Danielle Dax (born 23 September 1958) is an English

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a ...

musician and producer most active from the late-1970s to the mid-1990s.

Early life

She was born Danielle Gardner, in

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north ...

Essex Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...

, England. Dax's first performance on stage in London was when she was a pre-teen. She sang in

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

's opera, '' Noye's Fludde'' (Noah's Flood), at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

. Preceding this, the first time Dax appeared on stage was at the age of three as an orange

Jelly Baby Jelly Babies are a type of soft sugar jelly sweets in the shape of plump babies, sold in a variety of colours. They were first manufactured in Lancashire, England, in the nineteenth century. Their popularity waned before being revived by Basset ...

on the Southend bandstand. After a short modelling career (she won the "Miss Evening Echo" competition in 1976), she turned music.

Career

Dax made her "pop" musical debut in 1979, within three weeks of joining the group Amii Toytal and the Croixroads – this was a pseudonym for the

Lemon Kittens Lemon Kittens are a post-punk band, formed in Reading, Berkshire, England in 1977, by Karl Blake and Gary Thatcher. The cast of the band revolved quite frequently, notably counting among its membership musicians such as Danielle Dax and Mark ...

– as keyboardist, flautist and saxophonist. It was their first gig and took place at Reading University's Student Union Airport Bar.

Karl Blake Karl Blake (born 1956 in Reading, Berkshire, England) is a vocalist, bassist, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. Most of his own music can be described as progressive-experimental and sometimes psychedelic. Musical career Blake is most noted, ...

from the Lemon Kittens had met her some three weeks earlier after he read an article about her in a local newspaper. Blake was in urgent need of an artist, so he attended the next meeting of Dax's arts group and was introduced to her. Upon learning that she could also play saxophone and flute, he immediately recruited her for the band; in addition, he also got her to agree to do the cover artwork for the planned release. She ended up doing the cover artwork for all of Lemon Kittens releases. During Dax's time in the

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretica ...

new wave music New wave is a loosely defined music genre that encompasses pop-oriented styles from the late 1970s and the 1980s. It was originally used as a catch-all for the various styles of music that emerged after punk rock, including punk itself. Lat ...

band

, she was included on

Robert Fripp Robert Fripp (born 16 May 1946) is a British musician, songwriter, record producer, and author, best known as the guitarist, founder and longest-lasting member of the progressive rock band King Crimson. He has worked extensively as a sessio ...

's band

The League of Gentlemen ''The League of Gentlemen'' is a surreal British comedy horror sitcom that premiered on BBC Two in 1999. The programme is set in Royston Vasey, a fictional town in northern England, originally based on Alston, Cumbria, and follows the live ...

's 1981 eponymous album, performing vocals (credited as "Hamsprachtmusic") on the song "Minor Man". However, that song was not included on the album when it was released on the CD compilation entitled ''God Save The King''. Her artwork was retained for the cover. She also painted the cover for Robert Fripp's solo album, ''Let the Power Fall''. Dax supplied vocals to an unreleased track by the Bombay Ducks in which she sang a duet with

Robert Wyatt Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945) is a retired English musician. A founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole, he was initially a kit drummer and singer before becoming pa ...

, although they never met. The duet was done in studio, separately. In early 1982, after the Lemon Kittens went into "extended hibernation", Dax embarked on her solo career, recording and producing the albums '' Pop-Eyes'' (1983) wherein she played all the instruments herself, initially released on the IRC nitial Recording Companylabel with her own art cover, and re-released on Awesome Records with a Holly Warburton cover. On the mini-album that followed '' Jesus Egg That Wept'' (1984), she was aided on some tracks by Karl Blake or David Knight. Her third album '' Inky Bloaters'' (1987), cemented her collaborative recording work with David Knight; this as well as various EPs, up to that time, were released on the label Awesome Records. In 1988, she signed with

Sire Records Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records. History Beginnings The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehre ...

, which released her album '' Dark Adapted Eye'', which contained material from her previous recordings. In 1984, she made her first film appearance as the Wolfgirl (a non-speaking role) in '' The Company of Wolves'' by

Neil Jordan Neil Patrick Jordan (born 25 February 1950) is an Irish film director, screenwriter, novelist and short-story writer. His first book, '' Night in Tunisia'', won a Somerset Maugham Award and the Guardian Fiction Prize in 1979. He won an Academ ...

. In 1988, her film credits came to include writing music for the short avant-garde film ''Axel'' by Nigel Wingrove. In 1989, Dax appeared on the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

show '' Star Test'', where she was interviewed for 30 minutes by "computer". In 1990, she released her one major-label studio album, ''Blast the Human Flower'', produced by Stephen Street, except for the tracks "Bayou" and "Daisy", which they produced together. The album's single, "

Tomorrow Never Knows "Tomorrow Never Knows" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written primarily by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was released in August 1966 as the final track on their album ''Revolver'', although it was the firs ...

", joined " Blue Christmas" (her cover of an

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...

tune), "

Kites A kite is a tethered heavier-than-air or lighter-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create lift and drag forces. A kite consists of wings, tethers and anchors. Kites often have a bridle and tail to guide the face ...

" by Simon Dupree and the Big Sound (during the Lemon Kittens period) and "Hate on Sight", a track by Shock Headed Peters (included on her ''Comatose etc.'' release) as an addition to her covers of other artists' work. Her last two album releases were in 1995 and consisted of a career retrospective double-album entitled ''Comatose Non-Reaction: The Thwarted Pop Career of Danielle Dax'' and an EP of new

and almost completely

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to inst ...

material called ''Timber Tongue'' (both on her own Biter of Thorpe label). Dax's career in the music business then went on indefinite hiatus and is often referred to as a 'retirement'. Since 1996, she has worked in interior design and has appeared several times on the BBC interior design show '' Homefront'', where she won the Designer of the Year Award. In 2017, Dax performed at London's

Cafe Oto Cafe Oto is a venue for free jazz, experimental and free improvisation performances located in the Dalston district of London, United Kingdom. Founded in 2008 Cafe Oto (''sound'' or ''noise'' in Japanese) is located in the heart of Dalston and p ...

as part of UnicaZürn with David Knight, David J. Smith and Stephen Thrower. She had previously contributed lyrics, vocals and artwork for the group's 2009 album ''Temporal Bends''. On November 4, 2022, a new single was released by Danielle Dax titled "Invictus Arduis." The single was released on transparent vinyl by the independent label Heaven's Lathe. One hundred copies were printed and sold out within two minutes. The project was made with her longtime collaborator David Knight, and featured experimental instrumentation by Dax and Knight and a singing and spoken word by Dax. Lyrics from the previously released songs "Cutting The Last Sheaf", "Born To Be Bad" and "Whistling For His Love" have been used for the project. This is the first newly released material in 27 years, since the release of the Timber Tongue EP in 1995.

Discography

with Lemon Kittens

*''Spoonfed & Writhing'' (cover art only) *''

We Buy a Hammer for Daddy ''We Buy a Hammer for Daddy'' is the debut studio album by English experimental rock band Lemon Kittens. It was released in 1980, through record label United Diaries. Background The phrase "We buy a hammer for Daddy" originates from the captio ...

'' (multi-instrumentalist, vocals) *''Cake Beast'' (three track 12" EP) *''(...those that bite the hand that feeds them sooner or later must meet...) The Big Dentist'' (multi-instrumentalist, vocals)

Solo

Studio albums

EPs

Compilations

Singles

Cover versions

*In 1989, the Finnish model and artist Kata Kärkkäinen recorded a version of the single "Cat House" for her ''Your Love'' album. * The Damned also included "Cat House" occasionally in their live repertoire.

References

External links

*
Official MySpace page''Axel'' by Nigel Wingrove on IMDB
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dax, Danielle 1958 births Living people English experimental musicians English multi-instrumentalists Women punk rock singers Gothic rock musicians Music in Southend-on-Sea People from Southend-on-Sea British post-punk musicians Sire Records artists 20th-century English singers 20th-century English women singers