British Pioneer and Legend
Janet Kay
October 7, 2022
Born to Jamaican parents in London, Janet Kay (Janet Kay Bogle) is a direct descendant of Jamaica’s National Hero, the Rt. Excellent Paul Bogle. As a child growing up in the sixties, her love for music was influenced from being exposed to singers at the Tamla Motown label (Tamla is the original label for Motown). In 1977 while studying at Secretarial College, Janet was invited to a rehearsal by her friend Sonia Ferguson. Band member Tony Gad was impressed with Janet’s vocals and introduced her to reggae legend and rocksteady master, Alton Ellis. The introduction resulted in Janet recording a cover version of Minnie Ripperton’s “Loving You” which was produced by Ellis. The single became a reggae smash hit, spending many weeks at number 1 on the reggae charts. The following year, Janet recorded two more covers, “I Do Love You” and “That’s What Friends Are For”, both of which spent weeks at number 1 on the charts. The songbird continued her dominance in 1979 when she recorded her biggest single. The song “Silly Games” (produced by Dennis Bovell) was a hit in the UK and also throughout Europe. Janet became the first black British woman to top the British charts. This amazing history making fete has been recorded in the Music Guinness Book of Records. Janet’s songwriting prowess became evident on the release of her first album “Capricorn Woman”. The album is still a best seller to this day; a project in which she penned all the songs except for two of them.
Janet became the first black British woman to top the British charts.
Janet was now a global household name and quickly became known as the “Queen of Lovers Rock”. In that same year Janet was presented with the awards for Best 7″ & 12” Vinyl Singles and Best Female Vocalist for 1979 by Black Echoes Music Newspaper. Janet’s voice was not exclusive to only reggae music alone, in the early 80’s she penned and sung the soulful “Eternally Grateful” which became an underground hit. The era continued with collaboration between Janet and the late reggae legend Jackie Mitto with the Randy Crawford classic, “You Bring the Sun Out”. After meeting with actor/singer Victor Romero Evans, Janet was introduced to the theatre company ‘Black Theatre Co-operative’. After a successful audition, we witnessed the birth of Janet’s theatrical career in the play “Mama Dragon” by Faroukh Dhondy. Janet has since appeared in several films and has also made numerous TV appearances and theatre plays, touring the UK and Europe.
In 1981 she starred in the “Black Theatre Co-operative” TV sitcom “No Problem” (LWT/Channel 4), the first black TV show which was created and conceived by a black theatre company. The singer/actress continued to be a dual threat and gave us collaboration with the singer/producer Lloyd Charmers with the cover album ‘Sweet Surrender’.
In 1990 Janet collaborated with Beats International (Norman Cook aka Fat Boy Slim) on their track “Burundi Blues”. The success garnered a featured collaboration on Lindy Layton version of “Silly Games”. In the early 90’s Janet, along with Judith Jacob, Suzanne Packer, Suzette Llewellyn, Beverley Michaels, Josephine Melville and the Late Joanne Campbell formed the highly successful female theatre company the “Bibi Crew”. All shows were written produced and directed by the Crew. In 1991, the album “Loving You”, The Best of Janet Kay, was released in Japan. The title track propelled Janet to stardom in Japan. She was subsequently signed to Sony Music (Japan) from 1993 – 2003.
Janet Kay and Carroll Thompson
Over the years Janet have sold millions of records and collaborated with top producers such as, Sly & Robbie, Omar, Kemar McGregor, Drummie Zeb and Tony Gad (Aswad), Junior Giscombe (‘Mama Used To Say’), Jeremy Meehan, Shinichi Osawa (Japan), Kodama & Gota (Japan). Janet has also co-written and composed songs for a Japanese TV series entitled ‘La Dolce Vita’, alongside the renowned Japanese composer Taro Iwashiro.
In 2006 & 2007 Janet returned to theatre, where she appeared as the Fairy Godmother in Hackney Empire’s Pantomime “Cinderella”, which the Evening Standard rated the best “Pantomine” of the season. Janet works from time to time as a vocal coach for WAC a Performing Arts & Media College provides training in the arts for children and young people up to age twenty-five.
Janet skills and creativity are not exclusive to just singing and drama, but extends to the dexterous world of Arts and Crafts. She is an accomplished machine & hand knitter/designer and lace maker; her works have been published in several craft editorials. Janet has also embraced music technology and the digital revolution; she’s a skilled web & graphic designer who is proficient at 3D logo animation and video editing. Janet has co-edited a short feature film by Clive Grandison (‘Evergreen Man’), starring Victor Romero Evans, which was nominated for an award by the BFM. Janet’s sweet, heartwarming vocals have won her many friends and fans around the world. Her songs, artistic, technological skills and acting prowess have earned her many accolades over her diverse and successful career.
HIGHLIGHTS & ACHIEVEMENTS
- Janet has been voted one of Britain’s Top 100 Black Britain by the Evening Standard
- 1979- the first British born black female to have a reggae song at the top of the British charts
- Memorial Disc for success of Janet Kay Albums in Japan, presented by Sony Music Japan (1995)
- Contribution to British Black Music Industry (2001)
- Women of Merit by Darker than Blue in Association with Barclays (2002)
- Outstanding Contribution to British Reggae (2009)