Amanda Louise Smith (born 17 July 1970) is an English dance-pop singer, former model and aspiring actress.
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In 1983, at age 13 she started dating 47-year-old The Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman,[1] with the consent of her mother. [2]
Smith married Bill Wyman in 1989; they divorced in 1991.[3] Her wedding dress and those of her bridesmaids and pageboy was designed by Louise Hamlin-Wright.[4][5]
The press coverage that surrounded these affairs largely contributed to Smith's career as a singer. In 1986, at 16 she was signed to PWL by Stock Aitken Waterman. The SAW team wrote and produced her first two singles - I Just Can't Wait and Positive Reaction. Collaboration with Daize Washbourne further singles, Boys and Girls (which reached No. 8 in South Africa) and Victim of Pleasure. Despite the lack of British chart success with these singles, an album, Mandy, was released in 1988. Mandy Smith was successful in Scandinavia, Germany, Italy, Spain, Turkey and Japan, where she entered the Top 10 music chart.
She was about to launch her career in the United States in 1989 with her single Victim of Pleasure released under Atlantic Records but due to health problems, she had to cancel the promotion. The same happened with her fifth European single, a cover of the Human League hit single Don't You Want Me Baby. These events and a difficult recovery marked the end of her short musical career though several remixes of I Just Can't Wait appeared in the early 1990s; her album was also re-released in Japan in 1993 and a special edition was released with bonus tracks in 2009.
She also recorded the original version of Got to Be Certain, which would later be the second international single release for fellow PWL act, Kylie Minogue. Minogue's version was a number one hit in Australia and number two in the UK. Smith's remained unreleased until 2005 when it was premiered on PWL Radio and included on the 2005 release Stock Aitken Waterman Gold as a bonus track. Smith's lyrics differ slightly from Minogue's, yet the backing music and production are virtually identical.
During the 1980s and 1990s, Smith appeared in TV series and shows. She appeared in magazines as a model. On 19 June 1993 she married footballer Pat Van Den Hauwe, but this only lasted two years.[6] She published her biography It's All Over Now in 1993 [5]. Smith was named "Rear of the Year" in Britain in 1994, award for her posterior. In 1995, she was 72nd in FHM's list of "100 Sexiest Women in the World".
In 2001, she was briefly engaged to Vanity Fair fashion model Ian Mosby with whom she had a son, Max Harrison Mosby. Smith is now resident in Manchester. Having tried a career as a make-up artist, Smith is presently training to be a counselor.[6]
Mandy has also set up her own business together with her sister Nicola, a Marketing company named Kiss PR (see external links).
"—" denotes releases that did not chart in that country.
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | ITA | DEU | JPN | ||||
| 1987 | "I Just Can't Wait" | 91 | 9 | 14 | 1 | Mandy | |
| "Positive Reaction" | - | 9 | - | - | UK Indie Chart - #48[7] | ||
| 1988 | "Boys and Girls" | - | 12 | - | - | ||
| "Victim of Pleasure" | 93 | 11 | - | - | |||
| "The Mandy EP" | - | - | - | - | Non-album release | Released in Hong Kong only | |
| 1989 | "Don't You Want Me Baby" | 59 | 11 | - | - | ||
| 1992 | "I Just Can't Wait ('92 Remixes)" | - | - | - | - | Promo 12" only | |
| 1995 | "I Just Can't Wait ('95 Remixes)" | - | - | - | - | Promo 12" only | |
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