Coordinates: 51°31′39″N 0°11′24″W / 51.5274°N 0.1899°W / 51.5274; -0.1899

Maida Vale
The Grand Union Canal at Little Venice
Maida Vale  Maida Vale shown within Greater London
OS grid reference	TQ255825
London borough	Westminster
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LONDON
Postcode district	W9
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
EU Parliament	London
UK Parliament	Westminster North
London Assembly	West Central
List of places: UK • England • London

Maida Vale is a residential district comprising the northern part of Paddington in west London, between St John's Wood and Kilburn. It is part of the City of Westminster. The area is mostly residential, and mainly affluent, consisting of many large late Victorian and Edwardian blocks of mansion flats. It is also home to the BBC Maida Vale Studios.^[1]

Geography[link]

The Maida Vale area is usually regarded as being bounded by Maida Avenue and the Regent’s Canal in the South, Maida Vale road to the north east, Kilburn Park Road to the north west, and Shirland Road and Blomfield Road to the south west. The southern part of Maida Vale around Paddington Basin, a junction of two canals with many houseboats, is known as Little Venice. The area to the south-west of Maida Vale, at the southern end of Elgin Avenue, was historically known as "Maida Hill", and was a recognised postal district bounded by the Avenues on the west, the Grand Union Canal on the south, Maida Vale to the east and Kilburn Lane to the north. Parts of Maida Vale were also included within this.^[2] The name of "Maida Hill" has since fallen out of use, although has recently been resurrected through the new 414 bus route^[3] (which terminates on Shirland road and states its destination as Maida Hill), and a new street market on the Piazza at the junction of Elgin Avenue and Harrow Road.^[4]

Just to the east of Maida Vale is St John's Wood and Lord's Cricket Ground.

Developed by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in the early 19th century as middle class housing, Maida Vale took its name from a public house named after John Stuart, Count of Maida, which opened on the Edgware Road soon after the Battle of Maida, 1806.^[5][6]

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Maida Vale was a predominantly Jewish district, and Lauderdale Road in Central Maida Vale contains the 1896 Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue (a Grade II listed building) and headquarters of the British Sephardi community. The actor Alec Guinness was born in this road. The first Prime Minister of Israel, David Ben-Gurion, lived within sight of this synagogue on Warrington Crescent,^[7] and the pioneer of modern computing, Alan Turing, was born a few hundred yards further down this same road.^[8]

Maida Vale tube station was opened on June 6, 1915, on the Bakerloo Line.

BBC Studios[link]

Maida Vale is home to some of BBC network radio's recording and broadcast studios. The building is in fact one of the BBC's earliest premises, pre-dating Broadcasting House, and was the centre of the BBC radio news service during World War II.

The building on Delaware Road houses a total of seven music and radio drama studios, and most famously were home to John Peel's BBC Radio 1 Peel Sessions, and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

Little Venice[link]

The canal junction at Little Venice

Maida Avenue, Warwick Crescent and Blomfield Road, the streets in the south of Maida Vale overlooking Browning's Pool including the section of Randolph Avenue south of Clifton Gardens^[9] are known as Little Venice. The name is reputed to have been coined by the poet Robert Browning.^[10] who lived here from 1862 to 1887. However, this was disputed by Lord Kinross in 1966^[11] and by London Canals.^[12] Both assert that Lord Byron humorously coined the name, which is now applied more loosely to a longer reach of the canal system. Browning's Pool is named after the poet, and is the junction of Regent's Canal and the Paddington arm of the Grand Union Canal.

South Maida Vale is one of London's prime residential areas, and it is also known for its shops and restaurants, as well as the Canal Cafe Theatre, the Puppet Theatre Barge, the Waterside Café and the Warwick Castle pub. A regular waterbus service operates from Little Venice eastwards around Regent's Park, calling at London Zoo and on towards Camden Town. Since 1983 the Inland Waterways Association has hosted the Canalway Cavalcade in Little Venice ^[13]

Central Maida Vale[link]

Central Maida Vale is characterised by its wide tree-lined avenues, large communal gardens and red-brick mansion blocks from the late Victorian and Edwardian eras. The first mansion blocks were completed in 1897, with the arrival of the identically-designed Lauderdale Mansions South, Lauderdale Mansions West and Lauderdale Mansions East in Lauderdale Road. Others quickly followed in neighbouring streets: Elgin Mansions (Elgin Avenue) and Leith Mansions (Grantully Road) in 1900, Ashworth Mansions (Elgin Avenue and Grantully Road) and Castellain Mansions (Castellain Road) in 1902, Elgin Court (Elgin Avenue) and Carlton Mansions (Randolph Avenue) in 1902, and Delaware Mansions (Delaware Road) and Biddulph Mansions (Elgin Avenue and Biddulph Road) in 1907.^[14]

Notable people[link]

Blue Plaques in Maida Vale[link]

• Edward Ardizzone (1900–1979), artist, has an English Heritage blue plaque in his honour at 130 Elgin Avenue. This is where he lived and worked from 1920 to 1972.
• Alan Turing (1912–1954), code breaker and pioneer of computer science was born at 2 Warrington Crescent.
• William Friese-Greene (1855–1921), pioneer of cinematography, developed a camera that took a sequence of pictures on a roll of perforated film moving behind a shutter, lived at 136 Maida Vale from 1888-1891. He later shot the world’s first movie film at his Maida Vale home.
• Ambrose Fleming, (1849–1945), English electrical engineer and physicist, and inventor of the wireless valve, at 9 Clifton Gardens.
• David Ben-Gurion, (1886–1973), the first Prime Minister of Israel, at 75 Warrington Crescent.
• Andreas Kalvos, (1792–1869), Greek writer, at 182 Sutherland Avenue.

Other notable residents[link]

• John Lawrence Toole (1830–1906), English comic actor lived at 44 Maida Vale.
• John Masefield (1878–1967), novelist, playwright and Poet Laureate from 1930 to his death, wrote his famous poem The Everlasting Mercy while living at 30 Maida Avenue.
• Sir Alec Guinness (1914–2000), Oscar-winning actor was born at 155 Lauderdale Mansions South, Lauderdale Road. His most well-known feature film roles included Fagin in Oliver Twist, Sidney Stratton in The Man in the White Suit, Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai, George Smiley in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
• John Inman (1935–2007), the actor best known for his role as Mr. Humphries in Are You Being Served?, the British sitcom in the 1970s and 1980s, lived in a mews house in Little Venice for 30 years^[15]
• Stephen Potter (1900–1969), humorist and author of the cult book ‘The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship; or the Art of Winning Games without Actually Cheating’, lived at 23 Maida Vale in the 1960s.
• Vera Brittain, writer, lived at 11 Wymering Mansions, Wymering Road
• Nancy Mitford (1904–1973) co-author of ‘Noblesse Oblige: an enquiry into the identifiable characteristics of the English aristocracy’ which coined the terms ‘U’ and ‘non-U’, lived at 13 Blomfield Road in the 1930s.^[16]
• Actress Joan Collins grew up in Maida Vale.
• Mark Turner (Players Please/Kic Pimpz) recorded several early works at Club 131, Randloph Avenue.
• Robert Smith (1986–Present) front of alternative rock band The Cure
• David Gilmour of Pink Floyd formerly lived there.
• Ruth Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, the English crime novelist lives there.
• Jennifer Saunders the British actress lived here.
• Jarvis Cocker of Pulp lived here in 1997^[17]
• Paul Weller of the Jam and the Style Council
• Björk, Icelandic singer
  • Joe Strummer of Punk rock band The Clash formerly lived there
• Mary Hopkin the Welsh pop singer of "Those Were the Days" fame, formerly lived there.
• Delia Derbyshire lived in Clifton Villas during her time with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop^[18]
• Kate Moss, international fashion model and designer.
• Mary Portas, Retail adviser, journalist and television presenter
• Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, model and actress.
• Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Irish Actor
• Steve McFadden, Actor in EastEnders was born and raised in the Maida Vale area.
• Ben Miller, comedian and actor^[19]
• Todd Swift, Oxfam GB Poet-in-residence, literary critic and editor

Notable local events[link]

St George's Roman Catholic Secondary School, situated in Maida Vale, was the school of which Philip Lawrence was head teacher at the time of his murder in December 1995.

Education[link]

References[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Maida Vale

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Flux Pavilion
Birth name	Joshua Steele
Born	(1989-01-15) January 15, 1989 (age 23) Towcester, UK
Genres	Electronic, Dubstep
Occupations	Producer, DJ
Years active	2008-Present
Labels	Circus
Associated acts	Doctor P, Example, SKisM, Foreign Beggars
Website	facebook.com/fluxpavilion

Joshua Steele, known professionally as Flux Pavilion, is an English dubstep producer and DJ.^[1] He is the co-founder of Circus Records, along with Doctor P, DJ Swan-E and Dyspro.^[2] He is best known for his 2011 single "Bass Cannon", which peaked at number 56 on the UK Singles Chart,^[3] and was placed on the Radio 1 A-List. Along with Doctor P, Flux Pavilion presented the 2011 compilation album Circus One, to which he contributed four tracks. In August 2011 his track "I Can't Stop" was sampled by producer Shama “Sak Pase” Joseph for hip-hop album, Watch the Throne by Jay-Z and Kanye West.^[4] In December 2011, Flux Pavilion was nominated for the BBC's Sound of 2012 poll, as one of only two independent artists on the longlist.^[5] On 5 March 2012, his track "I Can't Stop" was used in the viral Kony 2012 campaign, and was previously featured in SSX.

Discography[link]

Extended plays[link]

Compilations[link]

• Doctor P and Flux Pavilion - Circus One^[8]

Singles[link]

Other releases[link]

Remixes[link]

As producer[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Flux Pavilion on Facebook
• Flux Pavilion on Myspace

This article about an English musician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2010)

Magnetic Man is an electronic music project consisting of dubstep producers and DJs, Benga, Skream and Artwork who has also recorded under his little known moniker "Having A Lovely Time". The trio first met in the late 1990s at the Big Apple Records store in Croydon, England. They perform using three computers, one playing drum samples, one playing basses and the third playing leads and samples.^[1] Artwork controls the master laptop, to which the other two are synchronised via MIDI.^{[citation needed]} Their sets usually consist of a mix of original tracks produced together, and live remixes of Benga and Skream's tracks, accompanied by synchronised projected visuals by Novak Collective.^[2] They signed to Columbia Records in February 2010. Magnetic Man completed their first full length sellout tour on 5 November 2010.^[3] Their eponymous debut studio album, Magnetic Man was released through Sony by Columbia Records on 10 October 2010.^[4]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Extended plays[link]

Singles[link]

Other charted songs[link]

Other songs[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Magnetic Man discography at Discogs
• Magnetic Man on Myspace

Ms. Dynamite
Background information
Birth name	Niomi Arleen MacLean-Daley
Born	(1981-04-26) 26 April 1981 (age 31) Archway, London, England
Genres	R&B, grime, hip hop, 2-step garage
Occupations	Rapper, singer-songwriter
Instruments	Singing, rapping
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Polydor (2001–06) Relentless (2011–present)
Associated acts	Jess Mills
Website	www.msdynamite.co.uk

Niomi Arleen McLean-Daley (born 26 April 1981), who performs as Ms. Dynamite, is a double BRIT Award and three time MOBO Awards winning UK garage, R&B and hip hop singer, rapper and MC.

Biography[link]

Ms. Dynamite was born and raised in Archway, a district in North London, to a Jamaican father and a Scottish mother. She grew up listening to reggae and hip hop music. Though she wanted to become a schoolteacher or social worker, her biggest aspiration was to be a musician. She is the eldest of eleven siblings, one of whom is a grime artist known as Akala, and attended Acland Burghley School in London.

Career[link]

[edit] 2001–04: A Little Deeper

Ms. Dynamite (originally called Lady Dynamite) was first known for her vocals on the UK garage underground track "Booo!", which was regularly played on London pirate radio stations and was later released as a single. Whilst working at the radio station RAW FM, Ms Dynamite was discovered by Richard Forbes AKA DJ Sticky at a West End club. After a period as a member of the UK garage act So Solid Crew, she released her debut album, A Little Deeper in 2002, featuring the hit songs "It Takes More" and "Dy-na-mi-tee". In 2003, the album was released in the United States to critical acclaim. In 2002, Dynamite won the prestigious Mercury Music Prize,^[1] for A Little Deeper. She donated the £20,000 prize to the NSPCC.

Her first public performance was at the closing ceremony of the 2002 Commonwealth Games at the City of Manchester Stadium. On 2 July 2005, she performed at the Live 8 concert in Hyde Park, London. Among the songs performed was "Redemption Song" – a Bob Marley penned song.

[edit] 2005–06: Judgement Days

On 11 September 2005, she returned to the limelight (having taken time off to have her son, Shavaar) with a new album entitled Judgement Days. Featuring more social commentary, in songs such as the first double A-side single, "Judgement Day" / "Father" and the Tony Blair critique, "Mr Prime Minister," reviews of the album were not as favourable as those of her debut. However "Judgement Day" reached No. 25 in the UK Singles Chart.^[2]

On the 6 January 2006, Ms Dynamite was arrested outside a London nightclub, after a brawl in which she punched a male police officer in the face whilst in custody. She was convicted and sentenced to sixty hours of community service. The second single from Judgement Days was due to be "Fall In Love Again" (previously titled "When I Fall In Love"), with a release date of 30 January 2006. A video was shot for the track but, due to her arrest, the single was cancelled. The video did not surface until June 2006, when it was leaked on to the web.

In February 2006, she won the Naomi Award for Worst Urban Act.

Since her trouble in January 2006 and her disappearance from the public eye, Ms Dynamite confirmed that the much rumoured 'A Little Darker' album would be released in March 2006 as a mixtape. After the confirmation, the album was pushed back to June 2006. Also, in April 2006, Ms Dynamite confirmed that there would be no more releases from her Judgement Days album, and that she was due to start working on new material.

A collection of new and upcoming UK hip-hop and garage artists,^[3] was compiled by Ms Dynamite and her rapping brother Akala, who was voted Best Hip Hop Act at the MOBO Awards in September 2006.

In November 2006 she took part in a television show called The Race on Sky1. This was a week long event in which ten celebrities had to compete against each other on the track in different races building up to a thirty lap Formula Ford race on Sunday 12 November 2006. After about ten laps into the race disaster struck, and Ms. Dynamite hit the wall on the pit straight at about 100 mph. She was air lifted to hospital for overnight observations but later released.

2007–09: Break from music[link]

After taking a break from the music scene for a couple of years, Dynamite guest hosted BBC Radio 1Xtra, and stated she would be releasing a third album 'Democracy' in 2009. The first single from the new album will be "Bad Gyal".^[4] This was however later confirmed to have been push back, to concentrate on other projects and well as motherhood.

Ms Dynamite appeared on Hell's Kitchen on ITV1 in 2009.^[5] She was voted out by public vote on 24 April 2009 finishing fourth. Ms Dynamite also appeared as an expert adviser on Goldie's Band: By Royal Appointment on BBC Two.^[6]

2010–present: Return to music and third album[link]

In December 2010, Dynamite was featured on Katy B's second single, "Lights On". It peaked at number 4 in the UK singles chart. She was also featured on the Magnetic Man track "Fire", which appeared on their debut album.

On 3 August 2011 in an interview with Digital Spy, Dynamite confirmed that she is working on her third studio album, and confirmed that the lead single "Neva Soft" (produced by Labrinth) would be released on 4 September.^[7] Her third studio album is set to be released at the beginning of 2012.^[7]

Ancestry[link]

As stated on the programme Ms Dynamite: In Search of Nanny Maroon in addition to her Jamaican-Scottish parentage, she shares Bajan, English, Irish, German and Grenadian ancestries.

Discography[link]

• A Little Deeper (2002)
• Judgement Days (2005)

Soundtracks[link]

• "Dy-Na-Mi-Tee" (FIFA 2003 soundtrack)
• "Dynamite" (Ali G Indahouse soundtrack)
• "Crazy Krush" (Misfits Channel 4 soundtrack)

Awards and Nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Ms Dynamite at Allmusic
• Ms Dynamite Fans information and photos website

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (May 2010)

Lauren Laverne
Lauren Laverne in 2007
Born	Lauren Cecilia Gofton (1978-04-28) 28 April 1978 (age 34) Sunderland, England, UK
Nationality	British
Other names	La La
Occupation	Disc jockey, television presenter, singer, author
Years active	1994–present
Television	The Culture Show 10 O'Clock Live

Lauren Cecilia Fisher (née Gofton) (born 28 April 1978), known professionally as Lauren Laverne, is a British radio DJ, television presenter, author and singer. She currently presents a radio show on BBC Radio 6 Music, and has presented a variety of television programmes including 10 O'Clock Live for Channel 4, and The Culture Show and coverage of the Glastonbury Festival for the BBC. Laverne has also written a published novel entitled Candypop: Candy and the Broken Biscuits.

In her previous career as a musician, Laverne was best known for being lead singer and sometime guitarist in pop band Kenickie, although her greatest chart success came when she performed vocals on Mint Royale's "Don't Falter" single.

Early years[link]

Laverne was born and brought up in Sunderland.^[1] She first attended St. Mary's R.C. Primary School in 1982, where she befriended Marie Nixon, later to become a fellow Kenickie guitarist, and then St. Anthony's R.C. Comprehensive School between 1989 and 1994, where she and Nixon met Emma Jackson. Laverne went on to study at City of Sunderland College from 1994 to 1996.^{[citation needed]}

Music[link]

During her time at college, Laverne, Nixon and Jackson formed a teen punk band called Kenickie with Laverne's brother Peter, taking the stage names Lauren Laverne, Marie du Santiago, Emmy-Kate Montrose and Johnny X. As their popularity grew, Laverne had to continually alternate between studying for A-levels and touring with the band. Despite this strain, Laverne won a place at nearby Durham University to study Medieval History, but her entry was deferred in order to concentrate on the band in 1996-7. The band's rapid rise to prominence in 1997 coincided with a relocation from Sunderland to London, as the thrice-weekly commute was proving too costly and tiring, which meant she never took up the place. In all, Kenickie achieved four top 40 hits and a top ten album and became darlings of the British music press, due to their refreshing style and outspoken views.^{[citation needed]}

Laverne became as famous for her funny and acerbic interview style as for her music, making her a popular contestant on comedy panel shows such as Never Mind The Buzzcocks and Have I Got News For You, memorably referring to contemporaneous girl group the Spice Girls as "Tory scum".^[2]

In 2000, she brought out a solo EP, Take These Flowers Away, contributed a version of "In The Bleak Midwinter" to Xfm London's It's A Cool Cool Christmas album, played at the Reading Festival and made the top 20 for the only time in her singing career as vocalist on "Don't Falter" by Mint Royale. She was also working on a solo album at this time, but this was permanently put on hold by the collapse of Deceptive Records.

She subsequently provided guest vocals on The Divine Comedy's 2004 single "Come Home Billy Bird".^[3]

Television[link]

Laverne's first television presenting job was Play UK's series The Alphabet Show, with Chris Addison, made while Kenickie were still together. She has since presented Planet Pop and Loves Like A Dog for Channel 4, Fanorama for E4, Party in the Park with Melanie Brown and Pop for Five and Orange Playlist for ITV, as well as reporting for RI:SE, leading the house band on Johnny Vaughan Tonight and appearing as an expert in a music special of BBC One's Test the Nation. In recent years she has been seen as one of BBC2's main presenters for their coverage of the Glastonbury Festival and the host of ITV2's coverage of events such as the British Comedy Awards and the BRIT Awards.

She also presented a documentary for Sky One on the rise of popularity of the US hit TV Show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, called Buffy: Television With Bite. This was done when the show was returning for its sixth season in 2001.^{[citation needed]}

In 2004 she was a regular guest on the quiz show HeadJam. She could also be seen briefly in the movie Shaun of the Dead, where she was one of the zombies (more obvious in the bonus content).

In 2005, she became host of ITV's Saturday morning music show CD:UK, along with Myleene Klass and Johny Pitts, starting on 17 September with a programme featuring Laverne interviewing Sir Paul McCartney. The show finished in April 2006.

in April 2006, she appeared as guest host of Never Mind The Buzzcocks. In August, Laverne presented Channel 4's coverage of the V Festival. In March 2007, she presented the NME Awards live from the Hammersmith Palais.

In July 2007, Laverne appeared on the satirical comedy show Mock the Week, and on Have I Got News for You on 14 December of the same year. She appeared on Never Mind the Buzzcocks on 10 January 2008, this time as a guest. In September 2008, Laverne appeared again on Mock the Week.

In March 2008, Laverne appeared on the Lily Allen and Friends show with fellow Sunderland musicians The Futureheads, and on Would I Lie To You?.

From 2006 to 2010, she was a regular presenter with the weekly BBC arts magazine programme The Culture Show, alongside Mark Kermode. She also presented the second series of the late-night Channel 4 music show Transmission with T-Mobile opposite Steve Jones.

Laverne replaced radio DJ Jo Whiley on the talent show Orange Mobile Act Unsigned, which searches for the top unsigned acts in the country.

Laverne became a regular presenter in the new 'magazine' format third series of It's Not Easy Being Green, first broadcast on BBC Two in January 2009. She also narrated Tough Guy or Chicken? on BBC Three in August 2009.

On 6 May 2010, she was a co-host of Channel 4's Alternative Election Night, along with Jimmy Carr, David Mitchell, and Charlie Brooker. Starting 20 January 2011, she re-joined her co-hosts in Channel 4's satirical news programme 10 O'Clock Live.^[4]

Radio[link]

Having previously sat in for BBC Radio 1's Steve Lamacq, Laverne joined Xfm London in 2002, co-hosting a Saturday morning show with Mark Webster, while occasionally standing in for various DJs on BBC Radio 6 Music, including Phill Jupitus' breakfast show where one morning she interviewed her own brother Pete (who records under the name J Xaverre) Laverne took over XFM's drivetime slot from Zoe Ball at the start of 2004, winning Best Newcomer at the Commercial Radio Awards in 2004.^[5] She became host of the XFM breakfast show on 31 October 2005 after Christian O'Connell moved to Virgin Radio, but left suddenly in April 2007 to pursue her television interests. However, Laverne has recently guest presented on BBC Radio 2. She stood in for Russell Brand on BBC Radio 2 on 9 February 2008 whilst he was taking a break.

She presents her own show on BBC Radio 6 Music Weekdays 10-1pm.^[6] Laverne was widely quoted by mass media in early March 2010 when her emotional reaction to proposals to kill BBC 6 music captured the attention of her listeners and the press. Following the BBC Director General's announcement that the station would be recommended for closure as part of cost-cutting plans, she started her show saying "This is probably not the easiest of day for us, probably not the easiest day to be on the radio, to be honest with you, especially not this station, which I love with all my heart. So thank you very much for all your kind words." ^[7]

She has also been a panelist on BBC Radio 4's Just a Minute.

Writing[link]

In 2010, she published her first novel Candypop – Candy and the Broken Biscuits, about rock chick Candy Caine, 15, on her journey to the world's biggest music festival, Glastonbury. The book is published by HarperCollins.

Personal life[link]

Laverne dated music journalist Taylor Parkes while in the band Kenickie and later Malcolm Middleton, from the band Arab Strap. She married television producer and DJ Graeme Fisher in County Durham^[8] in August 2005,^[9] and the couple live in Muswell Hill, London.^[10] Laverne also retains a flat in Sunderland. The couple had their first child, a boy named Fergus James, in October 2007.^[11] On 30 March 2010, Laverne revealed on her BBC Radio 6 Music show that she was pregnant with their second child. Lauren gave birth to the couple's second son, Mack, in the early hours of 20 September 2010. She is a vegetarian.^[12]

In 2005, Laverne's passion for her home city resulted in her becoming an ambassador promoting and raising awareness of Sunderland. She received an honorary fellowship from the University of Sunderland in July 2009.^[13]

Laverne is a supporter of the Labour Party, famously referring to Geri Halliwell as "Tory scum" for her support for the Conservatives in the 1997 general election.^[14] Laverne's mother, Celia Gofton, was elected a councillor for the Pallion ward in the City of Sunderland in 2006, and sought nomination as Labour candidate in 2008 in the Sunderland Central constituency but was defeated by Julie Elliott, who went on to win the seat for Labour in the 2010 general election.^[15]

Laverne identifies herself as Roman Catholic.^[16]

Discography[link]

See also Kenickie discography.

Solo singles[link]

• Take These Flowers Away EP (did not chart)

1. "I Fell Out Of A Tree"
2. "Good Morning Sunshine"
3. "To Have A Home"
4. "Some Kind Of Other Presence"
5. "If You Phone (Netmix)" (internet only bonus track)

Other solo releases[link]

• "Don't Falter", Mint Royale featuring Lauren Laverne, #15 (w/b 31 January 2000)
• "In The Bleak Midwinter" (on It's A Cool Cool Christmas compilation) (did not chart)
• "Come Home Billy Bird", The Divine Comedy (uncredited vocalist), #24 (w/b 28 March 2004)

Miscellaneous solo songs[link]

Other solo songs performed on radio sessions include:

• "Don't Falter (acoustic)"
• "Mexico"
• "Thank You"
• "Ian"
• "Open"

References[link]

External links[link]

• Lauren Laverne at BBC Programmes
• Lauren Laverne on Facebook
• Lauren Laverne at the Internet Movie Database
• Kenickie site
• Q&A: Questionnaire style interview from The Guardian.
• Lauren Laverne, Spitz, London: Review of post-Kenickie solo performance in The Guardian, 16 April 2001.
• "Blonde ambition" interview from The Guardian, 18 March 2007
• "Drink Less Miss Less" campaign"