Jan Hellriegel

{{more footnotes|date=November 2011}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=November 2012}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Jan Hellriegel | image = Jan Show 2.jpg | alt = Jan Hellriegel performing at a concert | caption = Jan Hellriegel, live at St James Theatre, Wellington | image_size = | background = solo_singer | birth_name = Janette Hellriegel | alias = | birth_date = | birth_place = Waitakere, Auckland, New Zealand | origin = Auckland, New Zealand | death_date =  | death_place = | genre = Pop/rock | occupation = Singer-songwriter | instrument = Vocals, guitar, piano | years_active = 1985–present | label = Warner Music, Blind Date Records | associated_acts = Cassandra's Ears | website = [http://www.janhellriegel.com Jan Hellriegel] }}

'''Jan Hellriegel''' is a singer/songwriter based in Auckland, New Zealand.

Her first recorded appearances were with Dunedin band Working With Walt in the mid-1980s when she studied at the University of Otago in Dunedin. She then formed all-woman band Cassandra's Ears, moving back to Auckland and going solo in the early 90s.

Hellriegel has released four solo studio albums, ''It's My Sin'' 1992, ''Tremble'' 1995, ''All Grown Up'' 2009, and ''Sportsman of the Year'' in 2019.

==History==

===Early=== Hellriegel was born and raised in West Auckland with her three brothers and attended Henderson High School.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.audioculture.co.nz/people/jan-hellriegel|title=Jan Hellriegel - AudioCulture|website=audioculture.co.nz|language=en|access-date=2018-10-11}}</ref> She famously worked in her father's panel beating shop, though only in the office. Nonetheless, the combination of her birthplace and early employment led to her being branded a "Westie" by the New Zealand media.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nzmusician.co.nz/index.php/ps_pagename/article/pi_articleid/1786|title=Jan Hellriegel - The Way She Still Feels|last=Bell|first=Mark|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320092937/http://www.nzmusician.co.nz/index.php/ps_pagename/article/pi_articleid/1786|archive-date=2012-03-20|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Hellriegel took vocal training in speech and singing at St Mary's College, Auckland under Sister Mary Leo. She then moved to Dunedin in the 1980s to attend the University of Otago, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts.

While in Dunedin, she joined her brother Rob Hellriegel's band, Working With Walt. She performed backing vocals, piano and guitar on their 1984 7" LP ''The Prophet'' and wrote and performed the song "Christina" on the band’s 1985 LP ''4 Sides''.

In 1988, Hellriegel performed backing vocals on the Leonard Cohen song "So Long Marianne", performed by Straitjacket Fits.

===Cassandra’s Ears=== In the late 1980s Hellriegel formed the band Cassandra's Ears with Dunedin bandmates Flick Rhind (bass), Zan Wright (backing vocals), Vanessa Anich (drums) and Leanne Ibell (guitar). She wrote music and lyrics and performed vocals, guitar and keyboards.

Their first release was the song "Replacements" for the National Student Radio 1986 compilation, ''Weird Culture Weird Custom''.<ref>{{Discogs release|1833199|Various – Weird Culture Weird Custom}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://funeralsandsnakes.net/2011/09/06/vinyl-vault-%E2%80%93-%E2%80%9Cnz-music%E2%80%9D/ | title=Vinyl Vault – "NZ Music" | work=Funerals & Snakes | accessdate=24 April 2015 | author=Slevin, Dan}}</ref> The band played local gigs, toured New Zealand, wrote more material, and eventually released two EPs, ''Private Wasteland'' in 1988 and ''Your Estimation'' in 1990.

Cassandra's Ears reformed in November 2010 for a one-off show in Auckland to support the release of ''The Cassandra's Ears Story''.

===Solo career=== Hellriegel signed with Warner Records New Zealand in 1990. Her first album, ''It’s My Sin'', was recorded between December 1991 and January 1992.{{cn|date=January 2024}} Her second album, ''Tremble'', was recorded at Sing Sing in Melbourne and Studios 301 in Sydney in 1995. In 1996 she was awarded Most Promising Female Vocalist at the New Zealand Music Awards, and Top Female Vocalist and Single of the Year (for Manic) at the Music and Entertainer Awards of New Zealand.{{cn|date=January 2024}} She left Warner Brothers

Hellriegel subsequently parted ways with Warner Records, and her single "Melusine", recorded at Beaver Studios (Auckland), was released by Universal Records in 1998. {{cn|date=January 2024}}

In 1999, she joined the Alan Duff Charitable Foundation Duffy Books in Homes programme as a celebrity spokesperson. She co-wrote the theme song "Read About It" with Dave Dobbyn and Toi Iti.{{cn|date=January 2024}} During that year she played a non-musical acting role on ''Shortland Street'', playing Jackie, an abused wife.{{cn|date=January 2024}}

In 2000, she appeared in the New Zealand television show ''Street Legal'' and in 2001 she became involved in a collaboration with Tom Blaxland called Project Runway. In 2002, she wrote and recorded the song "Star Baby" for children’s clothing label Pumpkin Patch.{{cn|date=January 2024}}

In early 2009 Hellriegel went into Roundhead Studios in Auckland to record a third album with a line-up of musicians including producer Wayne Bell, Nick Gaffaney on drums, Brett Adams and Ben Fulton on guitar, Eddie Rayner and Michael Larsen on piano/keyboards, and Mark Hughes on bass. ''All Grown Up'' was released on her own record label, Blind Date Records, in October 2009. The album "Lost Songs" was released in April 2013. The album is a collection of previously unreleased material{{snd}}demos, live sessions and studio work from 1990–2000 which Hellriegel had remastered from DAT and cassette recordings.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/8759974/Album-review-Lost-Songs-Jan-Hellriegel|title = Album review: Lost Songs - Jan Hellriegel|date = 5 June 2013}}</ref>

Hellriegel announced and released a new multi-media project through April and May 2019. "Sportsman of the Year" was composed of a studio album and book of the same name, and was also serialised as podcasts, produced by Radio New Zealand and presented by Hellriegel.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/sportsman-of-the-year|title=Sportsman of the Year - A Suburban Philosophy|website=RNZ |language=en-nz|access-date=2019-06-18}}</ref><ref>Fleming, Greg [https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=12221542 "The Book Of Jan" ] ''New Zealand Herald'', Auckland, 20 April 2019</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.noted.co.nz/culture/music/jan-hellriegel-songwriter-back-to-write-herself-into-new-zealand-music-history/|title=Jan Hellriegel is back to write herself into New Zealand music history|last=Noted|website=Noted|language=en|access-date=2019-06-18|archive-date=18 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190618063744/https://www.noted.co.nz/culture/music/jan-hellriegel-songwriter-back-to-write-herself-into-new-zealand-music-history/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Business career=== Hellriegel was appointed NZ General Manager of Australia-based Native Tongue Music Publishing in 2010 and ran the company’s NZ operations until 2013 when she left to develop Aeroplane Music Services, a music licensing and supervision business.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://campaignbrief.co.nz/2013/11/11/native-tongue-nzs-gm-jan-hellr/|title=Native Tongue NZ's GM Jan Hellriegel departs to fill MD position at Aeroplane Music Services – Campaign Brief NZ|date=11 November 2013|language=en-US|access-date=2019-06-22}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nzmusic.org.nz/news/artist/native-tongues-nz-general-manager-leaves-to-helm-n/|title=Native Tongue's NZ General Manager Leaves to Helm New Music Services Company {{!}} Artist News {{!}} NZ Music Commission|website=nzmusic.org.nz|access-date=2019-06-22}}</ref>

In 2015 Hellriegel announced Songbroker, an "artist-friendly" music publishing company focused on providing music by NZ songwriters to film, TV and content producers<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://idealog.co.nz/venture/2015/10/aeroplane-musics-jan-hellriegel-take-songbroker|title=Aeroplane Music's Jan Hellriegel on the take-off of Songbroker|last=Idealog|first=5 Oct 2015|date=2015-10-05|website=Idealog|language=en|access-date=2019-06-22}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11493764|title=Hellriegel helping musicians take flight|last=Barry-Hill|first=Rebecca|date=8 August 2015|website=The New Zealand Herald}}</ref> Songbroker represents the musical rights and recorded works of several hundred NZ composers and songwriters.

==Discography==

===Albums===

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" |- ! rowspan="2" | Year ! rowspan="2" | Title ! rowspan="2" | Details ! Peak chart positions |- ! NZ<ref name=charts /> |- | 1992 | ''It's My Sin'' | * Label: Warner * Catalogue: 90317 77192 | align="center" | 5 |- | 1995 | ''Tremble'' | * Rereleased: 2010 * Label: Warner / Blind Date Records * Catalogue: 4509995722 | align="center" | 15 |- | 2009 | ''All Grown Up'' | * Released: 18 October 2009 * Rereleased: 2010 * Label: Blind Date Records | align="center" | 38 |- | 2013 | ''Lost Songs'' | * Released: 17 May 2013 * Label: Blind Date Records | align="center" | 40 |- | 2019 | ''Sportsman of the Year'' | * Released: 10 May 2019 * Label: Blind Date Records | align="center" | 8 <ref>{{cite web|url=https://aotearoamusiccharts.co.nz/archive/albums/2019-05-17|title=NZ Top 40 Albums Chart|publisher=Recorded Music NZ|date=20 May 2019|access-date=17 May 2019}}</ref> |}

=== With Cassandra's Ears === * ''The Cassandra's Ears Story'' (2010)

===Singles===

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" |- ! rowspan="2" width="1em" | Year ! rowspan="2" | Title ! width="3em" | Peak chart positions ! rowspan="2" | Album |- ! NZ<ref name="charts">{{cite web|title=JAN HELLRIEGEL IN NEW ZEALAND CHARTS |url=https://charts.nz/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Jan+Hellriegel |website=charts.nz |publisher=Hung Medien |accessdate=9 July 2014 }}</ref> |- | rowspan="2" | 1992 | "The Way I Feel" | align="center" | 4 | rowspan="5" | ''It's My Sin'' |- | "It’s My Sin" | align="center" | — |- | rowspan="2" | 1993 | "No Idea" | align="center" | 17 |- | "Westy Gals" (Radio release only) | align="center" | — |- | 1994 | "Wings of Steel (Radio Edit)" (Radio release only) | align="center" | — |- | rowspan="2" | 1995 | "Manic (Is A State of Mind)" | align="center" | 5 | rowspan="3" | ''Tremble'' |- | "Geraldine" | align="center" | 34 |- | 1996 | "Pure Pleasure" | align="center" | — |- | 1997 | "Sentimental Fool" | align="center" | 35 | Non-album single |- | 1998 | "Melusine" | align="center" | 17 | Non-album single |- | rowspan="2" | 2010 | "Melusine" (Rerelease) | align="center" | — | Non-album single |- | "Sentimental Fool" | align="center" | — | Non-album single |- | 2013 | "Venus Is Dead" | align="center" | — | Non-album single |- | rowspan="2" | 2014 | "Bottom of My Heart" | align="center" | — | Non-album single |- | "Because You" | align="center" | — | Non-album single |- | 2015 | "For The Love of Glory" | align="center" | — | Non-album single |- |colspan="4" style="font-size:90%" align="center" | "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |}

==References== {{reflist}} * {{cite web|last=Bell |first=Mark |authorlink=Mark Bell (New Zealand musician) |work=NZ Musician |date=November 2009 |title=The Way She Still Feels |url=http://www.nzmusician.co.nz/index.php/ps_pagename/article/pi_articleid/1786 |accessdate=22 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320092937/http://www.nzmusician.co.nz/index.php/ps_pagename/article/pi_articleid/1786 |archivedate=20 March 2012 }} * {{cite web |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/blogs/blog-on-the-tracks/3729254/Gig-review-Jan-Hellriegel-in-Wellington |title=Gig review: Jan Hellriegel in Wellington |date=24 May 2010 |work=Stuff.co.nz |accessdate=22 September 2011}} * {{cite web |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/blogs/blog-on-the-tracks/2965068/The-Jan-Hellriegel-interview |title=The Jan Hellriegel interview |date=15 October 2009 |work=Stuff.co.nz |accessdate=22 September 2011}} * {{cite web |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/music-reviews/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501982&objectid=10607709 |title=Jan Hellriegel - All Grown Up |author=Baillie, Russell |date=6 November 2009 |work=The New Zealand Herald |accessdate=22 September 2011}} * {{cite web |last=Barnett|first=Sarah|work=New Zealand Listener|date=17 October 2009|url=http://www.listener.co.nz/commentary/jan-hellriegel/|title=Jan Hellriegel|accessdate=22 September 2011}} * {{cite news | url=http://www.3news.co.nz/Door-opens-for-Jan-Hellriegels-lost-songs/tabid/312/articleID/297789/Default.aspx | title=Door opens for Jan Hellriegels lost songs | work=3 News | date=14 May 2013 | accessdate=24 April 2015 | author=Ikram, Ali | archive-date=8 August 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808052829/http://www.3news.co.nz/Door-opens-for-Jan-Hellriegels-lost-songs/tabid/312/articleID/297789/Default.aspx | url-status=dead }}

==External links== *[http://www.janhellriegel.com/ Jan Hellriegel's Official Homepage] *[http://www.audioculture.co.nz/people/jan-hellriegel AudioCulture profile] *{{IMDb name|375546}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hellriegel, Jan}} Category:Living people Category:21st-century New Zealand women singers Category:University of Otago alumni Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:People educated at Henderson High School, Auckland Category:20th-century New Zealand women singers Category:People educated at St Mary's College, Auckland