Natasha England (born Dorothy Natasha Sherratt, 18 December 1952), Natasha England, ''Last.fm''
Retrieved 3 October 2015 often credited as Natasha, is a Scottish

pop singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

whose version of "

Iko Iko "Iko Iko" () is a much-covered New Orleans song that tells of a parade collision between two tribes of Mardi Gras Indians and the traditional confrontation. The song, under the original title "Jock-A-Mo", was written and released in 1953 as a sin ...

" reached number 10 on 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 ...

in 1982.

Biography

She was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland, and after winning a dance competition moved to London in the early 1970s to develop a career in the music business. She worked as a dancer and formed her own band, playing in clubs, while also working behind the scenes in the management of such stars as

Marc Bolan Marc Bolan ( ; born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex. Bolan was posthumously inducted in ...

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

and

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

. She married Bob England in 1975, and they formed their own management and production company.Darts
Americanradiohistory.com, Retrieved 9 March 2020 They also set up the Towerbell

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

, and discovered and managed the band

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, who had a series of hits after being signed to

Magnet Records Magnet Records was a British record label, started in 1973 by Michael Levy and Peter Shelley. It was acquired by Warner Bros. Records in 1988 for an estimated £10m. Artists on the label included Alvin Stardust, Stevenson's Rocket, Matchbox, ...

. Later, the pair were responsible for setting up the Rockney label for Chas and Dave. Natasha England biography
Natashaengland.moonfruit.com, Retrieved 3 October 2015 Natasha formed a girl group, Flirts, with sisters Betty and Jackie Burns. They recorded for Magnet in the late 1970s but with little commercial success despite scoring an airplay hit on BBC Radio One. She then recorded for

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

as Natasha and the Delites. Credited as Natasha, she released eleven solo singles on Towerbell, including “I Can’t Hold On” (UK #131) and "

" in 1982. She appeared on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, 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 ...

'', and the song, produced by Tom Newman, rose to number 10 on 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 ...

. It also charted in Ireland reaching number 7, Israel reaching number 6, and New Zealand where it peaked at number 5 as well as scoring the 26th-biggest selling single of the year. Her follow-up record "The Boom Boom Room" reached number 44 on the UK singles chart later in the year, and her album ''Captured'' reached number 53 on the

UK albums chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

. However, later singles on Towerbell, and a second, largely self-penned album ''Don’t Walk Away'', had less success. After her marriage to Bob England ended in the mid-1980s she left the music business, and worked with horses and on

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the sa ...

issues. She moved to Canada and sang with the band Why before returning to England in the early 1990s. A few years later she was diagnosed with

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

, but eventually returned to the music industry. When she relaunched her career in 2007 via

Platform Records Platform Records is a UK-based independent record label, created in Edinburgh in 2007. Initial artists included The Shermans who scored two UK Independent Chart top 30 singles with "Calling It Wrong" (peaking at number 23), and "Venom" (peak ...

, her 1982 single "Iko Iko" was given its first digital release, along with a 42-track anthology ''Back From The Mists of Time'' which included her entire 1980s output. A new album ''Deeper Into Reality'' followed in 2010, a collaboration with experimental producer Robert Logan. Further releases have included a 2013 cover of the T. Rex song "Get It On", and a 2015 single, "Work It Out". Mathew Robson, "Natasha England Interview", ''Secret Sounds'', 17 September 2013
Retrieved 3 October 2015 Natasha's version of "Iko Iko" enjoyed a resurgence after

licensed it to the soundtrack of the highest-grossing Italian film of 2014, '' Un Boss In Salotto''. A new single and 13-track album were released on 10 August 2018, entitled ''Somehow''. A 21 track compilation album was released on August 20, 2021, entitled ''Iko Iko - The Best Of Natasha England''.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:England, Natasha Scottish pop singers Musicians from Glasgow 1952 births Living people 20th-century Scottish women singers