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

Biography

Janet Kay Bogle was born in

Willesden Willesden () is an area of north-west London, situated 5 miles (8 km) north-west of Charing Cross. It is historically a parish in the county of Middlesex that was incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Willesden in 1933; it has formed ...

, 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 Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor of ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was the dominant style of music in Jamaica for nearly two years, performed by many of the artists who helped establish ...

vocalist, had relocated permanently to London, where he continued to be involved with

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 ...

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

Minnie Riperton Minnie Julia Riperton (November 8, 1947 – July 12, 1979) was an American soul singer and songwriter best known for her 1974 single " Lovin' You", her five-octave vocal range, and her use of the whistle register. Born in 1947, Riperton grew ...

'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 her husband, Richard Rudolph, produced by Rudolph and Stevie Wonder, and released as the ...

". In 1978 Kay recorded " I Do Love You" and "That's What Friends Are For". The single " Silly Games", 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 chart success of "Silly Games" led to Kay appearing on ''

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

'', 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 channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

(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 , often abbreviated as SMEJ or simply SME, and also known as Sony Music Japan for short (stylized as ''SonyMusic''), is a Japanese music arm for Sony. Founded in 1968 as CBS/Sony, SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Group Corporation and is opera ...

. It was released on 18 June 2003, and is entitled ''Lovin' You … More''. The popularity of the song "Lovin' You" in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

is so strong that she was asked to record it again for this album (for the third time). That version was produced by Omar. "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 A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

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 ''100 Great Black Britons'' is a poll that was first undertaken in 2003 to vote for and celebrate the greatest Black Britons of all time. It was created in a campaign initiated by Patrick Vernon in response to a BBC search for ''100 Greatest Brito ...

". 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 Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' 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 valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two 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,

) *''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 Japan regarding music distribution. The company is responsible ...

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

Singles

References

External links

Official website
* *
Janet Kay's Myspace

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