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Eddi Reader guests, singing live and picking her favourite records

Eddi Reader guests, singing live and picking her favourite records.

Eddi Reader guests, singing live and picking her favourite records.

Eddi Reader grew up in Glasgow and Irvine, Scotland and it was in those towns that she learned to use music as a vehicle for communicating with others through busking and performing at the local folk clubs. In the early 1980s, Eddi travelled around Europe with circus and performance artists before moving to London where she quickly became a sought after session vocalist. She famously harmonized with Annie Lennox touring with the Eurythmics, after her time with successful punk outfit Gang of Four. It was the short-lived but warmly remembered Fairground Attraction that really brought her into the limelight and to the attention of a much wider audience. The single 'Perfect' and parent album First of a Million Kisses both topped the British charts.

However, it was her subsequent albums which signalled her increasing ability to assimilate different musical styles and make them all very much her own. Her unerring instinct for fine material, whether self penned, collaborative or a carefully chosen cover version resulted in Mirmama (1992), Eddi Reader (1994), Candyfloss & Medicine (1996), Angels & Electricity (1998), Simple Soul (2001)

Through these years Eddi based herself in London, but in 2001 she decided to move home to Glasgow where she recorded the classic 'Songs Of Robert Burns' album released to international acclaim in 2003. Awarded the MBE in 2006 for services to singing, she took her Burns songs on tour all over the world and found connections to the bard everywhere from Kolkata, India to Sydney, Australia.

Her current album is "Vagabond".

57 minutes

Music Played

  • HOLLAND, JOOLS & HIS RHYTHM SECTION

    JOOLS SIG TUNE

  • Ray Charles

    BYE BYE LOVE

    • MODERN SOUNDS IN COUNTRY & WESTERN MUSIC.
    • HMV.
    • CLP-1580.
  • Lowell Fulson

    Guitar Shuffle

    • Jumping The Shuffle Blues.
    • Future Noise Music Ltd.
    • FVTD 087.
  • Peggy Lee

    GOLDEN EARRINGS

    • HITS OF '48 (VOLUME 1, THE EARLY YEARS).
    • ASV.
    • CDAJA-5295.
  • Jelly Roll Morton

    Each Day

    • Doctor Jazz.
    • Proper.
    • Properbox-113.
  • Jelly Roll Morton

    Mamies Blues

    • Doctor Jazz.
    • Proper.
    • Properbox-113.
  • LaVern Baker

    I didn't know I was crying

    • Blues Ballads.
    • Sequel Records.
    • RSA CD 911.
  • Eddi Reader

    Back the Dogs (Dancing Down Rock) (tk2)

    • VAGABOND.
    • REVEAL RECORDS.
    • REVEAL 022CDX.
  • Elvis Presley

    LET'S HAVE A PARTY

    • LOVING YOU.
    • RCA.
    • 7432-1906042.
  • Eddi Reader with Jools Holland and band

    I'LL NEVER BE THE SAME

  • Joni James

    Wishing Ring

    • Platinum & Gold - The MGM Years.
    • MGM.
    • K11390.
  • Eddi Reader

    Snowflakes in the sun

    • VAGABOND.
    • REVEAL RECORDS.
    • REVEAL 022CDX.

Eddi Reader with Jools Holland and his band

Eddi Reader with Jools Holland and his band

Eddi Reader MBE is a Scottish singer-songwriter, known both for her work with Fairground Attraction and for an enduring solo career. She is the recipient of three BRIT Awards and has topped both the album and singles charts.

Broadcast

  • Mon 7 Apr 2014 23:00