Ex-Bananarama singer Siobhan Fahey formed Shakespears Sisters (taking the name from a song by The Smiths) when she became disillusioned with the girl-group. American session singer Marcella Detroit later joined her, making Shakespears Sister a duet.
Meanwhile, producer and writer Richard Feldman kept a low profile as the invisible third member.
The slick, chic electropop duo with a glam, goth image was given a misspelt, apostrophe-less name as a consequence of an erroneously rendered woodcut they commissioned.
Their debut album Sacred Heart – a glossy, eclectic collection of synth-laden pop-rock songs – was released in 1989 and spawned the UK Top 10 hit You’re History.
Although the duo shared songwriting, vocal and production duties equally, the band’s image focused mainly on the more publicly recognised Fahey. This balance shifted, though, when the ethereally beautiful song Stay (from the 1992 album Hormonally Yours) was released as a single.
Essentially a song about a fight over the fate of a dying man, Stay focussed on Detroit’s soaring soprano vocal range, while Fahey purred and growled her way across the sinister bridge.
The accompanying, highly stylised video reflected this emphasis, featuring an angelic Detroit directly contrasting with Fahey’s devilish persona.
Stay made #1 in the UK charts in February 1992, holding the position for eight weeks, but tensions within the sisterhood were mounting.
Follow-up single I Don’t Care barely dented the UK Top 20 and following their 1992 world tour, Fahey disbanded the duo due to severe emotional and physical exhaustion.
Fahey subsequently released a solo album using the Shakespears Sister name.
Siobhan Fahey
Vocals
Marcella Detroit
Vocals
