Titus writes:
I was pleased to receive positive feedback from Lex and others following my blog, and may I say that Friday night’s show was its usual excellent self.First,
I have discovered that many show biz people we know and love, don’t
use the name they were born with, for a variety of reasons. Perhaps the
most famous example is that of Lady Gaga, who, in my opinion over the
years has underlined the fact that she is a very capable musician, in
addition to being a good actor.
Stefani
Joanne Angelina Germanotta (her real name) was apparently called
“Gaga” by her producer Robert Fusari, who said that she reminded him
constantly of Queen’s Radio Gaga, and indeed allegedly sang
her the record, every time she came into the room! To cut a long story
short, she reinvented herself by using the name Lady Gaga as her stage
name.
Other name changes for professional purposes have included:-
Katy Perry (born Kathryn Hudson)
Nicki Minaj (Onika Tanya Maraj)
Lana del Rey (Elizabeth Woolridge Grant)
Natalie Portman (Natalie Hershlag)
Elton John (Reginald Dwight)
Winona Ryder (Winona Horowitz)
Lily James (Lily Thomson)
Sid Vicious (Simon Ritchie)
Adam Ant (Stuart Goddard)
Gary Numan (Gary Anthony James Webb)
There
must be thousands more for me to fill pages and pages of this blog,
but I won’t bang on, and I hope my spelling is correct. The above
covers just a few!
Second I am requesting Lex to play Perfume by the Paris Angels this week. A bit about this lovable bunch of mop
tops. They were only active from 1990 – 92 (more about that later), and
were a seven piece band from Ashton-under-Lyne, which was originally
in Lancashire, but in recent times is part of Greater Manchester. They
were an indie band, playing alternative rock and electronic dance
music, at first recording for Sheer Joy Records, and then Virgin.
Perhaps the most well known member of the band was Paul Wagstaff, who
later played for Black Grape, and then the re-formed Happy Mondays.
Perfume
– arguably their best known song was released on Sheer Joy, then
re-released on Virgin, and spent most of the Summer of 1990 in the
indie Top Ten. They also released other singles, followed by a session
for John Peel.
Regrettably following their recording of an excellent first LP Sundew, Virgin
was sold to EMI, and the Paris Angels were removed from Virgin’s
plans, and an eagerly awaited second album was never released. At this
time, singer Jayne Gill was expecting a child, and with no recording contract, the band called time on a short-lived career.
They,
like a number of bands reformed, and in 2013 signed with Stereokill
Recordings to finally release their second LP (recorded in 1992).
However this deal fell through and the group decided to make the album a
free download on Bandcamp Records. Since then I haven’t heard much of
them, although I believe they are still working.