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Racine (Wendy James)

Bio

Wendy James - Vocals and rhythm guitar
Singh Birdsong - Lead Guitar
Ray Sullivan - Drums and samples

The member of Racine whose name you're most likely to know is Wendy James. One time singer with 80s punk pop reference band Transvision Vamp, the ever controversial frontwoman is back and fronting a new band.

After the end of TVV, Wendy James picked up a guitar and started to write. She bought some equipment, built a home studio, taught herself drum machines and bass. She wrote and demoed song after song until she was satisfied that enough of the songs were "keepers". The name Racine came from the drag in Chicago where Al Capone had run his prohibition business. The Pia-K label was conceived to allow Wendy to release the music she wanted to release without having to compromise.

Having completed the demo for her solo debut album, Racine No.1, Wendy bought a plane ticket and flew out to N.Y.C. She spent her first four weeks there de-constructing the album demo and re-crafting it as a fully fledged, ready for release Album.

So: her new band had had an album, a name, a label and a hometown. All she needed now was the band.

The first recruit was Singh Birdsong. Originally recruited to play keys, it quickly became clear that Singh was just as good on guitar and bass, and it was on lead guitar that he found his niche in Racine.

Next to join was Ray Sullivan on drums: a friend of a friend and a natural star, Ray was clearly the man for the job. Auditions for other instruments continued, but no one felt quite right. Wendy herself picked up the rhythm guitar. Bass, keys and samples remain cued in from the drums until the day when Racine find the right people to complete the picture.

With a live band set up, a world tour planned and Racine No1 set for release this April, exciting times are clearly ahead for Racine. So put your hands together and welcome this idiosyncratic frontwoman and her freshly formed band back to the wonderful world of pop...

Releases

  • Number One
    Racine Number One Racine Number One
    Grease Monkey

Links

  • The Racine World - official site of Racine, aka Wendy James
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