Helen Boulding
Encyclopedia
Helen Boulding is a London
-based singer-songwriter originally from Sheffield
, South Yorkshire
, UK. Her first album, New Red Dress, was released in February 2008.
, a picture hanging in Fagan's features on the back sleeve of his current album, Lady's Bridge
.
Helen chose music over sport, coming from a high achieving sports family. Her brother Michael
was an ATP-ranking tennis player before switching to football, playing in the Premier League for Aston Villa
in 2002. Michael and brother Rory
also played in the same team at Mansfield Town
and Bradford City
. Her sister Sally was a world-ranked tennis player and her other sister, Laura, played rounders
for England.
She co-wrote the 911
song "The Day We Find Love" which was UK top 5 hit in 1997.
In 2002 she provided backing vocals on two tracks, "Help Me Help You" and "Naughty Girl
", on Holly Valance
's album Footprints
.
In the past Helen has written with some of the biggest names in music. Simon Tong
(The Good, the Bad and the Queen
, The Verve
) has written recently with Helen and some of these songs appear as bonus tracks on the forthcoming singles. She has also written with Squeeze's Chris Difford
and managed to persuade Pink Floyd
's Rick Wright
out of retirement to write some songs with her.
She has also collaborated with the renowned songwriter, Billy Steinberg
(Eternal Flame
, True Colors
, Like a Virgin
). She also co-wrote Maybe That's What It Takes
, the debut single of Alex Parks
, a top five hit in the UK in 2003.
In 2007 she toured Europe with Bryan Ferry
before returning to London to do dates in the run up to Christmas. She guests on the title track from The Orb
's new album The Dream, which she also co-wrote. She also performed on BBC One
's evening primetime magazine show The One Show
as a last-minute replacement for Rolan Bolan, who was due to perform on the show on the anniversary of his father's death. Bolan was held up in the United States
, and at the suggestion of presenter Adrian Chiles
, who had heard some of Helen's songs, she was invited to step in, performing Marc Bolan
's "Life’s A Gas" in front of Bolan's mum Gloria Jones
.
Her debut album New Red Dress was released on her own Maid in Sheffield label on 11 February 2008. She co-wrote all songs on the album with, amongst others, Phil Thornalley
(of The Cure
) and Martin Glover
. The album was also produced by Glover (Youth). The album cover photo was taken by Bryan Adams
. It was BBC Radio 2
's Album of the Week prior to its release.
Two singles have been taken from the album, "Breathe" and "Copenhagen".
Helen continues to write songs for some of the biggest names in the music business and her ability to achieve chart success has been spotted by many in the industry resulting in her recent publishing deal.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
-based singer-songwriter originally from Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...
, UK. Her first album, New Red Dress, was released in February 2008.
Biography
Growing up, she was introduced to music by her Uncle Tom who ran Fagan's in Sheffield, a pub well known to local bands and artists for the music sessions that take place regularly. A regular haunt for the likes of Richard HawleyRichard Hawley
Richard Hawley is a guitarist, singer-songwriter and producer. After his first band Treebound Story broke up, Hawley found success as a member of Britpop band Longpigs in the 1990s. He later joined the band Pulp, led by his friend Jarvis Cocker...
, a picture hanging in Fagan's features on the back sleeve of his current album, Lady's Bridge
Lady's Bridge (album)
Lady's Bridge is the fifth studio album from musician Richard Hawley, released in August 2007 in the UK. The album follows his 2005 Mercury Music Prize-nominated album Coles Corner. Lady's Bridge is a landmark location in Hawley's hometown of Sheffield. The song "Dark Road" originally appeared as a...
.
Helen chose music over sport, coming from a high achieving sports family. Her brother Michael
Michael Boulding
Michael Thomas Boulding is an English professional footballer. He can play as a forward or as a winger, and had previously been a promising young tennis player, ranking among the top 20 players in Britain...
was an ATP-ranking tennis player before switching to football, playing in the Premier League for Aston Villa
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...
in 2002. Michael and brother Rory
Rory Boulding
Rory Joseph Boulding is an English footballer currently played for Scottish League side Livingston FC. He started his career alongside his elder brother, Michael at Mansfield Town...
also played in the same team at Mansfield Town
Mansfield Town F.C.
Mansfield Town Football Club is an English football club from the former mining town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. The club was formed in 1897 as Mansfield Wesleyans and changed its name to Mansfield Wesley in 1906 before settling on Mansfield Town in 1910...
and Bradford City
Bradford City A.F.C.
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, playing in League Two....
. Her sister Sally was a world-ranked tennis player and her other sister, Laura, played rounders
Rounders
Rounders is a game played between two teams of either gender. The game originated in England where it was played in Tudor times. Rounders is a striking and fielding team game that involves hitting a small, hard, leather-cased ball with a round wooden, plastic or metal bat. The players score by...
for England.
She co-wrote the 911
911 (band)
911 is a British boyband that consists of Lee Brennan, Jimmy Constable Spike Dawbarn and for a short period Lee Womack who left the band to study at Huddersfield University. The band were formed in 1995 and released their debut single in May 1996...
song "The Day We Find Love" which was UK top 5 hit in 1997.
In 2002 she provided backing vocals on two tracks, "Help Me Help You" and "Naughty Girl
Naughty Girl (Holly Valance song)
"Naughty Girl" is a pop song written by Grant Black, Cozi Costi, Deborah Ffrench and Brio Taliaferro, and produced by Phil Thornalley. Holly Valance recorded the track for her debut album Footprints and was the third and final track released from the album. It was released as a CD single in late...
", on Holly Valance
Holly Valance
Holly Valance is an Australian actress, singer, and model, who has dual United Kingdom citizenship. Valance began her career as Felicity "Flick" Scully on the Australian soap opera Neighbours...
's album Footprints
Footprints (album)
Footprints is the first album by Australian singer Holly Valance, released in the United Kingdom by London Records on 14 October 2002 ....
.
In the past Helen has written with some of the biggest names in music. Simon Tong
Simon Tong
Simon Tong is a guitarist and keyboardist who was a member of The Verve between 1996 and 1999 and is currently a member of Erland and the Carnival and Transmission. He has also played on tour with Blur, Gorillaz and the unnamed supergroup responsible for The Good, the Bad & the Queen...
(The Good, the Bad and the Queen
The Good, the Bad and the Queen
The Good, the Bad & the Queen is the album by an ostensibly unnamed British alternative rock supergroup also commonly referred to as The Good, The Bad & The Queen, and made up of Damon Albarn, Paul Simonon, Simon Tong and Tony Allen. The album was released in January 2007...
, The Verve
The Verve
The Verve were an English rock band formed in 1989 in Wigan by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bassist Simon Jones, and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboardist Simon Tong later became a member. Beginning with a psychedelic sound indebted to shoegazing and space...
) has written recently with Helen and some of these songs appear as bonus tracks on the forthcoming singles. She has also written with Squeeze's Chris Difford
Chris Difford
Chris Difford is a singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer....
and managed to persuade Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
's Rick Wright
Richard Wright (musician)
Richard William Wright was an English pianist, keyboardist and songwriter, best known for his career with Pink Floyd. Wright's richly textured keyboard layers were a vital ingredient and a distinctive characteristic of Pink Floyd's sound...
out of retirement to write some songs with her.
She has also collaborated with the renowned songwriter, Billy Steinberg
Billy Steinberg
William Endfield "Billy" Steinberg is an American songwriter. He has achieved most of his success as part of a song writing team, most notably with Tom Kelly. He has also co-written several hit songs with Rick Nowels.-Biography:...
(Eternal Flame
Eternal Flame (song)
"Eternal Flame" is a song by The Bangles from their 1988 album Everything. It became a hit single, when released in 1989, peaking at number one in the charts in nine countries, including Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It was written by popular songwriters Billy Steinberg and...
, True Colors
True Colors (song)
"True Colors" is a song written by songwriters Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, additional lyrics by Cyndi Lauper. It was both the title track and the first single released from Cyndi Lauper's second album. It was the only original song on the album that Lauper did not help write...
, Like a Virgin
Like a Virgin (song)
"Like a Virgin" is a song by American singer Madonna from her second album of the same name. It was released on November 6, 1984 by Sire Records, as the first single from the album. The song appears on the greatest hits compilation albums The Immaculate Collection and Celebration...
). She also co-wrote Maybe That's What It Takes
Maybe That's What It Takes
"Maybe That's What It Takes" is a song by Alex Parks, taken from her debut album Introduction. It was released as a single on 17 November 2003, shortly after she won the second series of Fame Academy, and peaked at number three in the UK Singles Chart....
, the debut single of Alex Parks
Alex Parks
Alex Parks is an English singer-songwriter. She is best known for winning Fame Academy in 2003, for her singles, and for the albums, Introduction and Honesty.-Biography:...
, a top five hit in the UK in 2003.
In 2007 she toured Europe with Bryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry, CBE is an English singer, musician, and songwriter. Ferry came to public prominence in the early 1970s as lead vocalist and principal songwriter with the band Roxy Music, who enjoyed a highly successful career with three number one albums and ten singles entering the top ten charts in...
before returning to London to do dates in the run up to Christmas. She guests on the title track from The Orb
The Orb
Throughout 1989, the Orb, along with Martin Glover, developed the musical genre of ambient house through the use of a diverse array of samples and recordings. The culmination of its musical work came toward the end of the year when the group recorded a session for John Peel on BBC Radio 1...
's new album The Dream, which she also co-wrote. She also performed on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
's evening primetime magazine show The One Show
The One Show
The One Show is a topical magazine-style daily television programme broadcast live on BBC One and BBC One HD, hosted by Alex Jones and Matt Baker. Chris Evans joins Jones to present the programme on Friday...
as a last-minute replacement for Rolan Bolan, who was due to perform on the show on the anniversary of his father's death. Bolan was held up in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and at the suggestion of presenter Adrian Chiles
Adrian Chiles
Adrian Chiles is a British television and radio presenter, currently working for ITV Sport presenting football coverage....
, who had heard some of Helen's songs, she was invited to step in, performing Marc Bolan
Marc Bolan
Marc Bolan was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist and poet. He is best known as the founder, frontman, lead singer & guitarist for T. Rex, but also a successful solo artist...
's "Life’s A Gas" in front of Bolan's mum Gloria Jones
Gloria Jones
Gloria Richetta Jones is an American singer and songwriter from Los Angeles, California. She recorded the 1964 northern soul song, "Tainted Love", later a hit for the British synth-pop duo, Soft Cell. She was the girlfriend of glam rock artist Marc Bolan of the band T...
.
Her debut album New Red Dress was released on her own Maid in Sheffield label on 11 February 2008. She co-wrote all songs on the album with, amongst others, Phil Thornalley
Phil Thornalley
Phil Thornalley is a songwriter-producer who has worked in the music industry since 1978. He is perhaps best known for co-writing the song "Torn" which Natalie Imbruglia later covered to great success for her 1997 debut album, Left of the Middle...
(of The Cure
The Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...
) and Martin Glover
Martin Glover
Martin Glover, also known as Youth, is a record producer and a founding member and bassist of the UK band Killing Joke. He is a member of The Fireman along with Paul McCartney. Glover was born in Africa.-Early career:...
. The album was also produced by Glover (Youth). The album cover photo was taken by Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written...
. It was BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
's Album of the Week prior to its release.
Two singles have been taken from the album, "Breathe" and "Copenhagen".
Helen continues to write songs for some of the biggest names in the music business and her ability to achieve chart success has been spotted by many in the industry resulting in her recent publishing deal.
Singles
- "Housework EP" (Main Spring) - 11 April 2005
- "I Don't Know What I Want But I Know What I Need" (Main Spring) - 13 February 2006
- "What A Fool" (Maid in Sheffield) - 31 July 2006
- "Breathe" - 9 November 2007
- "Copenhagen" - 4 February 2008