Alice Temple is an English musician, singer and songwriter, born in London. She is best known for her collaboration with
Eg White under the name and Alice. She is also notable for having been the first female UK and European
BMX champion.
BMX
In her teens, Temple was the first female UK and European BMX champion. Tim March, ex-European BMX Champion, has said of Temple "She was the first
Shanaze, she beat the boys easy".
Music
Temple began her music career with Eg White, founding member of 80s boyband
Brother Beyond
Brother Beyond were a British pop band who had success in the pop rock genre in the late 1980s.
Biography
The group's first four singles, "I Should Have Lied", "How Many Times", "Chain-Gang Smile" (produced by Don Was), and an early version of ...
, at the age of twenty. Their collaboration, and Alice, released only one album, ''
24 Years of Hunger'' (1991), but this was described by
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
as "one of the finest, most refined and fully realized recordings of the era, employing a much more sophisticated and romantic style than anything else out of England at the time".
Allmusic also notes the accolades that ''24 Years of Hunger'' received from other music critics:
: "Recorded by the pair when they were mere twentysomethings, and predominantly in White's home, it is nevertheless about as grown-up and elegant as pop music gets. A decade after the recording had all but vanished from circulation, rainsound.net had taken to calling it "one of the classic albums of the '90s," while
Q Magazine
''Q'' was a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1986 by broadcast journalists Mark Ellen and David Hepworth, who were presenters of the BBC television music series '' The Old Grey Whistle Test''. ...
went a step further when it placed the record on its list of best albums of the 20th century, describing it as having "the class of
Steely Dan and the intriguing detachment of the
Blue Nile
The Blue Nile (; ) is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. It travels for approximately through Ethiopia and Sudan. Along with the White Nile, it is one of the two major tributaries of the Nile and supplies about 85.6% of the water to ...
."
While writing and collaborating with White, Temple caught the attention of
James Lavelle
James Lavelle (born 22 February 1974) is an English electronic musician, record label owner and curator. He founded the Mo'Wax record label in 1992, and has been the only constant member of UNKLE. He directed the 2014 edition of the Meltdow ...
of the electronic group
UNKLE. She was then brought in to contribute to UNKLE's ''
Psyence Fiction'' album.
Her piece for the album, ''Bloodstain,''
won critical acclaim. Temple is also featured on the track ''Mistress'', the
B-side of the UNKLE single ''Burn my Shadow''. The same track appeared on some editions of UNKLE's third album ''
War Stories''.
In 1999 Temple returned to working with White, and together they put together her debut solo album ''Hang Over'', released on
V2.
In 2005 Temple joined co-songwriter
Lucie Barât to form the band The Fay Wrays, with Temple on guitar and vocals.
After ''24 Years of Hunger'', White concentrated mainly on songwriting and production, in which he was highly successful, but he also released two solo albums. His 2009 album, ''Adventure Man'', included the song ''Pull Me Through'',
described in the pre-release sleeve notes as "a beautiful, harrowing ballad of survival written and sung nearly completely by Alice Temple... which was a way of 'closing the circle'".
In 2008 Temple wrote, recorded and produced a second solo album entitled ''Be With You in A Minute'', which she released on her own label.
Modelling
Temple modelled in the mid 1980s, and was photographed by
Mario Testino
Mario Eduardo Testino Silva OBE HonFRPS (born 30 October 1954) is a Peruvian fashion and portrait photographer.
His work has featured internationally in magazines such as ''Vogue, V Magazine,'' ''Vanity Fair'' and '' GQ.'' He has also crea ...
,
Nick Knight and
Bruce Weber. She appeared on the cover of
i-D magazine
''i-D'' is a British bimonthly magazine published by Vice Media, dedicated to fashion, music, art and youth culture. ''i-D'' was founded by designer and former '' Vogue'' art director Terry Jones in 1980. The first issue was published in the fo ...
in May 1986,
and in another feature in 2009.
Personal life
Temple was noted as a friend of
Boy George
George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer, songwriter, DJ, author and mixed media artist. Best known for his soulful voice and his androgynous appearance, Boy George has been the lead singer ...
during the 1980s.
They were both part of London's
Blitz Kids
The Blitz Kids were a group of people who frequented the Tuesday club-night at Blitz in Covent Garden, London in 1979-80, and are credited with launching the New Romantic subcultural movement.
History
Steve Strange and Rusty Egan co-hosted th ...
scene, which is credited with launching the
New Romantic cultural movement. She is believed to be the subject of George's song ''A Boy Called Alice'', on his 1988 UK CD single ''Don't Cry'', in which she can be heard declaring "My name's Alice and I am not a boy".
She can also be seen in the video for
Culture Club's 1986 single ''
Move Away
"Move Away" is a song by British band Culture Club, issued as the lead single from their fourth album, '' From Luxury to Heartache'' (1986). The song was produced by Lew Hahn and Arif Mardin. Released in March 1986, it became the group's eight ...
''.
After ''24 Years of Hunger'' Temple moved to the US for several years.
She had a well-publicized relationship with American model
Rachel Williams
Rachel Williams (born April 29, 1967) is an American model, TV presenter, and landscape designer.
Early life
Williams is the daughter of architect Tod Williams and Patricia Agnes Jones, a dancer. Her parents divorced when she was five years ...
.
References
External links
*
Bio on Allmusicbr>
Bio on ArtistDirectAlice Temple at last.fm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Temple, Alice
English songwriters
English women singers
Lesbian musicians
LGBT musicians from England
Singers from London
BMX riders
Living people
Lesbian sportswomen
Year of birth missing (living people)
LGBT sportspeople from England
LGBT cyclists
LGBT singers from the United Kingdom
21st-century LGBT people