Daphne and Celeste
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Daphne and Celeste are an American pop duo, consisting of Celeste Cruz and Karen 'Daphne' DiConcetto. Three of their
singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...
reached the top 20 in the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
.


Success and album reaction

They released three singles in the UK: " Ooh Stick You", " U.G.L.Y." and a
cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
of
Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...
's " School's Out". A full-length album, '' We Didn't Say That!'', was released in June 2000 to generally mixed reviews (''
Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...
'' awarded it four out of five stars). Another single, "Party", was due in November 2000, but was never released. During their performance at the
Reading and Leeds Festivals The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festiv ...
in 2000, the crowd's negative reception towards Daphne and Celeste's incongruous music resulted in the duo being bottled by the audience. Despite the hostile crowd response, Daphne and Celeste remained on stage and continued to perform their songs though they left at the end of their second song in a three-song set due to the increasing crowd hostility. "U.G.L.Y." was criticised by those who felt that it promoted
bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an imba ...
. Daphne and Celeste countered this by saying their
lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, a ...
were meant to be
tongue-in-cheek The idiom tongue-in-cheek refers to a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner. History The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walter Scot ...
. In an interview included on the "U.G.L.Y." single, Daphne stated: "Everyone is indeed ugly in their own special way." Daphne and Celeste made an appearance at Feet First. Daphne and Celeste also had a television and film deal. Daphne and Celeste were eventually dropped by their label. Their official website closed down in October 2001, and their management company, Perfect Noise Limited, was dissolved in November 2002. After the band broke up Celeste went back to school.


Later activities

In a "Where Are They Now?" interview with ''Q'' magazine in 2005, Karen DiConcetto stated that the whole project was "100% manufactured", and that the girls auditioned for it in New York in 1998: "I just talked about shoes for an hour." She considered the
Reading Festival The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festiv ...
to be the highlight of the whole experience, and mentioned her work in theatre afterwards, specifically a play called ''Tourrettaville'', written by a boy with
Tourette's syndrome Tourette syndrome or Tourette's syndrome (abbreviated as TS or Tourette's) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in childhood or adolescence. It is characterized by multiple movement (motor) tics and at least one vocal (phonic) ...
. DiConcetto received positive reviews for her portrayal of "CB's Sister" in the FringeNYC award-winning ''
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''
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''
Dog Sees God ''Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead'' is a play written by Bert V. Royal. An "unauthorized continuation," the play reimagines characters from the popular comic strip '' Peanuts'' as degenerate teenagers. Drug use, child sexual ab ...
''. That production was adapted for an
Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
debut featuring a number of big-name celebrities, including
Eliza Dushku Eliza Patricia Dushku (; born December 30, 1980) is an American actress. She is best known for starring as Faith in the supernatural drama series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1998–2003) and its spin-off series ''Angel'' (2000–2003). She als ...
and
America Ferrera America Georgina Ferrera (; born April 18, 1984) is an American actress. Born in Los Angeles to Honduran parents, Ferrera developed an interest in acting at a young age, performing in several stage productions at her school. She made her featu ...
. In the same interview, Celeste Cruz said that she had also worked in theatre and that the duo were planning to break into television. In 2004, Celeste also took the role of "Maria" in the movie ''Brooklyn Bound''. In 2009 she appeared in an Emmy-nominated episode of ''
30 Rock ''30 Rock'' is an American satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live'', takes ...
'' entitled "
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". Celeste can also be found on
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. Unlike DiConcetto, she considered the Reading Festival incident the "end of the party for us". Daphne and Celeste were also interviewed by Bad Horsey towards the end of 2005, with the questions coming from the
B3ta B3ta (stylised as b3ta) is a popular British website, described as a "puerile digital arts community" by ''The Guardian''. It was founded in 2001 by Rob Manuel, Denise Wilton and Cal Henderson. B3ta's main feature is a newsletter featuring ...
web community. The interview was posted on the Estudio Caballito Malo website and featured in the ''
Popbitch Popbitch is a weekly UK-based celebrity and pop music newsletter and associated dating website from the early 2000s. Much of the material for the newsletter comes from the Popbitch message boards, frequented by music industry insiders, gossips an ...
'' newsletter. An edited version was published in the January 2006 edition of the UK publication ''
Fused Magazine ''Fused Magazine'' is a travel, culture and design magazine based in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands, England and distributed throughout the World. The magazine was founded by editors David and Kerry O'Coy in 2000. It is published twic ...
''. DiConcetto has a role in Holger Ernst's '' The House Is Burning'', which premiered at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival on 26 May. The film was produced by
Wim Wenders Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (; born 14 August 1945) is a German filmmaker, playwright, author, and photographer. He is a major figure in New German Cinema. Among many honors, he has received three nominations for the Academy Award for Best Docum ...
, and is considered a German production, despite being filmed around New Jersey. In 2005, Daphne and Celeste had a mini reunion tour in the UK with Lolly. Celeste Cruz sang guest vocals on a song for Kent Odessa.


Reunion and recording

In 2011, English music producer
Max Tundra Ben Jacobs (born 7 June 1974), more commonly known by the stage name Max Tundra, is an English multi-instrumental musician, singer and music producer. His work is noted for its maximalist approach, which is predominantly electronic music but inc ...
contacted Daphne and Celeste through social media to offer his production to make a comeback. On 29 March 2015, the duo had a second reunion and released a single titled "You and I Alone", produced by
Max Tundra Ben Jacobs (born 7 June 1974), more commonly known by the stage name Max Tundra, is an English multi-instrumental musician, singer and music producer. His work is noted for its maximalist approach, which is predominantly electronic music but inc ...
. The song is the first single from the album ''Daphne & Celeste Save the World'', and was written and produced by Max Tundra. On 7 February 2018, Daphne and Celeste announced the comeback album with the launch of another song, "BB", produced by Max Tundra. The duo and Tundra performed at London's Boston Music Room to promote the release.


Discography


Studio albums


Singles


References


External links


Daphne and Celeste
* * {{Authority control American musical duos American pop girl groups Musical groups from New Jersey Musical groups established in 1999 Musical groups disestablished in 2002 Musical groups reestablished in 2015 American dance music groups 1999 establishments in New Jersey