British singer, songwriter and producer
Cathy Dennis
|
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Birth name
| Catherine Roseanne Dennis
|
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Born
| (
1969-03-25
)
25 March 1969
(age 55)
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Origin
| Norwich
,
Norfolk
, England
|
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Genres
| |
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Occupations
| - Singer
- songwriter
- record producer
|
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Instruments
| |
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Years active
| 1989?present
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Labels
| |
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Formerly of
| D Mob
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|
Website
| cathydennisofficial
.com
|
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Musical artist
Catherine Roseanne Dennis
(born 25 March 1969)
[1]
[2]
is a British singer, songwriter and record producer. She was discovered as a teenager by music manager
Simon Fuller
, which led to her featuring on the hit dance single "
C'mon and Get My Love
" with
D Mob
in 1989.
In the early 1990s, Dennis saw international solo success with her debut album
Move to This
(1990), which included three US top-ten singles including "
Just Another Dream
" and "
Touch Me (All Night Long)
"; the latter peaked at number two and remains her signature song. It was followed by the albums
Into the Skyline
(1992) and
Am I the Kinda Girl?
(1996), her final release, which included a cover of
the Kinks
' "
Waterloo Sunset
" that reached number 11 in the UK.
Dennis pivoted to songwriting in the 2000s and became renowned for her work, scoring eight UK number ones, winning six
Ivor Novello Awards
and two
Grammys
.
[3]
Her co-credits include the multi-platinum singles "
Can't Get You Out of My Head
" by
Kylie Minogue
, "
Toxic
" by Britney Spears, and "
I Kissed a Girl
" by
Katy Perry
. In 2004, Dennis was listed 66th in the
Q
list of the 100 most influential people in music. In 2006, she won the UK music industry's Woman of the Year Award.
[4]
[5]
Early life
[
edit
]
Educated at
Taverham High School
, as a teenager she was spotted recording
Stevie Wonder
-influenced demos at The Kitchen in Norwich with her father (himself an experienced musician and local restaurateur) on piano. At the time she was working for
Norwich Union
. In 1986,
Simon Fuller
signed Dennis when she was 17 to his company
19 Management
and his label
Polydor
, and this began a career-long association that has seen Dennis provide songs for many Fuller-related artists and projects.
[6]
[7]
Performing career
[
edit
]
Dennis achieved her first success as a vocalist with
D Mob
, when their
single
"
C'mon and Get My Love
" (which was credited as "introducing" Dennis) reached No. 15 in the
UK Singles Chart
and No. 10 in the
Billboard
Hot 100
in 1989.
[
citation needed
]
It is regarded as an underground classic in the
dance music
field, and a second collaboration with D Mob, "That's the Way of the World", was also a hit.
[8]
It was followed by Dennis's debut album,
Move to This
.
[8]
She subsequently scored three
solo
hits, all of which reached the UK Top 20 and the US
Top 10
.
[9]
She enjoyed considerable success in Japan in the early 1990s. The three solo hits were: "
Just Another Dream
" (UK No. 13, US No. 9, Australia No. 14), which featured D Mob on
backing vocals
;
[8]
a cover of the Wish and
Fonda Rae
1984
club
hit "
Touch Me (All Night Long)
" (UK No. 5, US No. 2, Australia No. 16), which is probably her most remembered hit to date;
[8]
and "
Too Many Walls
" (UK No. 17, US No. 8, Australia No. 57).
"Touch Me (All Night Long)" stayed at No. 2 on the
Billboard
Hot 100 for two weeks, and was kept out of the No. 1 spot by
Hi-Five
's "I Like The Way (The Kissing Game)" in the first week, and
Mariah Carey
's "
I Don't Wanna Cry
" in the second week. The song was a
cover
and lyrical reworking of a 1984 single by Wish featuring Fonda Rae, which had peaked at No. 70 on the US
R&B
chart that year. "Touch Me (All Night Long)" reached No. 1 on the US
Hot Dance Club Play
chart, and its follow-up, "Too Many Walls", which Dennis co-wrote with
Anne Dudley
of
Art of Noise
(who also co-wrote the
ABC
track "All of My Heart"), was a No. 1
Adult Contemporary
hit in the United States. It was around this time Dennis agreed to join
Club MTV
'
s first tour, booked for six weeks. In an interview on the late night show
Into the Night Starring
Rick Dees
, she explained she dropped out after three days, accusing one of
Milli Vanilli
's members (the tour's headline act) of sexual harassment.
[10]
During this period, she recorded a song called "Find the Key to Your Life" with
David Morales
, for the
soundtrack
to the movie
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze
. Subsequent releases were only minor hits.
Dennis released her second album,
Into the Skyline
, in September 1992, written with a focus toward the US market. The album featured the singles "
You Lied to Me
", "
Irresistible
", "Moments of Love", "
Falling
", and "
Why
" ? the latter was credited to D Mob with Dennis. The album got to No. 8 in the UK Albums Chart, whilst in the US Billboard Hot 100, "You Lied to Me" was a Top 40 hit - her final American Top 40 single as a performer
[8]
- and "Irresistible" made the
Adult Contemporary
Top 10; however, the album never charted. Dennis experienced a brief peak of fame, making a cameo in
Beverly Hills, 90210
singing the songs "Moments of Love" (a minor US Adult Contemporary chart hit), "Why" (in the episode, not to feature D Mob) and "Touch Me (All Night Long)". In Japan, the album was called
Into the Skyline +1
, and featured three
extra tracks
: "Nothing Moves Me", a previous
B-side
, and two tracks that were both released as singles, "It's My Style", and "Love's a Cradle". She also provided background vocals on
PM Dawn
's US Top 10 and UK Top 20 hit "Looking through Patient Eyes", released in 1993. In that same year, she sang a duet with
Lance Ellington
on the soundtrack of
Robin Hood: Men in Tights
Dennis began to record a third album,
Inspiration
. The title track was recorded with
Todd Terry
, along with another song "Is There Life After You". Only one song from the recording sessions was ever released, "S.O.S.", which can be found on the
Beverly Hills 90210: The College Years
soundtrack. She wrote her first song for another artist by writing a song for
Dannii Minogue
called "
Love's on Every Corner
".
In 1996, Dennis changed her musical style: away from the dance-pop sound of previous releases, to a more traditional singer-songwriter approach. The resulting album,
Am I the Kinda Girl?
, was more in keeping with the
Britpop
sound of bands such as
Blur
and performers such as
Stephen Duffy
, and featured collaborations with
Guy Chambers
of
The Lemon Trees
and
Andy Partridge
of
XTC
. Three singles from the album were released: "West End Pad" (UK No. 25), "
Waterloo Sunset
" - a cover of
The Kinks
' song (UK No. 11), and her last solo single, "When Your Dreams Turn to Dust" (UK No. 43).
[8]
In 2001,
Kylie Minogue
had a worldwide hit with the Dennis and Rob Davis penned song "
Can't Get You Out of My Head
". The following year Dennis won the Best Dance Recording Grammy for writing "
Come into My World
". She followed that up with
Britney Spears
's hit song "
Toxic
" which also won the Grammy for Best Dance Recording. Dennis had a string of hits with
S Club 7
; she wrote almost all their hit singles such as "Never Had a Dream Come True", and also worked on the singles for the spin-off group
S Club Juniors
which was a younger version of S Club 7. Dennis wrote hit songs for
Celine Dion
,
Delta Goodrem
, and for
Hear’Say
and
Bardot
. She also wrote the fastest selling debut single in UK history for recording artist
Will Young
, the winner of the British music competition reality show
Pop Idol
, and his runner-up
Gareth Gates
. Dennis wrote the theme song to the television series
American Idol
. She wrote several songs for former S Club 7 member
Rachel Stevens
including "
Sweet Dreams My LA Ex
", and also two songs for
Phil Roy
, one of which was on the soundtrack for the film
As Good as It Gets
starring
Jack Nicholson
and
Helen Hunt
.
According to news reports, Dennis was working on a new album under the name Sexcassettes, which she planned to release in 2008.
[11]
She has collaborated with
Mark Ronson
on his album,
The Business
.
[12]
As of 2015, Dennis became a vocal affiliate with
Galantis
by first performing, uncredited, on their debut album
Pharmacy
on the tracks "
Runaway (U & I)
" and "Louder, Harder, Better".
[13]
She later co-wrote their song "
Love on Me
" from their second album
The Aviary
and sang on five songs from their 2019 album
Church
.
[
citation needed
]
In 2019, Dennis returned to performing. She celebrated her 30th anniversary in the music business with a performance at London's Mighty Hoopla Festival.
[14]
In 2020 and 2021, Dennis wrote for
Now United
and collaborated with composer
Will Gregory
on the soundtrack for the BBC/Discovery Channel docuseries,
Serengeti
.
Songwriting career
[
edit
]
Dennis has written a number of award-winning songs and international hit singles. Her first success was with "Bumper to Bumper", the B-side to the Spice Girls' hit "
Wannabe
".
[
citation needed
]
Dennis continued this success by co-writing the
Pop Idol
theme (re-used for numerous international remakes of the show, including
American Idol
), and writing for Idol contestants, including
Kelly Clarkson
,
Will Young
,
Gareth Gates
, and
Clay Aiken
. Clarkson's single "
Before Your Love
" (a double a-side with "
A Moment Like This
") was Dennis's first US No. 1.
[15]
Dennis's "
Can't Get You Out of My Head
" (recorded by
Kylie Minogue
) spent four weeks at number one in Britain, while also rekindling interest in Minogue in America, where it hit no. 7 on the
Billboard
Hot 100
. With over three million copies sold worldwide, "Can't Get You Out of My Head" became the second highest selling single in 2001.
[
citation needed
]
Dennis also co-wrote the international hit "Toxic" by Britney Spears, which went to number one in the UK and worldwide.
[
citation needed
]
Dennis's biggest success came in 2008 with
Katy Perry
's smash hit "
I Kissed a Girl
" co-written alongside
Katy Perry
,
Max Martin
and
Dr Luke
, which ranks among the
best-selling digital singles in history
.
[
citation needed
]
Dennis co-wrote three tracks on the
Galantis
album
Pharmacy
, one of which, "
Runaway (U & I)
", reached No. 1 in the UK Dance Chart, No. 9 in the US Dance Chart, and was nominated for a Grammy Award. Dennis has written with
KT Tunstall
,
Black Honey
, and
Sigala
. More recently, Dennis co-wrote three tracks on the new
Galantis
album out in 2024 and the
Laura White
single "Nobody".
[
citation needed
]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Dennis briefly dated
Noel Fitzpatrick
,
veterinary surgeon
and host of
The Supervet
. The relationship ended in 2003.
[16]
Awards and nominations
[
edit
]
World Music Awards
Music Awards
[
edit
]
Billboard
Music Awards
[
edit
]
Brit Awards
[
edit
]
Grammy Awards
[
edit
]
Ivor Novello Awards
[
edit
]
Discography
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Gregory, Andy (2002)
International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002
, Europa;
ISBN
1-85743-161-8
, p. 133
- ^
Brown, Mark (15 August 2008).
"
'Her songs are ostensibly throwaway pop songs, but they're serious ... they completely stick in your head'
"
.
The Guardian
. Retrieved
22 February
2013
.
- ^
Brandle, Lars (9 August 2013).
"Imagem Music U.K. Sign Cathy Dennis to Global Deal"
.
Billboard Biz
. Retrieved
9 August
2015
.
- ^
Ciar Byrne (29 June 2004).
"The music industry's 100 most influential people"
.
The Independent
. Archived from
the original
on 9 February 2010
. Retrieved
11 October
2008
.
- ^
"Women of the Year"
. womenoftheyearawards.co.uk. Archived from
the original
on 28 August 2008
. Retrieved
11 October
2008
.
- ^
"Cathy Dennis named Woman of the Year"
.
Music Week
. United Business Media. 8 December 2006
. Retrieved
11 October
2008
.
- ^
Mark Brown (15 August 2008).
"Profile: Cathy Dennis"
.
The Guardian
. Guardian News and Media Limited
. Retrieved
11 October
2008
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Colin Larkin
, ed. (2000).
The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music
(First ed.).
Virgin Books
. p. 120.
ISBN
0-7535-0427-8
.
- ^
Colin Larkin
, ed. (1998).
The Virgin Encyclopedia of Dance Music
(First ed.).
Virgin Books
. pp. 82/3.
ISBN
0-7535-0252-6
.
- ^
"Cathy Dennis on The Rick Dees Show"
.
YouTube
. Retrieved
3 November
2023
.
- ^
"Dennis Plans Comeback"
. Retrieved
25 July
2008
.
- ^
"Mark Ronsonrecruits Santigold, Scissor Sisters for new album"
.
Nme.com
. 2 February 2010
. Retrieved
31 December
2011
.
- ^
"INTERVIEW: Galantis talk Pharmacy, song writing, and reveal their latest collab with Kaskade"
.
EDMNYC
. 22 September 2015
. Retrieved
12 July
2017
.
- ^
"Cathy Dennis announces first live performance in 20 years"
.
Officialcharts.com
. Retrieved
30 April
2020
.
- ^
"UK writers win biggest US hit as Clarkson hits number one"
.
Music Week
. United Business Media. 30 September 2002
. Retrieved
11 October
2008
.
- ^
Freyne, Patrick.
"Was Britney Spears's pop song Toxic written about Irish Supervet?"
.
The Irish Times
. Retrieved
21 June
2019
.
- ^
"Billboard Music Awards"
.
billboardmusicawards.com
. Retrieved
19 July
2019
.
- ^
"BRIT Awards 1992"
.
YouTube
.
- ^
"Cathy Dennis"
.
Grammy.com
. Retrieved
17 July
2019
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Archive | The Ivors | The Ivors Academy | Champions of Music Creators"
.
The Ivors Academy
.
External links
[
edit
]
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Studio albums
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Compilations
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Singles
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Related articles
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Studio albums
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Singles
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Related articles
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International
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National
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Artists
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