Sisters of Soul

So often the tag 'Diva' is attached willy nilly to any female singer with a propensity to being a drama queen or 'belter'. If you look the word up in the dictionary it says, quite simply, 'great woman singer'. For divas in the purest sense of the word you need look no further than the Sisters of Soul Tour currently making its way round the country.
Seen recently at The Academy, Peterborough, I was blown away by the sheer energy of the performances of Sybil and Angie Brown. I have know Angie for a while but rarely had the opportunity to see her work. I knew her as a ditzy, hyper fag hag. Now I have to say that she has my greatest respect as a performer. God only knows where she got her voice from but it sure don't look as though it comes from that little body! Sybil, similarly, produces a voice that is at odds with her stature. What really grabbed me by the balls that night was the ability both performers have of taking a recognised number and twisting and extemporising it until it becomes something else besides. And not only do they do this on their solo songs but have the uncanny knack of being able to do it on their shared numbers, without once treading on each other's toes - or notes!
Sybil has been churning out the hits for a decade now and is perhaps best known for her dancefloor filler 'If We Love Each Other'. Here most recent album, 'Still A Thrill', showed her enormous diversity and swung from smouldering deep soul to cool bass-driven workouts mostly written by the lady herself. Originally from New Jersey, Sybil was musically influenced from an early age. 'I love those old Broadway musicals' she told me, immediately explaining why she is such a fag hag, 'I was at a Catholic High School and was teaching all the other kids how to sing songs for a production of 'Oliver'.... I was pressurised into auctioning by one of the nuns who kept telling me how great my voice was. I couldn't believe it when I got the lead female part.'
From there it was short step to performing with the embryonic Atlantic Starr. 'I was writing a lot at the time and was asked to provide songs for a new vocal group. I recorded a demo which included 'Walk On By' ... and was basically offered a deal with Next Plateau Records.' The rest, as they say, is history.
Seen live Sybil has the most amazing energy and blames the audience for her strength. 'The love from the audience spurs me on.'
Angie Brown, a frequent performer on the gay circuit, couldn't have come from a more different background. Born in Sarf London, Ms Brown came from a totally musical family; her mother was the archetypal gospel singer while father played the mouth organ (don't sneer at the back!). Angie was a pretentious child - and anyone who has met her will agree that she has lost none of her enthusiasm in adulthood - and was often thrown out of class for singing in lessons. Despite that she managed to get six 'O' levels at College and went on the Drama School and then four years training her voice. Like all aspiring actors Angie had her share of menial jobs to make ends meet - can you imagine her as a Trolley Dolly or waitress? She's done it all. Her big break came when she was spotted by Carol Scott and she was hired to do backing vocals for Bizarre Inc where she screamed her now immortal line 'I'm gonna get you'. It went to No.2 in the charts and resulted in her appearing of TOTP. Another rather dubious claim to fame is that she talked dirty to Mark Morrison on 'Return Of The Mack'. Not something I'd brag about! Since then she has had a prodigious number of singing jobs, not only on albums but on commercials as well - yup, Angie Brown is on the Bodyform soundtrack! Angie's love of music is transparently obvious when you see her live. 'Singing on stage is better than sex' she told me recently, 'Singing is spiritual. I'm just not here.' Her appeal to the gay scene is everlasting and she will always be grateful, 'When the straight scene ignores me' - I can't see how! - 'I know the gays are always there for me. They're the best audience in the world'. The reception at The Academy proved it.
As The Sisters of Soul, Sybil and Angie are touring around the UK for the rest of June before spending July working in Spain and then back to the UK in August where they will be recording a duet together.

First published in Mag 69
© Paul Towers 1998