Mary Hopkin
 When
The Beatles formed their own label, Apple, in 1968, they
didn't
want it to exist only for their albums.
They also wanted to make
it possible for other aspiring pop stars to be heard.
They scored a notable success that year with Mary Hopkin (born
in 1950 in Glamorganshire, Wales), an angelic lass with a gorgeous
voice and a gift for folk-styled pop music.
With songs like Those
Were The Days and Goodbye, Hopkin sold millions of
records and became internationally famous in the process.
Mary Hopkin was a natural troubadour and had been singing in
folk and pop groups since her teens by the time she was discovered
in 1968.
Her lucky break arrived when she appeared on the UK
television show Opportunity Knocks to sing Turn Turn
Turn.
Famous model Twiggy saw her performance, enjoyed it, and
mentioned Hopkin to her friend Paul
McCartney.
He was looking for
talent to add to the Apple record label and realised that Hopkin
fit the bill when he heard her lovely voice. He promptly signed
her to the label and took her into the studio to produce her first
single.
The first result of Hopkin and McCartney's creative teaming
was Those Were The Days, a ballad based on a traditional
Ukrainian folk song. Its gentle mixture of traditional folk sounds
and Hopkin's angelic soprano voice made it one of the biggest
international hits of the year.
It went to Number 1 in the UK and Number 2 in the US., aided by
a performance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
 Hopkin also
recorded this song in Spanish, French, German, Italian and Hebrew,
and these alternate versions helped add to the song's
international appeal. By early 1969, it had sold 8 million copies
around the world.
In March 1969, Mary Hopkin released her first album, Post
Card, produced by McCartney and featuring songs by such noted
songwriters as Harry Nilsson and Donovan. It became an
international hit, as did its first single, the McCartney-penned Goodbye.
The next year, she began experimenting with less-folky pop
material like Temma Harbour, which became a Top-40 hit
for Hopkin in the US.
In 1970, Hopkin's Knock Knock, Who's There? was
chosen as the UK entry into the Eurovision Song Contest.
The contest was won by Eire's entry, Dana, singing All Kinds
of Everything.
In 1971, she released the album Earth Song - Ocean Song,
whose rustic sound returned her to her first love, folk
music. Around this time, Mary met her future husband, record producer
Tony Visconti, while recording more foreign-language versions of
her songs.
Marrying Visconti (and leaving Apple), Mary
decided to devote time to her new marriage and start a family.
She remained inactive for much of the decade, but would record
the occasional single. She also popped up on other artists' work
from time to time, most notably lending some distinctive
background vocals to David Bowie's 1977 UK hit, Sound and
Vision.
Mary continued to record throughout the Seventies, usually
produced by her new husband. After a brief retirement to devote
time to her family, Hopkin resurfaced in 1981 as part of a harmony
trio called Sundance who supported Dr Hook on a UK tour.
 Shortly after, she parted company with both Sundance and her
husband (entering into a relationship with Dr Hook vocalist Dennis
Locorriere) and in 1984 worked as lead vocalist for a group called
Oasis (not the Gallagher brothers band) which featured
Julian Lloyd-Webber on cello.
Post-1984, Hopkin slipped quietly
into oblivion, before a 1989 comeback album, Spirit and a
return to the stage in 1991 at the London Palladium.
Mary Hopkin continues to be involved in music today and
contributes to the occasional record or concert.
Through
collaborations with folk artists like Ralph McTell, she remains a
presence on the English folk scene.
Mary Hopkin's classic album Post
Card has also been reissued in recent years, ensuring that
modern-day pop fans can continue to enjoy her music.
No matter what the current fashion in pop music may be, Mary
Hopkin's classic style of pop will always sound good.
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