Carmel McCourt (born 24 November 1958) is an English singer, best known as the lead vocalist for her eponymous band Carmel, with bassist Jim Paris and drummer Gerry Darby.

Early life

Born in

Wrawby Wrawby is a village in North Lincolnshire, England. It lies east of Brigg and close to Humberside Airport, on the A18. The 2001 Census recorded a village population of 1,293, in around 600 homes, which increased to 1,469 at the 2011 census. ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

, England, Carmel McCourt attended St Bede's Catholic School on Collum Avenue in Ashby,

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town and unparished area in the unitary authority of North Lincolnshire in Lincolnshire, England of which it is the main administrative centre. Scunthorpe had an estimated total population of 82,334 in 2016. A ...

, and Brigg Girls' High School.

Career

Carmel McCourt first came into the public eye as vocalist on the 1982 single "Rain Rain Rain" by Soundtracks and Head. She was credited as C. T. McCourt. In the 1980s and into the 1990s, Carmel achieved success in the UK and Europe with albums and singles charting on both the

UK Albums The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

and

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

s, respectively. At the start of the new millennium, Darby left the band and in 2002, Paris and McCourt toured with a nine-piece band performing old material. A 2004 live DVD titled ''More, More, More'' was released featuring full band performances and an interview with McCourt and Paris. In December 2011, McCourt and Paris, still working under the name Carmel, released the album ''Strictly Piaf'', which consisted of 10 cover versions of songs by

Edith Piaf Edith is a feminine given name derived from the Old English words ēad, meaning 'riches or blessed', and is in common usage in this form in English, German, many Scandinavian languages and Dutch. Its French form is Édith. Contractions and var ...

. As of October 2012, McCourt was set to return to live work with a new band formation, performing Carmel classics as well as material from the ''Strictly Piaf'' album. Dates included those at London's

Islington Town Hall Islington Town Hall is a municipal facility in Upper Street, Islington, London. The town hall, which is the headquarters for Islington London Borough Council, is a Grade II listed building. History The building was commissioned to replace the ...

, Stockton Georgian Theatre, and Manchester Band on The Wall. Of the shows, she said: "It will be wonderful to work with the new musicians. They are all great in their own right and it will be so sweet to hear the many songs that Gerry Darby, Jim Paris and I wrote together in the years spanning the 1980s and the 1990s." McCourt took the band on a European tour of Germany and Switzerland towards the end of May 2013 and began to start playing some of the new songs she had been writing. On 25 September 2015, McCourt released her first new single with her new band, the double A-side "Sad Situation"/"Second Wife Blues", on new independent label Kultura Recordings. Both tracks were recorded at Limefield Studio in Middleton and mixed and mastered by Kevin O'Toole. On 2 June 2018, McCourt played her first live date in four years, playing St. Agnes' Church,

Longsight Longsight is an inner city suburb of Manchester, England, located south of the city centre. It is bounded by Ardwick and West Gorton to the north; Levenshulme to the south; and Chorlton-on-Medlock, Victoria Park and Fallowfield to the west ...

, Manchester, followed by summer dates across the North of England including some festivals.

Discography

Albums

;with Carmel *''Carmel'' (1982, Red Flame) – UK #94 (6-track mini-album) *''The Drum Is Everything'' (1984,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

) – UK #19 *''The Falling'' (1986, London) – UK #88 *''Everybody's Got a Little...Soul'' (1987, London) *''Set Me Free'' (1989, London) *''Good News'' (1993, East West) *''World's Gone Crazy'' (1995, East West) *''Live in Paris'' (1997, East West) *''Live at Ronnie Scott's'' (1998, East West) *''Strictly Piaf'' (2011,

Secret Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret. Secrecy is often controvers ...

) *''Wild Country'' (2022, Secret)

Singles

;Solo *"You're on My Mind" (with

Rossana Casale Rossana Casale (born July 21, 1959) is an Italian singer. Biography Casale was born in New York City to an Italian-American father, photographer Giac Casale, and an Italian mother. Shortly after her birth the family moved to Venice, Italy, then ...

) (1991), London Records *"La Complainte Pour Sainte Catherine" (with

Jo Lemaire Jo Lemaire (born 5 January 1956) is a Belgian singer and songwriter born in Gembloux, Namur. Beyond her native country, she is also popular in France, Switzerland, Canada, and the Netherlands. Career Jo Lemaire debuted musically in the late 1 ...

) (1994), Play That Beat!

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCourt, Carmel 1958 births Living people English women singers English jazz singers English soul singers People from Scunthorpe Musicians from Lincolnshire