Susan Brice (born 16 March 1971), better known by her stage name Coco Star (or simply Coco), is an English singer and songwriter, who was signed to

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

and EMI.Coco's Got Her Miracle by Bill Lennon, Hertfordshire Magazine June 2000 Brice has collaborated with artists such as Craig David,

Artful Dodger Jack Dawkins, better known as the Artful Dodger, is a character in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel ''Oliver Twist''. The Dodger is a pickpocket, so called for his skill and cunning in that occupation. He is the leader of the gang of child criminals ...

and

Fragma Fragma are a German vocal trance music group, originally comprising three producers. The group was successful in the early 2000s when they released several singles that charted successfully across Europe, especially the United Kingdom and Irel ...

for the number 1 hit, "

Toca's Miracle "Toca's Miracle" is a release by German vocal trance group Fragma featuring vocals from British singer Coco (also known as Coco Star). Taken as the second single off Fragma's debut studio album, ''Toca'' (2001), the song is a mashup of Coco's "I ...

Early life

Brice was born in

Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first new towns (designated 1948). It is unique in being both a garden city and a new town an ...

, Hertfordshire. Her parents were both musical artists and singers although not professionally. She was musically active before the age of just 5 with hopes of having a number one

hit record A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

, which she later achieved. Brice can play the cello and all of the recorder family, and some piano. At the age of just 12, Brice was writing and performing her own songs and had recorded her first track at the age of 15. Brice attended the

University of the West of England, Bristol The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a public research university, located in and around Bristol, England. The institution was know as the Bristol Polytechnic in 1970; it received university status in 1992 and ...

where she achieved a BA Hons degree in fashion and textiles. Prior to this, she had completed an art foundation course and a national diploma in art and design.

Musical career

During her time at university, she met up with

Jody Wisternoff Joseph Wisternoff (born 25 November 1973) is an English electronic music producer and DJ. He is best known as one half of the electronic music duo Way Out West, and also as a solo producer of dance music spanning early 1990s hardcore to dee ...

Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol by Robert "3D" Del Naja, Adrian "Tricky" Thaws, Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. The debut Massive Attack album '' Blue Lines'' was rele ...

and Tricky and began to further enhance her live performances and songwriting skills, landing underground hits with "One By One" and "Always on my Mind". In 1994, Brice was signed by Universal MCA music publishing as part of a development deal where she worked alongside

Paul Connolly Paul Connolly (born 29 September 1983) is an English former professional footballer who plays as a right back. He played in the Football League for Plymouth Argyle, Derby County, Sheffield United, Leeds United, Portsmouth, Preston North End, M ...

on live showcases. Brice was coached by

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Voice", she is Whitney Houston albums discography, one of the bestselling music artists ...

's vocal coach and had dance tuition at Pineapple Dance Studios, as well as meeting Rob Davis regularly to work on music he wrote, and "I Need a Miracle" was just one of a few projects Brice worked on between 1994 and 1997. The ad libitum parts and sections of the melody line in "I Need a Miracle" including

harmonies In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. Howeve ...

are exclusively the creation of Brice, who gave the song its iconic stamp. Brice also spent some time working with Roger McKenzie (AKA Wildchild) who died in 1995 aged 24. By 1997, Brice had entered the main UK charts with "I Need a Miracle" at No. 39 following its debut live performance at Pacha, Ibiza. It later went on to be the feature of a bootleg by UK DJ Vimto with huge success. Originally called "Fragma vs Coco", the

mashup Mashup may refer to: * Mashup (culture), the rearrangement of spliced parts of musical pieces as part of a subculture * Mashup (education), combining various forms of data and media by a teacher or student in an instructional setting * Mashup (mus ...

of the two records "Toca Me" by Fragma, and "I Need a Miracle" by Coco resulted in the name "

". By the time of its official release in April 2000, the energy surrounding it was such that it went straight in at No. 1 in the UK, selling in excess of 500,000 copies. Brice is an accomplished songwriter, also signed to

Publishing for her works, including "It Ain't Enough" which features on the Artful Dodger album '' It's All About the Stragglers''; this version also featuring Brice's vocals. "It Ain't Enough" was a top 20 hit for the Artful Dodger in 2001 but featured vocalist MZ MAY. Brice also wrote the track "Driftaway", which was covered by

Kele Le Roc Kelly Biggs (born 5 October 1977 in East Ham, London), better known by her stage name Kele Le Roc, is a British R&B and UK garage singer. Career Biggs began singing at the age of three, and she attended Langdon Comprehensive School in East Ha ...

. Brice worked on an EP of songs by songwriter/producer Peter Wright. "Take You There" was released in April 2011. She has also signed a deal with

DJ Smash Andrey Leonidovich Shirman (russian: Андрей Леонидович Ширман, link=no; born 23 May 1982), better known by his stage name DJ Smash, is a Russian DJ in house music and electronic music, and also a music producer. As of 2022 ...

, for a release of her self penned "Get Over You". This collaboration was part of the 2011 DJ Smash album, ''23'', and featured production by another Russian, DJ She. Ahead of the 2011 Winter Music Conference in Miami, Brice featured at No. 12 in the official buzz chart
with a revocal of "I Need a Miracle", in a fresh new collaborative work with MYNC and Australian house music star Christian Luke. As with "Toca's Miracle", the new release entitled "A Miracle in Melbourne" is a mashup of the iconic vocal from "I Need a Miracle" and the track "London to Melbourne" released in late 2010 by MYNC and Christian Luke on CR2 Records, London.

Collaborations

Brice has collaborated with artists including Sub Love ( Way Out West (duo), Way out West) in 1993 (both writing and performing with

DJ Die Daniel Robert Kausman, (born 13 October 1972), better known by his stage name DJ Die, is an English DJ and music producer. He was a founder of drum and bass label Full Cycle Recordings and a member of Roni Size & Reprazent (1997 Mercury Prize w ...

), Tricky,

, Victor Imbres ( Deep Dish engineer), Rob Davis from 1994–'97 (

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

's songwriter), Craig David and the Dreem Teem (Timmi Magic and DJ Spoony),

Brian Harvey Brian Lee Harvey (born 8 August 1974) is a British singer from London. He was the lead singer of pop group East 17. The later incarnation of the band, E-17, had two top 20 singles on the UK Singles Chart between 1998 and 1999, with the album ' ...

( East 17),

(on the remix of "I Need a Miracle" 2000 & 2008) and

Photek Rupert Parkes (born 6 September 1971), known as Photek, is a Los Angeles-based British electronic music DJ/record producer, and TV and film score composer. Photek was born and raised in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. Photek has contributed mus ...

under his moniker of 'Sentinel'. In 2011, Brice teamed up with MYNC and Christian Luke for collaborative works involving "I Need a Miracle". Brice is also associated with Andy Levy and Simon Bartholomew of the

Brand New Heavies The Brand New Heavies is an acid jazz and funk group formed in 1985 in Ealing in west London. Centered around songwriters/multi-instrumentalists Simon Bartholomew and Andrew Levy, the core members of the group since its founding, Brand New He ...

with whom she collaborated with during the production of some of her self written music.

"I Need a Miracle" and "Toca's Miracle"

Her most notable work to date is as the vocalist of "I Need a Miracle", released by EMI/

Positiva Positiva Records is a subsidiary of Universal Music Group and concentrates on releasing dance music in the UK. The record label was set up in 1993, by Nick Halkes, who previously ran XL Recordings. Its headquarters are at the Universal U ...

in the UK and by Greenlight Recordings in the US. This track is also known worldwide under the guise of the

" which was a number 1 hit in 14 countries worldwide in 2000. "Toca's Miracle" is the result of splicing tracks (''see

mashup (music) A mashup (also mesh, mash up, mash-up, blend, bastard pop or bootleg) is a creative work, usually a song, created by blending two or more pre-recorded songs, typically by superimposing the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the instrumenta ...

'') from two separate entities, namely

(the German-based electronic production trio) and their hit "Toca Me", and "I Need a Miracle" which was initially written for solo artist Coco, by

publishing writers Victor Imbres and Rob Davis in 1994. Despite appearances in the "Toca's Miracle" video and Fragma album line-up, Brice was never part of the Fragma group, and remains a solo artist. Rebranding of the original song "I Need a Miracle" to Fragma's "Toca's Miracle" occurred without permission or prior agreement. Brice appeared live on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most o ...

'' on four occasions, including the Christmas special during 2000 and 2001 to perform "Toca's Miracle" as well as on '' CD:UK'', '' T4'' and the '' Pepsi Chart Show''. Further live performances of "Toca's Miracle" and Brice's other works were given on MTV and

The Prince's Trust The Prince's Trust ( cy, Ymddiriedolaeth y Tywysog) is a charity in the United Kingdom founded in 1976 by King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) to help vulnerable young people get their lives on track. It supports 11-to-30-year-olds who are u ...

's Party in the Park.

"Toca's Miracle 2008"

Brice's vocals can also be heard on the 2008 remix of "Toca's Miracle", remixed by brothers Marko and Dirk Duderstadt. Again it uses the vocal parts from Brice's signed release of "I Need a Miracle". The 2008 remix was released by EMI/Positiva on 7 April 2008. Although the original 2000 release topped the charts in several countries exactly eight years previously, the remix climbed to No. 2 in Australia and No. 16 in the UK. The original is acknowledged as one of the top 5 biggest dance anthems ever. Remixes of Toca's Miracle were released without authorisation of Brice or Universal Music in 2008 and 2012. Both poor

credit Credit (from Latin verb ''credit'', meaning "one believes") is the trust which allows one party to provide money or resources to another party wherein the second party does not reimburse the first party immediately (thereby generating a de ...

and lip-synching issues were discussed by press in Central Europe in 2010 when official singer Coco Star announced on National TV that a

passing off Passing off is a common law tort which can be used to enforce unregistered trade mark rights. The tort of passing off protects the goodwill of a trader from misrepresentation. The law of passing off prevents one trader from misrepresenting ...

act was appearing worldwide claiming to be the singer of the hit, either lip-synching or performing live over Brice's

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

-protected vocals, a scenario compared with the

Milli Vanilli Milli Vanilli were a German-French R&B duo from Munich. The group was founded by Frank Farian in 1988 and consisted of Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus. Their debut album, ''All or Nothing'' in Europe, reconfigured as '' Girl You Know It's True'' ...

scandal, although it relates to only one song "Toca's Miracle", effectively a remix of "I Need a Miracle" written for Brice in 1994. The offending passing off artist appears on the cover of the Australian release of "Toca's Miracle 2008" adding to further confusion.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Star, Coco Living people English women singers English songwriters English dance musicians British gospel singers English women in electronic music People from Welwyn Garden City Musicians from Hertfordshire Positiva Records artists 1974 births Musicians from Bristol