Hazel O'Connor

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Hazel O'Connor (born 16 May 1955, in Coventry, England) is an English singer and actress.

Contents 1 Career 2 Trivia 3 Album Discography 4 Single Discography 5 Filmography 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Career

The daughter of a Galwegian sailor who settled in England, O'Connor originally shot to fame as an actress, playing the role of Kate in the critically acclaimed film Breaking Glass in 1980, and its accompanying soundtrack.

The years before she appeared in the film Breaking Glass were eventful to say the least - see O'Connor's autobiography "Hazel O'Connor Uncovered Plus", Proteus Publishing Ltd., 1981, ISBN 0-906071-81-X, for full details. As she wrote in the introduction note of the programme for a gig at "At My Place" in Santa Monica, Los Angeles in 1989 - "I ran away from my home in Coventry when I was 16.....made and sold clothes in Amsterdam, picked grapes in France, joined a dance troupe that went to Tokyo then onto Beirut (escaping the start of the civil war by one month!) travelled West Africa, crossed the Sahara, sang with a dreadful singing trio for the U.S. troops in Germany and came home to "settle down". Through all this experience of life and the world I realized that singing always cheered me up. I decided to be a singer. Through strange turns of fate I ended up in a film called Breaking Glass I also ended up writing all the songs for the movie".

In 1980, her performance as Kate in Breaking Glass won O'Connor the Variety Club of Great Britain Award for 'Best Film Actor' and BAFTA nominations for 'Best Newcomer' and 'Best Film Score.' The album of the same name has since achieved double platinum status, and was number 5 in the UK Albums Chart for 28 weeks and produced several hit singles, the most successful being the haunting "Will You", and "Eighth Day".

Subsequent albums include Sons and Lovers which featured the hit single "D Days", "Cover Plus", "Smile" and "Five in the Morning". Legal battles plagued O'Connor from the early 1980s - in her own words "I became famous, then had a load of court battles to fight against my first record company, I was ripped off, torn up and spat out by the machinery of 'Showbiz'" However, despite the hassle, O'Connor continued to record and to play live, touring the UK, Ireland, Europe and the U.S. with her band, and continuing her career as an actor.

She has made numerous TV appearances, starring in Jangles on British television and in 1986 playing the lead role of Vivienne in the critically acclaimed Fighting Back as well as singing the theme tune. She also played a singer in an episode of Prospects on Channel 4 alongside former Breaking Glass actor Gary Olsen.

Her theatre work includes "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" at the Royal Exchange, Manchester, "Nightshoot" at the Tricycle Theatre, London, "Girlfriends" at the Playhouse, London, "Swing Out Sister", her own production, at the Riverside Studio, London, "The Raven Beckons" at the Riverbank Theatre, Dublin and "The Cuchulain Cycle" at the Riverside Studio, London.

Still singing, touring, and recording, she currently divides her time from living in Ireland and France.

[edit] Trivia

She was briefly married to the journalist, Danny Kelly.

[edit] Album Discography

• Breaking Glass (1980)
• Sons And Lovers (1980)
• Cover Plus (1981)
• Smile (1984)
• Greatest Hits (1984)
• To Be Freed (1993)
• Over The Moon...Live (1993)
• Private Wars (1995)
• Live In Berlin (1997)
• 5 In The Morning (1998)
• Beyond the Breaking Glass (2000)
• Acoustically Yours (2002)
• Ignite (2002)
• A Singular Collection - The Best Of Hazel O'Connor (2003)
• Hidden Heart (2005)
• Fighting Back - Live (2005)

[edit] Single Discography

• "Give Me An Inch" (1980) #41 UK Singles Chart
• "Eighth Day" (1980) #5 UK Singles Chart
• "Will You" (1981) #8 UK Singles Chart
• "D-Days" (1981) #10 UK Singles Chart
• "Zoo" (1981) (Germany Only)
• "(Cover Plus) We're All Grown Up" (1981) #41 UK Singles Chart
• "Hanging Around" (1981) #45 UK Singles Chart
• "Calls the Tune" (1982) #60 UK Singles Chart
• "Men Of Good Fortune" (1982) (Not UK)
• "That's Life" (1982) (Not UK)
• "Just Good Friends" (1984)
• "Don't Touch Me" / "Bring It All Home to Me" (1984)
• "Cuts Too Deep" (1984)
• "Stranger In A Strange Land" (1985)
• "Why Don't You Answer" (1985)
• "Push And Shove" (with Chris Thompson) (1985)
• "Fighting Back" (1986)
• "Today Could Be So Good" (1986)
• "And I Dream" (with David Easter) (1987)
• "Heat Of The Night" (1990)
• "My Friend Jack" (1993)
• "Tell Me Why" (1993)
• "Na, Na, Na" (1998)
• "One More Try" (2004)

[edit] Filmography

• Breaking Glass (1980)

[edit] References

• Guinness Book of British Hit Singles - 16th Edition - ISBN 0-85112-190-X
• Guinness Book of British Hit Albums - 7th Edition - ISBN 0-85112-619-7

[edit] External links

• Hazel O'Connor at the Internet Movie Database
• Home page
• Guitar tabs from Hazel O'Connor