Tasmin Archer

Tasmin Archer is an English soul/pop/rock singer, known for her soulful voice. Her first record, Great Expectations, spawned the smash hit, Sleeping Satellite, a philosophical number about the moon landings, which reached number one in the United Kingdom. Subsequent singles and albums were less successful. Tasmin Archer was born on 3 August 1963 in Bradford. She first worked as a sewing machine operator, but after studying secretarial skills she became a clerk at Bradford Magistrates' Court. At the same time she joined a group called Dignity as a backing vocalist. She went to work at a recording studio called 'Flexible Response', and subsequently formed the group The Archers with John Hughes and John Beck. They were signed by EMI in 1990, and recorded their song Sleeping Satellite for them in 1992. In 1993, Tasmin won a Brit award for the Best British Breakthrough Act. However, Tasmin later joked that she kept her award in the back of her kitchen cupboard and claimed that she used it for cracking nuts and tenderising steak. In 1994 Tasmin recorded an eight-track EP Shipbuilding, which consisted of live versions of three songs from her first album, an alternate version of another, and four Elvis Costello covers. After disappearing from the limelight, Archer reappeared in 1996 with her second album Bloom. However, the single One More Good Night With The Boys failed to reach the UK Top 40, and the album failed to chart at all. In late 1997, disagreements with EMI left Archer somewhat disillusioned and feeling like she had been treated as a commodity. She decided to take a short break from the industry. Tasmin herself claims that she suffered from writer's block for many years. However, she did not let this stop her from expressing her creativity in other ways, and she began painting and moulding clay in her time away from the spotlight. Starting from 2000, she and her musician partner, John Hughes, have been working on a new album, which initially was going to be titled "Non Linear", although in a recent newsletter she announced the title will be On. Several demo-versions of the songs from this album were available for free from the Official web site. People were encouraged to leave feedback on the site's forum. On was released in September '06 on Tasmin's own label, Quiverdisc, and it was preceded by a single, Every Time I Want It (Effect Is Monotony). Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.