Jennie Matthias

Jennie Matthias (also known as Jenny Bellestar) is London-based singer and songwriter. She was the lead singer of 1980s girl group the Belle Stars, and now an author, self-development teacher and project tutor.
Career
The Belle Stars
After an unwitting audition where she accompanied a friend to a London recording studio, her vocal ability impressed the engineer there that he recorded her onto a demo. It landed in the hands of the seminal British all-female band the the Belle Stars. She became the lead vocalist and almost immediately found herself on tour with Madness, the Clash, the Police and other ska/punk/new wave bands at the time. She appeared on the front cover of Sounds magazine early in 1981 . Shortly thereafter, the band was signed by Stiff Records.
In January 1983, the Belle Stars released "Sign of the Times". The single peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart, with chart success throughout Europe. The Belle Stars appeared in dinner jackets in the music video. It was also played frequently on MTV in the US. The band appeared on Top of the Pops later that year.
In March 1989, the Belle Stars had a chart topping hit in the United States with "Iko Iko". The single reached number 14 on the . It went on to be included on the soundtrack of the film Rain Man which stared Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman. The song had been a favorite of Hoffman's. Matthias toured the US to promote the song.
Dance Like a Mother
In 1987, Matthias teamed up Melissa Ritter, formerly of The Mo-dettes to form "Dance Like a Mother". They recorded tracks for an album with Randy Jackson, Preston Glass and Narada Michael Walden in San Rafael, California. The ensemble signed to Virgin Records . They released two singles, "You Ain't So Tough" and "Private Number".
Their "You Ain't So Tough" video was a parody of the "Addicted to Love" video by Robert Palmer with male models in lipstick replacing the sirens in the Palmer video. Matthias remembers this period in her life as a real eye opener.
Pigface
In 1995, Matthias was recruited by Pigface head honcho Martin Atkins for two tours of the US. Along with other notables from within the alternative/industrial music scene, Matthias performed onstage as one of a number of vocalists and featured on both the albums from those tours, namely A New High in Low (1997) and Eat Sh*t, You F***ing Redneck (1998).
Charity work
Matthias founded S-teem, a project to help young people make more well-informed decisions about their lives. She received an Intermix Positive Contribution Award in 2003 for her work. In 2010, she managed a Camden-based charity shop together with former Slits member Tessa Pollitt to raise funds for the "Food for All" feeding the poor project. FFA fed 1,000 people a day, 6 days a week. A poem "Scag Man" was made into an animated film to help raise awareness amongst young people about the dangers of drugs.
Book
On 20 March 2019, Matthias released a controversial self-help book where she spoke of her challenging childhood. In an interview with the female advocacy website GearFanatics, Matthias spoke of the spiritual approach she took in overcoming the obstacle of a tumultuous childhood and violent home.<ref name"auto1"/>
Today Matthias lives in Camden Town in London, England, where she writes and regularly performs.
Discography
The Belle Stars
*The Belle Stars (2010) - 2 CD set
*80's Romance: The Complete Belle Stars - released 25 October 2010; features their first album, A-sides, B-sides and 12 inches along with promo videos of Sign of the Times, Sweet Memory and 80's Romance and a 20 page booklet of interviews, photos and memorabilia
*The Belle Stars (2019) - transparent red vinyl
*Turn Back the Clock (2019) - CD boxset, download
Dance Like a Mother (1987)
*"You Ain't So Tough" (& 12")
*"Private Dancer" (& 12")
Jennie featuring The Nightrains
*"Bring Back the Bus Stop"
:"Bring Back the Bus Stop (1991 New Style Funk Mix)"
:"Bring Back the Bus Stop (Take It to the Left Mix)"
:"Bring Back the Bus Stop (Double Decker Mix)"
Pigface
*A New High in Low (1997) - backing vocals
*Eat S**t You F***ing Redneck (1998) (live album) - backing vocals
*The Best of Pigface: Preaching to the Perverted (2001) - backing vocals
As featured or credited artist
;The Jam (1982)
*"" (& 12") - backing vocals and credited as 'Jenny McKeown of The Belle Stars'; reached No. 2 in the UK
;OHM (1990)
*Heady Volts Sensation EP - vocals and songwriter on "Shake"
;The Night Trains (1991)
*Checkmate - vocals and songwriter on "In the Crowd"
;The Trojans (1991)
*Skalitude - co-wrote and features on "Mixed Feelings (Guilty Till Proven Innocent)"
;Gary Clail (1995)
*Keep the Faith - features on "Let's Get It Right", "The Dangerous Dance" and "Pure Dub Tonight"
;Judge Dread (1996)
*Dread, White or Blue - features on "On the Beach", "On the Beach (Rudeboy Mix)" and "I'm Sorry"
;Meg Lee Chin (1996)
*Piece and Love - co-wrote and features on "Deeper"
;Mark Stewart (1996)
*Control Data - vocals on "Dream Kitchen"
;Big 5 (Matthias' band with Nick Welsh) (1996)
*Live Jive
*Popskatic
*In Yer Face!
*"Pussy Whipped"
;Jump with Joey (1997)
*Generations United - co-wrote and features on "Pigeon Club"
;Pig (1997)
*Wrecked - backing vocals
;Subgenius (1999)
*Orange - features on "Soul Searching" and "Trippin"
;What's the Word (1999)
*What's the Word: Volume 1 - wrote and recites her poem "Life"; credited as Redjen
;Meg Lee Chin (2000)
*Junkies and Snakes - wrote and features on "Bittersweet and Sour"
;Sounds from the Ground (2004)
*Footprints - co-wrote and features on "Snow"<ref name="auto"/>

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