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My Life Story was one of many orchestral British pop groups that appeared in the wake of Pulp and Suede. Led by Jake Shillingford, who comes across as a low-rent Neil Hannon (the Divine Comedy), the group never won the critical respect of its influences -- or even contemporaries like the Divine Comedy -- but they won a hardcore following of die-hard Anglophiles. Jake Shillingford (b. May 15, 1966), for all intents and purposes, is My Life Story. Born in Southend-on-Sea, Shillingford formed his first band in 1980, but he didn't begin a career until the late '80s. During the mid-'80s, he briefly attended the Southend Art College, after which he held a job at Dingwalls in Camden. He worked during the day and ran the Panic Station club at night, often playing with his band, My Life Story. After a few years, he grew bored and he departed to America in 1989 on a mission to find himself. He returned the following year, convinced that he would remodel My Life Story as a string-laden, orchestr...