Cathy Dennis

Catherine Roseanne Dennis (born 25 March 1969) is a British singer, songwriter and record producer.

The three solo hits were: "Just Another Dream" (UK No. 13, US No. 9, Australia No. 14), which featured D Mob on backing vocals; a cover of the Wish and Fonda Rae 1984 club hit "Touch Me (All Night Long)" (UK No. 5, US No. 2, Australia No. 16), which is probably her most remembered hit to date; and "Too Many Walls" (UK No. 17, US No. 8, Australia No. 57).

"Touch Me (All Night Long)" stayed at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks, and was kept out of the No. 1 spot by Hi-Five's "I Like The Way (The Kissing Game)" in the first week, and Mariah Carey's "I Don't Wanna Cry" in the second week.

The song was a cover and lyrical reworking of a 1984 single by Wish featuring Fonda Rae, which had peaked at No. 70 on the US R&B chart that year.

"Touch Me (All Night Long)" reached No. 1 on the US Hot Dance Club Play chart, and its follow-up, "Too Many Walls", which Dennis co-wrote with Anne Dudley of Art of Noise (who also co-wrote the ABC track "All of My Heart"), was a No. 1 Adult Contemporary hit in the United States.

It was around this time Dennis agreed to join Club MTV's first tour, booked for six weeks.

In an interview on the late night show Into the Night Starring Rick Dees, she explained she dropped out after three days, accusing one of Milli Vanilli's members (the tour's headline act) of sexual harassment.

During this period, she recorded a song called "Find the Key to Your Life" with David Morales, for the soundtrack to the movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze.

Subsequent releases were only minor hits.

In 1986, Simon Fuller signed Dennis when she was 17 to his company 19 Management and his label Polydor, and this began a career-long association that has seen Dennis provide songs for many Fuller-related artists and projects.

She was discovered as a teenager by music manager Simon Fuller, which led to her featuring on the hit dance single "C'mon and Get My Love" with D Mob in 1989.

Dennis achieved her first success as a vocalist with D Mob, when their single "C'mon and Get My Love" (which was credited as "introducing" Dennis) reached No. 15 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 10 in the Billboard Hot 100 in 1989.

It is regarded as an underground classic in the dance music field, and a second collaboration with D Mob, "That's the Way of the World", was also a hit.

It was followed by Dennis's debut album, Move to This.

She subsequently scored three solo hits, all of which reached the UK Top 20 and the US Top 10.

In the early 1990s, Dennis saw international solo success with her debut album Move to This (1990), which included three US top-ten singles including "Just Another Dream" and "Touch Me (All Night Long)"; the latter peaked at number two and remains her signature song.

She enjoyed considerable success in Japan in the early 1990s.

It was followed by the albums Into the Skyline (1992) and Am I the Kinda Girl? (1996), her final release, which included a cover of the Kinks' "Waterloo Sunset" that reached number 11 in the UK.

Dennis released her second album, Into the Skyline, in September 1992, written with a focus toward the US market.

The album featured the singles "You Lied to Me", "Irresistible", "Moments of Love", "Falling", and "Why" – the latter was credited to D Mob with Dennis.

The album got to No. 8 in the UK Albums Chart, whilst in the US Billboard Hot 100, "You Lied to Me" was a Top 40 hit - her final American Top 40 single as a performer - and "Irresistible" made the Adult Contemporary Top 10; however, the album never charted.

Dennis experienced a brief peak of fame, making a cameo in Beverly Hills, 90210 singing the songs "Moments of Love" (a minor US Adult Contemporary chart hit), "Why" (in the episode, not to feature D Mob) and "Touch Me (All Night Long)".

In Japan, the album was called Into the Skyline +1, and featured three extra tracks: "Nothing Moves Me", a previous B-side, and two tracks that were both released as singles, "It's My Style", and "Love's a Cradle".

She also provided background vocals on PM Dawn's US Top 10 and UK Top 20 hit "Looking through Patient Eyes", released in 1993.

In that same year, she sang a duet with Lance Ellington on the soundtrack of Robin Hood: Men in Tights

Dennis began to record a third album, Inspiration.

The title track was recorded with Todd Terry, along with another song "Is There Life After You".

Only one song from the recording sessions was ever released, "S.O.S.", which can be found on the Beverly Hills 90210: The College Years soundtrack.

She wrote her first song for another artist by writing a song for Dannii Minogue called "Love's on Every Corner".

In 1996, Dennis changed her musical style: away from the dance-pop sound of previous releases, to a more traditional singer-songwriter approach.

The resulting album, Am I the Kinda Girl?, was more in keeping with the Britpop sound of bands such as Blur and performers such as Stephen Duffy, and featured collaborations with Guy Chambers of The Lemon Trees and Andy Partridge of XTC.

Three singles from the album were released: "West End Pad" (UK No. 25), "Waterloo Sunset" - a cover of The Kinks' song (UK No. 11), and her last solo single, "When Your Dreams Turn to Dust" (UK No. 43).

Dennis pivoted to songwriting in the 2000s and became renowned for her work, scoring eight UK number ones, winning six Ivor Novello Awards and two Grammys.

Her co-credits include the multi-platinum singles "Can't Get You Out of My Head" by Kylie Minogue, "Toxic" by Britney Spears, and "I Kissed a Girl" by Katy Perry.

In 2001, Kylie Minogue had a worldwide hit with the Dennis and Rob Davis penned song "Can't Get You Out of My Head".

The following year Dennis won the Best Dance Recording Grammy for writing "Come into My World".

In 2004, Dennis was listed 66th in the Q list of the 100 most influential people in music.

In 2006, she won the UK music industry's Woman of the Year Award.

Educated at Taverham High School, as a teenager she was spotted recording Stevie Wonder-influenced demos at The Kitchen in Norwich with her father (himself an experienced musician and local restaurateur) on piano.

At the time she was working for Norwich Union.