Helen Rogers began singing in 1978 with One Stop Music, an independent

Independent record label

An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...

 South London

South London

South London is the southern part of London, England, United Kingdom.According to the 2011 official Boundary Commission for England definition, South London includes the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton and...

 label

Record label

In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

 specialising in reggae

Reggae

Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...

 music. After joining Brit funk

Brit funk

Brit funk is a musical style that has its origins in the British music scene of the late 1970s-80s. It mixes elements from funk and soul music with original jazz-funk and Caribbean overtones....

 band Direct Drive as lead vocalist in 1982, Rogers (along with bandmates Pete Quinton, Robert Williams, Mick Ward and Mick Hammond) entered the Black Echoes

Black Echoes

Black Echoes is a Jamaican music show which has been broadcasting on radio in Dublin, Ireland. The show airs a range of music, including reggae, ska, rock-steady and dub. The show is presented by John Public, and produced by Miss Pat alongside Broadcast Assistant Denzil Lacey The show broadcasts on...

 Top 20 with "In The Middle of Spring" and "Pass The Paper" respectively.

In December 1984 the band released "Anything?" which reached #1 in the UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 Black Echoes chart

Record chart

A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....

, remaining there for six weeks, and crossed over to the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 peaking at #67. This occurred after the band had signed to Polydor Records

Polydor Records

Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...

. Direct Drive then released "A.B.C. (Falling in Love's Not Easy)" which also charted peaking at #75 in the UK Singles Chart.

Rogers continued to record with Pete Quinton, and provided vocals on two of his songs "Half Chances" and "Shifting Sands", which featured in the 1987 film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 Sammy and Rosie Get Laid

Sammy and Rosie Get Laid

Sammy and Rosie Get Laid is a film directed by Stephen Frears, with a screenplay by Hanif Kureishi; features Fine Young Cannibals singer Roland Gift in one of his earliest screen appearances.-Plot synopsis:...

. She also sang with funk band 7th Heaven, and provided vocals on Rory Bremner

Rory Bremner

Roderick "Rory" Keith Ogilvy Bremner, FKC is a Scottish impressionist, playwright and comedian, noted for his work in political satire...

's spoof cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

 version of Paul Hardcastle

Paul Hardcastle

Paul Hardcastle is an English composer and musician, specialising in the synthesizer.-Discography:In the early 1980s, Hardcastle played the keyboards on several singles on the Oval record label by the dance music groups Direct Drive and First Light, before going solo.He achieved some acclaim for...

's "19

19 (song)

"19" is a song by British musician Paul Hardcastle released as the first single from his self-titled third studio album Paul Hardcastle ....

" ("N-N-Nineteen Not Out" - UK #13). Rogers in addition providing backing vocals

Backing vocalist

A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...

 to Hardcastle's remix

Remix

A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....

 of Third World's

Third World (band)

Third World is a Jamaican reggae band formed in 1973. Their sound is influenced by soul, funk and disco.-History:Third World started when keyboard player Michael "Ibo" Cooper and guitarist Stephen "Cat" Coore, who had originally played in The Alley Cats then Inner Circle, subsequently left to form...

 "Now That We Found Love

Now That We Found Love

"Now That We Found Love" was written by Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff and originally recorded by The O'Jays. Cover versions have been an album track by Martha Reeves, a reggae-disco hit by the reggae band Third World and a breakthrough hit for Heavy D...

", and his version of Junior Walker's "Walk In The Night".

From 1989-90 Rogers worked in the recording studio

Recording studio

A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...

 and undertook some gigs with Lee Fardon and his band. From 1992 onwards Rogers co-wrote and sang lead and backing vocals on Paul Hardcastle's project The Jazzmasters, which resulted in multiple number one hits in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 and the US

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. She also wrote and recorded some tracks for Hardcastle's simultaneous eponymous project. The Jazzmasters recorded five albums plus various compilation album

Compilation album

A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

s of hits e.g. "The Smooth Cuts" featuring Helen Rogers.

Returning to her Lovers rock

Lovers rock

Lovers rock is a style of reggae music noted for its romantic sound and content. While love songs had been an important part of reggae since the late 1960s, the style was given a greater focus and a name in London in the mid 1970s.-History:...

 beginnings in 2003, Rogers recorded an album of reggae covers of 1970s pop hits with Black Steel

Black Steel

Black Steel is an Australian heavy metal band, whose career highlights include supporting rock legends Deep Purple , Judas Priest , Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society and appearing at the Metallica-headlined 'Big Day Out' Perth show in 2004. They are listed in Garry Sharpe-Young's 'The A-Z Of Power...

. The duo

Duet (music)

A duet is a musical composition for two performers. In classical music, the term is most often used for a composition for two singers or pianists; with other instruments, the word duo is also often used. A piece performed by two pianists performing together on the same piano is referred to as...

 had previously released a reggae version of "Tracks of My Tears" in 1988, which had reached the Top 10 in Jamaica.

In 2008, Rogers released an EP

Extended play

An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

 of songs co-written with guitarist

Guitarist

A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...

 Tony Qunta, entitled "Eyes Like Midnight", which was a departure in style and featured violin

Violin

The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

 and cello

Cello

The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...

played by Qunta.

In 2011 she is writing and recording a solo Lovers Rock album with renowned producer Lindel Lewis.