Linda Hoyle
Linda Hoyle
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Linda Hoyle

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Linda Hoyle

Linda Nicholas (born Linda Hoile, 13 April 1946), known by her stage name Linda Hoyle, is a singer, songwriter and art therapist. She is best known for her work with the band Affinity (1968–1971), as well as for her collaboration with Karl Jenkins on her album Pieces of Me, produced in 1971. Hoyle's latest album, The Fetch, produced by Mo Foster, was released by Angel Air on 7 August 2015. In 2018, she was co-lyricist on a chamber opera, Look! An Opera in 9 Paintings – about a couple on an awkward date at an art gallery – which debuted on June 3, 2018, to sold-out performances at Museum London, Canada.

Wendy Hoile, Linda's younger sister, was able to sing in harmony from a very young age. She played guitar and sang in a band, Blanch Carter and the Lounge Lizards, in the late 1960s and early 70s. Both Linda and her sister learnt first to play the ukulele and then the guitar. They performed together often at family gatherings and parties, sometimes using the family convector heater, a Valor, as a primitive piece of echo and reverb equipment, singing into it even when it was lit.

Foster, in many ways the most enterprising member, introduced the band to Ronnie Scott's management, who at the time were looking for new bands to play Upstairs at their renovated club. Almost immediately signed, they spent three years under contract, starting early in 1969. By the middle of that year, Scott's decided that Affinity should also play Downstairs, opposite such jazz musicians as Les McCann and Stan Getz. This encouraged them to become more demanding of their own musical creativity. At the time of Affinity's appearance opposite McCann in July 1969, Hoyle was interviewed by Melody Maker and spoke about her musical influences and her time with the band.

During this time Affinity were managed by Chips Chipperfield, who later produced The Beatles Anthology, a documentary series for television.

The album Affinity was released in 1970. Affinity's contract with Vertigo, a branch of Philips Records, included an advance payment, which allowed them to buy new equipment and a more comfortable six-wheel vehicle, and to employ a roadie. The band were busy with TV appearances, and touring in the UK and Europe; even so they were finding it hard to live on their earnings. In her interview with Jackie magazine in December 1970, Hoyle talked about the upsides and downsides of life on the road.

The same year Hoyle recorded the jingle for a Shredded Wheat television commercial "There are two men in my life" with Foster and Mike Jopp, both playing acoustic guitars. The commercial achieved much attention in the UK and Hoyle performed the song on the Michael Parkinson Show.

Annie Nightingale, a BBC presenter, travelled with the band in January 1971, making a film about their life on the road for TV. However, at this time Hoyle's three-year relationship with Naiff was coming to an end and she was ready to quit the band.

In 1971 Ronnie Scott suggested that Hoyle work with Karl Jenkins on a solo album. They wrote many of the songs together and Jenkins invited Chris Spedding, John Marshall, and Jeff Clyne, all from Nucleus, among others to play on the album. Only 300 copies of the album, Pieces of Me, were pressed. It is one of Vertigo's rarest albums.

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