Barbara Gaskin

Barbara Gaskin (born 5 June 1950) is a British singer formerly associated with the UK Canterbury scene. Gaskin was lead vocalist in British folk-prog band Spirogyra (1969–1974). From 1973 to 1976 she sang backing vocals with Dave Stewart's band Hatfield and the North, as one third of 'The Northettes' (with Ann Rosenthal and Amanda Parsons, both since retired from music). In 1981 she and Stewart formed a duo and in September of that year, they had a number one single in the UK with a cover version of the song "It's My Party". Subsequent singles "Busy Doing Nothing" (1983), and "The Locomotion" (1986) also entered the UK Singles Chart, without reaching the heights of their debut release. Seven albums followed, released on the duo's own Broken Records label. Gaskin and Stewart continue to work together and occasionally play live concerts with Andy Reynolds (guitar, 1990-2009), Beren Matthews (guitar, 2018 onwards) and drummer Gavin Harrison (Tokyo 2001 and London 2018 concerts). Gaskin has also sung with Egg (The Civil Surface), National Health, Peter Blegvad (The Naked Shakespeare), Phil Miller, Nigel Planer (Neil's Heavy Concept Album), Jane Wiedlin (Tangled), Rick Biddulph and Mont Campbell (Music from a Round Tower).