Alice Temple

Alice Temple is an English musician, singer and songwriter, born in London. She is best known for her collaboration with Eg White under the name Eg and Alice. She is also notable for having been the first female UK and European BMX champion.[1]

BMX

In her teens, Temple was the first female UK and European BMX champion. Tim March, ex-European BMX Champion, has said of Temple "She was the first Shanaze, she beat the boys easy".[1]

Music

Temple began her music career with Eg White, founding member of 80s boyband Brother Beyond, at the age of twenty. Their collaboration, Eg and Alice, released only one album, 24 Years of Hunger (1991), but this was described by Allmusic as "one of the finest, most refined and fully realized recordings of the era, employing a much more sophisticated and romantic style than anything else out of England at the time".[2] Allmusic also notes the accolades that 24 Years of Hunger received from other music critics:

"Recorded by the pair when they were mere twentysomethings, and predominantly in Eg White's home, it is nevertheless about as grown-up and elegant as pop music gets. A decade after the recording had all but vanished from circulation, rainsound.net had taken to calling it "one of the classic albums of the '90s," while Q Magazine went a step further when it placed the record on its list of best albums of the 20th century, describing it as having "the class of Steely Dan and the intriguing detachment of the Blue Nile."[3]

While writing and collaborating with White, Temple caught the attention of James Lavelle of the electronic group UNKLE. She was then brought in to contribute to UNKLE's Psyence Fiction album.[4] Her piece for the album, Bloodstain,[5] won critical acclaim. Temple is also featured on the track Mistress, the B-side of the UNKLE single Burn my Shadow. The same track appeared on some editions of UNKLE's third album War Stories.[6]

In 1999 Temple returned to working with White, and together they put together her debut solo album Hang Over, released on V2.[7]

In 2005 Temple joined co-songwriter Lucie Barât to form the band The Fay Wrays, with Temple on guitar and vocals.

After 24 Years of Hunger, Eg White concentrated mainly on songwriting and production, in which he was highly successful, but he also released two solo albums. His 2009 album, Adventure Man, included the song Pull Me Through,[8] described in the pre-release sleeve notes as "a beautiful, harrowing ballad of survival written and sung nearly completely by Alice Temple... which was a way of 'closing the circle'".

In 2008 Temple wrote, recorded and produced a second solo album entitled Be With You in A Minute, which she released on her own label.[9]

Modelling

Temple modelled in the mid 1980s, and was photographed by Mario Testino,[10] Nick Knight[11] and Bruce Weber. She appeared on the cover of i-D magazine in May 1986,[11] and in another feature in 2009.[12]

Personal life

Temple was noted as a friend of Boy George during the 1980s.[13] They were both part of London's Blitz Kids scene, which is credited with launching the New Romantic cultural movement. She is believed to be the subject of George's song A Boy Called Alice, on his 1988 UK CD single Don't Cry, in which she can be heard declaring "My name's Alice and I am not a boy".[14] She can also be seen in the video for Culture Club's 1986 single Move Away.[15]

After 24 Years of Hunger Temple moved to the USA for several years.[16] She had a well-publicized relationship with American model Rachel Williams.[17]

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References
  1. "Wheel deal: BMX racing makes its Olympic debut". The Independent. 5 January 2008. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  2. "Eg & Alice". Allmusic.
  3. "24 Years of Hunger – Eg & Alice". Allmusic.
  4. "Alice Temple – Biography". Allmusic.
  5. "Unkle – Bloodstain". YouTube.
  6. "Mistress – Unkle feat. Alice Temple". YouTube.
  7. "Alice Temple – Hang Over – V2 Records (1999)". Allmusic.
  8. "Eg White – Adventure Man (2009)". Allmusic.
  9. "Alice Temple – Be With You in a Minute". Amazon. 2008.
  10. Testino, Mario (1998). Any Objections? (1st ed.). Phaidon Press. ISBN 0-7148-3816-0.
  11. "Alice Temple". i-D Online. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  12. "i-D Magazine – You Are Not Alone". i-D Magazine.
  13. "Alice Temple". The Blitz Kids. Archived from the original on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
  14. "Boy George – A Boy Called Alice". YouTube. 16 December 2007. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
  15. "Culture Club – Move Away". YouTube. 13 May 2006. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
  16. Rowsell, Martin (2003). Buckley, Jonathan (ed.). The Rough Guide to Rock (3rd Revised ed.). Rough Guides Ltd. p. 331. ISBN 1-84353-105-4.
  17. "Fair Coverage". GLAAD Media Watch. 21 April 1995. Retrieved 9 August 2007.
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