Fiona Russell Powell (born 2 April 1962) is a British journalist. She is best known for her series of interviews throughout the 1980s in '' The Face'' magazine. For a brief period in the mid-1980s, she performed as a member of pop group

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

in videos and onstage to support their cartoon-synth album '' How to Be a ... Zillionaire!'' (1985). She was credited originally as "Fiona" in early recordings of material for this album, but eventually performed under the stage name "Eden".

Early life and career

Growing up in Dore,

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, she had known ABC from their early days as an electronic three-piece called Vice Versa. In 1982, aged 20, she began writing for '' The Face'' as a features writer, concentrating mostly on music and became known for her irreverent mickey-taking interviews with leading pop stars of the day.

ABC

After the success of ABC's debut album ''

The Lexicon of Love ''The Lexicon of Love'' is the debut studio album by the English pop band ABC. Released by Neutron Records on 21 June 1982, it entered the UK Albums Chart at number one, also topping the New Zealand and Finnish charts. Certified gold in the US, ...

'' and the disappointing reception to their follow up ''

Beauty Stab ''Beauty Stab'' is the second studio album by English pop band ABC, released on 14 November 1983 by Neutron Records, Mercury Records and Vertigo Records. The album was recorded over a period of three months between August and September 1983, in ...

'', ABC's

Martin Fry Martin David Fry (born 9 March 1958) is an English singer. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as co-founder and lead vocalist of the pop band ABC, which released six singles that entered the top 20 charts in the United Kingdom during the ...

and Mark White decided they wanted a completely new image for ABC. To that end, they asked Powell to join the band as well as American David Yarritu. Neither Powell nor Yarritu were allowed to contribute musically. When Powell admitted she couldn't play any instruments, ABC frontman Martin Fry replied "It doesn't matter. You can pretend. We want you because you've got a great look". Vocals attributed to Powell as Eden on the album '' How to Be a Zillionaire'' were not performed by her either – for example, in the song "A to Z", the words "Hi, I'm Eden, and I want you to kiss my snatch" was actually Martin Fry's voice sped up and was recorded entirely without Powell's knowledge. Inflatable instruments were made for the band with the aim to be as luridly bright and "cartoony" as possible. Eden even wore a

dildo A dildo is a sex toy, often explicitly phallic in appearance, intended for sexual penetration or other sexual activity during masturbation or with sex partners. Dildos are made from a number of materials. The shape and size are typically t ...

belt she made on ''

The Tube The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

'', the 1980s Channel 4 live music show, which was a belt covered in "ladyfingers" – very small white dildoes – to look like a bullet belt.Interviewed by Bill Brewster in Mark's West London flat
DJhistory.com, 20.7.04 Link not actually DEAD, it has just always been the wrong one. Belt can be seen at timecode 1:27 The new look ABC went over well enough; in the UK and the US ''How to Be a Zillionaire'' charted in the top 30, while "

Be Near Me "Be Near Me" is a song by English pop band ABC. It was released in April 1985 as the second single from their third studio album, '' How to Be a ... Zillionaire!''. It peaked at No. 26 on the UK Singles Chart in 1985, and was the only single fr ...

" was the highest-charting track off the album at No. 26 in the UK and in the top ten on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Journalistic career

Powell has written for '' Punch'', ''The Face'', ''

i-D ''i-D'' is a British biannual magazine dedicated to fashion, music, art, film and youth culture. The magazine was launched in 1980 by Terry Jones, originally as a hand-stapled fanzine it has since evolved into a glossy publication. In 2023 the ...

'', ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...

'', '' Time Out'' and ''

New Humanist ''New Humanist'' is a quarterly magazine, published by Humanists UK and based in London, that focuses on culture, news, philosophy, and science from a sceptical perspective. History ''New Humanist'' has been in print for years, starting out ...

'', among others.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Russell Powell, Fiona ABC (band) members English journalists Living people 1962 births People from Dore British women new wave singers