Natasha was born DOROTHY NATASHA SHERRATT on December 18th in Glasgow, Scotland. By the age of fourteen she was splitting her spare time between working in a stable, singing with various Glasgow groups and hitching down to London to see the Hyde Park concerts. During her summer holidays, Natasha would look after horses - grooming them and mucking out their stables. ''I would work from six in the morning until ten at night'' she said. ''There wasn't time for anything else at all.''

By the time she reached the age of seventeen, Natasha's love of music (especially Blues) won, and she set off for London to find fame and fortune. Within a few weeks of moving into a North London bedsit she had joined a local group, and was to be found singing in all the regular clubs.

As well as gaining more experience on the performing front, Natasha England was learning a lot about the behind the scenes music business. ''Luckily I'd done commercial subjects at school so I worked my way up from a secretary to a personal assisitant for people like DAVID BOWIE'S manager and Billy Gaff, ROD STEWART'S manager,'' she explained.

With her knowledge it wasn't long before Natasha was helping to promote gigs and spotting new talent. One band Natasha took a particular interest in was DARTS, an exciting doowop band who would have a string of hits in the late 70's. After attending several of their gigs in 1976(their year of formation),Natasha,who had recently married Bob England(an ex singer with Love Affair) , persuaded her husband to see Darts at Dingwalls in London. By this time, Natasha had set up 'Good Earth Promotions and Agency', supplying bookings for acts like KOKOMO,THE AVERAGE WHITE BAND, JAMES BROWN, JERRY LEE LEWIS etc, and promoting their gigs.

DARTS certainly impressed, so Natasha and Bob decided to further their career into management, signing Darts on a management deal and proceeded to book them an extensive Uk tour. Various record company reps were invited to the venues and soon the Englands were negotiating with indie label MAGNET RECORDS, signing Darts in July 1977. Of course they went on to achieve terrific commercial success over the following few years.

But while Natasha was succeeding in the managerial side of the music business, she longed to sing, and got together a group called THE FLIRTS with two American sisters Betty and Jackie Burns. Natasha had met them through a friend of Darts RITA RAY. Their sole single, a joyous revival of a little known 60's gem called 'He's the kind of boy you can't forget' was released on Magnet records in October 1979. It met with positive media response and became a radio turntable hit. However Flirt-in-chief Natasha didn't particularly enjoy being tied to a group and left, setting her sights on a solo career.

It was in 1980 that Natasha cut her first solo single in a one off deal with the legendary DECCA RECORDS.Credited to 'Natasha and the Delites', the 'Delites' were evidentally a fictional backing group as portrayed by Natasha on the picture sleeve. A-side 'Breaking down the walls of heartache' was a cover of the 60's pop classic, while the b-side 'Please come home' a mellow and pleasant number co-written by Natasha with producer Richard Hartley. This release however recieved little publicity and has been quite hard to obtain.

By this time, Natasha and Bob had formed the TOWERBELL PUBLISHING COMPANY Ltd (later known as ENGLAND PUBLISHING) which soon began to release singles on its TOWERBELL RECORDS label. This would provide a platform for many artists and included hits for SNOWY WHITE and NILS LOFGREN amongst others.

For Natasha, music had until now been a part-time career to accompany her work managing the business. ''I always wanted to record some singles in my own right, but I had to be in the background for a while'' she said. After developing and establishing the Towerbell label, as well as CHAS 'N' DAVE's ROCKNEY label (a Towerbell Subsidiary providing numerous hit singles and albums for the Cockney duo), Natasha soon became a full time recording artist, and 1981 saw her first release on Towerbell (TOW 9) 'I can't hold on'. This was the first Natasha original composition as an A side and was co-written with producer RICHARD HARTLEY and produced by Hartley and Phil Chapman. One of Natasha's most commercial records, 'I can't hold on' was an appealing slice of power pop(think Blondie) and although sounded like a potential smash, failed to give Natasha the chart hit she deserved. Again this release appeared to be fairly low key. The picture sleeve being the only one of all her singles not to picture Natasha herself. It was designed by ex Darts member BOB FISH. Just as low key was the follow up in October '81 'Strangest Feeling'/'Maybe'(TOW12) both written with producer RON MAGNESS. A guitar driven number, the A side featured then Darts members ROB DAVIS (ex MUD and future hit songwriter for Kylie Minogue) and Horatio Hornblower, and like its predecessor was a trailer for her debut album 'CAPTURED'.

It was Natasha's first single of 1982 which really caught on and gave her the first of 2 chart hits. 'Iko Iko', a cover of the Dixie Cups classic climbed up to the Uk top 10 and kicked off a series of Tv slots (incl at least two appearences on Top of the Pops) and magazine interviews. Ironically another version of 'Iko Iko' had been released at the same time. The Belle Stars version was more ethnic but Natasha's version more danceable and was rightly favoured more by the record buying public. ''I wish them luck'' said Natasha at the time. ''What is annoying,though,is that I've had it ready for a couple of months now. I was just waiting until the weather became a little more summery. I was more scared that Bananarama would do it.''

While 'Iko Iko' helped bring Natasha England to the public's attention it wasn't typical of Natasha's natural style. ''I don't think I've used my voice to the full'' she said at the time. ''Those first singles are okay, but I want to do some of these really strong blues numbers that are usually left to the men like Rod Stewart.''

As with several of these early singles, the self written b-sides were often more interesting and closer to Natasha's natural singing style. The fantastic 'I should have known' ('Iko'flipside) is a typical example, a bluesy hypnotic sound beautifully produced by TOM NEWMAN. The follow-up to 'Iko' was another cover, though this time of an obscure album track written by PHIL RAMBOW. 'The Boom Boom Room' was all about a club in America where frustrated people go to pour out their troubles to whoever will listen. It gained considerable airply in the Uk and reached the charts, though disapointingly failed to crack the top 40. Its flipside was written solely by Natasha. 'I casually strolled by' is an excellent song about her experiences with men trying to take advantage. '' If you're wearing a short skirt on a hot day, they seem to think you're on the game or something. I've had to clout men on the tube'' she revealed.

'Captured', Natasha's debut 12 song album came out in the summer of 1982 and featured her four singles to date. An excellent (at times sophisticated) pop album, it featured an array of excellent musicians, many of them well established in their field. Natasha had obviously used her business experience and contacts to attract some of the best musical backing available. SNOWY WHITE (ex THIN LIZZY),TOM NEWMAN , MEL COLLINS(Sax) and various members of DARTS help to give the arrangements a touch of sheer class. Real flutes, congas, brass enhancing the listening experience. Stand out tracks include the wonderful ' Magnificent Obsession' written by guitarist Phil Rambow and the bluesy 'I still love you' co written by Natasha. An even better version (remix) of this song appears on the 12'' version of 'Iko Iko'. Captured made a moderate impression on the album charts reaching the top 60 and remaining there for several weeks.

During 1982 Natasha continued to make various promotional appearances on Tv shows such as Crackerjack and was a guest on Radio One's Rountable show. Unfortunately (perhaps at the insistance of husband Bob England) Natasha continued to release more cover versions as singles over the following year, both of which had superior b-sides. These were 'Pata Pata' and 'I want you to be my baby'. Perhaps Towerbell were hoping they would appeal to the same market as Tracy Ullman who was persuing a successful singing career at the time with several hit cover versions of songs like 'Breakaway'. A remix of her first Towerbell single 'I can't hold on'appeared on 7'' and 12'' extended versions in the spring of '83, though this too failed to make much of an impression on the charts despite its new synth driven arrangement by Richard Hartley.It couldn't have been more commercial and had a very danceable(disco) sound. Lack of airplay too didn't help. Ironically Radio One DJ David Jensen played the wrong side on his new release Sunday show. The b-side - the very uncommercial but impressive 'Tonight' was played in error, and he even failed to notice....

'I don't want to know'- the b-side of 'I want you' was the first of Natasha's collaborations with co-writer GEOFF SHARKEY which would spawn enough material for a second album....

'Page 3 pop' was how one reviewer had unfairly refered to the single 'Pata Pata' in 1982, this perhaps more in reference to the scantily dressed Natasha on the record's picture sleeve than the song itself. By March 1984 Natasha England had adopted a classier image for the single 'Homeland' which also marked a change in musical direction. The press promo pic showed her in a long fur coat, paisley shirt, and her hair tied back, but still looking sultry and sexy. 'Homeland' was written with her new collaborator Geoff Sharkey (formely of the band GINHOUSE). Sharkey also drew the picture for the sleeve of the single showing Natasha's face against a scenic Scottish backdrop.The song had a celtic feel not too disimilar to Scottish band BIG COUNTRY with heavy lead and rhythm guitar. To promote the new single , a nationwide record signing was undertaken by Natasha at various retailers throughout the Uk. ''Lot's of love, be good, Natasha'' she wrote.

Both sides of 'Homeland' were recorded during Natasha England's final known studio sessions of this period in her career which also resulted in her second long player 'Don't Walk Away'. The recordings were all produced by TONY COX and DAVE BASCOMBE giving the tracks an extremely polished high tech sound(often using MC4 programming), quite a contrast to the more 'organic' sounds on 'Captured' 3 years before. There were a consistent line-up of musicians on all of the 10 tracks with 'Captured' drummers CHARLIE MORGAN and GRAHAM BROAD both returning for these sessions.

'Don't walk away' had quite a dark feel to it, in line with Natasha England's new image, the cover showing her dressed in black from head to toe, panda eyed, thick lip gloss, and her hair looking unkempt. The picture certainly suited the album's general 'downhearted' subject matter, many of the songs about broken relationships. Titles including 'Stay with me','Hold On' and the title track all very emotionally dramatic in their performance. Other highlights included 'Julie's Hero' about a lonely obsessed fan, isolated from the outside world. Several singles were lifted from the set prior to release in May 1985. These were 'Homeland'(TOW 50), 'Running'(TOW 63 which includes the excellent b-side 'Two of a kind'), and one release which, like the latter, was extremely low key and very hard to obtain - 'Stay with me'(TOW 56). In fact it seems it may not have been released at all, although Music Master (the music biz bible) lists it in both 7'' and 12'' formats with the extra track 'Captured' on the maxi single.

Along with the new album release, its title track was chosen as the new single in April '85. By now Natasha had chosen to release records under her full name and so 'Don't walk away' was credited to 'Natasha England'. This move was probably made to coincide with the new image and musical direction. Sadly and strangely, apart from the odd 'news item' mention in the music mags, promotion for these releases appeared to be absolutely nil. The album of course sank without trace, never standing any chance, probably selling a hundred copies if that.

There were rumours around this time that Towerbell was in financial difficulty, in fact the company was put on the stock market and crashed in 1986 owing 2.5 million. Natasha's husband Bob was forced to work in an Antigua restaurant to make ends meet. One final single was released at the tail end of '85, a remix of 'Stay with me' on 7''(TOW 75), with a picture of Natasha resembling Maralyn Monroe on the sleeve. Again the record received no publicity or airplay on Radio One, effectively (and sadly)marking the end of an era in Natasha's UK solo career.


Natasha stepped away from the music business for a while to work with animals, another passion of hers. She competed in cross country races, bred horses and worked on animal rights issues.

The lure of music proved too strong and by the late 80’s she found herself in Canada fronting the band “Why” with Gregg Deckert who toured for a couple of years and built up a considerable following before Natasha returned to the UK to continue her work with animals.

Throughout the 90’s Natasha kept writing and stockpiling material for her return, as well as engaging in session work with the likes of Jive Nation. A planned comeback a few years ago however had to be postponed when Natasha was diagnosed with breast cancer, which involved radiotherapy treatment. Thankfully, Natasha is again fighting fit and she is currently developing these songs for an album of brand new material.

Preceding that is a new version of the song that started it all – “Iko Iko”, released on digital download on November 19th 2007, and then as a cd single on February 4th 2008. It is taken from her Anthology of Towerbell material “Back From The Mists Of Time”, a double CD set including all her material released between 1979 and 1985, and several unreleased songs from the period. It is available from July 21st 2008 on Platform Records. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.