Caroline Crawley Explained

Caroline Crawley
Birth Date:1963 8, df=y
Birth Place:Bournemouth, England
Occupation:Singer
Past Member Of:Shelleyan Orphan, This Mortal Coil, Babacar

Caroline Crawley (8 August 1963 – 4 October 2016) was an English singer who sang for various bands.

Career

Caroline Crawley was the co-founder of Shelleyan Orphan alongside guitarist Jemaur Tayle. They met in their mutual home town of Bournemouth, England,[1] where they had a shared appreciation of the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.[2]

The name of the band comes from the Shelley poem "Spirit of Solitude". Crawley was the lead vocalist in the band[3] that went on to release four albums, Helleborine (1987), Century Flower (1989), Humroot (1992) and We Have Everything We Need (2008). In 1991, Crawley was approached by 4AD Records founder Ivo Watts-Russell who asked her to appear on four tracks of This Mortal Coil's album Blood. Crawley was permitted to do her own interpretations of the tracks, and appeared in the video for the Syd Barrett cover, "Late Night".

In the early 1990s, Crawley formed Babacar along with bassist Roberto Soave, guitarist Rob Steen, and drummer Boris Williams. They made their live debut playing four songs at the 4AD Records 13 Year Itch celebration on 22 July 1993 at the ICA, London.[4] They released one album, Babacar in 1998, which also featured Porl Thompson, and were later joined by Jemaur Tayle.[5]

Death

Crawley died on 4 October 2016 after a long illness. She is survived by her daughter.[5]

Discography

Albums

as part of Shelleyan Orphan
as part of This Mortal Coil
as part of Babacar

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Shelleyan Orphan – Interview. pennyblackmusic.co.uk. 9 October 2016. 1 January 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180101153731/http://www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk/MagSitePages/Article/4992/Shelleyan-Orphan-Interview. dead.
  2. Strong, Martin C. (2003) The Great Indie Discography, Canongate;, pp. 500–01
  3. http://www.post-punk.com/caroline-crawley-of-shelleyan-orphan-and-this-mortal-coil-has-passed-away "Caroline Crawley of Shelleyan Orphan and This Mortal Coil has passed away"
  4. Facing The Other Way: The 4AD Story by Martin Aston; book issued 26 September 2013 The Friday Project
  5. Web site: Robert Ham. The World Should Remember Caroline Crawley's Voice. 5 October 2016 . Pitchfork. 16 October 2016.