Janet Kay Bogle (born 17 January 1958) is an English actor and vocalist, best known for her 1979 lovers rock hit "

Silly Games Silly may refer to: Places * Silly, Belgium, a town * Silly Department, a department or commune of Sissili Province in southern Burkina Faso Music * Silly (band), an East German rock group from the 1970s * The Sillies, an American punk rock b ...

Biography

Janet Kay Bogle was born in

Willesden Willesden () is an area of northwest London, situated 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Charing Cross. It is historically a parish in the county of Middlesex that was incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Willesden in 1933, and has forme ...

, North West London. She was discovered singing impromptu at a rehearsal studio by Tony "Gad" Robinson, the keyboardist from Aswad, who recommended Kay to Alton Ellis. The Jamaican-born Ellis, a successful rocksteady vocalist, had relocated permanently to London, where he continued to be involved with

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

music and was looking for a female vocalist to record a reggae cover of

Minnie Riperton Minnie Julia Riperton Rudolph (November 8, 1947 – July 12, 1979) was an American singer-songwriter best known for her 1975 single " Lovin' You" and her four octave D3 to F7 coloratura soprano range. She is also widely known for her use ...

's song "

Lovin' You "Lovin' You" is a song recorded by American singer Minnie Riperton from her second studio album, ''Perfect Angel'' (1974). It was written by Riperton and Richard Rudolph, produced by Rudolph and Stevie Wonder, and released as the album's fourth s ...

". In 1978 Kay recorded " I Do Love You" and "That's What Friends Are For". The single "

", written and produced by Dennis Bovell, was released in 1979 and became a hit across Europe, reaching No. 2 in the

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 ...

. The chart success of "Silly Games" led to Kay appearing on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most o ...

'', then the BBC's flagship music programme. She played the character Angel in the UK sitcom '' No Problem!'', created by the Black Theatre Co-operative (now NitroBeat) and broadcast on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

(1983–85). While on the programme, she enjoyed a further club hit with "Eternally Grateful" in 1984, which also reached the UK top 100. Kay has recorded, and co-produced her seventh album for Sony Music Japan. It was released on 18 June 2003, and is entitled ''Lovin' You … More''. The popularity of the song "Lovin' You" in Japan is so strong that she was asked to record it again for this album (for the third time). That version was produced by

Omar ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate o ...

. "Silly Games" first hit the UK charts in 1979, and appeared again in 1990 as a re-recording, billed as by Lindy Layton featuring Janet Kay, which reached No. 22. A remix version of Kay's original recording spent three weeks in the UK Singles Chart, peaking at No. 62. Kay is credited as producer on "Missing You", recorded by Aswad. She was a founding member of BiBi Crew, Britain's first theatre troupe made up entirely of Black women. Kay was included on the 2003 list of " 100 Great Black Britons". In November 2022, "Silly Games" was named the runner up in a list of the 70 best number two singles, compiled by UK newspaper ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the UK Singles Chart. Kay was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2023 New Year Honours The 2023 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for services to music.

Discography

Albums

*''Capricorn Woman'' (1982, Arawak) *''So Amazing'' (1988, Body Music) *''Sweet Surrender'' (1989, Body Music) *''Lovin' You'' (1991, Sony Music Japan) *''Love You Always'' (1993, Sony Music Japan) *''For the Love of You'' (1994, Sony Music Japan) *''Making History'' (1998, Sony Music Japan) *''Through the Years'' (1999, Sony Music Japan) *''Now & Then'' (2001, Sony Music Japan) *''Lovin' You ... More'' (2003, Sony Music Japan) *'' Idol Kay'' (2012,

Universal Music Japan , often referred to as just Universal Music Japan or UMJ, is a Japanese subsidiary of the Universal Music Group founded in 1990. It is the largest subsidiary for a foreign company in the country regarding music distribution. The company is resp ...

) *''Dramatic Lovers'' (2012, Sony Music Japan)

Singles

References

External links

Official website
* *
Janet Kay's Myspace

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kay, Janet 1958 births Living people 21st-century Black British women singers English reggae musicians Lovers rock musicians 20th-century Black British women singers English people of Jamaican descent People from Willesden Musicians from London Members of the Order of the British Empire