Frances McKee (born 1966) is a Scottish singer and songwriter known best for her work in the

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

indie band The Vaselines.

Background

McKee's involvement with music began as a teenager in the early 1980s when she met

Duglas T. Stewart Duglas T. Stewart (born 30 December 1964) has been leader and the main composer of Glaswegian indie pop band BMX Bandits since they formed in 1985. Stewart's songs often have a distinctive and wry combination of whimsy, bittersweet romance and ...

from Bellshill. With McKee and his friends Norman Blake and Sean Dickson, Stewart formed a group, known by various outrageous names before settling on The Pretty Flowers. The group would play impromptu, happening-style gigs in the local park and at Bellshill's Hattonrigg Hotel. McKee became disillusioned with the group shortly after they settled on The Pretty Flowers name and eventually left. The group later morphed into the BMX Bandits. The Vaselines formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 1986. McKee and Eugene Kelly wrote almost all of their material. By this time, McKee was beginning to learn how to play guitar, which is why many 80s Vaselines songs only feature certain chords. They signed to 53rd and 3rd and following the release of two EPs, ''

Son of a Gun Son of a gun is an exclamation in American and British English. It can be used encouragingly or to compliment, as in "You son of a gun, you did it!" Definition The ''Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary'' and ''Webster's Dictionary'' both defin ...

'' and ''

Dying for It Dying is the final stage of life which will eventually lead to death. Diagnosing dying is a complex process of clinical decision-making, and most practice checklists facilitating this diagnosis are based on cancer diagnoses. Signs of dying ...

'', and their first album, ''

Dum-Dum Expanding bullets, also known colloquially as dumdum bullets, are projectiles designed to expand on impact. This causes the bullet to increase in diameter, to combat over-penetration and produce a larger wound, thus dealing more damage to a li ...

'', in 1989, the band split up.

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...

of Nirvana was a big fan of the band, and covered three of their songs: "

Molly's Lips "Candy"/"Molly's Lips" is a vinyl-only split-single from the American rock bands The Fluid and Nirvana. It was released in January 1991 on Sub Pop records and includes two live tracks: "Candy" by The Fluid; and "Molly's Lips", a cover of a song b ...

", "Son of a Gun" and "

Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam" is a song originally recorded by the Scottish alternative band the Vaselines. It was later covered by American rock band Nirvana in 1993 who renamed it "Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam". History "Jesus Wants ...

". He also named his daughter jointly after McKee and

Frances Farmer Frances Elena Farmer (September 19, 1913August 1, 1970) was an American actress and television hostess. She appeared in over a dozen feature films over the course of her career, though she garnered notoriety for sensationalized accounts of her l ...

. McKee and Kelly briefly reunited in 1990 to play a show supporting Nirvana in Edinburgh in 1990. This would be their last performance together until 2006. Following a post-Vaselines break, she began making music with Vaselines bass player James Seenan in 1994, writing material of a more-mellow flavour. These songs were released under the name Painkillers at first. They released 2 singles under this name in 1994 and 1996. They changed their name to

Suckle Suckle may refer to: *Suckling, or Breastfeeding *Suckle (band), Scottish indie pop band *Richard Suckle Richard Suckle (born January 1969) is an American film producer. Suckle was one of several producers nominated for an Academy Award for Be ...

in 1997 following the addition of more bandmembers. Initially coming out on

4AD 4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name "Axis" (after the Hendrix album) by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD af ...

offshoot Detox Artefacts, the band released 1 album, 2 EPs and 3 singles before splitting up in late 2000. They also recorded two sessions for

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

. ''Against Nurture'', the only Suckle long player, was released in May 2000 on Chemikal Underground. On 10 April 2006, McKee released her first solo album, ''

Sunny Moon ''Sunny Moon'' is the first solo album by Frances McKee. Containing a much softer and more mellow style of music than her previous days in the Vaselines, the music is more reminiscent of her work in Suckle. All songs were written by McKee exc ...

''. In the summer of 2006, Frances McKee and Eugene Kelly took to the stage together for the first time since 1990, to perform a set of The Vaselines songs, as part of a joint tour to promote their individual solo albums. This led to The Vaselines reforming (minus the old rhythm section) on 24 April 2008 for a charity show for the Malawi Orphan Support group at Glasgow's MONO venue. Since 2008, The Vaselines have continued to perform around the world, with members of

Belle & Sebastian Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band formed in Glasgow in 1996. Led by Stuart Murdoch, the band has released eleven albums. They are often compared with acts such as The Smiths and Nick Drake. The name "Belle and Sebastian" comes ...

supporting their live set. On 5 May 2009,

Sub Pop Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are often ...

released ''

Enter the Vaselines ''Enter the Vaselines'' is a compilation album by the indie rock band The Vaselines, released on 5 May 2009 through the record label Sub Pop. The album is a deluxe reissue of their 1992 compilation '' The Way of the Vaselines: A Complete Histor ...

''. A deluxe-edition reissue of the 1992 Sub Pop release, it includes remastered versions of the band's two EPs, album, as well as demos and live recordings from 1986 and 1988. In 2010, they released a second album, ''

Sex with an X ''Sex with an X'' is the second studio album by the Scottish alternative rock band The Vaselines, which was released on 14 September 2010 on Sub Pop. It was their first new album since the release of ''Dum-Dum'' over 20 years earlier. The fir ...

''. The Vaselines' third album, ''

V for Vaselines ''V for Vaselines'' is the third studio album by the Scottish alternative rock band The Vaselines. It was recorded at Castle of Doom studios in Glasgow and was released in the UK on 29 September 2014 and in the US on 7 October 2014 through The V ...

,'' was self-released in 2014 on the band's own label, Rosary Music, in order to maintain creative control. McKee features in the 2017 documentary

Teenage Superstars ''Teenage Superstars'' is a 2017 film about the Glasgow independent music scene between 1982 and 1992, focusing on the bands that emerged from in and around the city at this point including The Pastels, BMX Bandits, The Soup Dragons, Teenage Fanc ...

Personal life

McKee has been practicing Yoga since 1990 and began training to teach in 1995, gaining her qualifications in 1997. She opened the Yoga Extension studio in

Jordanhill Jordanhill ( sco, Jordanhull, gd, Cnoc Iòrdain)
is an ...

, Glasgow in 2006, which teaches the Iyengar yoga practice. Yoga Extension is currently located in Charing Cross, having moved locations in 2017. In a 2014 interview with Under the Radar, McKee discussed her support for the

Scottish Independence referendum A referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom was held in Scotland on 18 September 2014. The referendum question was, "Should Scotland be an independent country?", which voters answered with "Yes" or "No". The "No" side wo ...

, saying, "There are a lot of creative people in Scotland ready for the change a yes vote will bring".

Releases

* The Vaselines **''

Son of a Gun (EP) ''Son of a Gun'' is the debut extended play single by Glasgow alternative rock group The Vaselines. The title-song of the EP came to a wider audience after a Nirvana Peel session version of it, along with "Molly's Lips", was released on their comp ...

'' (1987

53rd & 3rd ''Ramones'' is the debut studio album by American punk rock band The Ramones, released on April 23, 1976, by Sire Records. After ''Hit Parader'' editor Lisa Robinson saw the band at a gig in New York City, she wrote about them in an article ...

) **''

'' (1988 53rd & 3rd) **''

'' (1989

Rough Trade Rough Trade may refer to: *Rough Trade Records, a record label * Rough Trade (shops), London record stores *Rough Trade (band), a Canadian new wave rock band * "Rough Trade" (''American Dad!''), an episode of ''American Dad!'' *Rough trade (slang), ...

) **''The Vaselines / Beat Happening'' (1991 K Records – recorded live in London 16 June 1988) **'' The Way of the Vaselines: A Complete History'' (1992

) **'' All the Stuff and More...'' (1992 Avalanche) **''

'' (2009 Sub Pop) **''

'' (2010 Sub Pop) **''

'' (2014 Rosary Music) *Painkillers **''Tropical Zodiac'' single (1994 Human Condition) **''Lost in Space'' single (1996, Pi Recordings) *

**''Hormonal Secreations EP'' (1997 Detox Artifacts, UK) **''Symposium/Boyfriend'' (1997 Detox Artifacts, UK) **''Cybilla/Sex With Animals'' (1998 Left Hand Recordings) **''Against Nurture'' album (2000 Chemikal Underground Records) **''To Be King'' (2000 Chemikal Underground Records) **''The Sun Is God EP'' (2000 Chemikal Underground Records) *Solo **''

'' album (2006 Analogue Catalogue)

References

External links

http://www.analoguecat.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKee, Frances Living people Women rock singers The Vaselines members 20th-century Scottish women singers 1966 births 21st-century Scottish women singers