Lorraine Bowen

Early career She studied music at the University of Surrey, as well as performing regularly with Billy Bragg on stage and on record. She has also made many appearances on BBC Radio 4, including John Shuttleworth's show Radio Shuttleworth and the 1999 all-female sketch show Heated Rollers, starring Lynda Bellingham, Gwyneth Strong and Joanna Monro. She has also written for BBC Radio 4's Loose Ends. Themes often include food, film stars (one of her most popular songs is about Julie Christie), mobile phones, fish fingers and launderettes. Bowen is known for her catchy choruses in songs and for encouraging audience participation. Lorraine Bowen's Polyester Fiesta show celebrates polyester and has four models, a scientist and a wardrobe mistress. Bowen acts as hostess, model and sings down the catwalk. Bowen has been a collector of vintage polyester outfits since visiting jumble sales as a girl, and the collection has been featured on BBC One's The One Show and BBC Radio 4's ''Woman's Hour''. Polyester Fiesta! toured during 2015, been performed at Glasgay, The South Bank Vintage Festival, Brighton Fringe, Colchester Arts Centre and Royal Vauxhall Tavern among others. 2015: ''Britain's Got Talent'' In May 2015, Bowen was a contestant on the ninth series of ''Britain's Got Talent'' and was sent through to the live semi-finals by David Walliams' golden buzzer after her audition, where she sang her own song "The Crumble Song." Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon buzzed the act, which was about her love of apple crumble. Bowen closed the first semi-final where she sang her song "Space", after which she was ultimately eliminated from the competition, having finished fourth in that evening's public vote, narrowly missing out on the top 3. 2019: Much Ado About Bingo This show is a musical cabaret, which features Bowen along with Derek Daniels Boogaloo Stu and the musical accompaniment of Ronnie Hazelnut Jason Peg on piano. Offering a mash-up of a Shakespearean game of musical bingo, classic 1970s tunes and largely fictional showbiz anecdotes. == Video Game Music and Collaborations ==

During the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, Bowen began collaborating with game developer Philipp Stollenmayer of KAMIBOX, a mobile game company, to compose music for various projects. In 2021, Bowen wrote the theme tune for Kitty Q (also known as Katze Q) in both English and German. The game is an educational escape room experience designed to introduce children aged 12–14 to the principles of quantum physics. Developed in association with the Würzburg-Dresden Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat and funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the game features over 20 puzzles and is based on the concept of Schrödinger's cat. ==Teaching career==

During her early career, Bowen also worked as a part-time music teacher in schools across Hackney. Now based in Brighton, Bowen runs singing workshops at the Brighton Dome and Bexhill's De La Warr Pavilion. ==Media career==

Radio ''Lorraine Bowen's Stereo Spectacular'' is Bowen's radio show consisting of binaural field recordings, interviews and eclectic tracks. Award-winning Film Bowen provided the soundtrack for No Deposit, No Return by Dallas Campbell. Her original song "Julie Christie" appeared on the Canadian independent film, Better Than Chocolate soundtrack. Bowen also provides vocals on "There Must Be An Angel" in Sorrentino's 2013 film, The Great Beauty. In 2022, Bowen's song 'Take Time', which first appeared on ‘Suburban Exotica’ was featured in the soundtrack for the film ‘Father Earth’ (2022). Writing Bowen is the author of The Crumble Lady, a collection of short stories for children published by Candy Jar Books in November 2017. ==Work with other artists==

She was discovered by Billy Bragg at the Hackney Empire performing with The Dinner Ladies. After a successful audition to fill in for Cara Tivey's maternity leave, Bowen found herself performing her first show with Bragg at the Liverpool Empire Theatre as part of the Workers Playtime Tour. She then toured East Germany just before reunification, performing in Army camps and stadia. Bowen made an appearance in two episodes of Radio Shuttleworth with John Shuttleworth (S01, E02 and S02, E03). ==Discography==

Albums • Greatest Hits Volume One (1995) • Greatest Hits Volume Two (1998) • Bossy Nova (2000) • Songs from the Living Room (2002, Italian) • Vital Organs (2006) • Suburban Exotica (2010) • The Crumble Lady (2016) • Down to Earth (EP) (2021) • Beauty at the Computer (2022) Singles • "Faffing Around on Facebook" (2012) • "Drinking Song" (in German) (2012) • "Valentine's Day (in a 21st Century Way)" (2013) • "Japanese Crumble Song (Sushi Song)" (2013) • "Bears" (2015) • "Give My Love to Hull" (2015) • "Christmas Crumble" (2015) • "Crumble de Noel" (2015) • "Reggaeton Crumble Song" (2016) • "Kitty Q Game Theme" (2021) • "Katze Q game Theme" (2021 • "Hibernate With Me" – studio version (2021) • "Shit Happens" (2021) • "War is Over, Bang the Drums" (2022) • "Apfelkuchen Song" with Philipp Stollenmayer (2022) • "Ecstasy is Having Your Ears Syringed" (2022) • "Backup Song"' (2022) As a contributing artist ;Billy Bragg • The Internationale (1990) • ''Don't Try This at Home'' (1991) ;Dope Smugglaz • "The Word" (1998) ;Fantastic Plastic Machine • "There Must Be An Angel (Playing with My Heart) (Mix for Mirror Ball)" (1998) • "Bossa For Jackie (Dedicated to Mrs Kennedy)" (1998) ;The Damned • ''So, Who's Paranoid?'' (2008) ==References==