Jay Aston

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Jay Aston

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Img_capt = Jay Aston in 1983
Img_size =
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name =
Alias =
Born = birth date and age|1961|5|4
Purley, London
England
Died =
Origin =
Instrument = Vocals
Genre = pop music
Occupation = Singer, Dancer
Years_active = 1981–present
Label = RCA, Angel Air
Influences =
URL = [http://www.jay-aston.co.uk/ www.jay-aston.co.uk/]

Jay Aston (born 4 May 1961, London) is a singer who was formerly with the British pop group, Bucks Fizz. She was the youngest member of the group's original line-up.cite web
title = Bucks Fizz - the Band
publisher = BBC
date = 2002-07-03
url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A762581
accessdate = 2007-08-31 ]

Background

Aston came from a theatrical family. Her father was a comedian, her mother a former dancer before she became her husband's straight man. They also performed as acrobats. Her brother, Lance, had performed at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1980 with the band Prima Donna.

Aston herself trained as a dancer, singer and actress at the Italia Conti School of Speech and Drama and performed on stage many times in her teens mainly as a dancer. cite web
title = Jay Aston biography and career portfolio
publisher = jayaston.co.uk
url = http://www.jay-aston.co.uk/page3/page3.html
accessdate = 2007-08-31 ]

Bucks Fizz

Aston was one of the four original members of Bucks Fizz when they were formed in 1981 to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest that year. They won with "Making Your Mind Up" and the song went to No.1 in many countries, including the United Kingdom.

The group went on to become one of the top selling groups of the 1980s and scored many hit single and albums over the next few years, including two more British No.1s; "The Land Of Make Believe" and "", which went on to become one of the group's biggest hits. [ [http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=10747 Chart Stats - Bucks Fizz - When We Were Young ] ]

In 1984, while on tour, Bucks Fizz were involved in a road accident in which Aston, along with the other members of the group were injured. By this time, tensions within the group had risen to the point that Aston was eager to leave, but was still under contract. However, the following year, she left the group in acrimonious circumstances. Aston became the subject of many newspaper headlines on her sudden departure where it emerged that she had been having an affair with the group's producer, Andy Hill, who was also the husband of Bucks Fizz creator, Nichola Martin. The group's management company took Aston to court and successfully sued her under the terms of her contract. The case took two years to settle and left Aston on the brink of financial ruin and unable to pursue a solo career.

After Bucks Fizz

Close to bankruptcy, Aston rebuilt her life living in a small bedsit in Streatham. Her brother had married Shakespear's Sister star Marcella Detroit who encouraged her to begin a solo career. In 1993 Aston released a single "Naked Phoenix" and recorded an album of songs. Not long after this, she met and began dating her future husband, guitarist Dave Colquhoun, and they had a daughter. In 2001 she set up a performing arts school in her name, "The Jay Aston Theatre Arts School", teaching children aged 2- 17. [ [http://www.jayastonschool.co.uk/ www.jayastonschool.co.uk ] ] The school still runs today.

During the latter part of the 1990s and early 2000s, Aston toured with her band "Aston", performing rock and pop tracks, many of which she wrote herself. In 2002 she was involved in a cover band called "Monster Boogie", and she also appeared in an episode of Never Mind the Buzzcocks as one of the mystery guests in the "Identity Parade" round in the show. In 2003 Aston released an album, "Alive And Well" with thirteen tracks all of which she co-wrote with her husband.cite web
title = Alive and Well review
publisher = Musical Discoveries
date = 2003-04-19
url = http://www.musicaldiscoveries.com/digest/digest.php?a=viewr&id=359
accessdate = 2007-08-31 ]

During 2005, the glory years of Bucks Fizz, mainly focussing on Aston, were portrayed in a drag lip-synch show, "Night Of A Thousand Jay Astons" at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe after its debut in London. Aston was played by one female and three male performers.cite web
title = Night Of A Thousand Jay Astons
publisher = Broadway Baby
date = 2005
url = http://www.broadwaybaby.com/nightofathousandjayastons
accessdate = 2007-08-31 ] The life of Aston was told through an outrageous parody, and was described in review as "hilariously over the top".cite web
last = Scott
first = Darren
title = A Night Of A Thousand Jay Astons
publisher = Edinburgh Evening News
date = 2005-08-25
url = http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/reviews.cfm?id=1839652005
accessdate = 2007-08-31 ] cite news
last = Bishop
first = Tom
title = Bucks Fizz story refuses to go flat
publisher = BBC Entertainment
date = 2005-05-13
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/4445173.stm
accessdate = 2007-08-31 ] The show has also been staged at other venues including the Comedy Theatre in Dublin in May 2006cite news
title = A Night of a Thousand Jay Astons (Irish Premiere) Camp Attack!: Eurovision Double Bill
publisher = Gay Theatre, Ireland
date = 2006
url = http://www.gaytheatre.ie/html/2006_a_night_of_a_thousand_jay_astons.html
accessdate = 2007-08-31 ] and the Soho Theatre in London in summer 2007.cite news
last = Rampton
first = James
title = Jonny Woo's Night of a Thousand Jay Astons
publisher = The Independent
date = 2007-07-28
url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20070728/ai_n19446649
accessdate = 2007-08-31 ] cite web
title = Night of 1000 Jay Astons
publisher = View London
date = 2007
url = http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/whatson/night-of-1000-jay-astons-article-4285.html
accessdate = 2007-08-31 ]

Another solo album, "Lamb or Lizard" was released in July 2006 through her website, which featured recordings from before and after her work with Bucks Fizz.Citation
title = the last word
newspaper = Positive Nation magazine
issue = 126
year = 2006
date = October
url = http://www.positivenation.co.uk/issue126/regulars/lastword/lastword.html]

In March 2007, she appeared in the Comic Relief video "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" a comic cover version of The Proclaimers song, dancing with the fellow original members of Bucks Fizz. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6618443.stm BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Eurovision Talking Shop: Bucks Fizz ] ] This was the first time Aston had met with the group since 1985. As Aston said, relations between them had improved, but not the extent that could work together as a group again. "I’m kind of on good terms with all of them individually. But as a band, it just doesn’t work, and it’s a shame, but it doesn’t. There’s always been two camps – Cheryl’s camp and Bobby’s camp, and I was the one in Bobby’s camp, and Mike was always in Cheryl’s camp." [ [http://www.denofgeek.com/misc/15825/jay_aston_of_bucks_fizz_interview.html Denofgeek - Jay Aston interview, March 2008] ]

A new Bucks Fizz CD with a bonus DVD, "The Very Best of Bucks Fizz" was released in May 2007. Aston appeared alone on the National Lottery to promote the album.

In August 2008, Aston once again joined up with Bucks Fizz members Mike Nolan and Cheryl Baker when she appeared on a television show celebrating 1980s acts - with one episode devoted to the re-uniting of Bucks Fizz. This show is scheduled to be shown on Living TV early in 2009.

Acting

Before Bucks Fizz, Aston had ambitions to become an actress, but her career in this field encompassed only minor roles in "To the Manor Born" and "Citizen Smith". In 2008 Aston was cast as Claudia Brite in the film "The Last Days of Edgar Harding" which was filmed in August 2008 and is due to be screened in 2009.cite web
title = The Last Days of Edgar Harding - Cast
publisher = Digital Ghost Films
date = 2008
url = http://www.edgarhardingmovie.com/characters
accessdate = 2008-06-14 ]

References

External links

* [http://www.jay-aston.co.uk/ Jay Aston official website]
* [http://www.edgarhardingmovie.com "The Last Days of Edgar Harding" film website]