Tasmin Archer
| Tasmin Archer | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Tasmin Archer |
| Born | 3 August 1963 |
| Origin | Bradford, Yorkshire, England |
| Genres | Pop, Rock |
| Years active | 1992–present |
| Labels | EMI, Quiverdisc |
| Website | TasminArcher.net |
Tasmin Archer (born 3 August 1963) is an English pop singer. Her first album, Great Expectations, spawned the hit "Sleeping Satellite" which reached number one in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Early life
Archer was born in Bradford, Yorkshire. She first worked as a sewing machine operator and joined a group called Dignity as a backing vocalist. Later, after acquiring secretarial skills, she became a clerk at Leeds Magistrates' Court.
Musical career
Great Expectations
Archer helped out at a recording studio in Bradford called Flexible Response, and subsequently began working with musicians John Hughes and John Beck. Archer signed to EMI in 1990, and released her first single, "Sleeping Satellite" in August 1992, which went to #1 in the UK Singles Chart.[1] The single also enjoyed minor success in the U.S. where it peaked at #32 on the Billboard Hot 100.[2] The album Great Expectations followed in October 1992, reaching #8 in the UK Albums Chart,[1] and achieved gold disc status by December for sales of more than 100,000 copies. Further singles from the album followed, and although they were Top 40 hits in the UK, they did not achieve the same level of success as her début. In 1993, Archer won a BRIT Award for the Best British Breakthrough Act. However, later she joked that she kept her award in the back of her kitchen cupboard, and claimed that she used it for cracking nuts and tenderising steak.
Bloom
After disappearing from the limelight, Archer reappeared in 1996 with her second album Bloom. However, the single "One More Good Night With The Boys" failed to reach the UK Top 40, and the album failed to chart at all. In late 1997, disagreements with EMI left Archer somewhat disillusioned and feeling like she had been treated as a commodity. She decided to take a short break from the industry.[3]
After two years, Archer felt the time was right to start writing again but was hindered by writer's block. Although this did not prevent her from being initially creative she found it difficult to finish anything musically. However, she did not let this stop her from expressing her creativity in other ways, and she began painting and moulding clay.
In 1999, she bought a Sunderland A.F.C. season-ticket, after attending a match with her musician partner John Hughes.[4]
ON
After working through the block and starting in 2002, Archer and Hughes worked on a new album. Initially this was going to be titled Non-Linear, but later became ON. Several demo versions of the songs from this album were available for free from the messagetothemagnet website, which was created for the purpose. People were encouraged to send feedback on the material.
ON was released on 25 September 2006 on Archer's own label, Quiverdisc. It was preceded on 20 September by a download only single, "Every Time I Want It (Effect is Monotony)", a radio edit of the album track "Effect is Monotony".
Discography
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak positions | Album | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [5] |
GER [6] |
NZ | |||||||||
| 1992 | "Sleeping Satellite" | 1 | 12 | 12 | Great Expectations | ||||||
| 1993 | "In Your Care" | 16 | — | 37 | |||||||
| "Lords of the New Church" | 26 | — | 40 | ||||||||
| "Somebody's Daughter" (GER only) | — | 57 | — | ||||||||
| "Arienne" | 30 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1994 | "Shipbuilding EP" | 40 | — | — | Shipbuilding | ||||||
| 1996 | "One More Good Night With The Boys" | 45 | — | — | Bloom | ||||||
| "Sweet Little Truth" | 176 | — | — | ||||||||
| 2006 | "Every Time I Want It (Effect is Monotony)" (digital download) | — | — | — | On | ||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | |||||||||||
Studio albums
- Great Expectations (1992) #8 UK, #115 US, #56 AUS
- Bloom (1996)
- ON (2006)[1]
Compilation albums
- Premium Gold Collection (2000)
- Singer/Songwriter (2004)
- The Best Of (2009)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 27. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ↑ Billboard.com (Tasmin Archer - Sleeping Satellite)
- ↑ Lister, Derek A J (2004). Bradford's Own. Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-3826-9.
- ↑ Freeman, Sarah (20 September 2006). "High expectations for singer Tasmin's return". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
I needed to do something creative which had an end result. If you have writer's block, obsessing about it is the worst thing you can do and I knew that whatever else happened I had to get on with things. My partner John is a massive Sunderland fan; I went with him to a game and, that was it, I was hooked. Turning to football didn't cure the writer's block, but it helped. In the end there was no Eureka moment, it just gradually lifted. Suddenly I was able to finish all those half-written songs.
- ↑ "Official Charts Company: Tasmin Archer". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2014-05-10.
- ↑ "Tasmin Archer - German Chart". charts.de. Retrieved 2014-05-10.
External links
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