Lolly
Lolly was perhaps one of the cheesiest artists of the late nineties; with her unashamedly rubbish songs designed for children’s parties and teenage girls' bedrooms and for her bare-faced devotion to anything with a catchy beat and simple lyrics we look back at her short, but amazing, career.
Okay, so you've got me, I was a huge fan... I bought all her singles and my friend and I used to make up dance routines in our gardens to 'perform' in our school playground the next day. Wow, I was just so cool... but I'm sure I’m not alone there.
So the first track from Lolly, whose real name was the not-so-funky Anna Kumble, came when she was about 21 years old (which I personally think is a bit old to be singing such childish songs) but who am I to criticise. I was 12 and I couldn't get enough!
Before she became my hero (for about six months) she grew up in Sutton Coldfield until it was time to done anything brightly coloured and swan onto the British pop music scene in 1999 with the release of her first single, Viva La Radio which was my ultimate favourite!
But the joy didn't stop there, oh no, keen to spread the love, she went on to release a further five singles and two complete albums over her two year career in the spotlight and the hits included Mickey - a cover of Toni Basil’s much loved one-hit-wonder, Big Boys Don't Cry and Rockin Robin.
However, as the saying goes, all good things come to an end, and after Lolly gave up on her plan of musical domination, she left her record label Polydor, and reverted to her real name in order to make a living from TV presenting.
She made an appearance on the BBC's Xchange programme and now works for Nickelodeon as well as a stand-by presenter on Saturday and Sunday morning shows on CITV.
But here is the best bit... just as we thought it was time to pack up the pigtail ribbons and roller boots Anna revealed that she is in the process of negotiating a new record deal and hopes to release a new single by the end of the year. Hurrah!
So all is not lost, and if you're a student at the University of York, you in for an even bigger treat as she will be playing a gig there on 16th October - can anyone blag me a ticket please?!
Femalefirst - Ruth Harrison