fbpx
Wikipedia

Martina Topley-Bird

May 04, 2023

Martina Gillian Topley-Bird (née Topley; born 7 May 1975) is an English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who first gained fame as the featured female vocalist on trip hop pioneer Tricky's debut album, Maxinquaye (1995). She also worked with him on his subsequent albums Nearly God and Pre-Millennium Tension (both 1996). In 2003, Topley-Bird released her debut solo album, Quixotic, which was critically praised and earned her a Mercury Prize nomination.[1]

Martina Topley-Bird
Topley-Bird performing with Massive Attack at Conegliano in 2009
Background information
Birth nameMartina Gillian Topley
Born (1975-05-07) 7 May 1975 (age 47)
St Pancras, London, England
OriginBristol, England
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
Instrument(s)
Years active1993–present
Labels

This was followed by Anything (2004), The Blue God (2008) and Some Place Simple (2010). She has also collaborated with Gorillaz, appearing on their album Demon Days (2005), as well as with Mark Lanegan, Diplo and Massive Attack on Heligoland (2010), which she followed by a world tour with the group. Her song "Sandpaper Kisses" was covered by Stephen Marley and sampled by such artists as Berry Weight and The Weeknd.

Early life

Martina Topley-Bird was born in London, England, to Charlette Conlon (née Pouncey) and Martin Geoffrey Topley, who died in 1974 before her birth; Martina was named after him. Her stepfather is British direct marketing specialist Drayton Bird, whose surname she adopted in addition to her father's. Her mother is of Salvadoran and Seminole descent, while her father was of untraceable African-American descent.[2][3] Topley-Bird grew up in a large family, with five siblings and three step-siblings.[2]

Her family later relocated from London to Bristol. "We moved about a bit when I was a child, which wasn't a problem for me", she recalled. "If you're not white and middle-class, then you're slightly different and exotic in those new environments. I thrived, and survived, on those situations."[2] She attended Clifton College, where she was a member of the school choir and took piano lessons.[4]

Topley-Bird grew up listening to R&B, opera and soul music throughout her childhood.[5] As a teenager, she began listening to alternative rock, and became a fan of The Sugarcubes, Faith No More and Jane's Addiction.[5]

Career

Collaboration with Tricky

In 1993, as a teenager at Clifton College, Topley-Bird was discovered by trip hop pioneer Tricky when he saw her sitting on a wall near his house, singing to herself.[6] "That's really how it happened," she recalled. "It's one of those things people are always surprised to find out is true. I remember the graveyard behind the wall. A few weeks later, I went around to his house with some friends. We'd been drinking cider after our GCSEs. We were banging on his door, but he wasn't in. Then Mark Stewart, who lived there, came up to us and said: "Yeah, this is Tricky's house, jump in through the window." So I jumped through, opened the door and we got mashed."[6]

She and Tricky formed a musical partnership, and Topley-Bird collaborated with Tricky as a featured vocalist on his debut album Maxinquaye (1995)[7] (a printing error credited her as "Martine"). Almost all of her vocals on the album were recorded in a single take.[8] In describing the recording sessions, she recalled: "It was totally instinctive. There was no time to drum up an alter ego. I liked the idea that the information people needed about me was what they would hear when they put the record on. Anything else was sort of extraneous. I didn't think there was anything in my biography that would explain my musical choices."[8] Topley-Bird continued her collaboration with Tricky on his follow-up albums Nearly God (1996), Pre-Millennium Tension (1996) and Angels with Dirty Faces (1998).

Solo career

Following a deterioration of her professional and personal relationship with Tricky in 1998, Topley-Bird began pursuing a solo career. It was not until 2003 that she released her debut album, Quixotic through Independiente Records, which she recorded in Los Angeles, California. The record was mainly produced by Topley-Bird and production team AMP9 (Alex McGowan, Steve Crittall, Nick Bird) at Space Eko Recording Studios London. She commented on the ideas underpinning the album, saying:

A lot of it is about the notion of physical proximity relative to emotional connections between people. My dad, Martin Topley, died when he was twenty-nine. Between the release of Quixotic and now, I turned twenty-nine, and I started thinking about what I'd achieved in my life as a human being. Also I wanted to focus on the nature of my relationship with him and with my step father because of the way I felt those relationships were affecting my other relationships.[5]

 
Topley-Bird performing with Massive Attack in Conegliano, 2009

Quixotic peaked at no. 70 on the UK Albums Chart,[9] received positive reviews from critics, and was a finalist for the 2003 Mercury Music Prize. The album finally saw a limited release in the United States in July 2004, when the Palm Pictures label released a re-designed and re-sequenced version under the title Anything, which featured a shorter track listing and all-new cover art. The following year she appeared on the Starbucks compilation album Sweetheart 2005: Love Songs, which features contemporary musicians covering classic love songs. She sang "I Only Have Eyes for You", a song originally by composer Harry Warren and lyricist Al Dubin.

Her second solo album, The Blue God, was released in May 2008. The track "Carnies" was released as the first single on 3 March 2008[10] and reached No. 20 on the UK Indie Charts.[11] "Poison" was released as the second single[12] and reached No.9 on the Indie Charts.[11] The album received generally positive critical reception; the BBC said it "warps reflections of Ella Fitzgerald, two-tone ska, dark psychedelia and Pentangle's 'acid folk' into unsettling shapes ... It's an often astonishing album and one which, if Tricky's forthcoming comeback can't match it, may curse him to be known as 'that bloke who used to rap with Martina Topley Bird.'"[13]

In 2010, Topley-Bird appeared on the album Heligoland by Massive Attack, lending her voice on the tracks "Psyche" and "Babel". She also toured with Massive Attack as their support act and providing guest vocals at their shows.[6] Her third album, Some Place Simple, was released in July 2010. It contained stripped-down versions of songs from her first two releases, along with four new songs. Topley-Bird performed Maxinquaye live at the Sundance Festival, London, in April 2012,[14] and also appeared on the tracks "Open" and "Secret" on electronic musician Clark's album Iradelphic. In 2013 contributed to a cover of the xx's "Crystalised" with Mark Lanegan and Warpaint,[15] and also toured with Warpaint as a supporting act on their 2013 world tour. On 26 January 2015, she appeared as lead vocalist on title track "The Day is My Enemy", the second single of The Prodigy's, from their album The Day Is My Enemy (2015).[16]

In 2018 Martina Topley-Bird released the single "Solitude", which would subsequently appear on the four-track EP MTB Continued. In May 2021 Topley-Bird released the single "Pure Heart" from her upcoming album Forever I Wait.

Influences

Topley-Bird cites Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday as vocal influences,[4] as well as Tom Waits and Serge Gainsbourg as instrumental influences.[17] She has cited Bollywood and Asian cinema as an influence on her album artwork as well, including the work of Park Chan-wook.[18]

Personal life

Topley-Bird has an elder sister named Elizabeth.

Topley-Bird had one daughter with Tricky.[8][19] Mina Mazy (19 March 1995 – 8 May 2019)[20] was born one month after the release of Maxinquaye.

She has said that she doesn't consider herself religious, though she "believes in the need to have a healthy spiritual life".[21]

Discography

Albums

Singles

  • "Need One" (2003)
  • "Anything" (2003)
  • "I Still Feel" (2003)
  • "Soul Food" (2004)
  • "Carnies" (2008)
  • "Poison" (2008)
  • "Baby Blue" (2008)
  • "Crystalised" (2013) (with Mark Lanegan and Warpaint)[23]
  • Solitude (2018)[24]
  • "Pure Heart" (2021)
  • "Hunt" (2021)

Guest appearances

 
Topley-Bird performing with Massive Attack, 2009

References

  1. ^ Tilden, Imogen (22 July 2003). "Mercury shortlist favours newcomers". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  2. ^ a b c "Into the past, present, and future". The Irish Times. 16 August 2003. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  3. ^ "Martina Topley Bird – Ragga". Soundcloud. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  4. ^ a b "Martina Topley Bird interview with MP3.com". 26 May 2010. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2015 – via YouTube.
  5. ^ a b c Moody, Paul (2008). (PDF). WME Entertainment. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 October 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  6. ^ a b c Fox, Killian (10 July 2010). "Martina Topley Bird: 'I played Boggle till 4am the other night. Is that rock'n'roll enough for you?'". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  7. ^ Kitty (17 February 2012). "Martina Topley-Bird [biography]". Moon-palace.de. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  8. ^ a b c Lynskey, Dorian (18 April 2012). "Tricky: 'I thought I'd be an underground artist. I was not ready'". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  9. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 562. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  10. ^ "Martina Copley-Bird – Carnies". Independiente. 25 February 2008. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  11. ^ a b "BBC - Radio 1 - Chart - UK Top 30 Indie Singles Chart". Archived from the original on 30 May 2012. Retrieved 14 March 2008.
  12. ^ . Archived from the original on 12 June 2008. Retrieved 26 March 2008.
  13. ^ Clarke, Paul (2008). "Martina Topley-Bird The Blue God Review". BBC. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  14. ^ "Tricky and Martina Topley Bird to Perform Maxinquaye". Trebuchet Magazine. 27 February 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  15. ^ Minsker, Evan (25 September 2013). "Watch: Martina Topley-Bird, Mark Lanegan, and Warpaint Cover the xx's "Crystalised"". Pitchfork. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  16. ^ Perry, Andrew (30 March 2015). "The Prodigy – The Day is My Enemy". Mojo. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  17. ^ Topley-Bird, Martina (17 December 2010). "Musicview: Martina Topley Bird" (Interview). Interviewed by MusicView. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  18. ^ Topley-Bird, Martina (2008). "Martina Topley Bird Interview" (Interview). Interviewed by Mk2. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  19. ^ McNulty, Bernadette (15 March 2008). "Martina Topley-Bird: Encounter with an exotic, mysterious Bird". The Telegraph. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  20. ^ "Mina Mazy Topley-Bird - When You Go". Trickyofficial. 28 May 2019. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021.
  21. ^ "Martina Topley-Bird interview". YouTube. 2008. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  22. ^ "Anything - Martina Topley-Bird | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  23. ^ "Crystalised (feat. Mark Lanegan & Warpaint)". 21 October 2013. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
  24. ^ "Solitude | Martina Topley Bird". Martinatopleybird1.bandcamp.com. 13 November 2018. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  25. ^ . Archived from the original on 17 June 2018. Retrieved 17 June 2018.

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Martina Topley-Bird.
  • Official website
  • Martina Topley-Bird discography at Discogs  
  • Martina Topley Bird's Some Place Simple – tribute website to the artist
  • "Girl interrupted" article from The Observer Magazine, 25 May 2003

May 04, 2023
martina, topley, bird, martina, gillian, topley, bird, née, topley, born, 1975, english, singer, songwriter, multi, instrumentalist, first, gained, fame, featured, female, vocalist, trip, pioneer, tricky, debut, album, maxinquaye, 1995, also, worked, with, sub. Martina Gillian Topley Bird nee Topley born 7 May 1975 is an English singer songwriter and multi instrumentalist who first gained fame as the featured female vocalist on trip hop pioneer Tricky s debut album Maxinquaye 1995 She also worked with him on his subsequent albums Nearly God and Pre Millennium Tension both 1996 In 2003 Topley Bird released her debut solo album Quixotic which was critically praised and earned her a Mercury Prize nomination 1 Martina Topley BirdTopley Bird performing with Massive Attack at Conegliano in 2009Background informationBirth nameMartina Gillian TopleyBorn 1975 05 07 7 May 1975 age 47 St Pancras London EnglandOriginBristol EnglandGenresTrip hopindie popindie rockalternative hip hopOccupation s SingersongwritermusicianInstrument s VocalsguitarkeyboardsukulelebassdrumstambourineYears active1993 presentLabelsIndependienteHonest Jon s This was followed by Anything 2004 The Blue God 2008 and Some Place Simple 2010 She has also collaborated with Gorillaz appearing on their album Demon Days 2005 as well as with Mark Lanegan Diplo and Massive Attack on Heligoland 2010 which she followed by a world tour with the group Her song Sandpaper Kisses was covered by Stephen Marley and sampled by such artists as Berry Weight and The Weeknd Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2 1 Collaboration with Tricky 2 2 Solo career 3 Influences 4 Personal life 5 Discography 5 1 Albums 5 2 Singles 5 3 Guest appearances 6 References 7 External linksEarly life EditMartina Topley Bird was born in London England to Charlette Conlon nee Pouncey and Martin Geoffrey Topley who died in 1974 before her birth Martina was named after him Her stepfather is British direct marketing specialist Drayton Bird whose surname she adopted in addition to her father s Her mother is of Salvadoran and Seminole descent while her father was of untraceable African American descent 2 3 Topley Bird grew up in a large family with five siblings and three step siblings 2 Her family later relocated from London to Bristol We moved about a bit when I was a child which wasn t a problem for me she recalled If you re not white and middle class then you re slightly different and exotic in those new environments I thrived and survived on those situations 2 She attended Clifton College where she was a member of the school choir and took piano lessons 4 Topley Bird grew up listening to R amp B opera and soul music throughout her childhood 5 As a teenager she began listening to alternative rock and became a fan of The Sugarcubes Faith No More and Jane s Addiction 5 Career EditCollaboration with Tricky Edit In 1993 as a teenager at Clifton College Topley Bird was discovered by trip hop pioneer Tricky when he saw her sitting on a wall near his house singing to herself 6 That s really how it happened she recalled It s one of those things people are always surprised to find out is true I remember the graveyard behind the wall A few weeks later I went around to his house with some friends We d been drinking cider after our GCSEs We were banging on his door but he wasn t in Then Mark Stewart who lived there came up to us and said Yeah this is Tricky s house jump in through the window So I jumped through opened the door and we got mashed 6 She and Tricky formed a musical partnership and Topley Bird collaborated with Tricky as a featured vocalist on his debut album Maxinquaye 1995 7 a printing error credited her as Martine Almost all of her vocals on the album were recorded in a single take 8 In describing the recording sessions she recalled It was totally instinctive There was no time to drum up an alter ego I liked the idea that the information people needed about me was what they would hear when they put the record on Anything else was sort of extraneous I didn t think there was anything in my biography that would explain my musical choices 8 Topley Bird continued her collaboration with Tricky on his follow up albums Nearly God 1996 Pre Millennium Tension 1996 and Angels with Dirty Faces 1998 Solo career EditFollowing a deterioration of her professional and personal relationship with Tricky in 1998 Topley Bird began pursuing a solo career It was not until 2003 that she released her debut album Quixotic through Independiente Records which she recorded in Los Angeles California The record was mainly produced by Topley Bird and production team AMP9 Alex McGowan Steve Crittall Nick Bird at Space Eko Recording Studios London She commented on the ideas underpinning the album saying A lot of it is about the notion of physical proximity relative to emotional connections between people My dad Martin Topley died when he was twenty nine Between the release of Quixotic and now I turned twenty nine and I started thinking about what I d achieved in my life as a human being Also I wanted to focus on the nature of my relationship with him and with my step father because of the way I felt those relationships were affecting my other relationships 5 Topley Bird performing with Massive Attack in Conegliano 2009Quixotic peaked at no 70 on the UK Albums Chart 9 received positive reviews from critics and was a finalist for the 2003 Mercury Music Prize The album finally saw a limited release in the United States in July 2004 when the Palm Pictures label released a re designed and re sequenced version under the title Anything which featured a shorter track listing and all new cover art The following year she appeared on the Starbucks compilation album Sweetheart 2005 Love Songs which features contemporary musicians covering classic love songs She sang I Only Have Eyes for You a song originally by composer Harry Warren and lyricist Al Dubin Her second solo album The Blue God was released in May 2008 The track Carnies was released as the first single on 3 March 2008 10 and reached No 20 on the UK Indie Charts 11 Poison was released as the second single 12 and reached No 9 on the Indie Charts 11 The album received generally positive critical reception the BBC said it warps reflections of Ella Fitzgerald two tone ska dark psychedelia and Pentangle s acid folk into unsettling shapes It s an often astonishing album and one which if Tricky s forthcoming comeback can t match it may curse him to be known as that bloke who used to rap with Martina Topley Bird 13 In 2010 Topley Bird appeared on the album Heligoland by Massive Attack lending her voice on the tracks Psyche and Babel She also toured with Massive Attack as their support act and providing guest vocals at their shows 6 Her third album Some Place Simple was released in July 2010 It contained stripped down versions of songs from her first two releases along with four new songs Topley Bird performed Maxinquaye live at the Sundance Festival London in April 2012 14 and also appeared on the tracks Open and Secret on electronic musician Clark s album Iradelphic In 2013 contributed to a cover of the xx s Crystalised with Mark Lanegan and Warpaint 15 and also toured with Warpaint as a supporting act on their 2013 world tour On 26 January 2015 she appeared as lead vocalist on title track The Day is My Enemy the second single of The Prodigy s from their album The Day Is My Enemy 2015 16 In 2018 Martina Topley Bird released the single Solitude which would subsequently appear on the four track EP MTB Continued In May 2021 Topley Bird released the single Pure Heart from her upcoming album Forever I Wait Influences EditTopley Bird cites Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday as vocal influences 4 as well as Tom Waits and Serge Gainsbourg as instrumental influences 17 She has cited Bollywood and Asian cinema as an influence on her album artwork as well including the work of Park Chan wook 18 Personal life EditTopley Bird has an elder sister named Elizabeth Topley Bird had one daughter with Tricky 8 19 Mina Mazy 19 March 1995 8 May 2019 20 was born one month after the release of Maxinquaye She has said that she doesn t consider herself religious though she believes in the need to have a healthy spiritual life 21 Discography EditAlbums Edit Quixotic 2003 Anything 2004 22 The Blue God 2008 Some Place Simple 2010 Forever I Wait 2021 Singles Edit Need One 2003 Anything 2003 I Still Feel 2003 Soul Food 2004 Carnies 2008 Poison 2008 Baby Blue 2008 Crystalised 2013 with Mark Lanegan and Warpaint 23 Solitude 2018 24 Pure Heart 2021 Hunt 2021 Guest appearances Edit Topley Bird performing with Massive Attack 2009 Tricky Overcome Ponderosa Black Steel Hell Is Round the Corner Aftermath Abbaon Fat Tracks Brand New You re Retro Suffocated Love Strugglin and Feed Me from Maxinquaye 1995 Tricky Black Coffee Children s Story I Be the Prophet Judas and Poems from Nearly God 1996 Tricky Vent Christiansands Bad Dreams Makes Me Wanna Die Sex Drive Lyrics of Fury and My Evil Is Strong from Pre Millennium Tension 1996 Tricky Singing the Blues 6 Minutes Analyze Me Talk to Me Angels with Dirty Faces Carriage for Two and Demise from Angels with Dirty Faces 1998 Primus Dirty Drowning Man and Coattails of a Dead Man from Antipop 1999 David Holmes Outrun and Zero Tolerance from Bow Down to the Exit Sign 2000 Diplo Into the Sun from Florida 2004 Gorillaz All Alone from Demon Days 2005 Common Everywhere from Universal Mind Control 2008 Leila Deflect and Why Should I from Blood Looms and Blooms 2008 Massive Attack Babel and Psyche from Heligoland 2010 Clark Open Secret and The Pining Pt 2 from Iradelphic 2012 The Prodigy The Day Is My Enemy from The Day Is My Enemy 2015 Tricky When We Die 2016 25 References Edit Tilden Imogen 22 July 2003 Mercury shortlist favours newcomers The Guardian Retrieved 10 February 2022 a b c Into the past present and future The Irish Times 16 August 2003 Retrieved 30 September 2015 Martina Topley Bird Ragga Soundcloud Retrieved 6 May 2017 a b Martina Topley Bird interview with MP3 com 26 May 2010 Archived from the original on 12 December 2021 Retrieved 20 March 2015 via YouTube a b c Moody Paul 2008 Martina Topley Bird Biography PDF WME Entertainment Archived from the original PDF on 1 October 2015 Retrieved 20 March 2015 a b c Fox Killian 10 July 2010 Martina Topley Bird I played Boggle till 4am the other night Is that rock n roll enough for you The Guardian Retrieved 21 March 2015 Kitty 17 February 2012 Martina Topley Bird biography Moon palace de Retrieved 2 March 2020 a b c Lynskey Dorian 18 April 2012 Tricky I thought I d be an underground artist I was not ready The Guardian Retrieved 20 March 2015 Roberts David 2006 British Hit Singles amp Albums 19th ed London Guinness World Records Limited p 562 ISBN 1 904994 10 5 Martina Copley Bird Carnies Independiente 25 February 2008 Retrieved 28 December 2016 a b BBC Radio 1 Chart UK Top 30 Indie Singles Chart Archived from the original on 30 May 2012 Retrieved 14 March 2008 NEW SINGLE ANNOUNCEMENT Martina Topley Bird Archived from the original on 12 June 2008 Retrieved 26 March 2008 Clarke Paul 2008 Martina Topley Bird The Blue God Review BBC Retrieved 20 March 2015 Tricky and Martina Topley Bird to Perform Maxinquaye Trebuchet Magazine 27 February 2012 Retrieved 20 March 2015 Minsker Evan 25 September 2013 Watch Martina Topley Bird Mark Lanegan and Warpaint Cover the xx s Crystalised Pitchfork Retrieved 20 March 2015 Perry Andrew 30 March 2015 The Prodigy The Day is My Enemy Mojo Retrieved 5 May 2017 Topley Bird Martina 17 December 2010 Musicview Martina Topley Bird Interview Interviewed by MusicView Archived from the original on 12 December 2021 Retrieved 20 March 2015 Topley Bird Martina 2008 Martina Topley Bird Interview Interview Interviewed by Mk2 Archived from the original on 12 December 2021 Retrieved 20 March 2015 McNulty Bernadette 15 March 2008 Martina Topley Bird Encounter with an exotic mysterious Bird The Telegraph Retrieved 4 May 2017 Mina Mazy Topley Bird When You Go Trickyofficial 28 May 2019 Archived from the original on 12 December 2021 Martina Topley Bird interview YouTube 2008 Archived from the original on 12 December 2021 Retrieved 20 March 2015 Anything Martina Topley Bird Songs Reviews Credits AllMusic Retrieved 4 December 2019 Crystalised feat Mark Lanegan amp Warpaint 21 October 2013 Retrieved 3 November 2013 Solitude Martina Topley Bird Martinatopleybird1 bandcamp com 13 November 2018 Retrieved 2 March 2020 When We die Tricky Archived from the original on 17 June 2018 Retrieved 17 June 2018 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Martina Topley Bird Official website Martina Topley Bird discography at Discogs Martina Topley Bird s Some Place Simple tribute website to the artist Girl interrupted article from The Observer Magazine 25 May 2003 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Martina Topley Bird amp oldid 1139474262, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.