The Puppini Sisters

The Puppini Sisters are a musical trio specializing in 1940s-style close harmony vocal music. Arion Berger described as part of "Retro's futuristic vanguard" and their sound described as swing-punk due to its being louder and more in your face than traditional swing music. The group has sought to be associated with a burlesque revival.^[1]

The members are Italian Marcella Puppini and English Stephanie O'Brien and Kate Mullins. Although the three are not related, they chose their name in tribute to The Andrews Sisters. Puppini first studied fashion design at St. Martins School of Art, and later music at Trinity College of Music where she met Stephanie O'Brien and Kate Mullins. The Puppini Sisters are currently supported by a three-piece band featuring Blake Wilner on guitar, Pat Levett on drums/percussion and upright bassist Henrik Jensen.

History

The group was founded in 2004 by Marcella Puppini after she was inspired by the animated film Les Triplettes de Belleville (2003). In 2005 they were signed by UCJ (Universal Classics and Jazz). The Puppini Sisters' debut single, "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy", is a cover of the hit single by The Andrews Sisters.

The Puppini Sisters television appearances include This Morning, Loose Women, The Alan Titchmarsh Show, Big Brother's Little Brother, Hell's Kitchen, CBeebies' Space Pirates, and The View (on ABC).

The Puppini Sisters' second album, The Rise and Fall of Ruby Woo includes original compositions by Puppini, O'Brien and Mullins.

The group is working on a third album made up entirely of original songs. There will be a more modern slant with solid dance beats geared toward people that have trouble dancing to the 1940's swing style.^[2] The group appeared in the 2008 Jonathan Creek Christmas special "The Grinning Man", (performing their 2007 single "Spooky"). The band also features on the soundtracks for US TV series Greys Anatomy and Chuck.

The group is scheduled to perform at the Glastonbury Festival 2009.^[3]

Influences

According to the Puppini Sister's MySpace page acts that have influenced them are The Andrews Sisters, The Boswell Sisters, Marlene Dietrich, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Kate Bush, Mike Flowers, Joan Crawford, The Smiths, and Tom Waits.

According to Marcella Puppini the group sings about modern and risque subjects in a quaintly old fashioned way. This comes from their interest in 1940's songs such as Hold Tight (Want Some Seafood Mama) that have sexual undertones despite their overtly innocent lyrics. ^[2]

Awards

The Puppini Sisters won a Gold Disc for international sales of their first CD, Betcha Bottom Dollar, in 2007.^[4]

The Puppini Sisters website won the 2008 Cream of Yorkshire awards "Gold Award" for best website. The digital advertising agency twentysix won the top award the "overall Grand Prix award" for its design of a website for Universal Music showcasing the group.^[5]

Discography

Singles

• "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" (2006)
• "Jingle Bells/Silent Night (Little Match Seller)" (December 2006) iTunes-only release
• "Spooky" (2007)
• "Crazy in Love" (2007)
• "Jilted" (2008)
• "Apart of Me" with The Real Tuesday Weld (2008)

Videos

• "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" (2006)
• "Spooky (2007)
• "Apart of Me" with The Real Tuesday Weld directed by Alex de Campi (2007)
• "Jilted" directed by Alex de Campi (2008)
• "(I Can't Believe I'm Not a) Millionaire" directed by Alex de Campi (2008)

Albums

• Betcha Bottom Dollar (July 31, 2006 U.K., May 1, 2007 U.S., March 2008 France). According to the official website the album as of May 2, 2007 was ranked in the number two position on the amazon.com bestsellers list and as of May 9 number two on the U.S. Jazz Charts and number nine on the U.S. new artist chart^[6]
• The Rise and Fall of Ruby Woo (October 1, 2007 U.K.), (February 2008 U.S., January 2009 France) featuring classic covers, 1940s style reworkings of contemporary music, and a selection of original compositions. According to Billboard's official website, the album peaked at number 5 in the US Jazz Charts in 2008.^[7]

Compilations

• The Jazz Album 2006 UCJ (2006)
• A Classic Christmas UCJ (2006)
• Now That's What I Call Xmas Virgin (2006)
• Jazz For Dinner UCJ (2006)
• The Very Best of Latin Jazz UCJ (2007)
• Magicians OST Universal (2007)
• Tom Middleton Presents Crazy Covers 2 UCJ (2007)
• Lost Vagueness OST Universal (2007)
• Bolero Fashion Sound compiled by Olivier Rohrbach Universal (2007)
• Jazziz 8 compilation by Jazziz Magazine (2007)
• You're Beautiful - 40 Inspiring Songs UCJ (2007)
• Kit Kittredge: An American Girl OST compilation from film of the same name by New Line Records (2008)
• You Raise Me Up 2008 UCJ (2008)
• Back To Soul - New Soul Queens and Legendary Divas UCJ (2008)
• Swing Style - Swing Beats for Dancing Feets Compiled and mixed by Gulbahar Kultur Lola's World (2008)
• Now This Is Christmas 2008 UCJ (2008)
• Actrices OST Milan Music (2008)
• Smile Style 2 compilation by DJ Weritos Lounge Wave Music (2009)

Collaboration

The group recorded a close harmony version of the song "Apart of Me", by Stephen Coates of The Real Tuesday Weld, and acted in the video for the song, playing "a corpse, murdering waitresses, worms and chickens". Two versions of the song exist, one being that which was used for the video and the other is a track on The Real Tuesday Weld 2008 CD The London Book of the Dead.

The group used period piece costumes designed by Vivienne Westwood ^[8]in their video for Jilted, an original song written by Marcella Puppini (not to be confused with the 1954 Theresa Brewer country number).

Further reading

• Heawood, S (2007-09-29). "Meet the sisters of swing". Music (The Times). http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article2529113.ece. Retrieved on 2007-10-03. 

Live Reviews

• Verrico, Lisa (2007-10-05). "The Puppini Sisters". Music (The Times). http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/live_reviews/article2591615.ece. Retrieved on 2007-10-08. 

• Hasted, N (2009-01-06). "The Puppini Sisters, Queen Elizabeth Hall, London". Music (The Independent). http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/the-puppini-sisters-queen-elizabeth-hall-london-1227740.html. Retrieved on 2009-01-15. 

External links

• Official website
• National Public Radio (U.S.) Interview
• Audio interview at BBC Wiltshire

References