Fiona Russell Powell

Fiona Russell Powell (born 2 April 1962) is a British journalist. She is best known for her series of interviews throughout the 1980s in The Face magazine. For a brief period in the mid-1980s, she performed as a member of pop group ABC in videos and onstage to support their cartoon-synth album How to Be a ... Zillionaire! (1985). She performed under the stage name "Eden".

Fiona Russell Powell
Also known asEden, Cooper O'Kelly (as poet)
Born (1962-04-02) 2 April 1962
OriginEngland, United Kingdom
GenresPop
Occupation(s)Musician, journalist
InstrumentsBack-up vocals
Years activeAugust 1984 – December 1985 as musician; 1982–present as journalist and writer
LabelsMercury Records
Associated actsABC

Early life and career

Growing up in Dore, Sheffield, she had known ABC from their early days as an electronic three-piece called Vice Versa.[1]

In 1982, aged 20, she started writing for The Face[2][3] as a features writer, concentrating mostly on music and became notorious for her irreverent mickey-taking interviews with leading pop stars of the day.

ABC

ABC's Martin Fry and Mark White knew they wanted a completely new image for ABC so decided to ask Powell to join the band and also brought in American David Yarritu. The choice of someone with such diminutive stature was deliberate: the first single "How To Be a Millionaire" was accompanied by a cartoon video, modelled on The Jackson 5.

Neither Powell nor Yarritu were allowed to contribute musically. Fake instruments were made for the band. The aim was to be as luridly bright and "cartoony" as possible. The new look ABC went over well enough; in the UK and the US How To Be a Zillionaire charted in the top 30,[4][5] while "Be Near Me" was the highest-charting track off the album at No. 26 in the UK,[4] in the Top Ten on the US Billboard Hot 100.[6]

Two much-talked-about Eden incidents: Eden wore a dildobelt she made on The Tube, the 1980s Channel 4 live music show, which was a belt covered in "ladyfingers" – very small white dildoes – to look like a bullet belt. The B-side of "How To Be a Millionaire" has a track called "A to Z" which introduces all the band members. When it gets to the girl, we hear "Hi, I'm Eden, and I want you to kiss my snatch" accompanied by suggestive kissing sounds. However, while Powell agreed that while it is the sort of thing she would say, being well known for making provocative gestures, it's actually Martin Fry's voice speeded up and was recorded entirely without Powell's knowledge.[7]

Journalistic career

Powell has written for Punch,[8] The Face, i-D,[9] Daily Express,[10] Time Out[11] and New Humanist,[12] among others.

References
  1. Powell, Fiona Russell (7 March 1997). "Pop groups should not make comebacks, says Fiona Russell Powell". The Times. Archived from the original on 19 February 2009.
  2. Powell, Fiona Russell (March 1982). "The Most Wanted Man In Pop: Trevor Horn. By Fiona Russell Powell : Articles, reviews and interviews from Rock's Backpages". The Face. Rock's Backpages. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  3. Powell, Fiona Russell (October 1982). "David Sylvian: The Face Interview. By Fiona Russell Powell : Articles, reviews and interviews from Rock's Backpages". The Face. Rock's Backpages. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  4. "ABC | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  5. "ABC Chart History | Billboard". Billboard.com. Retrieved 14 August 2020. How To Be a Zillionaire peaked at #30 on 16 November 1985
  6. "ABC | Billboard". Billboard.com. Retrieved 14 August 2020. "Be Near Me" peaked at #9 on 9 November 1985
  7. Interviewed by Bill Brewster in Mark's West London flat Archived 21 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine DJhistory.com, 20.7.04 Link not actually DEAD, it has just always been the wrong one.
  8. Powell, Fiona Russell (March 1998). "George Michael: My High Times with Gay George. By Fiona Russell Powell : Articles, reviews and interviews from Rock's Backpages". Punch. Rock's Backpages. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  9. Powell, Fiona Russell (April 1987). "Excess: Sex, Drugs and the Vanity of the Psychedelic Furs. By Fiona Russell Powell : Articles, reviews and interviews from Rock's Backpages". i-D. Rock's Backpages. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  10. Powell, Fiona Russell (1995). "Boy George: Is This His Last 15 Minutes Of Fame?. By Fiona Russell Powell : Articles, reviews and interviews from Rock's Backpages". Daily Express. Rock's Backpages. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  11. Powell, Fiona Russell (December 1983). "Matt Johnson: A Master Of All Trades. By Fiona Russell Powell : Articles, reviews and interviews from Rock's Backpages". Time Out. Rock's Backpages. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  12. Powell, Fiona Russell (17 July 2009). "Shock and bore | New Humanist". New Humanist. Rationalist Association. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
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