Biography
The indie pop sound cultivated by Dead Famous People projects a bouncy and yearning character at odds with the group’s moniker. Emerging in New Zealand during the mid-1980s, the band issued an EP on Flying Nun Records ahead of relocating to the United Kingdom, where two albums followed along with a Peel Session before the lineup dissolved in 1990. Frontwoman and principal songwriter Dons Savage later revived the project, resulting in the 2020 arrival of its third album, Harry.
Auckland-based Dons Savage and Elizabeth “Biddy” Leyland exited Freudian Slips in 1986 to create an outlet in which Savage could author her own material. With Savage directing the ensemble and Leyland on keyboards, the initial roster included guitarist Wendy Kjestrup, bassist Jenny Renals, and drummer Robyn Tearle. Short releases helped them cultivate a local audience, among them the Flying Nun EP Lost Persons Area, after which the members shifted to London. The 1989 mini-album Arriving Late in Torn and Filthy Jeans appeared on Billy Bragg’s Utility Records label, drawing from the earlier EP while adding new tracks that featured Gill Moon on drums; the release became the label’s strongest seller up to that point and coincided with a live session for John Peel’s BBC Radio 1 program. Nevertheless, the band split in 1990 once its second album, tracked with drummer Frances Gant, was finished, though All Hail the Daffodil surfaced the following year on LaDiDa Productions. Savage appeared on Saint Etienne’s 1990 interpretation of the Field Mice song “Kiss and Make Up,” after which both Savage and Leyland launched solo endeavors. A Dead Famous People rendering of “True Love Leaves No Traces” was included on the 1991 Leonard Cohen tribute I’m Your Fan, while the anthology Secret Girl’s Business: A Retrospective Compilation reached stores in 2002 via Tripping Usherette and Global Routes Music.
Savage eventually returned to Auckland and stepped away from the music business for an extended period, partly to raise her son, before reclaiming the Dead Famous People name. By that stage the riot grrrl movement had experienced renewed broad recognition, prompting Tiny Global Productions’ John Henderson and Fire Records’ James Nicholls to wonder about her current activities. After Nicholls and Savage established contact, Fire Records extended a recording agreement, enabling her to complete an album in a couple of weeks. Titled for her son, Harry emerged on Fire Records in October 2020.
Auckland-based Dons Savage and Elizabeth “Biddy” Leyland exited Freudian Slips in 1986 to create an outlet in which Savage could author her own material. With Savage directing the ensemble and Leyland on keyboards, the initial roster included guitarist Wendy Kjestrup, bassist Jenny Renals, and drummer Robyn Tearle. Short releases helped them cultivate a local audience, among them the Flying Nun EP Lost Persons Area, after which the members shifted to London. The 1989 mini-album Arriving Late in Torn and Filthy Jeans appeared on Billy Bragg’s Utility Records label, drawing from the earlier EP while adding new tracks that featured Gill Moon on drums; the release became the label’s strongest seller up to that point and coincided with a live session for John Peel’s BBC Radio 1 program. Nevertheless, the band split in 1990 once its second album, tracked with drummer Frances Gant, was finished, though All Hail the Daffodil surfaced the following year on LaDiDa Productions. Savage appeared on Saint Etienne’s 1990 interpretation of the Field Mice song “Kiss and Make Up,” after which both Savage and Leyland launched solo endeavors. A Dead Famous People rendering of “True Love Leaves No Traces” was included on the 1991 Leonard Cohen tribute I’m Your Fan, while the anthology Secret Girl’s Business: A Retrospective Compilation reached stores in 2002 via Tripping Usherette and Global Routes Music.
Savage eventually returned to Auckland and stepped away from the music business for an extended period, partly to raise her son, before reclaiming the Dead Famous People name. By that stage the riot grrrl movement had experienced renewed broad recognition, prompting Tiny Global Productions’ John Henderson and Fire Records’ James Nicholls to wonder about her current activities. After Nicholls and Savage established contact, Fire Records extended a recording agreement, enabling her to complete an album in a couple of weeks. Titled for her son, Harry emerged on Fire Records in October 2020.
Albums
Singles
