The Bond girls aiming to leave classical music world shaken and
stirred.
By Fiachra Gibbons Arts correspondent.
Just when you thought it was safe to turn on the radio, the music
industry is attempting to go one better than Baby, Posh and Scary by
creating the Classical Spice Girls. They are young, they are beautiful
and, if the hype is to be believed, they are about to `reinvent the
classical string quartet', with a generous helping of sex appeal.
Their name is Bond - because of the strong bond that has apparently
grown between them since promoter Mel Bush `inspired' them to come
together - and all are products of the country's leading conservatoires.
Whether the Royal College of Music taught them to pout and play their
instruments simultaneously is another matter, however. `Bond are
sassy, sexy, and they have lots to say,' boasts Linda Valentine, of
Universal Classics, which is launching the group next week with the
kind of razzmatazz that usually accompanies a boy band.
`In fact, they are much better looking than the Spice Girls. But we
don't welcome comparisons. The Bond girls are proper musicians; they
have paid their dues.'
Indeed, first violin Haylie Ecker, the group's brunette `who loves
surfing', has a first-class degree from the Guildhall School, and
two of the tracks on the band's debut album were composed by the
girls themselves. Less play has been made of the fact that Mike
Batt, the veteran writer/producer behind the Wombles novelty hit in
the 70s, also had a hand in the album. According to their glossy
promotional catalogue, which features the girls in a variety of
alluring poses, `as early as 1980, at either ends of the earth, Bond
had begun'.
Ms Ecker and Tania Davis learned to play in their native Australia
while `in Hull, Gay-Yee was eyeing up the piano, although as soon as
she was big enough to hold it, she switched to her favoured cello'.
Selling the girls as sirens may grate with traditionalists but it is
a standard part of the promotional push which has been creeping into
the classical world for several years now and has worked particularly
well for German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter. Bond's svengali, Mel
Bush, has been down this road before, taking the pop and classical
charts by storm with Vanessa-Mae, the teenage violinist he made a
star by perching on top of a New York cab in kinky boots and mini-skirt
But the thinking behind Bond is far from shallow or calculating,
their record company claims.
Unlike the Spice Girls, Ms Valentine insists that Bond are not just
a manufactured pop group out to make a killing but evangelists on a
mission to end the `Proms-style snobbery' surrounding classical music.
`They are also providing glamorous role models that young people who
might be interested in playing classical instruments can identify
with,' she said.
The tight leather trousers, bare midriffs and moody video, shot in
deeply fashionable Cuba, are `just part of the image the public now
expects,' Ms Valentine added.
While the four tracks the Guardian has heard brought back memories
of nightmare lift journeys, Universal is sure there is a gap in the
market for poppy crossover classical music.
Even so, the new-look Radio 3, which has found a place in its schedules
for Andy Kershaw's wild and funky world music, will not be rushing
to play Bond's album, Born, when it is released next month.
`Sadly it doesn't matter what you look like on radio,' a spokeswoman
said. `We are all insanely jealous of anyone who can be both beautiful
and talented enough to get a first at the Guildhall, but we do not
decide on what we play by the cover of a CD.
`We will be delighted to play Bond's music if it matches the quality
of performance we demand,' she added.
Source: GUARDIAN 03/08/2000 P5
"Tim Arnold" <[log in to unmask]>
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