Sunday, February 28, 2016

Rachel.

How does a person imprint so comprehensively on someone that they almost haunt you, even when you have never met them? 

Back when I first started my website Dean from Australia, one of the first pieces I wrote was a love letter to the seemingly lost Pink Floyd backing vocalist Rachel Fury. That first post and its subsequent iteration "Oh Beautiful Fury" - which I reposted with additional information (and have since added more as new information comes to hand) - have become the most viewed posts at my site, racking up some 30,000 page views since I published them back in 2010 and 2011 respectively. In reality, it's probably not that impressive a number - but it is to me. It seems that I tapped into a world wide community of Rachel Fury devotees who were just as captivated by her as I am. Dozens of commentors to that original piece shared anecdotes, memories of seeing her live with Pink Floyd and asking the same questions that I was. 

What happened to Rachel Fury?

For the uninitiated readers here who are slightly creeped out right about now, let me recap.



Rachel Fury (image credit: Pink Floyd Music, copyright © 1987).

Rachel Fury was a backing vocalist on Pink Floyd's "Delicate Sound of Thunder" world tour which traversed the globe between 1987 and 1989. A U.S. segment of the tour was captured over five nights in August 1988 and became the double live album and film "Delicate Sound of Thunder" and it became a best seller. I first saw this concert video in 1990, as I recounted in my original piece, when my father purchased a copy and brought it home. We played it on our home stereo system one weekend night. Dad was something of a home theater aficionado - back in the days before decent systems and we got to see the concert in crisp stereo sound that lifted the roof off the house.

Rachel Fury began her career roughly 16 years earlier in 1971 as Rachel Brennock (her birth name), appearing in various British TV shows and films such as Mr Horatio Knibbles (1971) and Robin Hood Junior (1975). During this period, Brennock was building a career as a serious singer and In 1972, under the name "Weeny Bopper", Brennock recorded the single "David, Donny and Michael", a Pye Records release intended to capitalise on weenybopper enthusiasm for David Cassidy, Donny Osmond, and Michael Jackson. 



By 1978, having worked diligently within the British industry, Rachel Brennock was an established London session singer, known for a "sassy 'Ronettes' sound." Perhaps her most notable performance from that period was (allegedly) on the Buggles classic "Video Killed The Radio Star". In a 2009 interview with now defunct website Pop Junkie TV, former Typically Tropical (remember the one hit wonder "Barbados" anyone?) band member Geraint Hughes, Hughes describes Brennock as a superior vocalist who impressed everyone she met with her talent. It is also during this time that another Pink Floyd alum, Sam Brown and Rachel Brennock crossed paths though whether they performed together is impossible to know.



Rachel Fury (date unknown/courtesy Col Hancock).


Rachel Fury (date unknown/courtesy Col Hancock).


 Rachel Fury, Alan St. Clair, Howard Devoto circa 1983. (image credit Alan St. Clair).

I covered Rachel's - now Rachel Fury - early 80's period with Alan St. Clair and Howard Devoto of The Lover Speaks in my original 2011 post which, admittedly, was pretty sparse. Her movements through the New Wave era saw her travel widely in the U.S. and she continued to garner significant plaudits for her vocal talent. There was a collaboration with noted British singer/songwriter Phil Saatchi on an 1987 album called Wheel Of Fortune in which Rachel co-wrote a track called When We Dream. Around this time, she had come to the notice of Pink Floyd's personnel and this led to her signing with the band for the Momentary Lapse of Reason album and the Delicate Sound of Thunder tour. 

From the moment I saw her on screen in that concert, I was struck dumb - not in the least because, as a 15 year old, I saw her as something of a goddess! But perhaps more significantly it was because of her vocal performance - most notably on the Richard Wright penned track "Great Gig In The Sky". This song, which came from Pink Floyd's 1973 Dark Side Of The Moon, is particularly awe inspiring because it features no words. Rather, it is characterized by three verses of insanely powerful vocals in the form of ethereal wails and cries.



Rachel Fury (image credit: Pink Floyd Music, copyright © 1987).

The live performance required a powerful interpretation of the original composition. In the hands of the three backing singers Rachel Fury, Durga McBroom and Margaret Taylor, it was elevated to something of a religious experience. It was Fury whose stewardship of the first 'verse' of the song struck something deep in me when I first witnessed it. Of the three vocalists, hers was the most powerful, the most passionate, requiring an insane amount of discipline to traverse the wide vocal range. It was an utterly captivating performance. Her duet with David Gilmour on "Comfortably Numb" is equally so and I said in my original piece that there is an undeniable chemistry between the two and perhaps a flirtatious one, as evidenced in their interaction on the track "Money" which is performed with such a playfulness by the whole band. 




Rachel Fury  with David Gilmour (image credit: Pink Floyd Music, copyright © 1987).

Of all the backing vocalists who toured with Pink Floyd, Rachel Fury is undoubtedly the most mysterious. And this is simply because at the conclusion of the DSOT tour in 1989 she, quite literally, disappeared. Pink Floyd returned to the studio to record a follow up album "The Division Bell" and when they announced their subsequent "Pulse" world tour in the mid 90's, I specifically looked for Rachel's name in the line-up. She wasn't there. In fact the only returning backing vocalist for that tour was Durga McBroom and accompanying her was noted singer songwriter Sam Brown, whose single "You Better Stop" did great business in the early 90's and noted British session singer Claudia Fontaine. 

Where was Rachel? What had happened to her?

The question kicked around in my consciousness for a while but it eventually faded. In those pre-internet days, any hope of finding any useful information was impossible and even with the advent of the web, accurate information was still impossible to come by. For years, I treasured my double cassette edition of the Delicate Sound of Thunder tour recording and remained enamored by Rachel's voice. When I came to write the original 2010/11 pieces, information was still sparse though a few sources of information - that checked out - allowed me to sketch a tribute of sorts to this magnificent singer. 


 




Rachel Fury  (image credit: Pink Floyd Music, copyright © 1987).

Post 1990, there is precious little about Rachel Fury as a singer. I received some unconfirmed information back in 2010 suggesting that she had dropped out of the music business altogether, was living in London and was active in the animal rights community.  

It seems striking to me that a singer whose talent was undeniable, who had diligently built a respected profile throughout the late 70's and early 80's, collaborating with some serious talent and contributing to some important music - culminating in the Pink Floyd tour, could simply 'drop out'. What happened to her? Was it simply a case of having had enough after, essentially, 20 years of performing or was it something else. Her disappearance, from my vantage point seems so sudden - so final. It is a view shared by many who have visited my original post over the past 6 years. 


Rachel Fury  (image credit: Pink Floyd Music, copyright © 1987).

I wax and wane with my musical predilections and I haven't listened to the DSOT for several years. However, it was my 6 year old daughter, who accidentally tapped onto a YouTube clip of the DSOT "Great Gig" performance last week. And it has stirred up my fascination with Rachel Fury all over again. I'm pondering the same questions. I'm captivated by her beauty and her voice and hence I am revisiting her here. 

Where for art thou Rachel...

DFA.

Dean's new collection of reflective essays - including a revised & updated version of "Oh Beautiful Fury" is available now in print and digital from Amazon




57 comments:

  1. Nice piece, Dean. I wasn't a Pink Floyd fan, so I never heard of her. This was definitely a learning experience. Take care.

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  2. Likewise. My eldest brother used to play Dark Side of the Moon at home on our half (b&w) TV/half stereo unit. My Dad (a devotee of Blues/Soul & Gospel music) loved that particular track. Sorry I can't help you re. the singer in question but just wanted to share my memories of that haunting original track

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  3. Beatiful Pictures ! Can you share info about this photographer? Thank you again!

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    1. The concert images are screen captures from my DVD copy. The other images were supplied to me but I don't know the name of the photographers.

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    2. Thank you Dean! I meant those picture where you reported "courtesy col hancock". Who is him? a Photographer. I have never seen the second one...

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    3. Hi
      I'm Col . I'm not a photographer , just someone in England lucky enough to get the original photos for a price , I had a hard job securing them ... took months and a lot of bitten nails .

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    4. Thank you CJH. Are these photos taken from a movie? Can you give us some info? Are there any other pictures?

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    5. daveyleeroy1@gmail.comSeptember 21, 2022 at 9:55 PM

      You're not alone. I saw the DSOT tour in Vancouver Canada, and I, like you couldn't take my eyes off her. Something about her really stood out. She was special. Thank you for writing this. I really enjoyed listening to your take on her. I hope we all see her again somewhere. Take care.

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  4. Hi Matteo
    Sorry for the late response!
    No I think they are private photos taken by a friend on a day out , she gave up acting before her teens and then turned to music by the name Weeny Bopper . I have a promotional copy disk of her first song "Donny David an Michael ... released 1972 . Cheers Col .

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    1. I think the girl in the black and white photo is not her. It would actually be a backing vocals from Howard Devoto's band. See the similarity: http://www.newwavephotos.com/popupphot.php?img=HowardDevoto/11904HowardDevoto.jpg&width=460&des=Howard%20Devoto,%20Brielpoort,%20Deinze,%20Belgium,%20September%204,%201983

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  5. I'm from Brazil and I'm hopelessly in love with Rachel.
    The first time I heard Rachel sing was in 1973 on the album The Dark Side of The Moon. My older brother got a k-7 tape and we listened several times. I'm a collector of Pink Floyd albums. Eventually I hear some of Pink Floyd's albums in my garage.

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    1. La cantante en DSOTM en 1973 fue Clare Torry

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    2. Hi, anonymous, just a small point but the vocalist on DSOTM album in 1973 was not Rachel but Clare Torry and you can be forgiven for thinking it was Rachel as her cover on the Delicate Sound of Thunder tour was a great rendition.

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  6. I had the wonderful experience of seeing Pink Floyd's DSOT tour five(!) times back in the late 80's. Four at the Oakland, CA Coliseum and once in Sacramento. I too was mesmerized by Rachel. For one of the shows I was only about 20 rows back and right in front of her. She was so beautiful. Thanks God we have the video to keep the memory alive!

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  7. I watched DOST on sky arts last night, and brought back the memory the fist time I watched this. I was totally mesmerized by Rachel, so sexy and that voice incredible. I tried to find out where she is now,but has disappeared of the face of the earth. Would love to know if she's around and weither she has settled down somewhere.

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    1. There’s also the small point that in 1973 Rachel was at most 12 years old and no matter how talented she was, those vocals would have been outside her range

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  8. Rachel was not the vocalist on the album dark side of the moon, it was in fact Clare Torry

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    1. Right on, was dying to point that out myself! Clare Tory as in Tory island off the coast of my beautiful Donegal! She was sensational on that track. Rachel is excellent too - very captivating. I second your devotion!

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    2. Sorry it is “Torry” two r’s -apologies

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  9. I must admit i have been totally smitten with Rachael since i saw her on that tour,i was second row and here it is 30 years later and i still think of her. I can close my eyes and replay every little movement and nuance she did. She actually made eye contact with me and gave a little smile and a slight wave of her hand, i've often wondered if that was the moment she cast a spell on me because my heart yearns to see her again, i wonder where she is and if shes happy..i miss her so.

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  10. I love u Rachel fury
    My beautiful angel

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  11. I love u Rachel fury
    My beautiful angel

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  12. She was very beautiful, wonderful!Probably she stopped with singer life and today must be living a simpler life somewhere with the family. Maybe with children and grandchildren. The rest is on account of your imagination, my friend!

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  13. Hey, Dean! I am intrigued and would also like to know about Rachel these days. Does she still work with music and still sings. She really was wonderful. Lived in my dreams since I was just a little boy.

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  14. Here is your Girl, about a minute in...you're welcome!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IVDVLeXBmQ

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    1. Thank you!!!! Very pretty, isn't it? Imagine other images and photos that have not yet been published.

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  15. Cant get her out of my head after 30+ years. She is the definition of "PERFECT".

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  16. The live performance looked super-stressful for the background singers (basically doing a repetive workout while singing rather monotonously in rhythm), maybe that had something to do with it.
    Anyway, she totally seems like a filmstar or some character from fiction.

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  17. Hey I just watched a video of Durga Mcbroom's band Blue Pearl from 1990 I believe and there she is! Rachel doing backing vocals! If it is post-Floyd indeed it's amazing to see her at least one more time

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  18. OMG the video it's from 1993!!

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  19. Oh it finally is from 1990, still great because it's post Floyd!

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  20. A tienes data de Rachel, hace siete meses..
    https://gramho.com/media/2067714183266561630

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  21. Funny how all of us writing here have been...and continue to be... haunted by that beautiful, sensual woman and have been unable to get her out of our minds. It just proves that enduring beauty is exactly that and all the more so on account of her strange disappearance...

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  22. Amazing that anyone who saw her was never able to forget her. Stunningly beautiful and sensual...may her spirit endure forever.

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  23. Can I say that I am not one of the salivating masses that were astounded by both her beauty and her voice.
    OK, I lie .. and I too have long wondered what came of her :)

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  24. You can add me to the list of guys who picked her out of those videos and admired her from afar for all these years.

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  25. The Rachel Years! LOL! I'm not the only one still in love with her. We waited 19 hours in line for tickets to the Dec. 8, 1987 Seattle show. Almost froze to death but got 8 front row seats! We sat directly in front of Margaret, Durga and Rachel. I was in awe of the music coming off the stage but Rachel is burned into my heart and soul forever. We saw Jethro Tull the next night and Ian Anderson said something about his drummer Doane Perry dating Rachel ! Anyone else heard about this?
    Thanks Dean and Best Wishes to Everyone.

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  26. Stunning, mesmerizing and unforgettable lady! I also wonder what happened to her.

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  27. One reason I fell in love with Rachel's performance in the Delicate Sound of Thunder video is the way she ends her session in those last few seconds.... it is as though her whole body is experiencing what the whole song is actually about.

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  28. I also got to see her at Soldier Field, Chicago for DSOT and I was 2nd row center. Being amazed looking up at David Gilmour play right in front of me was incredible. However I was also enamoured with Rachel as well. She was such a vision of beauty and an incredible voice to match. I had forgotten about her until last night when I watched the concert again on my Prime. Boy did that bring back memories of the entire night I was there but also her! I also wonder why she disappeared, but maybe she was fortunate enough to just do what she wanted in life?

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  29. So glad to hear this! I have the VHS unplayed for yrs. and just got the 2020 digital version. Three beautiful and very talented ladies and yes Rachael is my favorite as well. I hope she is doing well.

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  30. Lol, for some crazy reason I thought I was the only one who watches on the turning away video over and over just to see Rachel. The body, the beauty,and the smile. She had to have been to the boys of England what Marie Osmond was to a lot of boys in the US in the 70s.

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  31. I must add my own experience to the numerous comments. I stumbled across the "On the Turning Away" Live DSOT footing some (numerous) years ago and was immediately captivated by nothing but a few glimpses of this mesmerizing Cleopatra. And just like Twingman65, I looped over and over the video just for the sake of her... Then some years passed by. And I experienced the same weird infatuation AGAIN when watching the Venice PF concert ; without realizing that she was the same girl that caught my attention numerous years ago. I Could not take my eyes off her sultry, yet gentle and distinguished tenure ; ravaging eyes, mouth, legs, movement, voice, smile, hair... you name it ! And became instantly infatuated again with that glimpse of absolute charm, wondering if I lost my head or something. I mean : I am absolutely no groupie teen, but rather an happily married educated 50 something father of 3 with no particular tendency to droll on younger females, and there I find myself properly hypnotized by a unknown, never met, woman from the past. I gave me great surprise to realize that a lot of people here shared similar incongruous experience. It leaves me wondering like a previous commenter, what is at play here ? This is no documented star who would cultivate stardom and fanatism trough extensive production, interviews, promotional material, so on so forth... but only a glimpse of a symbolic distant beauty that somehow reaches deep into a great number of masculine sensibilities. If she ever stumbles across these testimonies, I hope she will be flattered and accept our sincere thanks for giving us these performances, or just actually appearing before our eyes.

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  32. Watching her now. She is a goddess 😍

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  33. Thanks for putting this info together Dean & all those who commented. Now I have discovered who that woman is ...

    She has a very powerful Mojo and it has worked on all of us here!

    I'm a retired wrinkly biker/beatnik who still drools over Rachel.

    I hope you found happiness Rachel x

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    1. Thanks for commenting Bump. The magic of Rachel continues long after she has left the stage...

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  34. In fact. I saw tbis girl singing on YouTube video and was immediately capted of her. So i searched her name and the more i found, the more i get captivated.. I guess it is her mysterious way to evoluate in the "psychedelic" concert of pinkfloyd that makes her so "godesly". But she is a fragile woman too...

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  35. Blue Pearl - Down to you live the Works
    Durga McBroom
    Rachel Fury
    Gary Wallis

    https://youtu.be/ATrC5VDfWsA

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    1. What a gem!! What year is this Felipe?

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    2. The Word, rather than The Works, which is a chain of shops in the UK selling remaindered books, and consequently far more valuable than The Word, a generally risible, trashy and unlamented TV show . This is a rare and perhaps unique exception to that rule.

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  36. came across this page because a friend of mine urged me to switch on the TV last night. A cultural TV-station showed the DSOT video. I had seen this before, many years ago. And I was in awe immediately, started searching for the background singers. Quite comforting thought not to be the only one. I am as mesmerized as everybody here. Gives me shivers down my spine. I wish for Rachel to be happy. And I am very grateful for what she gave to us.

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  37. Je suis comme tous les intervenants de ce forum tombé sous le charme de cette artiste lorsque j'ai visionné le concert du Floyd. J'ai été foudroyé par sa grâce et son talent. Elle était si belle et élégante dans sa simplissime robe noire, envoutante à la fois par sa plastique parfaite et sa voix merveilleuse... Elle est presque parvenue à éclipser le groupe, c'est presque surnaturel !!

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  38. The whole Delicate Sound of Thunder tour was awesome. I saw a show from the Pulse tour in 1994 as a teenager and disappointed that Rachel was not there. Funny how so many were and still are captivated by her voice and stage presence.

    If you haven't yet seen, there are several YouTube channels that highlight the late 80's tours:
    Funkydung - https://www.youtube.com/user/2braindamage/videos
    Obi Wan Kenobi - https://www.youtube.com/user/miskuamakus/videos

    Curious to know if there are there any other YouTube channels and/or sites that feature Floyd late-80's tours images or videos? Any updates on Rachel since the early 90's?

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    1. There is a page on Facebook devoted to Rachel as well as an Instagram account. They sometimes link to bts images and vision from the DSOT tour. Haven't seen much lately though.

      I have included a revised and updated version of my piece "Oh Beautiful Fury" in a new publication I have just released called The Night Fisher Elegies. It is availble now in print and digital at Amazon

      https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B7H5HPWQ

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  39. Interesting interview here. Durga, Machan Taylor and Scott page. Mentions of Rachel around the 22min mark. https://youtu.be/igFFYV178F4

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  40. Just watched the Pink Floyd concert again and have also been mesmerised by Rachel. What power and presence. But what a mystery re her not being recorded since 1990. She would be 62 now? I would have thought she would be drawn to making a comment if she was around? Has she emigrated or something happened to her?? Intrigued!!!

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  41. Almost 37 years since seeing her from the front row Dec. 8, 1987. We were sitting between Gilmour & the girls. I’ll
    Never forget her stunning beauty and talent. Hope she is enjoying life.

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