Entertainment For Lively Minds
Husbands, wives and civil partners
Can anyone think of any examples of real-life partners who also performed together? I can think of George Burns and Gracie Allen but can't think of any other husband and wife (or, indeed, husband and husband) double acts.
I was set on this train of thought by listening to Sue Perkins on "Just a Minute" this evening as I believe that she was once "involved" with fellow comedian Rhona Cameron. However, as far as I am aware, they didn't perform together. In music, I can think of Richard and Linda Thompson (invevitably), Clive Gregson and Christine Collister, Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson, Martin and Jessica Simpson and, er, Esther and Abi Ofarim. Apart from the last couple, these are all from the folk world. I suppose there was also the musical swingers party that was Fleetwood Mac but I can't think of any more in the rock genre.
There have been a couple of TV presenters couples: Richard Madeley and Judy Finnegan, Fanny and Johnny Craddock. Michael and Mary Parkinson effectively did the same job but not together. Any more?
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Everything but the Girl...
Ben Watt & Tracy Thorn.
G&D
Gillian Welch and David Rawlings?
Are they?
I was just thinking about them this evening when Everything Is Free came on my MP3 player. GW always seems to suggest that DR is just a professional partner, but I have always suspected they are more intimate.
similar vein, Devon Sproul
similar vein, Devon Sproul and whoever she is married to(can't recall his name but is in 'her band').
In answer to my own post
Bob Harris was talking about GW & DR and saying about how some tracks on Soul Journey were recorded in the front room at their house. There's a new album on its way. Hope they take advantage of the good dollar/sterling rate and get over her for some gigs.
Ask a silly question.....
That's genuinely scary, that photo
If those two, dressed like that, knocked at my door late at night, I would sh*t myself.
Now that's magic!
Paul Daniels & Debbie McGee
Brett & Rennie Sparks
aka The Handsome Family.
Country music!
George Jones & Tammy Wynette
Dolly Parton and Porter Waggoner
Johnny Cash and June Carter
Oh, and Bruce and Pattie naturally.
Boy George and wotsisname from Culture Club?
Not forgetting
Bruce and Anthea (you have to be over a certain age).
Bollocks, I've just seen they have been posted below.
Les Paul and
Mary Ford, Ike and Tina Turner, Paul Daniels and Debbie McGee and ...er... The Krankies. As for same sex performers, I've always assumed that Siegfried and Roy...
a few...
Ashford & Simpson
Womack & Womack
James Taylor & Carly Simon (Mockingbird)
Beyonce & Jay-Z (Crazy in love)
Gay & Terry Woods
Debbie Harry & Chris Stein
George Jones & Tammy Wynette
Les Dennis & Amanda Holden (stand in for Richard & Judy)
Ray Charles & "The Raylettes"
Give us a twirl...
...Brucie and Anthea Redfern.
Captain and Tennille.
Dempsey and Makepeace.
Does Ulrika and a couple of the Gladiators count?
Tennessee Ernie and Betty Ford
No, wait....
That's twice
you've made me laugh in the same thread. Stoppit.
at a stretch...
Paul & Linda
John & Yoko
They're both up for Oscars for separate movies in 2009...
...but Brad and Angelina made a not unattractive couple in the same movie once upon a time.
of course...
t.A.T.u.
new
the other two from new order budgie and siouxie sue les paul and his other half whose name i cant remember
new
sorry nicktf for the les paul one
Boy George & Jon Moss?
JamesTaylor & Carly Simon
Bob Dylan & Joan Baez
John & Beverly Martin
Kate Bush & Del Palmer
Joni Mitchell & James Taylor ... & John Guerin ... & Larry Klein
Or Stevie Wonder & Syreeta
James & Carly?
Did they ever perform together, other than guesting on each other's work?
Mockingbird
It was a reasonable sized hit in the US
MUSE
They performed Mockingbird on The MUSE soundtrack, Musicians United to Save Energy or some such, a Graham Nash/Jackson Browne jamboree. Great content, good film, full of many of my d=favourites. A triple album! I am quite fond of Nash's music, maybe it's just the noise he makes? His songs are so simple yet pleasing to this ear. By the way, on the soundtrack Carly Simon looks mouthwateringly attractive in a tight romper suit with a provocatively undone zip at the front, well worth the entry price alone (see above).
nudge nudge wink wink
Entry price, eh? entry eh guvnor!
Paul Weller
and DC Lee. He likes backing singers, apparently.
So does
Bob Dylan ... & backing singer/wife Carolyn Dennis
Point of order re: Brangelina
Not sure you can have actors that appeared in the same film, and ending up, erm, enjoying each other. The list would be almost endless.
Were Rod, Jane and Roger/Matthew/Freddy ever together?
from Wikipedia:
They revealed that Rod and Jane had in fact been married and divorced, Jane partnering up with Freddy some time after he had joined the trio, a relationship that continues to this day.
I'm not even checking...
...whether that is true or not because it's certainly the best thing I've learnt all week.
OK lots of musical ones
What about comedians? I don't count Eric and Ernie or Stan and Ollie despite their onscreen bed sharing. There is a British couple from the 50s or 60s but I can't think who.
W.C. and Gracie Fields?
No, wait...
Po-face alert...
...I expect that there are fewer examples in comedy, because with a some notable exceptions it has until recently (and arguably still is) been very, very male.
Mark Ellen and Dav...
gets coat...
I always assumed ...
... that Sooty and Sue were a couple .....
Sooty and Sue?
No, definitely Sweep and Soo. All that bickering was just the noise of courtship...
Robson & Jerome?
Hoddle & Waddle?
Unmarried couples
Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby
Mickey & Minnie Mouse
Donald & Daisy Duck
Allegedly
A pedant writes
Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby got married not all that long ago. Their new album's quite good.
Rather wierdly
The man and woman who voice Mickey & Minnie Mouse are married
Oh my!
I would put a tenner on them "doing the voices" in the bedroom. Phwooar! Er, no, I mean - yes, that's really wierd, eh?
Another musical couple
Steve Earle and Alison Moorer.
A bit obscure
Sarah McLachlan and her drummer Ashwin Sood.
I think she was involved with another band member before Ashwin
Not obscure if you like Canuck music.....
.....which reminds me of one of my other favourite artists...Kathleen Edwards who is married to her guitarist Colin Cripps.
Damn, forgot them!
But is all well with them? Colin wasn't playing in the band when they appeared at the Canada Day bash at Trafalgar Square last year.
She wants children....
....I read somewhere recently so I assume they're still together. He's on stage with her now as they tour the new album in Canada.
Here's the uncensored version of "The Cheapest Key" from her latest album. I wonder who she's venting her spleen at with the double *finger*.
Video removed
That won't play for some reason, but here's I Get The Dough... and Colin appears in this one. Blue Rodeo's Jim Cuddy is there too and you can see what Marty McSorley looks like too.
They (sarah Mc, that is) have just separated....
...Maybe it's the bassist's turn? (Incidentally, although I was dragged kicking and screaming to a SM concert, it was excellent, a powerful and passionate performance)
Peters....
and Lee
Low
Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker of Low are married with nippers.
Cracking, if gloomy, band
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABBBBBBBBBBBBBBBA
All four members of ABBA were married at one point. On the subject of ABBA,who on earth is buying yet another reissue of ABBA Gold? I see it does have a yellow cover now and the words 30th Anniversary on it, so well worth a purchase. I like ABBA, but please this saturation stop.
I think you'll find...
...it is my ten and twelve year old nieces along with their friends buying it.
Born in the late 1990's, so missed the first, second, third and fourth release.
My friend's 11 year old has watched Mamma Mia (or excerpts thereof) every day since 25 December. And no sign of fatigue yet.
Some Ancient History
Chic Murray and Maidie Dickson.
Only reason I remember that is they were known as "The Tall Droll and the Small Moll".
Which I rather like.
Laurel & Hardy
A Bit of 'World'
Amadou and Mariam
Miriam Makeba and Hugh Masekela
And how about Elvis Costello and Cait O'Riordan/Diana Krall.
You beat me to Amadou & Mariam
so how about Rodrigo y Gabriela?
And wasn't Angelique Kidjo 'going out with' her bass player? Maybe she still is.
(edit: just checked on wikipedia, and she married Jean Hebrail - who was playing bass last time I saw her)
The Weepies.
...perhaps not well known in the UK but hugely talented pop tunesmiths, Deb Talan and Steve Tannen have been married a while. Here, try this:
Comic Strip
I'm sure Lenny Henry and Dawn French have appeared together (at least on Jools Hootemany !) and Ade Edmondson and Jennifer Saunders were definitely in some Comic Strip together episodes.
The velvets?
Again, not traditional relationships, but if there's any truth to the various stories ...
Why not
Sonny & Cher or did I miss them?
A few more
Nick Lowe made records with Carlene Carter.
The Mendoza Line are no more now that they're divorced (or nearly).
Mark E & Brix Smith.
grumpy narked marky smith
isn't he now with that posh bird in the Fall??
Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz
And what about Michael Dennison and Dulcie Gray, 1950s sweethearts and together again in Howards' Way years later.
Talking of which, Maurice Colbourne and Susan Gilmore and Jan Harvey and Stephen Yardley.
I know way too much about Howards' Way.
Dean Wareham & Britta Phillips
Another one for the female bassists thread. Hmmmm.
The Other Two
The Other Two - Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert out of New Order
Mark E Smith and Elena Poulou (his current wife plays keyboards in the Fall).
Imagine...
...my disappointment when I found out the Rufus & Chaka Khan were not a couple.
Took me years to get over that one.
Chaka Demus and Pliers
Okay, probably not - I just wanted an excuse to mention them.
As I peruse this list I see little cause for celebration.......
It doesn't seem the strongest of cements, this playing in a band together now, does it? Many of those mentioned have had multiple pile ups.
Henry VIII & Anne of Cleves
Or rather, Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester, in the 1933 film "The Private Life of Henry VIII". They appeared in twelve movies together but were never really thought of as a "duo" by movie-goers.
Toyah and Fripp
Performed as "Sunday All Over The World", then there's Cosey Fannny Tutti with Genesis P-Orridge, then Chris Carter from Throbbing Gristle..
Didn't Louise Wener work her way through most of her band Sleeper?
Chrissie Hynde
and most of The Pretenders.
Grace Slick and Jefferson Airplane
All but one, I seem to remember reading. Don't know about Starship...
A lawyer prevents me from saying Joni Mitchell and the entire who's who of rock meritocracy in southern california.
John Hiseman & Barbara Thompson
Drums and sax respectively - Colosseum and various subsequent jazz outfits - ask your granddad...
wow
I have been educated
next one might be artsits and their talented children
mainly because I just discovered Teddy Thompson was Linda and Richards son...but then I am tragically slow
Has anyone mentioned...
...Jack and Meg from the White Stripes?
Or
them off of Fleetwood Mac?
Or....
How 'bout those two in Sonic Youth, not being a fan, their names elude me.
Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore
Who calls their son "Thurston"?
David Gedge and his girlfriend Sally Murrell formed Cinerama, after the Wedding Present - but they hardly troubled the charts.
Just remembered...
Stacey Earle and Mark Stuart.
Balancing an imbalance
Women who've been in bands with or otherwise performed with better-known partners have often been ridiculed (you can all think of the most obvious examples). Stacey Earle and Mark Stuart turn this around, in that she is by some distance the more gifted of the two (her first album, Simple Gearle, is a delight); and he seems happy to provide sterling support.
Also in this bracket: Aimee Mann and Michael Penn.
Stacey and Mark - a refinement
Stacey is by far the more gifted songwriter while Mark is in a different league as a musician being a superb guitarist.
I think...
you're being a little hard on Mark here Azeem.
Stacey certainly is the better songwriter but Mark is a superb guitarist (though you wouldn't notice it without seeing them live).
I've seen them a couple of times...they play the *old couple*...she scatterbrained (messing up the song intros or having her capo on the wrong fret) and he the straight man (chastising her and generally taking the piss). All staged of course (cynical...who, me??) but nonetheless very entertaining!
Both are former members of Staceys big brothers band *The Dukes* though I don't know if they were there at the same time and if that's how they met.
Sorry Stevie
I hadn't read your post until after I'd replied to Azeem.
Harriet Wheeler & David Gavurin of The Sundays?
married with two kids I think..
One for David R....
Aren't 2 of your lot an item? Any problems sharing a band with a couple. Off the record like, you're among friends....
Chic Murray....
..."Woke up this morning and I drew the curtains.Tomorrow I think I will draw the wardrobe" OR "The wife opened the door in her dressing gown.Funny place to have a door I thought".
Deacon Blue
Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh
Keep it in the family
Kimmie Rhodes has had her husband Joe Gracey in the band for many years and to keep it even more in the family, for the last (it must be) 15 years, she's also had their son Gabe (don't call me Gabriel) in the band.