    barbara gaskin (born 5 june 1950) is a british singer who, along with her musical partner the keyboardist dave stewart, formed a duo in 1981. in september of that year, they had a number one single in the uk with a cover version of the song "it's my party". subsequent singles "busy doing nothing" (1983), and "the locomotion" (1986) also entered the uk singles chart, without reaching the heights of their debut release. five albums followed, released on the duo's own broken records label. gaskin and stewart continue to work together and occasionally play live concerts with andy reynolds on guitar. gaskin was formerly lead vocalist in british folk-prog band spirogyra (1969â1974). in the 1970s she also sang backing vocals in stewart's band hatfield and the north. ==collaborations== gaskin has sung with egg (the civil surface), national health, peter blegvad (the naked shakespeare), phil miller, nigel planer (neil's heavy concept album), jane wiedlin (tangled), rick biddulph and mont campbell (music from a round tower). barbara gaskin was born and grew up in hatfield, hertfordshire, england. she had formal training in piano and cello from the age of 10. in her early teens she taught herself very basic acoustic guitar (lesson 1: the strings face outwards) and performed in local folk clubs. in 1969 she moved from hatfield to canterbury to study for a degree in philosophy and literature at kent university, but immediately became involved in the canterbury music scene, joining folk rock group spirogyra as vocalist. spirogyra quickly procured a recording contract and subsequently made 3 albums, namely:- 'st radigunds' b & c records (cas 1042), 'old boot wine' pegasus records (peg 13), and 'bells, boots, & shambles' polydor (2310 246), while gigging extensively on the uk college circuit, as well as completing numerous successful tours of europe. during the sam
1950_births Canterbury_scene English_female_singers Living_people Musicians_from_Hertfordshire People_from_Hatfield,_Hertfordshire