Cameron Andrew McVey (born 11 August 1957) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. He has worked with the acts

Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol, England, by Robert Del Naja, Robert "3D" Del Naja, Daddy G, Grant "Daddy G" Marshall, Tricky (musician), Adrian "Tricky" Thaws and Andrew Vowles, Andrew "Mushroom" ...

, Portishead, All Saints, Sugababes, and his wife

Neneh Cherry Neneh Mariann Karlsson (; born 10 March 1964), better known as Neneh Cherry, is a Swedish singer, songwriter, rapper, occasional disc jockey, and broadcaster. Her musical career started in London in the early 1980s, where she performed in a numb ...

. He is the father of

Marlon Roudette Marlon Roudette (born 5 January 1982) is an English singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is the former front man for the duo Mattafix who had their first number 1, "Big City Life", in 2006. After the group split, Roudette embarked on a s ...

, Tyson, and Mabel.

Early life

McVey grew up in Cockfosters, North London. He was educated at Queen Elizabeth's Boys' School, Barnet.

Career

By 1979, McVey had been working as a photographer. He took the photograph featured on Madness' 1979 album '' One Step Beyond...''. McVey started creating music as a member of the new wave band

Bim Building information modeling (BIM) is an approach involving the generation and management of digital representations of the physical and functional characteristics of buildings or other physical assets and facilities. BIM is supported by vario ...

in the early 1980s, in which he was the lead singer. The band released one album in 1982, ''Boobams Out!'' and seven singles from 1980 to 1982. In 1987, as one half of duo Morgan-McVey, he released the single " Looking Good Diving". Originally conceived as a

Simon & Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo comprising the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music acts of the 1960s. Their most famous recordings include three US number-one sing ...

-style male vocal duo who would harmonise over

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

beats, early demos failed to deliver on the concept. Facing creative inertia, the act's record company convinced them to work with rising pop producers

Stock Aitken Waterman Stock Aitken Waterman (abbreviated as SAW and also known as the Hit Factory) are an English songwriting and record production trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman. The trio had great success from the mid-1980s throug ...

(SAW), a proposition that left them with mixed feelings. Band member Jamie Morgan says McVey was so "embarrassed" by the resulting record and video, the band quickly disintegrated. However, McVey has since been complimentary of SAW's studio skills, calling the trio "more punk than the punks". McVey met

in 1987 and became a producer and her manager. The B-side of "Looking Good Diving", "Looking Good Diving with the Wild Bunch", was reworked into Cherry's 1988 single " Buffalo Stance". Cherry and McVey provided financial support, via the Cherry Bear organisation, in the early stages of

and Portishead's careers. Around 1990, McVey became Massive Attack's manager and he co-produced their first album '' Blue Lines''. The album having also being partly recorded at his house.

CirKus

In 2006, McVey (under the name Burt Ford) along with Neneh Cherry, Matt Kent (a.k.a. Karmil) and Lolita Moon released the album '' Laylow'', as a band called

CirKus CirKus are a trip hop band formed by Burt Ford (Cameron McVey), Karmil (aka Matt Kent), Lolita Moon and Neneh Cherry. History DJ and producer Karmil was recruited by Burt Ford (Neneh's husband Cameron McVey) as an assistant recording engi ...

. In 2008, CirKus (with the same line-up) released their second album ''Medicine''.

Personal life

In 1983, McVey fathered a son,

, with Vincentian artist and designer Vonnie Roudette. McVey met Neneh Cherry in 1987 at

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...

while they were en route to Japan as fashion models as part of London Designer Ray Petri's Buffalo Posse. The couple married in 1990; they have two daughters, singers Tyson, born in 1989 (also known as Lolita Moon), and Mabel. The family lived throughout Europe. In 1993, they moved to near Málaga, Spain, and lived there until 1999. Briefly in 1995, they lived in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, where they had purchased a home in the

Park Slope Park Slope is a neighborhood in South Brooklyn, New York City, within the area once known as South Brooklyn. Park Slope is roughly bounded by Prospect Park (Brooklyn), Prospect Park and Eighth Avenue (Brooklyn), Prospect Park West to the east, ...

neighbourhood. Soon after moving in, the couple were held up at gunpoint and robbed by a teenage bandit. They headed back to London's Primrose Hill. Eventually they migrated to Cherry's native Hässleholm, Sweden, living in the same schoolhouse-turned-home where Cherry was raised (featured in the '' Homebrew'' album's artwork).

Albums produced

Neneh Cherry albums

* '' Raw Like Sushi'' (1989) * '' Homebrew'' (1992) * ''

Man A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the f ...

'' (1996) * '' The Cherry Thing'' (2012)

Other works

* ''

Shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, peppergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which discharges numerous small ...

'' by Jamie J. Morgan (1990) * '' Blue Lines'' by

(1991) * ''

Shape A shape is a graphics, graphical representation of an object's form or its external boundary, outline, or external Surface (mathematics), surface. It is distinct from other object properties, such as color, Surface texture, texture, or material ...

'', by Frente (1996) * '' All Saints'' by All Saints (1997) * '' One Touch'', by the Sugababes (2000) * ''How Do You Call It'', by Patrice Bart-Williams (2002) * '' Revolution in Me'', by Siobhán Donaghy (2003) * '' Taller in More Ways'', by the Sugababes (2005) * ''11th Floor'' and ''Lights'', by Kitchen Party (2013) * ''Spirit Of Minnie'' by Will Varley (2018)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McVey, Cameron 1957 births Living people Singers from the London Borough of Barnet People educated at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School for Boys English male singers English male songwriters English new wave musicians English record producers English expatriates in Sweden British male new wave singers it:Massive Attack