Cheyne Coates
| Cheyne Coates | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | April M. Coates |
| Born | 6 September 1970 |
| Origin | Melbourne, Australia |
| Genres | dance/pop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, producer |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Labels | Vicious Vinyl, Virgin, Sony |
| Associated acts | Madison Avenue |
April M. Coates (born 6 September 1970, Melbourne) is an Australian dance music and pop singer-songwriter and producer, best-known as Cheyne Coates. She and Andrew Van Dorsselaer (aka Andy Van) were the pop duo, Madison Avenue.[1] Their song "Don't Call Me Baby" peaked at number two on the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Singles Chart in 1999[2] and at the top of the UK Singles Chart and the Billboard dance charts in 2000. Since the break-up of Madison Avenue in 2003, Cheyne recorded an album, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and its first single "I've Got Your Number" which reached No. 26 in 2004.[3]
Career
1998–2003: Madison Avenue
Before joining Madison Avenue, Cheyne was working as a choreographer, singer and dancer at Chasers Nightclub in the 1990s in Melbourne. She met producer, DJ and songwriter Andy Van Dorsselaer (Andy Van) in a dance club, he was the founder of the Vicious Vinyl record label and had remix credits for Tina Arena and CDB. Van had also won an Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) award for his production work on "Coma" by Pendulum.
The duo started working together mainly as writers and producers in 1998. Their first single "Fly" featured Kellie Wolfgram as vocalist. Cheyne sang on Madison Avenue's breakthrough single "Don't Call Me Baby" because Van liked her version which was initially to be used as the guide track for the intended singer. Van took the song to the MIDEM Conference which led to them being signed by Virgin Records in the UK and Sony Music for the rest of the world.
"Don't Call Me Baby" proved to be a breakthrough record for Madison Avenue peaking at number two on the Australian charts in 1999. It sold 200,000 singles in Australia, the best singles sales achieved by any Australian act in that country for 1999 and Madison Avenue were the first Australian dance act to top the Australian singles charts. The single was released internationally in 2000. In the UK, the single topped the singles charts selling 400,000 copies in that country and the song was a hit throughout Europe. "Don't Call Me Baby" also topped the Billboard dance charts in the US. By this stage, Cheyne was widely established as the public face of the band although Madison Avenue was originally intended to be a collective dance group like C&C Music Factory or Soul II Soul.
The album Polyester Embassy was released in 2000 and reached the No. 4 of the Australian album charts. It spawned three other singles as well as "Don't Call Me Baby", notably:
- "Who the Hell Are You" was a number one hit in Australia and on the Billboard Dance Chart, also reaching No.10 in the UK;
- "Everything You Need" went to No.6 and was certified gold in Australia and it reached the top 40 in the UK; and
- "Reminiscing", a cover version of the 1978 hit by the Little River Band was the 9th most popular single by an Australian artist in Australia in 2001 (reaching No. 9 in the Australian singles charts that year).
Madison Avenue won the Best Dance Artist at the International Dance Awards in 2001 in Miami. Destiny's Child, Madonna, *NSYNC and Britney Spears were also nominated for the award.
2004–07: Solo career
Madison Avenue announced that it had broken up in 2003. Cheyne started working on a solo album with Brian Canham, formerly of Australian synth pop band Pseudo Echo, and Ewen McArthur. Cheyne got married and had a child named Liberty in 2002.
The first single "I've Got Your Number" made the No.26 on the Australian singles charts in 2004 and was added to the playlist on BBC Radio 1. She has also started the Aperitif record label in 2003. Her second single, "Taste You", also reached the top 100 in July 2004.
Following the release of "Taste You", Cheyne released her debut album, Something Wicked This Way Comes.
Her next feature was as vocalist on "Lucky" by the Canadian duo, The Soundbluntz. This single was released in July 2006 and their album, Blame the Bling was released in Canada in October 2006. The album was released globally in the summer of 2007.
Discography
Albums
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Something Wicked This Way Comes |
|
Singles
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions |
Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| AUS [4][5] | |||
| 2004 | "I've Got Your Number" | 26 | Something Wicked This Way Comes |
| "Taste You" | 69 | ||
References
- ↑ Spencer, Chris; Zbig Nowara, Paul McHenry with notes by Ed Nimmervoll (2002) [1987]. "MADISON AVENUE". The Who's Who of Australian Rock. Noble Park, Vic.: Five Mile Press. ISBN 1-86503-891-1. Retrieved 14 February 2010. Note: [on-line] version established at White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd in 2007 and was expanded from the 2002 edition.
- ↑ "Discography Madison Avenue". Australian charts portal. Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
- ↑ "Discography Cheyne". Australian charts portal. Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
- ↑ Cheyne Coates discography – australian-charts.com Archived 11 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ The ARIA Report – Issue 752