Beginnings Vincent was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1956 to
Bob and June Vincent. Her mother was of Swedish and French background and her father, Italian; both of them had been
big band singers during the 1940s. At 18, she went to live for a year and half in
London, England with
Chris Wood and his wife Jeannette; there she auditioned as drummer and met many British musicians, including
Mark Knopfler, with whom she started a romantic relationship. The new band moved to London in early 1979 and Vincent went to live with Knopfler. Through Oval Records, Holly and the Italians released in December 1979 the single "
Tell That Girl to Shut Up", which was a minor hit in the UK and stirred the interest of the British music press. The song was cited by the magazine
Mojo as one of the Top 20 Killer New Wave Tracks from the US. Holly and the Italians went on tour in the UK with
the Clash and opened with
ska band
the Selecter for the American new wave band
Blondie at the
Hammersmith Odeon in London on 22 January 1980, where they were noticed by renowned photographer
Lynn Goldsmith. Internal struggles exploded within the group during the recordings and drummer Steve Young quit the band, replaced by Mike Osborn. with the album peaking only at No. 177 on the US
Billboard 200 chart.
The Right to Be Italian was re-evaluated in modern times and considered a
pop punk masterpiece. It appears at No. 40 in the article "60 Great Albums You've Probably Never Heard" by
Jody Rosen from the November 18, 2013, issue of
New York Magazine. Holly and the Italians went on tour in the US and in August 1980 played the major
Heatwave festival near Toronto. The band notably toured with the Selecter, opened for the Clash during their
Sandinista! tour pre-
Bonds shows in New York City and appeared on
The Old Grey Whistle Test TV show on May 12. After a few more dates in the US in summer 1981, Holly and the Italians were reduced to Vincent and Sidgwick Vincent broke up with him by phone while Dire Straits were on tour. Knopfler's lyrics for Dire Straits song "
Romeo and Juliet" are about their failed romance. The B-side features the song "One More Dance", the last appearance to date of Holly of the Italians on vinyl. In London, she also worked on a second release to fulfill the two-album deal contract with Virgin Records. The chaos surrounding the release of
The Right to Be Italian, its bad critical reception and her breakup with Knopfler were experiences that affected Vincent and her writing greatly. When she went to the US for the album's mixing at
Mediasound Studios in New York City a short time later, the British authorities labelled her as an undesirable alien for her reckless behavior during her stay in the country, making her return impossible. Virgin Records did not renew her contract and she remained in New York City, where she tried to set up a new version of the Italians. In 1984, she was invited by
Chris Butler to front the
post-punk band
The Waitresses after the departure of lead singer
Patty Donahue; she became a member for a few weeks before the return of Donahue. In that period, she sang in a combo called the Wild Things with
Anthony Thistlethwaite (
The Waterboys) and
Mick Taylor (
The Rolling Stones), which released the song "Siberian Mines". She was also in a band with her brother Nick called Bikey that played only one show. The album was released in September 1993 on Daemon Records and received good reviews. The Oblivious were chosen as support band for
Concrete Blonde's final tour, thanks to Vincent's acquaintance with Concrete Blonde vocalist
Johnette Napolitano from the late 70s, when both worked as waitresses at the same Mongolian restaurant in Sherman Oaks, California. Before Concrete Blonde's disbandment, Vincent and Napolitano teamed up for an album entitled
Vowel Movement in early 1994;
Recent activities With the help of her brother Nick, Vincent produced a collection of demos and unreleased songs titled
Demos Federico spanning from 1979 to 1998. The double CD was released in 2003 by
Wounded Bird Records. and
Paperdoll Technologies of 2014. From 2013 to 2016 Vincent managed her own
Bandcamp website, selling her new albums and part of her back catalog in digital format. She has been voice artist in national commercials for
Nike,
Nintendo,
Pepsi and
Squirt. ==Equipment==