to American audiences when it appeared on the soundtrack to the TV series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (although the track never actually appeared in an episode). The band was made up of Jamie Benson (vocals), Lisa Lister (guitar), Sarah Davies (bass), Beverley Fullen (drums), Lisa Gordon (Drums, replacement for Fullen), and Tasha Bayliss (drums, replacement for Gordon).

Background

The band's genesis began in 1997 when singer Jamie Benson met Lisa Lister at a party.^[1][2] Drummer Fullen knew Jamie from music school, and Davies was added to complete the lineup.^[2] Their name was inspired by the actress, Audrey Hepburn.^[3]

Their first single, "I Quit", was a song co-written by Phil Thornalley.^[4] Thornalley had recently had major chart success with Torn, which made Natalie Imbruglia a huge success, and Imbruglia reported had declined to record "I Quit."^[2] "I Quit" was released by Hepburn in May 1999 and peaked at #8 on the UK Singles Chart.^[1]

Though a music video accompanied the release of the single, later in the year, a new video for "I Quit" shot using scenes from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, including scenes of the band on the sets of the show, and also with the band acting like vampires at The Bronze. The track appeared on the official Buffy soundtrack and was pushed to radio as a key track with the CD release,^[5] despite the fact that the song never appeared on the show (reportedly it was supposed to appear on the show with the band playing the background scenes, some of which appear in the video, but never did). The music video also appears on the Region 2 DVD release of the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

In September 1999, drummer Beverly Fullen left and was replaced by Lisa Gordon, and then Tasha Bayliss.^[6] According to bassist Davies, Fullen left when her boyfriend, band co-manager Ashen Datchler, resigned. Datchler is brother of former Johnny Hates Jazz singer Clark Datchler, and friends with Thornalley, who was also a member of Johnny Hate Jazz in its later years.^[7]

Hepburn disbanded in the summer of 2000 after being dropped by their record label Columbia, having released a total of three singles, all of which went top 20 in the UK, and one album.^[8][9]

Members

• Jamie Benson (born 27 September 1978) from Bognor Regis, England - vocals
• Lisa Lister (born 24 July 1981) from Worlington, England - guitars
• Sarah Davies (born 22 January 1981) from Nottingham - bass
• Beverley Fullen (born 9 October 1978) from Sunderland, England - drums
• Lisa Gordon (born 5 January 1980) from Walsall, West Midlands - drums
• Tasha Baylis (born 27 Dec 1974) from London - drums

Afterwards

After the breakup, Jamie Benson released a solo album in 2002 called 'Jamie Benson - My Confession'.^[8] The album had four singles recorded for it, but only one was released commercially being "Invincible", which was released in mid-2001, but only charted in the top 100. Her current activity is unknown, with Sarah Louise Davies also unaware of her, as reported in an update on her message board forum, which has been inactive since 2002. Davies herself, after a long time away from the public eye, appeared as a guest on the identity parade segment of Never Mind the Buzzcocks on 10 January 2008. Phil Jupitus' team failed to correctly identify Davies, while Lauren Laverne (the guest team member), totally ruled out Davies as a possible correct answer from the beginning. Davies is now a Detective Constable with Nottinghamshire Police.^[10]

Drummer Beverley Fullen now DJs alongside Peter Gordon on 96.4 Eagle Radio's Breakfast Show, broadcast throughout Surrey and Hampshire.^[11]

Discography

Singles

Albums

Album track listing

• "I Quit" 3:50
• "Deep Deep Down" 3:27
• "Here Comes Napoleon" 3:41
• "Bugs" 3:05
• "My Old Love" 3:23
• "Next Life" 3:27
• "Out Of Sight" 3:57
• "See The Girl With The World In Her Eyes" 3:32
• "Waiting For God" 3:17
• "I Can't Cry" 3:32
• "I Got The News" 3:38
• "Tomorrow's Girl" 3:54

B-sides

• "Sleeping Beauty" - "I Quit" 3:20
• "Butterfly" - "I Quit" 3:34
• "Cold World" - "I Quit" 5:35
• "Alibi For Life" - "Bugs" 3:32
• "In Case You Forget" - "Bugs" 5:05

Mixes and others

• "I Quit" (Acoustic Version)
• "I Quit" (New Radio Mix)
• "I Quit" (New Radio Mix Instrumental)
• "I Quit" (Dave Sears' On Time Mix - Radio Edit)
• "I Quit" (Dave Sears' On Time Mix)
• "I Quit" (Bold & The Beautiful Glamourmix)
• "Bugs" (The Wiseguys Remix - Radio Edit)
• "Bugs" (The Wiseguys Remix)
• "Bugs" (Dave Sears' Reaching Out Vocal)
• "Deep Deep Down" (Radio Edit)
• "Deep Deep Down" (Ray Roc's Soul Latin Radio Edit)
• "Deep Deep Down" (Ray Roc's Soul Latin Club Mix)
• "Deep Deep Down" (Dave's Way Down Radio Edit)
• "Deep Deep Down" (Dave's Way Down Mix)
• "Deep Deep Down" (Attica Blues Remix)

References

External links

• 1999 interview of band on YouTube
• Sarah Davies website
• Hepburnt - the complete Hepburn discography, including promotional items