Frances McKee (born 1966) is a Scottish singer and songwriter known best for her work in the

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media *Independent media, media free of influence by government or corporate interests *Indie art, fine arts made by artists independent of commer ...

band

The Vaselines The Vaselines are a Scottish alternative rock band. Formed in Glasgow in 1986, the band was originally a duo between its songwriters Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee, but later added James Seenan and Eugene's brother Charlie Kelly on bass and dr ...

Background

McKee's involvement with music began as a teenager in the early 1980s when she met Duglas T. Stewart from Bellshill. With McKee and his friends Norman Blake and Sean Dickson, Stewart formed a group, known by various outrageous names before settling on The Pretty Flowers. The group would play impromptu, happening-style gigs in the local park and at Bellshill's Hattonrigg Hotel. McKee became disillusioned with the group shortly after they settled on The Pretty Flowers name and eventually left. The group later morphed into the BMX Bandits. The Vaselines formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 1986. McKee and Eugene Kelly wrote almost all of their material. By this time, McKee was beginning to learn how to play guitar, which is why many 80s Vaselines songs only feature certain chords. They signed to 53rd and 3rd and following the release of two EPs, ''

Son of a Gun Son of a gun is an exclamation in American and British English. It can be used encouragingly or to compliment, as in "You son of a gun, you did it!" Definition The ''Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary'' and ''Webster's Dictionary'' both de ...

'' and ''

Dying for It ''Dying for It'' is the second extended play by Scottish indie pop group The Vaselines, released in March 1988. The EP was later included on their career retrospective collection '' The Way of the Vaselines: A Complete History''. The song "Teenage ...

'', and their first album, ''

Dum-Dum Expanding bullets, also known colloquially as dumdum bullets, are projectiles designed to expand on terminal ballistics, impact. This causes the bullet to increase in diameter, to combat over-penetration and produce a larger wound, thus dealing ...

'', in 1989, the band split up.

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – ) was an American musician. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter, and a founding member of the grunge band Nirvana (band), Nirvana. Through his angsty songwriting and anti-establis ...

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

was a big fan of the band, and covered three of their songs: " Molly's Lips", "Son of a Gun" and "

Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam" is a song originally recorded by the Scottish alternative band the Vaselines. It was later covered by American rock band Nirvana in 1993 who renamed it "Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam". History "Jesus Wants ...

". He also named his

daughter A daughter is a female offspring; a girl or a woman in relation to her parents. Daughterhood is the state, condition or quality of being someone's daughter. The male counterpart is a son. Analogously the name is used in several areas to show r ...

after her. McKee and Kelly briefly reunited in 1990 to play a show supporting Nirvana in Edinburgh in 1990. This would be their last performance together until 2006. Following a post-Vaselines break, she began making music with Vaselines bass player James Seenan in 1994, writing material of a more-mellow flavour. These songs were released under the name Painkillers at first. They released two singles under this name in 1994 and 1996. They changed their name to

Suckle Suckle may refer to: *Suckling, for mammals, during Lactation **in human babies, Breastfeeding Breastfeeding, also known as nursing, is the process where breast milk is fed to a child. Infants may suck the milk directly from the breast, or ...

in 1997 following the addition of more bandmembers. Initially coming out on

4AD 4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name Axis Records by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD after the release of th ...

offshoot Detox Artefacts, the band released one album, two EPs and three singles before splitting up in late 2000. They also recorded two sessions for

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

. ''Against Nurture'', the only Suckle long player, was released in May 2000 on

Chemikal Underground Chemikal Underground is an independent record label set up in 1994 at Glasgow, Scotland, by rock band The Delgados. It was set up to release their first single, "Monica Webster" / "Brand New Car" and went on to break many new Scottish bands in ...

. On 10 April 2006, McKee released her first solo album, '' Sunny Moon''. In the summer of 2006, Frances McKee and

Eugene Kelly Eugene Kelly (born 9 August 1965) Eugene Kelly allmusic biography. is a Scottish musician who is a member of the group The Vaselines, a founding member of the now disbanded Eugenius and has had a number of solo releases. Eugene Kelly formed Th ...

took to the stage together for the first time since 1990, to perform a set of The Vaselines songs, as part of a joint tour to promote their individual solo albums. This led to The Vaselines reforming (minus the old rhythm section) on 24 April 2008 for a charity show for the Malawi Orphan Support group at Glasgow's MONO venue. Since 2008, The Vaselines have continued to perform around the world, with members of

Belle & Sebastian Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band formed in Glasgow in 1996. Led by Stuart Murdoch, the band has released twelve studio albums. They are often compared with acts such as the Smiths and Nick Drake. The band took their name from ...

supporting their live set. On 5 May 2009,

Sub Pop Sub Pop is an independent record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana (band), Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the gru ...

released ''

Enter the Vaselines ''Enter the Vaselines'' is a compilation album by the indie rock band The Vaselines, released on 5 May 2009 through the record label Sub Pop. The album is a deluxe reissue of their 1992 compilation '' The Way of the Vaselines: A Complete Histor ...

''. A deluxe-edition reissue of the 1992 Sub Pop release, it includes remastered versions of the band's two EPs, album, as well as demos and live recordings from 1986 and 1988. In 2010, they released a second album, ''

Sex with an X ''Sex with an X'' is the second studio album by the Scottish alternative rock band The Vaselines, which was released on 14 September 2010 on Sub Pop. It was their first new album since the release of ''Dum-Dum'' over 20 years earlier. The firs ...

''. The Vaselines' third album, '' V for Vaselines,'' was self-released in 2014 on the band's own label, Rosary Music, in order to maintain creative control. McKee features in the 2017 documentary

Teenage Superstars ''Teenage Superstars'' is a 2017 film about the Glasgow independent music scene between 1982 and 1992, focusing on the bands that emerged from in and around the city at this point including The Pastels, BMX Bandits (band), BMX Bandits, The Soup Dr ...

Personal life

McKee has been practicing Yoga since 1990 and began training to teach in 1995, gaining her qualifications in 1997. She opened the Yoga Extension studio in

Jordanhill Jordanhill (, )
is an affluent area of the Iyengar yoga Iyengar Yoga, named after and developed by B. K. S. Iyengar, and described in his bestselling 1966 book '' Light on Yoga'', is a form of yoga as exercise that has an emphasis on detail, precision and alignment in the performance of yoga postures ...

practice. Yoga Extension is currently located in Charing Cross, having moved locations in 2017. In a 2014 interview with Under the Radar, McKee discussed her support for the

Scottish Independence referendum A referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom was held in Scotland on 18 September 2014. The referendum question was "Should Scotland be an independent country?", which voters answered with "Yes" or "No". The "No" side won ...

, saying, "There are a lot of creative people in Scotland ready for the change a yes vote will bring".

Releases

**'' Son of a Gun (EP)'' (1987 53rd & 3rd) **''

'' (1988 53rd & 3rd) **''

'' (1989

Rough Trade Rough Trade may refer to: *Rough Trade (shops), London record stores *Rough Trade Records, a record label from the stores *Rough Trade Books, a publishing house from the label *Rough Trade (band), a Canadian new wave rock band * "Rough Trade" (''Am ...

) **''The Vaselines / Beat Happening'' (1991

K Records K Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington, founded in 1982. Artists on the label included early releases by Beck, Modest Mouse and Built to Spill. The record label has been called "key to the development of independent mu ...

– recorded live in London 16 June 1988) **'' The Way of the Vaselines: A Complete History'' (1992

) **'' All the Stuff and More...'' (1992 Avalanche) **''

'' (2009 Sub Pop) **''

'' (2010 Sub Pop) **'' V for Vaselines'' (2014 Rosary Music) *Painkillers **''Tropical Zodiac'' single (1994 Human Condition) **''Lost in Space'' single (1996, Pi Recordings) *

**''Hormonal Secreations EP'' (1997 Detox Artifacts, UK) **''Symposium/Boyfriend'' (1997 Detox Artifacts, UK) **''Cybilla/Sex With Animals'' (1998 Left Hand Recordings) **''Against Nurture'' album (2000 Chemikal Underground Records) **''To Be King'' (2000 Chemikal Underground Records) **''The Sun Is God EP'' (2000 Chemikal Underground Records) *Solo **'' Sunny Moon'' album (2006 Analogue Catalogue)

References

External links

http://www.analoguecat.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKee, Frances Living people Scottish rock singers British women rock singers The Vaselines members 20th-century Scottish women singers 1966 births 21st-century Scottish women singers