Kate St. John
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Kate St John (born 2 October 1957) is an English composer, arranger, producer and multi-instrumentalist. She was a member of bands Ravishing Beauties,
The Dream Academy The Dream Academy was a British Indie pop, alternative pop band consisting of lead vocalist and guitarist and primary songwriter Nick Laird-Clowes, woodwinds player and pianist Kate St John, and keyboardist Gilbert Gabriel. The band is most no ...
, and Channel Light Vessel, and of Van Morrison's live band, in which she played oboe and saxophone.


Career

Classically trained on oboe, St John was working as a television researcher before joining her first band, Ravishing Beauties, to which she was invited by her friend
Virginia Astley Virginia Astley (born 26 September 1959) is an English singer-songwriter most active during the 1980s and 1990s. Her songwriting career started in 1980, with her classical training significantly influencing her music. Although most popular in As ...
. With
Nicky Holland Nicky Holland (born 20 February 1959) is an English musician and singer-songwriter, notable for being a previous backing pianist/keyboardist, vocalist and co-songwriter for the band Tears for Fears during the 1980s. Early life Nicky Holland ...
, the trio joined
The Teardrop Explodes The Teardrop Explodes were an English post-punk/neo-psychedelic band formed in Liverpool in 1978. Best known for their Top Ten UK single " Reward", the group originated as a key band in the emerging Liverpool post-punk scene of the late 1970s. ...
in Liverpool during the winter of 1981 for a series of dates at small clubs and a UK tour in early 1982. During the 1980s and early 1990s, she was a member of The Dream Academy with
Nick Laird-Clowes Nick Laird-Clowes (born 5 February 1957, in London, England) is an English musician and composer, best known as the singer, guitarist, and primary songwriter for The Dream Academy. Life and career Laird-Clowes was a member of Alfalpha and The ...
and
Gilbert Gabriel Gilbert Alexander Gabriel (born 16 November 1956) is a songwriter, film composer, producer and lecturer. He studied piano and clarinet at Dartington College of Arts and Goldsmiths before forming the British folk rock trio The Dream Academy, wh ...
. In 1985 they had a worldwide hit with "
Life in a Northern Town "Life in a Northern Town" is the debut single by British band the Dream Academy, released in March 1985. It appears on the band's debut studio album, ''The Dream Academy''. Written by Nick Laird-Clowes and Gilbert Gabriel, the song was produc ...
" and produced three albums: ''
The Dream Academy The Dream Academy was a British Indie pop, alternative pop band consisting of lead vocalist and guitarist and primary songwriter Nick Laird-Clowes, woodwinds player and pianist Kate St John, and keyboardist Gilbert Gabriel. The band is most no ...
'' (1985), ''
Remembrance Days Remembrance is the act of remembering, the ability to remember, or a memorial. Remembrance or Remembrances may also refer to: Events * :Remembrance days ** Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice, a commemorative day observed by Argentina ** ...
'' (1987) and ''
A Different Kind of Weather ''A Different Kind of Weather'' is the third and final studio album by the English band the Dream Academy. It was released on 15 June 1990 by Reprise and Blanco y Negro Records. The album saw the return of David Gilmour as the main producer, si ...
'' (1990). In the 1990s, St John was a member of
Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...
's live band playing oboe and saxophone. She played on five Van Morrison albums.
Emma Freud Emma Vallencey Freud (born 25 January 1962) is an English broadcaster and cultural commentator. Early life Freud was born in London on 25 January 1962 and is the daughter of politician and broadcaster Sir Clement Freud (1924–2009) and June ...
credited seeing St John playing saxophone for Van Morrison in the 80s as inspiration to learn to play saxophone herself. In 1994, she co-wrote and sang on four tracks with
Roger Eno Roger Paul Eugene Eno (born 29 April 1959) is an English ambient music composer. He is the younger brother of Brian Eno. Early life and education Roger Paul Eugene Eno began euphonium lessons when he was 12 years old, and entered Colchester In ...
on the album ''The Familiar'' on the All Saints Label. This led to the formation of Channel Light Vessel, a band with Kate, Roger Eno,
Bill Nelson Clarence William Nelson II (born September 29, 1942) is an American politician, attorney, and former astronaut who served from 2001 to 2019 as a United States Senate, United States senator from Florida and from 2021 to 2025 as the Administrator ...
,
Laraaji Laraaji (born Edward Larry Gordon, 3 May 1943) is an American multi-instrumentalist specializing in piano, zither and mbira. His albums include the 1980 release ''Day of Radiance, Ambient 3: Day of Radiance'', produced by Brian Eno as part of h ...
and Mayumi Tachibana. St John has released two solo albums: ''Indescribable Night'' (1995) and ''Second Sight'' (1997). St John and her husband and writing partner, Neill MacColl, specialise in on set music production in films, having worked on '' Far From The Madding Crowd'' (2015), ''
Tulip Fever ''Tulip Fever'' is a 2017 historical romantic drama film directed by Justin Chadwick and written by Deborah Moggach and Tom Stoppard, adapted from Moggach's 1999 novel of the same name. It stars an ensemble cast featuring Alicia Vikander, Da ...
'' (2017), ''
My Cousin Rachel ''My Cousin Rachel'' is a Gothic novel written by English author Daphne du Maurier, published in 1951. Bearing thematic similarities to her earlier and more famous novel ''Rebecca'', it is a mystery-romance, set primarily on a large estate i ...
'' (2017), and ''
The Little Stranger :The Little Stranger ''is also the title of one of the Color Classics series produced 13 March 1936, in three-strip Technicolor, by Fleischer Studios. It is also the 2018 film adaptation of Waters' novel.'' ''The Little Stranger'' is a 2009 g ...
'' (2018). St John well is known in Russia by her beauty and collaboration with the group Aquarium.


Notes


External links


www.katestjohn.co.uk
* Kate St. John @ Allmusic {{DEFAULTSORT:St John, Kate 1957 births Living people English composers English women singers English accordionists British women accordionists Cor anglais players English oboists The Dream Academy members All Saints Records artists Women oboists 21st-century British accordionists 21st-century British pianists 21st-century English women pianists The Waterboys members