ABSTRACT
Mary Hopkin's career serves as a case study for the linguistic and musical border-crossings and the larger cultural issues that they reflect. A Welsh musician's relationship with the dominant, Anglo-American culture is largely determined by the linguistic tradition from which he or she emerged. Moving beyond the musical, in order to interpret Mary Hopkin's projected image it is informative to consider the iconography of early Welsh pop. The 24 Hours expose exposed little more than unfortunate cultural sterotyping: Mary Hopkin was by this point fully integrated into Anglo-American culture, yet it is clear from her Eurovision appearance that her voice was on the cusp of a real change. But following the release of her second album, Earth Song/Ocean Song, in 1971, Mary Hopkin left Apple Records and married American producer Tony Visconti. Mary Hopkin's voice signifies a particular point in Welsh musical life, a referent embraced by subsequent generations of musicians, left determinedly unrecognized in mainstream Anglo-American culture.
