Carole Pope

Carole Ann Pope is a British-born Canadian rock singer-songwriter, whose provocative blend of hard-edged new wave rock with explicit homoerotic and BDSM-themed lyrics made her one of the first openly lesbian entertainers to achieve mainstream fame. She is the sister of Emmy Award-winning television producer and screenwriter Elaine Pope.

Pope was born outside of Manchester, England, the daughter of Jack Pope, a salesman and circus stilt walker, and Celia, a music hall performer. Aged five, she immigrated with her parents to Montreal[1] and was raised in Scarborough, Toronto.[2] She attended Cedarbrae Collegiate Institute.[3]

Pope met her longtime musical partner Kevan Staples at a band audition in Scarborough. In 1968, they began performing together as a duo in Yorkville, which was Toronto’s live music and arts district at the time.[4] In 1970, they adopted the name O, changing it to The Bullwhip Brothers the following year.

In 1975, Pope and Staples recruited several backup musicians and formed the band Rough Trade. Pope often performed in black leather pants and bondage attire.[5] The band’s first album, Rough Trade Live, was produced by Jack Richardson.[5]

In 1980, Pope sang backup vocals on Murray McLauchlan’s album Into a Mystery.[6]

She won the Juno Award for Most Promising Female Vocalist in 1981 and subsequently the Juno Award for Best Female Vocalist in 1982 and 1983.[7] She and Staples co-wrote the 1983 single “Transformation,” recorded by Nona Hendryx. Pope also appeared as a guest vocalist on the Payola$ single “Never Said I Loved You,” which was a top 10 hit in 1983. She teamed up in 2000 with the Payola$ founder Paul Hyde to sing the duet “My Brilliant Career” on his album Living Off the Radar. She sang the role of Primavera Nicholson in the COC production of R. Murray Schafer’s Patria I in November 1987.[8]

During the 1980s, Rough Trade won a Genie Award[7] and earned four gold and two platinum records. Although the band did not record or perform extensively after its final Deep Six in ’86 tour, they did not officially break up until 1988.