Alannah Joy Currie (born 20 September 1957) is a New Zealand artist based in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. She is a musician and

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

, best known as a former member of the

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

band

Thompson Twins Thompson Twins were an English Pop music, pop band, formed in 1977 in Sheffield. Initially a New wave music, new wave group, they switched to a more mainstream pop sound and achieved considerable popularity during the early and mid-1980s, scori ...

Career

Born in New Zealand and trained as a journalist, Currie emigrated to the UK in 1977. Currie

squatted Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there wer ...

in South London. She formed a band the Unfuckables that performed a single gig. In 1981, Currie joined Tom Bailey,

Joe Leeway Joseph Martin Leeway (born 15 November 1955) is a British musician and songwriter, who is best known as being a member of the pop music, pop band Thompson Twins, joining the band in 1981 after being one of their Road crew, roadies. Leeway was b ...

, and others to form part of

, the line-up of which included up to seven members in its early days. Thompson Twins became a trio in 1982 and signed two major

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and ...

s with

Arista Records Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...

before signing with

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

. Currie was a lyricist, percussionist, visual stylist, and backing vocalist in the band for 15 years. Alannah Feb 84

She co-wrote and recorded six studio albums which included gold and platinum records and the hits " Doctor! Doctor!", " Hold Me Now", and " You Take Me Up". The band performed at the JFK Stadium, Philadelphia for the 1985

Live Aid Live Aid was a two-venue benefit concert and music-based fundraising initiative held on Saturday, 13 July 1985. The event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia, a m ...

concert and worked with artists including

Nile Rodgers Nile Gregory Rodgers Jr. (born September 19, 1952) is an American musician, songwriter, guitarist and record producer. The co-founder of Chic, he has written, produced, and performed on records that have sold more than 750 million albums and 1 ...

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter, model and actress. She began her Model (person), modelling career in New York State, then in Paris, working for fashion houses such as Yves Saint Laurent (brand), Yves St ...

Alex Sadkin Alex Sadkin (April 9, 1949July 23, 1987) was an American record producer, engineer, mixer and mastering engineer. Early life Sadkin grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and played saxophone in Sunrise Junior High School and Fort Lauderdale Hig ...

, Matthew Seligman and

Jerry Harrison Jeremiah Griffin Harrison (born February 21, 1949) is an American musician, songwriter, producer, and entrepreneur. He began his professional music career as a member of the band the Modern Lovers, before becoming keyboardist and guitarist for ...

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1975.Talking Heads

amongst others. Her songwriting credits also include " I Want That Man", an international hit for

Deborah Harry Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble, July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached on the US charts between 1979 and 1981. Born in M ...

in 1989. In 1984 the band participated in the "first international satellite installation" by

Nam June Paik Nam June Paik (; July 20, 1932 – January 29, 2006) was a South Korean artist. He worked with a variety of media and is considered to be the founder of video art. He is credited with the first use (1974) of the term "electronic super highway" ...

, " Good Morning, Mr. Orwell". By 1992, Currie and her then husband, fellow Thompson Twins band member Tom Bailey, elected to form

Babble Babble may refer to: * ''Babble'' (That Petrol Emotion album), 1987 album by That Petrol Emotion * ''Babble'', 1979 album by Kevin Coyne and Dagmar Krause * Babble (band), a later incarnation of the Thompson Twins * Babble (company), a British ...

, featuring Currie as lyricist, percussionist and visual artist, as a means of creating music without the commercial expectations that were placed on

. In 1994 Babble released their debut studio album, '' The Stone''. Currie later returned to New Zealand working primarily as a glass artist and

environmental activist The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement) is a social movement that aims to protect the natural world from harmful environmental practices in order to create sustainable living. In its recognition of humanity a ...

. She was the founder of the women's anti-

genetic engineering Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of Genetic engineering techniques, technologies used to change the genet ...

movement Mothers Against Genetic Engineering in Food and the Environment (MAdGE). In 2003 she designed a series of protest

billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

s that caused controversy in New Zealand and won several international art and science awards. In 2004 she returned to London where she works under the name Miss Pokeno and makes art that fuses "joyful dissent" with disruptive and uncomfortable narratives. Her practice plays on the boundary between the humorous and threatening, as with the (semi-) mythological militant feminists The Sisters of Perpetual Resistance and the Armchair Destructivists. She has a studio in London called Doyce Street Studios Projects. In 2022, her artwork was shown in London in a group show, ''Five Needle Five Wire'', curated by

Roxana Halls Roxana Halls (born 1974, UK) is a figurative painter known for her images of wayward women who refuse to conform to society’s expectations.She has been widely praised for her draughtsmanship, wry humour and what art critic Brian Sewell called � ...

and Wendy Elia. Other artists included Sarah Maple,

Adelaide Damoah Adelaide Damoah (born 16 November 1976) is a British painter and performance artist of Ghanaian descent who uses her body as the starting point for much of her work. Themes of particular interest include feminism, colonialism, religion and s ...

, Wendy Elia,

, Rebecca Fontaine-Wolf, Marie-Anne Mancio, Annie Attridge, Carmen and Luisa, Vicki DaSilva, Farrah Riley Gray, Fiona Robinson, Tina True, Julie Umerle, Jessica Voorsanger and Chloe Wing.

References

External links

* * *
''The Guardian'' interview (April 2008)

Miss Pokeno
{{DEFAULTSORT:Currie, Alannah 1957 births Living people New Zealand emigrants to England New Zealand expatriates in England 20th-century New Zealand women singers New Zealand women songwriters Feminist musicians People educated at Mount Roskill Grammar School Musicians from Auckland Musicians from London British percussionists 20th-century squatters British synth-pop new wave musicians Thompson Twins members Women new wave singers Feminist artists New Zealand activists British activists 21st-century New Zealand women singers