Pam Nestor
| Pam Nestor | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Pamela Agatha Nestor |
| Born |
28 April 1948 Berbice, Guyana |
| Genres | Pop, Reggae |
| Occupation(s) | singer, songwriter & actress |
| Instruments | Vocals, piano |
| Years active | 1964—1979 |
| Labels | Cube Records, Sun Star Records, Tempus Records, Chrysalis Records |
| Associated acts | Joan Armatrading, Merger, Pam Nestor Band |
Pam Nestor (born 28 April 1948) is a former singer, songwriter and actress who was active in the entertainment industry in the 1960s and 1970s. She left the music industry in 1979 and in later life took to academic pursuits, gaining a doctorate in 2009 from Birkbeck College, University of London.
Pam Nestor was born in Berbice, Guyana, on 28 April 1948. While at school in Guyana, she began to write poetry and eventually won a poetry competition. She came to England in 1961 and at the age of 14 lived in Muswell Hill, London, with her mother and younger sister. She was described in 1977 by the music journalist Nick Kent as: "very, very pretty", with a "gorgeous ebony face … warm lively eyes and a contagious smile", and her personality as "effervescent [and] fizzing with drive"; and later, in 1990, by the author Sean Mayes as "pretty" and "petite" with an "infectious, bubbling personality" and "irrepressibly outspoken". She was a free spirit, in her own words: "crazy, tough, intense, idealistic". By the age of 16 she had fronted several semi-pro soul bands around London, and was a single mother with two children by the age of 19.
In 1969 she successfully auditioned for the touring production of the musical Hair and was offered a part. She is said to have loved being in Hair, 'revelling in the ... hippy philosophy' and the experience informed her lyric writing. The singer and musician Joan Armatrading also obtained a part in the musical, and the two became friends. One day in their lodgings while on tour, Nestor showed her some of her poems and Armatrading set them to music, and so their writing partnership was born. They spent a year on the road writing songs together. They later recorded some demo tapes on a tape recorder in a bedroom, and Nestor took charge of trying to get the tapes accepted by a publishing company. Their original intention was to secure a contract as songwriters rather than performers. Nestor was reportedly a hustler – full of energy, making the connections, doing the talking and arranging meetings, until her efforts were rewarded when the tapes were eventually accepted by Essex Music. After this the duo were taken on by the Sherry Copeland talent agency, and signed with London's indie Cube label in 1972.
Although Nestor and Armatrading were originally hoping to be songwriters, this was not what the production company behind Cube intended. The company was Tuesday Productions, owned by Gus Dudgeon, and Cube was their in-house label. Cube wanted to promote Armatrading as a performer and wanted, as it later turned out, to dispense with Pam Nestor. The songs for the debut album were the choice of Gus Dudgeon and Mike Stone, an American promoter who was jointly managing the duo at the time. The sidelining of Nestor seems to have been a decision made by both of them, with Stone saying at the time he "also wasn't keen on this duo idea".
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