Ben Volpeliere-Pierrot

Martin Benedict Volpeliere-Pierrot (born 19 May 1965) is an English singer best known as the vocalist from the band Curiosity Killed the Cat. He is known for sporting a distinctive hat often mistaken for a beret, which is actually a fiddler cap – a traditional Greek fisherman's hat – worn backwards.[1]

Ben Volpeliere-Pierrot
Ben Volpeliere-Pierrot at the Lafayette Parc Hotel, Lafayette, California – 1987
Born
Martin Benedict Volpeliere-Pierrot

(1965-05-19) 19 May 1965
Earls Court, London, England
Years active1984–present
Known forLead singer of Curiosity Killed the Cat

Early life

Volpeliere-Pierrot is the son of 1960s celebrity photographer Jean Claude Volpeliere-Pierrot and the model Belinda Watson.[2] He attended Woolverstone Hall School near Ipswich, which he credited in a 1987 interview with giving him "real hope"[3] through the education he received. In the mid-1980s he appeared as a model[4] on the front of Mike Read's Pop Quiz board game (made by Waddingtons in 1985) and formed the band Curiosity Killed the Cat.

Curiosity Killed the Cat

Curiosity Killed the Cat was a pop band formed in 1984 which had several hit singles in the UK. At the time of their breakthrough, Volpeliere-Pierrot was known for wearing a beret in most pictures of the band, though it was actually a peaked fisherman's hat, turned round with the peak to the rear so that it resembled a beret. Ben VP (as he was billed on a number of solo singles in the mid-1990s) was frequently referred to as 'Ben Vol-au-vent Parrot' in Smash Hits magazine,[5] with 'Bendy Ben' (or 'Boozy Ben') also used.

Their 1989 hit "Name and Number" has been sampled and remixed several times, including a version credited to Elements vs Ben VP[6] in 2006.[7]

Post-Curiosity

The band, who had signed to RCA Records/BMG[8] as Curiosity in the early 1990s,[9] split in 1994, with Ben VP signing to Telstar Records to release the 1996 single "Gotta Get You Home".[10]

In 2018, Volpeliere-Pierrot appeared on Channel 4's First Dates.[11][12] The programme paired him with a glamorous date ten years younger, but there was no attraction, instead the date called her mother and suggested that she go on a date with the singer.

References
  1. "Ben Volpeliere-Pierrot interview". Classic Pop. Bath. 21 February 2019.
  2. "The Godfathers of Pop: Ben Volpeliere-Pierrot". Classic Pop Magazine. 21 February 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  3. Ashby, Jonathan (30 November 1987). "Don't kill off my school pleads pop star Ben". Daily Mirror. London. Retrieved 30 June 2020 – via corpun.com.
  4. "Ben Volpierre". The Talent Society.
  5. "Seven bands from the 80s we wish would reunite". BBC News. 24 April 2017.
  6. "Elements vs Ben VP | Credits". AllMusic.
  7. Scott, Danny (17 September 2006). "Ben Volpeliere Pierrot and his mother, Belinda". The Sunday Times. London. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  8. "Ben Volpeliere-Pierrot talks Curiosity Killed the Cat, hits and Andy Warhol – SuperDeluxeEdition".
  9. "Curiosity Killed the Cat | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts.
  10. TS Records/Telstar 1996, catalogue number BVP2813
  11. "First Dates fans surprised as '80s popstar gets paired with a fan". Digital Spy. 3 May 2018.
  12. "Sinead O'Connor reveals her daughter has signed her up to find love on 'First Dates'".
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