Editing Tracey Ullman (section)

==Music career==
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A chance encounter with the wife of the head of [[Stiff Records]] led to Ullman getting a recording contract in 1983. Label owner [[Dave Robinson (music executive)|Dave Robinson]] was taken with some of the musical parodies she had been doing on television in ''Three of a Kind'' and signed her.<ref>{{cite news|title=Legendary London Label, Stiff Records, to Re-Release Five Thatcher-Era Classics|url=https://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/03/prweb510635.htm|work=PR Web|publisher=Prweb.com|access-date=11 March 2021|archive-date=11 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220311005254/https://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/03/prweb510635.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Ullman recounted, "One day, I was at my hairdresser, and Dave Robinson's wife Rosemary leant over and said, 'Do you want to make a record?'... I went, 'Yeah I want to make a record.' I would have tried anything."<ref>{{cite book|last=Balls|first=Richard|title=Be Stiff: The Stiff Records Story|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NOQkBQAAQBAJ|year=2014|publisher=Soundcheck Books|page=274|isbn=9780957570061}}</ref>

Within 18 months, Ullman had scored five Top 30 hits on the [[UK Singles Chart]].<ref name=charts/> Her first two singles ("Breakaway" and "They Don't Know") were certified Silver by the [[British Phonographic Industry|BPI]], as was her debut album. Ullman's songs were over-the-top evocations of 1960s and 1970s pop music with a 1980s edge, "somewhere between [[Minnie Mouse]] and [[the Supremes]]" as ''[[Melody Maker]]'' put it.<ref>{{cite web|title=Brit Comedienne Tracey Ullman Can't Crack the UK |url=https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/107675/Brit-comedienne-Tracey-Ullman-can-t-crack-the-UK |work=The Daily Express |date=15 June 2009 |publisher=Express.co.uk |access-date=7 October 2021}}</ref>

Her 1983 debut album ''[[You Broke My Heart in 17 Places]]''  was a Top 20 hit in the UK, and featured three UK Top 10 hit singles. Her first hit single, "[[Breakaway (Irma Thomas song)|Breakaway]]", reached #4 in the UK.<ref>{{cite web|title=Tracy Ullman - Breakaway HQ Live|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuN12Fnc6Wc| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/HuN12Fnc6Wc| archive-date=2021-12-11 | url-status=live|website=youtube.com| date=26 May 2009 |publisher=diewalkure|access-date=15 December 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref> This was followed by the international hit version of [[Kirsty MacColl]]'s "[[They Don't Know (Kirsty MacColl song)#Tracey Ullman version|They Don't Know]]", which reached #2 in the UK,<ref name="charts">{{cite web|title=Tracey Ullman|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/20221/tracey-ullman/|work=Official Charts Company|publisher=Officialchartscompany.com|access-date=8 December 2015}}</ref> and #8 in the United States.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Tracey Ullman, "They Don't Know" - 100 Singles of 1984: Pop's Greatest Year|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-best-singles-of-1984-pops-greatest-year-20140917/tracey-ullman-they-dont-know-20140917|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=17 September 2014|publisher=Rollingstone.com|access-date=8 December 2015|archive-date=11 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151211004418/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-best-singles-of-1984-pops-greatest-year-20140917/tracey-ullman-they-dont-know-20140917|url-status=dead}}</ref> The video for "They Don't Know" featured a [[cameo appearance]] from [[Paul McCartney]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Tracey Ullman Takes on Two New Musicals with 'The Band Wagon' and 'Into the Woods'|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tracey-ullman-stars-band-wagon-woods-article-1.1990248|work=New York Daily News|date=28 October 2014 |publisher=NYdailynews.com|access-date=14 December 2015}}</ref> (at the time, Ullman was filming a minor role in McCartney's film ''[[Give My Regards to Broad Street (film)|Give My Regards to Broad Street]]).''<ref name="bio">[https://web.archive.org/web/20040413013625/http://www.traceytakeson.com/tracey/ Tracey]. traceytakeson.com</ref> A third single from the album, a recording of [[Doris Day]]'s "[[Move Over Darling (song)|Move Over Darling]]", reached #8 in the UK.<ref name="charts"/>

Ullman released her second and final studio album ''[[You Caught Me Out]]'' in 1984.<ref name="charts"/> This included her version of [[Madness (band)|Madness]]'s "[[My Girl (Madness song)|My Girl]]", which she changed to "[[My Girl (Madness song)#My Guy's Mad at Me|My Guy]]", which reached #23.<ref>{{cite web|title=Stiff - Tracey Ullman|url=http://www.stiff-records.com/stiff-artists/tracey-ullman|work=Stiff Records|publisher=Stiff-records.com|access-date=15 December 2015|archive-date=14 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160114023626/http://www.stiff-records.com/stiff-artists/tracey-ullman|url-status=dead}}</ref> Its accompanying video featured a cameo from the [[British Labour Party]] politician [[Neil Kinnock]], at the time the [[Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom)|Leader of the Opposition]].<ref>[http://www.adamsmith.org/images/uploads/publications/ThatDecade.pdf A Decade Of Revolution The Thatcher Years] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703120845/http://www.adamsmith.org/images/uploads/publications/ThatDecade.pdf |date=3 July 2007 }}. Retrieved 2 April 2007.</ref> Her final Top 30 hit, "[[Sun Glasses (song)|Sunglasses]]" (1984), peaked at #18 in the UK and featured comedian [[Adrian Edmondson]] in its music video.<ref>{{cite web|title=Be Stuff (The Stiff Records Story) by Richard Balls|url=http://themouthmagazine.com/2014/11/13/be-stiff/|work=The Mouth Magazine|date=13 November 2014|publisher=Themouthmagazine.com|access-date=8 December 2015}}</ref> During this time she also appeared as a guest [[VJ (media personality)|VJ]] on [[MTV]] in the United States.<ref>[http://www.cbubemporium.com/ebay/wrcg9.jpg] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703120845/http://www.cbubemporium.com/ebay/wrcg9.jpg|date=3 July 2007}}. Promo Poster of Tracey Ullman MTV Guest VJ.</ref>