Grace Jones
b. 19 May 1952, Spanishtown, Jamaica, West Indies. Six feet of style, looks and attitude, Jones was raised in New York City, then became a successful Paris model. After a flirtation with acting, she made some unexceptional disco records that sold on the strength of her image and her explicit stage show. Both were carefully crafted by her boyfriend, French artist Jean-Paul Goude. 1980's WARM LEATHERETTE marked a major stylistic development. Recorded at Compass Point, Nassau, it featured top Jamaican session men Sly And Robbie, new wave material and half-spoken delivery that became the Grace Jones trademark. Her first hit was a cover of the Pretenders’ Private Life which made the UK Top 20. On NIGHTCLUBBING she turned her hand to writing and producing quality songs including Pull Up The Bumper. In 1984 she diversified into films, taking on Arnold Schwarzenegger in Conan The Destroyer. The following year she played alongside Roger Moore in A View To A Kill. A return to the recording studios with writer/producer Trevor Horn provided her most successful single to date, Slave To The Rhythm, and the album of extended versions and megamixes sold well. In 1986 the compilation ISLAND LIFE was a big UK success, with Pull Up To The Bumper and Love Is The Drug reaching the charts the second time around.