Born Alison Moira Clarkson in London on 6 March 1970
English singer, songwriter and rapper.
She studied sound engineering at the Holloway School of Audio Engineering
Whilst still at school, she began her musical career in hip-hop groups such as Hit ’N’ Run and the She Rockers
Success with the She Rockers led her to New York and work with Public Enemy, who encouraged her to pursue a solo career.
She first came to mainstream in the late 1980s following a collaboration with the Beatmasters on the song Hey DJ – I Can’t Dance (To That Music You’re Playing)
She was voted British Breakthrough Act at the 1991 BRIT Awards
Originally nicknamed for her similarity to a cartoon character, she changed it slightly to avoid trademark disputes.
She had an unusual, striking ‘Emma Peel’ (from the Avengers) -like look, dressed in mildly revealing 60s outfits
Her 1990 solo single, Doin’ The Do, was a UK top 10, selling 200,000 copies
Her backing singers are called the Boosters
Her career suffered a setback while touring Australia, where she was revealed to be lip-synching at a concert rather than performing live. She fled the stage after dropping her microphone, revealing she was miming to a backing track.
She has written songs for Louise Nurding, Dannii Minogue, The Tweenies and for Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s
She was inspiration in the formation of the Spice Girls – the record company were looking for 5 larger than life cartoon characters
She co-wrote Pure and Simple – The song became a huge hit when it was released as the debut single of Hear’Say—winners of the reality TV show, Popstars
In 2006 she formed a pop duo called WigWam with Alex James, bassist from Blur.
Her hits include: “Doin’ the Do”, “Where Are You Baby?”, and “Let Me Take You There”.
