Those Were The Days

Jessica Lee Morgan, daughter of Mary Hopkin and Tony Visconti, along with a stellar band, celebrates music by women from 1968 to 1976 at a one-off date at Acapela Studios on 14th July.

A former Cardiff University student, Jessica forgot to leave the city after graduation and spent 17 years there, following in the footsteps of other family members. Not least, her mother, Mary Hopkin, who took singing lessons in the turret at Cardiff Castle, which was the home of the Welsh College of Music and Drama at the time.

Jessica has worked on her own music since then, releasing six albums, as well as touring the world with her father, Tony Visconti, in the Best of Bowie. But she returns time and time again to the women who influenced her: her mother, as well as from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Dusty Springfield, Janis (Joplin and Ian), Sandy Denny and others.

In 1968, Mary Hopkin signed to The Beatles’ Apple Records and had a number one worldwide hit with ‘Those Were The Days’. In 1976, Jessica was born.

Between those years, some phenomenal music was written and performed by women, and it on this that the ‘Those Were The Days’ show focuses.

Returning to the fabulous chapel venue of Acapela echoes Mary’s chapel roots. Jessica, on guitar and piano, will be joined by her partner Christian Thomas on bass and Best of Bowie bandmate Paul Cuddeford on electric guitar.