Stevie Vann
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Stevie Vann (born Stevie van Kerken), also known as Stevie Lange, is a
Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...
n-born British singer and
vocal coach A vocal coach, also known as a voice coach (though this term often applies to those working with speech and communication rather than singing), is a music teacher, usually a piano accompanist, who helps singers prepare for a performance, often al ...
. She is best known for her work as a
backing vocalist A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...
and studio singer for many groups and solo performers in the 1970s and 1980s. As lead vocalist for the group
Night Night, or nighttime, is the period of darkness when the Sun is below the horizon. Sunlight illuminates one side of the Earth, leaving the other in darkness. The opposite of nighttime is daytime. Earth's rotation causes the appearance of ...
, she had two top 20 U.S. chart hits in the late 1970s.


Biography


Early years

Stevie Vann was raised in
Mufulira Mufulira is a town in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia. Mufulira means "Place of Abundance and Peace". The town developed around the Mufulira Copper Mine in the 1930s. The town also serves as the administrative capital of Mufulira District. G ...
,
Northern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in Southern Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by Amalgamation (politics), amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-Western Rhodesia and North ...
(now
Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...
). She showed an early aptitude for music, playing piano by age six. Soon after turning 16 Stevie starred in her own television variety show and within a few years she had released two solo albums. In high demand as a radio and TV commercial jingle singer while still a teen, she also earned a "Sarie Award" as
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
's Top Female Vocalist.


Professional career

Vann met Robert "Mutt" Lange when the two attended the same school in Mufulira, and the two reconnected a few years later while attending Belfast High School in South Africa. The two would play together in a short-lived band named Hocus, later marry and emigrate to the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
in the 1970s. Stevie Vann found work as a studio singer through the mid and latter part of the decade both on her own and as part of a backing group called "Bones". Among those acts she contributed vocals to were
Bijelo Dugme () is a Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav Rock music, rock band, formed in Sarajevo, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1974. is widely considered to have been the most popular and the best-selling band ever to exist in the former S ...
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Sweet Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketones, ...
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Rick Wakeman Richard Christopher Wakeman (born 18 May 1949) is an English keyboardist and composer best known as a member of the progressive rock band Yes across five tenures between 1971 and 2004, and for his prolific solo career. AllMusic describes Wakema ...
and
UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO) is an object or phenomenon seen in the sky but not yet identified or explained. The term was coined when United States Air Force (USAF) investigations into flying saucers found too broad a range of shapes ...
. In 1978 Vann met Chris Thompson while providing backing vocals for the album ''
Watch A watch is a timepiece carried or worn by a person. It is designed to maintain a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is worn around the wrist, attached by a watch strap or another type of ...
'' by
Manfred Mann's Earth Band Manfred Mann's Earth Band are an English rock band formed by South African musician Manfred Mann (musician), Manfred Mann. Their hits include covers of Bruce Springsteen's "For You (Bruce Springsteen song), For You", "Blinded by the Light" an ...
. Shortly after Thompson invited her to be a part of "Night", a new band he was forming. Signed to
Planet Records Planet Records was an American record label founded in 1978 by record producer Richard Perry. It was distributed by Elektra/ Asylum Records until 1982, when Perry sold it to RCA Records. Label history Beginnings The label was founded in 19 ...
, Night recorded two albums with producer
Richard Perry Richard Van Perry (June 18, 1942 – December 24, 2024) was an American record producer. He began his musical career as a performer while attending Poly Prep, his high school in Brooklyn. After graduating from college he rose through the late ...
. The first, their self-titled 1979 debut, reached only #113 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' album charts but garnered two Top Twenty U.S. singles. ''Hot Summer Night'' peaked at #18 in the U.S. Top 40, while also becoming an international hit in Canada (#23), South Africa (#13) and elsewhere. Their second single, "If You Remember Me", was the theme song for the movie '' The Champ'' and reached #17 in the United States. Night also performed a song, "The Stripper", on screen in the 1980
horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...
''
The Monster Club ''The Monster Club'' is a 1981 British anthology horror film directed by Roy Ward Baker and starring Vincent Price and John Carradine. It is based on the works of the British horror author R. Chetwynd-Hayes. It was the final film from Milton ...
''. The group's second album, 1980's "Long Distance", was less successful and produced only one minor hit, "Love on the Airwaves". Night recorded no further albums and broke up in 1982. Free of Night and divorced from Lange, Vann continued her career as a solo artist, backup singer, and commercial jingle singer. Among the more notable of her adverts in the United Kingdom were ad campaigns for
Trio Trio may refer to: Music Groups * Trio (music), an ensemble of three performers, or a composition for such an ensemble ** Jazz trio, pianist, double bassist, drummer ** Minuet and trio, a form in classical music ** String trio, a group of three ...
, a chocolate bar, and the feminine hygiene product Bodyform in the 1980s. Additionally, a slightly altered version of her minor 1981 solo hit ''Remember My Name'' was used in an advert for Limara body spray in the early 1980s. Her studio session work in the 1980s included backing vocals for acts like Wildhearts,
Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan ( ), is an American singer. Known as the " Queen of Funk", her career has spanned more than five decades beginning in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of ...
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Billy Ocean Leslie Sebastian Charles (born 21 January 1950), known professionally as Billy Ocean, is a Trinidadian-born British singer and songwriter. Between 1976 and 1988, he had a series of hit songs in the UK and internationally. After releasing sev ...
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. She also toured with
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for two years in the 1980s as a backing vocalist. In 1995 Vann worked with ex-husband Mutt Lange on two projects. Despite their divorce years earlier the two remained good friends and musical collaborators. She sang backing vocals
Def Leppard Def Leppard are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drummer), Rick Allen (drums), Phil Collen (guitar, ...
's ''
When Love & Hate Collide "When Love & Hate Collide" is a song by English rock band Def Leppard from their 1995 greatest hits album '' Vault'', written by Joe Elliott and Rick Savage. The power ballad was originally written and demoed for '' Adrenalize'', but not final ...
'' from '' Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits (1980–1995)''. Additionally in 1995 she recorded a self-titled solo album with Lange as producer. With backing musicians
Dann Huff Dann Lee Huff (born November 15, 1960) is an American record producer, studio guitarist, and songwriter. For his work as a producer in the country music genre, he has won several awards, including the ''Musician of the Year'' award in 2001, 2004 ...
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and a duet with
Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million album, records and Single (music), si ...
, the album failed to garner chart success or hit singles. Vann continues to work in the music industry. While occasionally performing as a backing singer, her career now is mostly focused on being a vocal coach. In that aspect she has provided assistance to many acts like
Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...
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and
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.


Discography


Album

* '' Stevie Vann'' (Silvertone Records, 1995)


Singles

* "Don't Want to Cry No More" (1979) - AUS #98 * "Remember My Name" (1981) * "I'll Take Your Heart" * "Without Your Love (I Can't Live)"


With Filthy McNasty

* "A Week At The Bridge E16 (Live 3 Tracks)" (Bridgehouse Records,1978)


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vann, Stevie Living people Year of birth missing (living people) British women rock singers People from Mufulira Zambian people of British descent Zambian emigrants to the United Kingdom Zambian expatriates in South Africa White Zambian people