Actually, I have to defend her arranging and writing skills. She did
a degree course in film composing/arranging, and went on to teach the
same at Goldsmiths. She has a home studio where she writes and
arranges for films, bands etc. Whatever water has gone under the
bridge with
a failed pop project, she's not without skills.
I never liked Jake's voice either. Always sounded like he had
someones thumb up him. Could write a tune though.



--- In mylifestoryatribute@..., "philtalkin"
<philtalkin@...> wrote:
>
> I liked Helen but she didn't arrange anything of note in MLS.
> Unfortunately, she couldn't understand why she didn't get any
> credits on some of the songs and became very bitter. A meeting with
> a 'neutral' senior member of PRS should have set her straight but
> she refused to accept what she was told! She was (is) a very good
> musician but her arranging / writing skills are not in the same
> league as Aaron who co wrote and arranged some of the best material
> of MLS and Exile inside.
>
> Helen thought she was a great singer too but truth be known, she
> wasn't all that great......
>
> As for the recording contract, well I will set the record straight
> with facts. Anthony Hill (one of the founder members of MLS) was
> disappointed to hear Jake was thinking of giving up on the music
> business so sent a tape to Trevor Horn, while he was recording one
> of Rod's Stewart's best of albums. Horn arranged a recording
session
> at SarmWest studios near Portobello Road, with a view to signing
the
> band for his label ZTT. MLS recorded several songs, including funny
> ha ha (which was one of the only tracks Helen was given a credit
for
> with)but ZTT passed.
>
> Julian De Takats and Simon Bennie (an old friend of Jake and
Anthony
> who was involved in the Panic Station)were setting up their record
> label Mother Tongue and signed the band, immediately putting them
in
> the famous Air studios to record 4 tracks (3 real songs) with Giles
> Martin which formed the Girl A, Girl B Boy C single. All of these
> songs were written and arranged by Jake and Aaron, before Helen
came
> on board
>
> The rest is history but, for the record, their biggest success came
> when Jake wrote their second album, which led to a deal with
> parlaphone, with who they recorded their second album The Golden
> Mile. The album spawned a string of top 40 hits. Needless to say,
> Helen wasn't involved in this album. Arrangement credits on this
> went to; Aaron Cahill, Oliver Kraus and Roxanna Shirley, proving
> Jake gave credit where it was due. Sadly, in the case of Helen, she
> didn't deserve any!
>
> --- In mylifestoryatribute@..., "aaronmcahill"
> <aaronmcahill@> wrote:
> >
> >
> > Hi Steve,
> >
> > Thanks for posting this. I used to arrange stuff for MLS as
> well.
> > It would be nice to hear what Helen is doing now. Drop us a line
> at
> > the address above.
> >
> > Best wishes,
> >
> > Aaron
> >
> >
> > --- In mylifestoryatribute@..., s1dyr
> <no_reply@y...>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > ...because I married the sister of one time keyboard player
> Helen
> > > Caddick. In fact I dated Helen briefly in the late 80's but
> that's
> > > another story! I went to a few MLS gigs and met some of the
> band.
> > If
> > > anyone is interested in what Helen is doing now drop me a line.
> I
> > > only joined this group because I wanted to set the record
> straight
> > > about some of Jake's arrangements and who should get credit for
> > > them. When Helen was the keyboard player she used to arrange
> most
> > of
> > > the stuff that Jake took credit for arranging. She is a very
> > > talented girl and Jake took advantage of her. She is now a
> composer
> > > and has many successful projects in her portfolio.
> > > I believe that MLS got a recording contract because of her
> > > contribution to the bands' sound and when she left they were
> never
> > > the same again. There, I've said my piece!!
> > > Happy New Year
> > > Steve
> >
>