Reproduced from Evening Mail (Birmingham) 3 August, 1999

HAVE a conversation with singer Miriam Stockley and you'll soon be chatting about some of the top names in rock and pop.

The thirty-something, South African-born mother of two effortlessly rattles off name after name of superstars with whom she has worked as a backing vocalist.

"I've performed at Wembley Stadium three times - at the Freddie Mercury Tribute concert, with Cliff Richard and with Nick Heyward during Wham's final show - with Brian May in South America and with Sheena Easton early in her career.

"I've also worked with Tina Turner, Elton John, George Michael, David Bowie and Chaka Khan."

Now aiming to become a star in her own right - her debut solo album has recently been released - Miriam reveals that she and fellow vocalist Mae McKenna were also partly responsible for the distinctive Stock, Aitken and Waterman sound of the eighties.

Miriam explains: "Mae and I sang on records by the likes of Kylie and Jason. We were very quick workers and that suited the way Stock, Aitken and Waterman operated. We created the sound together.

"Kylie is a very hard worker and interested in singing on everything. At one point, she even asked if she could sing backing vocals with us."

Originally from Johannesburg, she began singing at the age of 11, forming a duo with her sister, Avryl. Shortly afterwards, she was asked to record a jingle for a building society advertise-ment.

"From then on, I was constantly in and out of studios recording jingles for various commercials," she recalls.

"Halfway through my A-levels, I found the combination of singing and school work too much to cope with so I gave up school and concentrated on singing."

At the age of 18, Miriam moved to London.

"I did a lot of work as a backing singer but I also demoed songs and joined the occasional band for gigs. It was a good way of building contacts because I was in at the bottom with a lot of people who were obviously going places."

The hard work paid off and Miriam soon found herself in demand as a session singer.

"I was always quite happy to be in the background. In fact, I was rather in awe of those I was backing," she admits. "I felt I was getting recognition but over the years my musical style has matured and I think the time is right to launch a solo career."

Not that Miriam is giving up all her session work.

She says: "I've just left the studio where I'm working on Tom Jones' new duets project. I've been doing backing vocals for Heather Small of M People."

Those superstar connections just never stop...