| Betty Boo | |
|---|---|
 | |
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Birth Name |
Alison Moira Clarkson |
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Birth Date |
March 6, 1970 (age 54) |
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Origin |
Kensington, London, England |
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Genre |
Pop-rap, dance-pop, hip-house, pop |
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Occupation |
Rapper, singer, lyricist, record producer, label owner |
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Years active |
1989 - present |
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Label |
Rhythm King, WEA, Sire, Warner Bros., Music Of Life, Reprise Records, DRO, SW19, Gusto Records, BMG, Camden, Absolute Label Services, Betty Boo Records |
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Associated acts |
The Beatmasters, She Rockers, Hit 'N' Run, Wigwam, Crazy D, Jack Rokka, David Gray, Public Enemy, Chuck D, Kilo Ali, The Feeling |
Betty Boo (born Alison Moira Clarkson March 6, 1970 in Kensington, London, England) is a British pop/rap/dance recording artist, singer, lyricist, producer, and label owner. Being of mixed white and Asian heritage (specifically Scottish and Malaysian descent) she first gained experience in music in her late teens when she was a part of the trio, She Rockers, the duo, Hit 'N' Run, and studying sound engineering at the Holloway School of Audio Engineering. Her stage name was originally Betty Boop after the Fleischer brothers' vintage cartoon character, but she had to drop the letter p from the second part of it due to conflict over the rights to use that name when lawyers got involved. The success with She Rockers brought her to New York where she met and worked with Public Enemy. She took their advice to try for a solo career. She made her official debut on record in 1989 when she was featured on The Beatmasters' single, "Hey DJ, I Can't Dance (To That Music You're Playing)". And The Beatmasters were featured on her debut single, "Doin' The Do" the following year. After following up with her second single, "Where Are You Baby?", Betty Boo's debut album, Boomania, was released on October 23, 1990 through Rhythm King Records. Much of that album was written and recorded on her own. It went platinum in the U.K. and earned her the Brit Award for Best British Newcomer. For her next album, she signed with Sire/Warner Bros./WEA. While giving a concert in Australia, she was caught lip-syncing to a backing track after dropping her microphone. The scandal prompted her to dash away from the stage and cancel the rest of her tour, claiming she had the flu and a fever as an excuse. She laid low for a while before dropping her next single, "Let Me Take You There" and "I'm on My Way" in 1992. Her sophomore album, Grrr! It's Betty Boo, was released on November 10th that same year. This album was produced by future Spring Heel Jack member, John Coxon, but it wasn't as critically nor commercially successful as her previous album. Madonna attempted to get Betty Boo to sign with her Maverick label, but the latter decline, leaving Sire/Warner/WEA and she took time off from the music industry.
In the meantime, Boo cared for her terminally ill mom, but her vocals were heard on Atlanta bass rapper Kilo Ali's Organized Bass album in 1997. She also turned to writing songs for others, such as British teen pop group Hear'Say's "Pure and Simple". She collaborated with the Spice Girls' and 5ive's talent managing father-and-son duo, Bob and Chris Herbert. in 2000, she was paired with Crazy D on the single, "Live Caller". In 2006, she temporarily return to the music scene by collaborating with Brit-pop band Blur's Alex James in the duo, Wigwam, whose single of the same name was the only thing they recorded together before she disappeared. She'd reappear for a moment the next year on Jack Rokka's dance-based single, "Take Off", then vanish again. In July 2009, it was reported by historian Kate Williams on BBC Radio 4's Broadcast House that she and Boo were supposed to come up with a musical version of the biography, England's Mistress: The Life of Emma Hamilton. But it has yet to come to fruition. On The Feeling's 2011 album, Together We Were Made, she sang on the track, "Virtually Happy". She kept writing songs for others such as Sophie Ellis-Baxter and Paloma Faith. Boo would appear occasionally over the next decade with performances at England's PennFest in 2014 and Let's Rock: The Retro Festival in 2021. Three decades to the month after the second album, Boo returned to the studio to work with fellow producers Gavin Goldberg and Adam Wright on her third album, Boomerang, self-released through her own eponymous label, on October 14, 2022. On August 30, 2024, Betty Boo returned with her fourth album, Rip Up the Rulebook, on Betty Boo Records Ltd.
Discography[]
Studio albums[]
- 1990: Boomania
- 1992: Grrr! It's Betty Boo
- 2022: Boomerang
- 2024: Rip Up the Rulebook