Woman: Breaking the Rules. Part 5: Denise Johnson

Woman: Breaking The Rules is a project celebrating women in Greater Manchester music. The project, which comprises 5 films, a pop-up exhibition and several events, is part of Manchester Digital Music Archive's HLF-funded Rebel Music programme and is led by MDMA co-founder Alison Surtees. Through our online networks we held a vote to determine which 5 inspiring women in Manchester music we approach to feature in our 5 short films. Denise Johnson won the 'Performer' category for her career as one of Manchester's most treasured and critically acclaimed vocalist/songwriters. Denise has produced successful work as a solo artist, as well as performing and recording with Primal Scream, New Order, Electronic, A Certain Ratio, The Joy, Paul Weller, Fifth of Heaven and more. In this piece she describes her earliest performance experiences, her fascination with microphones and her undying love of singing and connecting with audiences. The aim of these films is to give encouragement and inspiration to other women to share their stories and artefacts on our website, mdmarchive.co.uk, so these vital histories are not lost. Get involved! Our Twitter hashtags are: @MDMarchive #RebelMusicMCR #MCRWomeninMusic THIS PROJECT WAS FUNDED BY HERITAGE LOTTERY FUND.