This is someone who didn’t have a huge amount of chart success, but because they bring back a few memories that I want to share, I think that they are worth featuring. New Zealand isn’t a country that has produced a huge amount of pop music exports, but this is one of them who did have some hits in the UK. Ladyhawke is the singer/songwriter and musician Phillipa Brown, who took her name from a 1985 dark fantasy film.
Some of her songs were in the Synthpop genre, and that was enough to attract my interest really. In July 2008 her first single “Paris Is Burning” was released and reached no. 61. In 2009, this returned to the chart, and improved on its original peak, but still missed the Top 40. Then in September 2008 “Dusk Till Dawn” missed the Top 75. In October 2008 the debut album “Ladyhawke” made the Top 20. 
In December 2008 “My Delirium” was released, and this reached no. 33, to become her first and only Top 40 hit single in the UK, and this is also her best-known song. Again, this returned to the chart in 2009, but didn’t improve on its original peak. By this point, her music was being nominated for, and also winning, music awards in New Zealand and Australia. 
In May 2009, “Back Of The Van” was released. This is my favourite single by Ladyhawke, which even now brings back a memory. This was around the time that I got a digital radio. I was curious about what was on offer, I realised that there were several stations available that weren’t on FM, and I wondered what type of music they would play. Whilst trying to determine what I might like, I heard this one, which I very much enjoyed. The video is really great too. 
I don’t remember what station it was though, and it’s probably long-gone now, but it made me realise the potential of digital radio. This means that I was rather disappointed when “Back Of The Van” reached only no. 93, and I consider this to be one of the lost gems of late-2000s pop music. This also turned out to be Ladyhawke’s final single in the UK, although her second and third albums released in the 2010s decade were minor hits, and a fourth is planned to come later this year.
ADAM'S NOSTALGIC MEMORIES 