Lisa
Jane Stansfield was born in Manchester on April
11th 1966. Her family moved to Heywood, then to
Rochdale at age 11. Lisa has an elder sister, Karen,
and a younger sister, Suzanne. Lisa's style is one
of soul, jazz, and dance music. She admits that
her mother's playing of Diana Ross and the Supremes
was her first musical influence, with her idols
being Barry White and Marvin Gaye. At the age of
14, she entered a talent contest sponsored by The
Manchester Evening News. It was at a club - The
Talk Of The Town - where she won a singing competition,
which led to TV . Approaching the age of 15/16,
she started to record, making successful pop records.
Wanting to get her records played on a show called
"Razzamatazz", she sent pictures and her
recordings. From this, the producer hired her for
the show.
About 1983, Lisa, and former school mates, Andy
Morris and Ian Devaney, formed the group Blue Zone
(known as Blue Zone UK in the US). They wrote some
songs, produced a demo, and took it around to record
labels.A small indie label, Rockin' Horse Records
signed them. Rockin' Horse was eventually bought
up by Arista Records. Blue Zone's first single "On
Fire" was getting popular, but a disastrous
fire at King's Cross made them pull the record as
not to offend. The next tune was "Thinking
About His Baby", with the b-side "Big
Thing". KISS-FM picked up on "Big Thing",
as did the clubs, and it sold 10,000 singles in
a week.
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Andy and Ian had worked previously with the production
team of Matt Black and Jonathan Moore, know as Coldcut,
on the song "Stop This Crazy Thing". They
told Coldcut of Lisa's vocal skills, and in 1989,
Blue Zone with Coldcut recorded and released "People
Hold On". The song soared to Number 11 on the
UK charts. On the strength of this hit, Arista signed
Lisa as a solo artist, with Andy and Ian as her
composers, musicians, and producers. Coldcut returned
the favour by producingLisa next record "This
Is The Right Time".
Lisa’s first solo breakthrough hit came in
1989 with the massive worldwide smash, ‘All
Around The World’. A number one hit in the
UK and US where it topped both the pop and R&B
charts, ‘All Around The World’ won an
Ivor Novello award for Best Contemporary Pop Song.
Lisa’s debut album, ‘Affection’,
entirely co-written by the ex-Blue Zone members
has sold nearly 5 million copies worldwide.
Now based in Dublin, Lisa Stansfield has achieved
phenomenal success in partnership with Ian Devaney
and Andy Morris.
BRIT Awards (British Grammy)
1990 - Most Promising Newcomer
1991 - Best British Female Artist
1992 - Best British Female Artist
DMC Awards
1990 - Best Album (Affection)
1990 - Best Artist
1991 - Best Album (Real Love)
Silver Clef Award
1990 - Best New Artist
World Music Award
1991 - Best British Artist
ASCAP Award
1991- Writer of the Most Performed Song
(All Around The World)
Ivor Novello Award
1990 - Best Contemporary Song
(All Around The World)
1991 - Best International Song
(All Around The World)
Billboard Award
1990 - Best Newcomer
An accomplished and versatile performer, equally
comfortable with dance, pop and soul, Lisa Stansfield
has been a familiar and welcome presence in the
charts for fifteen years. All six studio albums
to date have seen Lisa evolving into the complete
artist she is today. Down to earth, intelligent
and gifted, Lisa Stansfield has consistently produced
songs from the heart delivered in her own distinctive,
effortlessly powerful voice.
Now, Lisa Stansfield is back. Back with a new album,
a new producer, the innovative Trevor Horn and an
exciting new sound. Lisa’s unmistakable voice
sounds as fresh as ever but the songs on new album,
‘The Moment’, reveal an established artist
still evolving and still experimenting.
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According to Lisa: “I was nervous about this
album, but all my life I have done things that have
scared me, from a really early age I have been thrown
in the deep end and I think that is the only way
I can work.”
In an inspired move and in what is undoubtedly a
marriage made in musical heaven, Lisa is working
with Trevor Horn- the acclaimed producer behind
Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Seal. Production started
on ‘The Moment’ at the beginning of 2004.
“The whole thing was just really refreshing.
We would write really quickly and just go in and
see what worked. Initially we played with a full
band andthen Trevor would add and take things away.
But there is a live, relaxed feel to some of the
vocals, which came from those early sessions. I
am a real perfectionist and it was just really exciting
to let go.”
‘The Moment’ follows the success of last
year’s greatest hits collection, ‘Biography’
which charted at number 3 in the UK album charts.
In total, Lisa has sold nearly 20 million albums
worldwide cementing her position as one of Britain’s
most popular and gifted female vocalists.
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