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Biography
Use dmy dates|date=March 2012Use British English|date=March 2012Infobox musical artist | name = Mary Hopkin| image = MHbrightonwiki.jpg| caption = Mary Hopkin| background = solo_singer| birth_date = Birth date and age|1950|05|03|df=y http://www.maryhopkin.com maryhopkin.com| origin = Pontardawe , Wales | instrument = Human voice|Vocals , guitar , piano | genre = Folk music|Folk | occupation = Singing|Singer , songwriter | years_active = 1968–present| label = Apple Records|Apple , Bell Records , Mary Hopkin Music| associated_acts = Paul McCartney , Tony Visconti , David Bowie , Ralph McTell , BennyGallagher ,| website = http://www.maryhopkin.com Maryhopkin.com| notable_instruments = Acoustic guitar Mary Hopkin (born 3 May 1950), credited on some recordings as Mary Visconti , is a Welsh people|Welsh folk music|folk singing|singer best known for her 1968 UK number one single (music)|single " Those Were the Days (song)|Those Were The Days ". She was one of the first musician s to sign to The Beatles ' Apple Records|Apple record label|label .
Biography
Early singing career
Hopkin was born in Pontardawe , Wales into a Welsh language|Welsh -speaking family; her father worked as a housing officer. She took weekly singing lessons as a child and began her musical career as a folk singer with a local group called the Selby Set and Mary. She released an Extended play|EP of Welsh-language songs for a local record label called Cambrian, based in her home town, before signing to The Beatles' Apple Records. The model Twiggy saw her winning the United Kingdom|British ITV television talent show , Opportunity Knocks (UK TV series)|Opportunity Knocks and recommended her to Paul McCartney .cite book | first= Jo | last= Rice | year= 1982 | title= The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits | edition= 1st | publisher= Guinness Superlatives Ltd | location= Enfield, Middlesex | page= 120 | isbn= 0-85112-250-7 She became one of the first artists to record on the Beatles' Apple record label.
Her debut single (music)|single , " Those Were the Days (song)|Those Were the Days ", record producer|produced by McCartney, was released in the UK on 30 August 1968 (catalogue number Apple Records discography|APPLE 2 ). Despite competition from a well-established star, Sandie Shaw , who released her version of the same song as a single that same year, Hopkin's version became a Chart-topper|number one hit on the UK Singles Chart , and reached Number 2 in the US Billboard Hot 100 .Allmusic|class=artist|id=p87792|pure_url=yes Allmusic.com - Charts & Awards (singles) - accessed March 2009 It sold over a million and a half copies in the United States alone, and was awarded a music recording sales certification|gold disc by the R.I.A.A. . Global sales topped the eight million mark.cite book | first= Joseph | last= Murrells | year= 1978 | title= The Book of Golden Discs | edition= 2nd | publisher= Barrie and Jenkins Ltd | location= London | page= 241 | isbn= 0-214-20512-6
On 2 October 1968 Hopkin appeared at St Paul's Cathedral , London, for the 'Pop Experience' where she sang "Morning Of My Life", " Turn& #33; Turn& #33; Turn!|Turn Turn Turn " and "Plaisir D'amour".
In December 1968 the NME music magazine reported that Hopkin was considering a lead acting role in Stanley Baker 's forthcoming film, The Rape of the Fair Country .cite book | first= John | last= Tobler | year= 1992 | title= NME Rock 'N' Roll Years | edition= 1st | publisher= Reed International Books Ltd | location= London | pages= 191 | id= CN 5585 That particular project did not materialise but Hopkin did sing the title songs to two of Baker's films, '' Where's Jack? and Kidnapped (1971 film)|Kidnapped .
On 21 February 1969 her debut album, Postcard , also produced by McCartney, was released.cite web |first= |last= |url=Allmusic|class=artist|id=p87792/biography|pure_url=yes |title=Biography by Richie Unterberger |publisher=Allmusic.com |accessdate=24 March 2009 It included cover version|covers of three songs from Donovan , who also played on the album, and one song each from George Martin and Harry Nilsson . It reached number three on the UK Albums Chart , although it proved to be her solitary success story in that particular chart. In the United States, Postcard reached Number 28 on the Billboard (magazine)|Billboard Billboard 200|albums chart .Allmusic|class=artist|id=p87792|pure_url=yes Allmusic.com - Charts & Awards (albums) - accessed March 2009
The next single was "Goodbye" written by McCartney (credited to Lennon–McCartney ), http://www.keithm.utvinternet.ie/ESCstars26.htm Eurovision Stars released on 28 March 1969 (APPLE 10); it reached Number 2 in the UK Singles Chart. It was kept off the top of the charts by the Beatles' single " Get Back ". "Goodbye" has never been officially released by the Beatles, although a Demo (music)|demo version can be found on some of the Beatles bootlegs .
Hopkin's third single, "Temma Harbour", was released on 16 January 1970 (APPLE 22) and peaked at Number 6 in the UK Singles Chart in February. In March, she represented the United Kingdom in the 1970 Eurovision Song Contest , singing " Knock, Knock Who's There? ". Author and historian John Kennedy O'Connor notes in The Eurovision Song Contest — The Official History O'Connor, John Kennedy. The Eurovision Song Contest — The Official History. Carlton Books, UK, 2007. ISBN 978-1-84442-994-3 that she gave a very comfortable performance and sang in a crystal clear voice but despite being the pre-contest favourite, Hopkin came second to "All Kinds of Everything", performed by Irish singer Dana Rosemary Scallon|Dana .
"Knock, Knock, Who's There? " was released as a single on 23 March 1970 (APPLE 26) and became her second Number 2 UK hit. Her second album, Earth Song, Ocean Song, was released by Apple on 1 October 1971. The record was produced by her husband Tony Visconti and included cover versions of songs written by Cat Stevens , Gallagher and Lyle and Ralph McTell .
After the hit singles
After marrying Visconti in 1971, Hopkin withdrew from the popular music|pop music scene to have a family. Although reportedly unhappy with show business , Hopkin did not stop recording. She travelled to Australia with Visconti in January 1972 and performed at a large outdoor rock festival in SouthAustralia , in addition to giving concerts in several major cities. With the help of Visconti, 1972 saw the release of the Christmas song "Mary Had a Baby" / "Cherry Tree Carol" on Regal Zonophone Records , re-released in 1973. In June 1972, the single "Summertime Summertime" / "Sweet And Low" was released on Bell Records (UK)|Bell Records under the name of Hobby Horse.
Although no other singles or albums came out in her name until 1976, she sang on numerous recordings that her husband Visconti produced, such as those featuring Tom Paxton , Ralph McTell, David Bowie ( Low (David Bowie album)|Low ), Bert Jansch , The Radiators From Space , Thin Lizzy , Carmen, Sarstedt Brothers, Osibisa , Sparks (band)|Sparks , Hazel O'Connor and Elaine Paige .
On all of these recordings (and also on her husband's own album Inventory ) she is credited as Mary Visconti . During this time, she also appeared on various television program|TV shows such as Cilla Black 's and various radio programmes.
Return to recording
In 1976, she returned to recording under her own name and released the single "If You Love Me (Really Love Me)" (originally recorded by Édith Piaf ), which reached Number 32 in the UK chart. The A-side and B-side|B-side , "Tell Me Now," was an original composition by Hopkin. Her next single was "Wrap Me In Your Arms," with the B-side again written by Hopkin ("Just A Dreamer"). These singles came out on Visconti's Good Earth Records label. Several songs recorded for an album at the time have now been released under Hopkin's own label, Mary Hopkin Music.
Two members of Steeleye Span (Bob Johnson and Pete Knight) chose Hopkin to play "Princess Lirazel" on their concept album '' The King of Elfland's Daughter (album)|The King of Elfland's Daughter ''. She also appeared at the Cambridge Folk Festival with Bert Jansch. 1976 also saw the birth of her second child. Before the 1970s ended, Decca Records|Decca released a compilation album of Hopkin's Cambrian recordings, The Welsh World of Mary Hopkin .
1980s
Hopkin's first project in the 1980s was a well-reviewed stint playing the Virgin Mary in Rock Nativity at the Hexagon Theatre in Reading, Berkshire|Reading , Berkshire . http://homepage.ntlworld.com/pat.richmonds/diary2.htm Homepage.ntlworld.com After this, Mike Hurst (producer)|Mike Hurst (record producer and formerly of The Springfields ) asked her to sing lead in a new group named Sundance that he had formed with Mike de Albuquerque of Electric Light Orchestra|ELO . Their only single, "What's Love", allowed them to tour the UK with Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show|Dr. Hook but Hopkin quickly left the group, dissatisfied with the gigs. "What's Love" proved very popular in South Africa, albeit the only territory that it charted, where it peaked at no.10 in April 1982. In 2002, Hurst released recordings from this time on the Angel Air Records|Angel Air label.
Hopkin and Visconti divorced in 1981. The following year she provided melisma tic vocals on "Rachel's Song" for the Vangelis soundtrack of Blade Runner (soundtrack)|Blade Runner . Around 1984, Peter Skellern asked her to join him and Julian Lloyd Webber in a band called Oasis (1980s group)|Oasis . Their album Oasis was released on Warner Music Group|WEA along with two singles. A concert tour|tour of the UK was planned but was brought to an abrupt end because Hopkin became ill. The group disbanded shortly afterwards.
During the 1980s Hopkin appeared in several charity shows, including an appearance at the London Palladium with Ralph McTell. In 1988, she took part in George Martin's production of Dylan Thomas ' Under Milk Wood . She played the character Rosie Probert and notably performed a piece called "Love Duet" with Freddie Jones as Captain Cat. The making of the record was filmed and made into a special edition of The South Bank Show , where Hopkin and Jones were shown rehearsing and recording "Love Duet". In 1992, the cast reunited for a performance of the Play (theatre)|play as a tribute to Thomas in the presence of Charles, Prince of Wales|Prince Charles for The Prince's Trust .
Hopkin recorded an album called Spirit in 1989. This was released on the Trax Records|Trax label and is a collection of light Classical music|classical songs and featured the single " Ave Maria (Bach/Gounod)|Ave Maria ". The record was produced by Gallagher and Lyle|Benny Gallagher of Gallagher and Lyle, who had contributed songs to her during her days at Apple Records.
1990s
Early in 1990, Hopkin sang with The Chieftains at the London Palladium in a charitable organization|charity show, and later joined them on a tour of the UK.
She continued to do projects of her choosing, working with people like Julian Colbeck ; she wrote the lyrics and performed a song on his Compact disc|CD Back to Bach . Also, there was Marc Cerrone's The Collector , a stage play/ opera , for which she performed two tracks on the CD and video . She worked again with her old friends guitarist Brian Willoughby and Dave Cousins (of Strawbs ) on their CD The Bridge . Hopkin also appeared on a Beatles' tribute album by RAM Pietsch.
Around 1996, the Welsh label Sain bought Cambrian's back catalogue and released all Hopkin's Welsh recordings on a CD called Y Caneuon Cynnar/The Early Recordings , which removed the overdubbing|overdubbed drum s found in the Decca recordings.
In 1999, she again joined The Chieftains on their UK tour, and later that year performed concerts in Scotland with BennyGallagher and JimDiamond (Scottish musician)|Jim Diamond . More recentlywhen|date=February 2011 there have been three TV Documentary film|documentaries about her, one each for ITV Wales & West|HTV , BBC Television and S4C .
She made a guest appearance on The Crocketts ' album The Great Brain Robbery , sang the theme music|theme song for Billy Connolly 's BBC TV series The World Tour , and re-recorded "Those Were The Days" with RobinWilliams rapping . She also appeared in the Sarah Sugarman film Very Annie Mary and duetted with Dolly Parton on her 2005 album, Those Were the Days (Dolly Parton album)|Those Were the Days (appearing on Parton's cover of the title track), which went to Number 48 on the US Billboard 200 chart (Number 9 Top Country Albums|US Country )Allmusic|class=artist|id=p1759|pure_url=yes Allmusic.com - Charts & Awards (Dolly Parton) - accessed March 2009 and Number 35 in the UK. http://www.everyhit.com/searchsec.php Everyhit.com - accessed March 2009
2000s
In September 2005 she released a retrospective album on her own label, Mary Hopkin Music, entitled Live at the Royal Festival Hall . It was followed in December 2006 by a Christmas recording, "Snowed Under", released as an mp3 uploading and downloading|download on the Welsh Online shopping|online store , Disaudio. http://www.disaudio.com Disaudio.com
To celebrate her 57th birthday in 2007, she released an album called Valentine on her new eponymous label. It included 12 previously unheard tracks dating from 1972 to 1980, three of which were written by Hopkin. In 2008, a new album, Recollections , was released on her own label. It included 11 tracks that were originally recorded between 1970 and 1986, alongside a CD of three Christmas songs, which included "Mary Had a Baby" and " Cherry Tree Carol " (these tracks were first released on Regal Zonophone in 1972) and "Snowed Under", which was released in 2006 as a download only. In May 2009 her final archival CD Now and Then was released. It comprises 14 tracks recorded between 1970 and 1988. Mary Hopkin sang the song Y ’deryn pur (Gentle Bird) on the album Blodeugerdd: Song of the Flowers - An Anthology of Welsh Music and Song released by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings in June 2009.
2010s
Hopkin's daughter, Jessica Lee Morgan , released her first CD, called I Am Not , on which Hopkin sings on a couple of songs.
In October 2010, Hopkin and her son, Morgan Visconti , released You Look Familiar a collaboration which brings together Hopkin's melodies, lyrics and vocals with her son's instrumentation and arrangements.
s-startsuccession box |before= Lulu (singer)|Lulu with " Boom Bang-a-Bang " | title= UK in the Eurovision Song Contest | years=1970 | after= Clodagh Rodgers with " Jack in the Box (song)|Jack in the Box " |
s-end Persondata | NAME = Hopkin, Mary | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = 3 May 1950 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Hopkin, Mary Category:Welsh-speaking people Category:1950 births Category:Apple Records artists Category:Bards of the Gorsedd Category:British Eurovision Song Contest entrants Category:Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1970 Category:Living people Category:People from Pontardawe Category:Welsh female singers Category:Welsh songwriters
