FEATURE: Paul McCartney at Eighty: Five: Post-McCartney III and 2022

FEATURE:

 

Paul McCartney at Eighty

Five: Post-McCartney III and 2022

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IN this part of my run of features…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Mary McCartney

that looks ahead to Paul McCartney’s eightieth birthday in June, I wanted to look at this year. As of the time of writing (20th January), there has been no announcement regarding festivals or any big bookings. Aside from his bestselling and award-winning lyrics book, there was also the documentary, The Beatles: Get Back. It was a hectic and fun year for McCartney in terms of promotion and activity! With gigs few and far between, I think he is looking ahead to what 2022 has in store. In terms of albums, I suspect that McCartney has had some material stored up. His latest album, McCartney III, topped the charts and won him some of the best reviews of his solo career. It is a tremendous album that was made during lockdown (or ‘rockdown’ as he called it!). I have an inkling and feeling that we may get an album from Macca later this year. In any case, I wanted to speculate what more could come from him this year. Topping the charts and winning plaudits all over the shop, McCartney III showed that a legend in his late-seventies had lost none of his songwriting genius! This is what AllMusic observed in their review:

“Paul McCartney faced the COVID-19 lockdown of 2020 like he faced so many other unexpected challenges in his life: he set out to make music on his own. The title of McCartney III positions it as a direct sequel to 1970's McCartney and 1980's McCartney II, albums he made in the wake of the respective dissolutions of the Beatles and Wings, a sentiment that rings true in some ways but not in others. Certainly, the one-man-band approach unites all three albums, as does their arrival at the dawn of a new decade, yet McCartney III doesn't contain a clear undercurrent of Paul processing change in the wake of loss.

He doesn't spend the record trying to "Find My Way," as he puts it on the album's second song, but rather simply existing, drawing evident pleasure from the process of writing and recording new music. This also means McCartney III doesn't quite have the shock of the new the way that the homespun McCartney and synth-laden McCartney II do; he's not attempting new forms or ideas, instead returning to themes that have served him well over the years, whether they're plucked acoustic ditties, plaintive piano ballads, or stomping rockers. Execution makes a big difference, though. Where 2018's Egypt Station was designed with the charts specifically in mind -- Paul went so far as to hire producers Greg Kurstin and Ryan Tedder for the record, hoping they'd give him a modern sheen -- McCartney III is constructed at a modest scale, the arrangements so uncluttered that it's easy to hear the years on McCartney's voice. Maybe he can't hit the high notes he way he used to, maybe he sounds a bit weathered, but the change in his singing has a profoundly humanizing effect, especially when heard in conjunction with his distinctive drumming and fuzzed-out guitars. Within these contours, it's possible to trace the distance between the three McCartney albums. Despite these signs of age, McCartney III isn't an album about mortality, it's about finding sustenance in rough times. McCartney nods to sadness and loneliness on "Deep Deep Feeling" and conjures a fleeting sense of wistfulness on "Pretty Boys," then balances these moments of sadness with the sweet "The Kiss of Venus," the sugar-coated rallying call "Seize the Day," and the vulgar jabs of "Lavatory Lil." Individually, these moments may not seem particularly eccentric, yet when they're collected as an album, they add up to a charmingly off-kilter record, an album that benefits from its modest origins and McCartney's willingness to not polish too many of his rough edges”.

McCartney also did a series with Rick Rubin where he explored and dissected his songwriting. 2021 was a year where he looked back quite a bit. After a fresh album at  the end of 2020, the last year was McCartney largely revisiting his past work. With a lot of focus being on The Beatles and how Peter Jackson’s documentary changed the narrative and decades-held beliefs as to why the band broke up (namely that Yoko Ono was somehow responsible), it must have been quite emotional for him. With Ringo Starr, McCartney got to see his sadly-departed bandmates (John Lennon and George Harrison) working at a time that many have assumed was quite tense. I wonder whether this has given him drive to compose new material. In terms of Beatles-related bits, there have been no announcements regarding books or remastered albums. Of course, we got a range of packages for Let It Be. Complete with extras and a treasure trove for fans, I am not sure whether Giles Martin is going to go back to 1963 and Please Please Me. Many fans wonder if Rubber Soul and Revolver will be the next for the remaster treatment, as Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was the first in 2017 – fifty years after the album was released. I don’t think there are any plans in 2022 from Martin. That could change, but it seems unlikely. What is more likely from a Beatles viewpoint is more books. Naturally, The Beatles: Get Back would have inspired new perspective on the band. I feel we will get some books about the group from 1969/1970.

In terms of McCartney himself. There has been no word as to whether he will play Glastonbury this year. He was due to headline in 2020 but, with the pandemic halting things, there has been no news. I suspect that McCartney will play plenty of gigs. As he approaches eighty, it is amazing he still has the energy to play such demanding sets! I do feel that there will be an album. McCartney has always worked and, with time to compose and record at his home studio, I reckon we might get an album similar in tone to McCartney III. Maybe he will play with other musicians but, as Macca did everything himself, maybe he will go down that route again. Things are still a bit restricted, so maybe he will not feel comfortable inviting musicians into the studio with him. Given the fact that McCartney III was released with a starting or artists re-versioning and remixing songs from the original, perhaps McCartney is in a more collaborative mood. Whatever comes, I get the sense McCartney will reflect on the pandemic and strange time, but he will look to move forward. Maybe watching The Beatles documentary has given him some fresh direction and sense of reflection. There will be a lot of demand for new McCartney material for sure. I am excited to see what comes next. One might predict a quieter year for McCartney but, as he approaches eighty, I do not think…

HE will slow down.

FEATURE: U.N.I.T.Y.: The Women Who Helped Shape and Transform Hip-Hop

FEATURE:

 

 

U.N.I.T.Y.

IN THIS PHOTO: Lauryn Hill won five GRAMMYs - a new record for a female singer in a single award ceremony - on 24th February, 1999/PHOTO CREDIT: Frank Trapper/Corbis via Getty Images

The Women Who Helped Shape and Transform Hip-Hop

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IN today’s music…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Bree Runway

we have artists like Little Simz and Bree Runway, who are helping to shape and elevate Hip-Hop. I have always felt that the women of Hip-Hop have both been under-explored and overlooked. Stunningly innovative and important regarding the history of the genre, I am reading a book called Flip the Script: How Women Came to Rule Hip Hop. Written by Arusa Qureshi, it is revealing and illuminating. In the book, she discusses the women who helped shape Hip-Hop. From success stories like Cookie Crew in the U.K. to the sexism that surrounded Roxanne Shante’s rise and success in the U.S., it has made me respect more the women who have paved the way for the new wave. There is still sexism and prejudice in Hip-Hop, though I think there have been doors open and steps made since the 1980s and 1990s. I am going to end with a playlist of songs from women who, from decades back to today, have been hugely influential – including quite a few modern-day queens and pioneers. Before that, I want to reference some articles that explore and spotlight the women whose voices are essential and inspiring. Before rounding off, I am going to source the liberally from some features which not only chart the history of women in Hip-Hop and their impact. There is a great feature that highlights the most important women of the genre.

Before coming to that - and as I mentioned her book -, Arusa Qureshi spoke with Cookie Crew in an article for The Guardian in November last year. It is very clear that they made an enormous impact on the scene:

“When considering the history of women in hip-hop, some pioneering names will always stand out. There’s Debbie D, a member of DJ Marley Marl’s Juice Crew; Pebblee Poo, who joined DJ Kool Herc’s Herculoids; and Lisa Lee, who was in Afrika Bambaataa’s Universal Zulu Nation. Then there’s Sha-Rock, considered the first prominent female MC; Mercedes Ladies, the first all-female group in hip-hop; Roxanne Shanté, the formidable battle rapper. But as in many parts of the music industry, these women were told they’re good for a girl: a patronising framework that is one of the core reasons women are left out of the history of the genres they helped revolutionise.

In the UK in 1983, two more young women were also about to be underestimated. MC Remedee (Debbie Pryce) and Susie Q (Susan Banfield) were just getting started as Cookie Crew, inspired by what was happening in the New York music scene. Cookie Crew pre-dated other prominent women in UK hip-hop such as She Rockers and Wee Papa Girl Rappers, not to mention Monie Love, who would go on to settle in New York in 1988 to massive success. As one of the first female hip-hop groups in the UK, they were also among the first to battle the hurdles women faced in the genre; constantly compared to adjacent male rappers, forced to prove themselves despite their evident success, and constantly pushed in different, and often contradictory, directions.

IN THIS PHOTO: Debbie Pryce and Susan Banfield, a.k.a. Cookie Crew/PHOTO CREDIT: David O’Neil/ANL/Shutterstock 

“We started listening to hip-hop because Debbie would go to New York with her family in the early 80s, record the radio on a cassette tape and bring it back for us to listen to,” Banfield explains. “We would listen to it at home, and it was amazing to us.”

The pair would spend time in the park near where they grew up with their crew of friends, roller skating and playing double Dutch – once they started writing, this was the ideal place to test the waters with their rhymes. “Malcolm McLaren did this documentary in a place in Covent Garden where breakers [breakdancers] used to hang out,” she recalls. “We started to connect the dots with everything that was happening in the hip-hop scene. There were graffiti artists down there, there were breakers, and there were rappers – everyone started to try a little something.”

This included Banfield and Pryce, who were writing raps, not realising that there weren’t really other girls doing the same thing locally. “We had no clue because we saw American girls doing it. We were listening to female rappers like Sha-Rock, Lisa Lee and Debbie D and we were influenced by them. There were a lot of rappers out there [in the UK] at the time, all male, but we did see Michelle Devitt also known as Mystery MC of Family Quest. We saw her rapping on stage; she was freestyling and she blew us away – the first female rapper that we had seen from England.

It was at this point in 1985 that they heard about a rap competition being run by a young Tim Westwood, with prize money and a recording contract up for grabs. “The boys that we used to hang with were saying, ‘You could win this!’ And so our friends forced us to go down there, and we put our name down for the first week. We saw all the rappers that were taking part and then thought, OK, we’ll go back next weekend and take our name off the list, because this is looking really hard and we’re not sure. But the night came and we thought: We’re just gonna go out there and do it because it doesn’t matter. I remember the stage being so big that they had to lift Debbie up on to it! We rapped over Afrika Bambaataa and the Soul Sonic Force’s Planet Rock, and it was fast. It was so fast!”

“Basically, we killed it,” Pryce adds with a grin. “We could see all the guys from Battersea who came with us, who were our support network. The crowd was just going crazy. When they made the announcement on the night that we won, it was like our feet didn’t touch the ground. It was a complete blur, but it was sheer excitement. We went away feeling like champions and after that, the world was our lobster.”

They took the prize money but not the contract. “It’s a good job we didn’t take it, because it probably would have been a mess,” Pryce notes. “We went for a meeting and I just remember coming out unsure. We knew nothing about the business. We just wanted to hang out and build our reputation on the scene. Thank God we didn’t sign – but we did get a trophy!”

After signing with London Records, Cookie Crew took on the US, and soon they were working with the likes of Stetsasonic and Gang Starr. But through all of this, they stuck to their truth, and to their British identity, and did all they could to represent the burgeoning scene at home. Songs from their debut album Born This Way make direct reference to their home town and to their journey (“We’ve got a message to all who said we couldn’t do it / take a look at us now, take your words and chew it”); Black is the Word captures their pride in their Black British identity and From the South is a homage to their home.

“We’ve always stayed true to our roots because we were very patriotic about London, and about south London particularly,” Pryce says. “All the narratives on the tracks are based around our experiences, even though the delivery might have had that American tone, because that was our reference point. Our subject matters were very, very British. When we were in New York, we were very proud of being British. We also felt that we were educating them about what was going on outside the US. A lot of the people we met didn’t realise that there were actually Black people in England because not many people had passports back then and they weren’t travelling. We were educating them on who we were, being British, but British Caribbean too.”

“Our references came from our parents, and our parents were the Windrush era,” Banfield explains. “Hip-hop in a way introduced us to what was happening in America but it didn’t introduce us to wider issues we faced as Black people. For example, we spent a lot of our time doing anti-apartheid gigs. We spent a lot of time making sure that we were involved with any gig to do with freeing Nelson Mandela as much as we could. We boycotted certain things, we were involved in everything possible that could be against Margaret Thatcher. We’ve always had that side of us”.

Tied into the new T.V. show, The Real Queens of Hip-Hop (on Hulu), Deena Zaru wrote an article that began by stating how women were right at the core of Hip-Hop from its inception and roots:

“Even before hip-hop was called “hip-hop,” women were on the frontlines of the culture as emcees, rappers and producers.

From the earliest icons of the 1970s and 1980s, to the trailblazing stars of the 1990s and the chart-toppers of today, women have empowered each other and broken down barriers for generations to come.

“The Real Queens of Hip-Hop,” an ABC News special that is set to air on Monday, explores the inspiring rise and powerful force of women in hip-hop, in their own words. It is narrated by Salt of the iconic group Salt-N-Pepa; it includes original spoken word performances by the legendary MC Lyte and interviews with iconic artists like Eve, Da Brat, Trina, Monie Love, Yo-Yo and more.

Here’s a look back at the legacy of women in hip-hop and some of the artists who changed the game:

Early pioneers

MC Sha-Rock, known as the “Mother of the Mic,” got her start as the first female emcee of hip-hop in the 1970s when her rhymes earned her a spot as a member of The Funky 4+1.

But during its earliest days hip-hop was not taken seriously by older generations and record companies, she said, so artists had to fight for recognition.

“They felt as though this was something that just was never going to go any place,” MC Sha-Rock said. “I can tell you how we were told as young teenagers that this was just a fad. It wasn't until corporate America radio stations saw that these young kids with little or no resources created something out of nothing.”

The Funky 4+1, with Sha-Rock at the center, became the first hip-hop group to get a record deal and the first to perform on mainstream television when they were invited to appear on “Saturday Night Live.”

This was the beginning of hip-hop’s foray into the mainstream.

IN THIS PHOTO: Roxanne Shante poses for a portrait session in 1988 in New York City/PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Another important moment took place in 1980 when Sylvia Robinson, the founder and CEO of Sugarhill Records, released “Rapper’s Delight,” -- the first hip-hop song to achieve commercial success and the first to chart on the Billboard Top 40.

“Rapper's Delight was a huge deal. And then they started playing it on the radio. So that was even grander,” MC Lyte, the first female hip-hop emcee to release a solo album, said. “But then later to find out that it was a woman, Ms. Robinson, behind it all … it was wonderful.”

But at the time, rappers did not wait for record companies to release their music; they released their own cassette tapes, which were a form of communication at the time.

“I didn't come through no great studio. My record was made on a cassette tape … and what it did was it opened up the floodgates,” said Roxanne Shante, who was known in Queens in the 1980s as one of the fiercest MCs.

“I think I was able to open up those doors as a woman ... to allow a lot of these other rappers to come in and say … you know what? I can do this,” she added.

A message of empowerment

As hip-hop made its mark in mainstream culture in the 1980s, women had to battle for recognition in a male-dominated industry.

“Today you need to have thick skin, but back in the 80s, you needed to be a rhino, honey, because for one, you could be as good as any man and you still wasn't getting the level of respect that you deserved as a woman on the mic,” said Grammy-nominated rapper Monie Love.

Monie Love and Queen Latifah perform "Ladies First" at Newark Symphony Hall in Newar...Read More

In 1989 Queen Latifah called on Love to join her in writing an anthem to empower female MCs, which led to the all-time classic single “Ladies First,” which celebrates the lyrical prowess and talent of women in the industry.

IN THIS PHOTO: Monie Love/PHOTO CREDIT: Asanteworks PR 

“I love the unity that the women came together because that's what I've always been about,” said MC Lyte. “... that was historical, because I think [it’s] the first time that I'd seen women come together on a rap song, and they brought it.”

At the time, in some hip-hop lyrics women were given derogatory terms but “Ladies First,” which was featured on Queen Latfiah’s 1989 album, “All Hail the Queen,” honored women as “queens.”

Love said that as a female emcee in the 1990s she was constantly asked about misogyny in hip-hop, but she would say, “‘I don't own it’ ... me and Latifah are over here calling sisters queens. That's what we doing.”

Hip-hop has been standing up for Black lives for decades: 15 songs and why they matter

Compton rapper Yo-Yo was outspoken against misogyny in hip-hop at the time and advocated for women’s empowerment in her music in songs like the 1991 classic, “You Can't Play With My Yo-Yo,” featuring her fellow West Coast rapper Ice Cube.

“[The song] has a lot of femininity, adult femininity in it, and it's powerful to me because it's everything that I am. My name is Yo-Yo, I'm not a h--, no,” she said.

“It was really a chance to stand up and be bold and be fearless and to represent women in a different kind of way.”

Yo-Yo, MC Lyte and Queen Latifah perform onstage during Queen Latifah's "Ladies First"...Read More

Embracing sex appeal

A new generation of female hip-hop stars in the 1980s and 1990s sent another message of empowerment to women by boldly embracing their sexuality.

And it all started with Salt-N-Pepa.

The group released their first studio album in 1986, becoming the first female rap group to sell more than a million records and their style distinguished them from other artists on the scene as they brought sex appeal into the game.

“Everybody today took a page out of Salt-N-Pepa's book. Everyone,” Love said.

In the 1990s, artists like Lil Kim would take this image to a whole new level.

Lil Kim’s debut album “Hard Core,” which was released in 1996 was certified double platinum, and the rapper became known for her raunchy lyrics and unapologetic sex appeal.

IN THIS PHOTO: Salt-N-Pepa/PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Putland 

“That was the first time for me that I saw that much sexiness in female hip-hop -- she created and started that,” said rapper Trina, who rose to prominence in the late 1990s.

Da Brat, who released her debut album “Funkdafied” in 1994, becoming the first solo female rapper to sell a million records, said that it’s important for women to have the freedom to express themselves however they choose.

“I love the fact that Lil Kim was comfortable in her own skin, which apparently she was because she did the damn thing, and I was comfortable in my skin, and nobody tried to change me, and if nobody tried to change her, then more power to her,” she said.

According to MC Sha-Rock, in the early days of hip-hop there was less of a focus on a woman’s looks and more a focus on her skills as an emcee.

But as hip-hop got more corporate, things began to change and women faced more pressure to fit into a certain image.

“I say that that shift started in the 90s when they took the female rapper and didn't make her the more prominent female figure in hip hop,” Shante said. “Instead, they took the video vixen and made her the more prominent female in hip-hop, so people were looking for her rather than looking for a lyricist.”

IN THIS PHOTO: Da Brat 

Changing the game

Despite the pressures of the industry, trailblazing female artists stayed true to themselves and produced legendary work that continues to influence and define hip-hop today.

When Missy Elliot released her debut album “Supa Dupa Fly” in 1997, not only did the rapper stand out for her unique style, but also for her artistry, which was reflected in her iconic, larger than life performances and music videos -- the first of which was her debut single, “The Rain.”

Da Brat was one of the many artists who made memorable cameos in the video.“Missy has always been way ahead of her time with her thought process,” Da Brat said.

“I love he still to this day for that and what she's done for the culture. She changed the game for women completely.”

Another artist who embraced her individuality in the late 1990s was Lauryn Hill.

Lauryn Hill won five Grammys, a new record for a female singer in a single award ceremo...Read More

Hill, who was a member of The Fugees, took the entire music industry by storm when she launched her solo career with the release of “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” in 1998.

The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, was nominated for 10 Grammy Awards and won five, including Album of the Year.

“Lauryn Hill introduced the aspect of the multi-functioning female artist within hip-hop. I mean, write, produce, rhyme, sing and deliver the artistic vision of it all, too,” Love said.

According to Da Brat, Hill’s “sound shifted the whole game.”

Breaking down barriers

Rap music became more mainstream in the 2000s but female artists struggled to get recognition as record executives signed less women.

“In 2005, I think at some point I did realize or look around and say, where are the women? Because even when I came out, there were a few of us,” Grammy-winning rapper Eve said.

Eve released her debut album, “Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady," in 1999, making history as the third female hip-hop artist to top the Billboard Hot 200 chart.

And although she considers herself “completely lucky” to have the support of Ruff Ryders where she was able to be herself, she struggled to navigate a male-dominated industry.

"When I say male-dominated, I don't mean in front of the cam, those people on stage. I mean the people that you have to sign contracts with, the people that you have to negotiate with," she said.

Nicki Minaj burst onto the scene in 2010 with her debut album “Pink Friday” and her hit single “Super Bass” at a time when mainstream hip-hop was missing female voices.

Over the past decade, she has become one of the top selling female artists of all time, with more than 100 million records sold.

But it wasn’t until the rise of social media that big barriers would break.

A notable example is the rise of Cardi B, who became the only female solo artist to win a Grammy for Best Rap Album.

She was initially known to America as an up-and-coming artist on the reality TV show “Love and Hip-Hop.” But through social media, Cardi B was able to promote her mixtapes, grow her own platform and develop a fan base -- all before scoring a big record deal with Atlantic Records in 2017.

“There are things that artists do now that are fascinating and the way they use social media and the way they can launch their careers by themselves and the way they don't have to wait for a label to sign them,” said radio personality and rapper Angie Martinez. “There is a lot of independence and a lot of amazing things happening in hip-hop now.”

Yung Miami of the hip-hop duo City Girls said that social media is a “big part” of music and platforms like TikTok and Instagram have helped them promote their music.

“I feel like we bring fun music, turn up music, girl power. I feel like we just like empowering women to be the best they can be,” she said.

The group is known for viral singles like “Act Up” and "Twerk,” featuring Cardi B -- both of which are certified platinum.

“When I see all of the women on the top of the charts, it reminds me of back in the day ... back in the nineties when every record label had representation of a female MC,” MC Lyte said.

“I love all those ladies. I love Meg, Nicki, Cardi. I love them all. I love everything that they stand for,” Eve said. “... I don't think you'll see another period like the 2000s where [women] are just gone. That's not going to happen”.

I have not gone as deep as I could have but, to give a sense of how many great women through the years have changed Hip-Hop for the better, I hoper the playlist at the bottom is good and respectful representation. In terms of the pioneers and players, this article is fascinating. It is another great read from last year. Another terrific book about the women of Hip-Hop that was released last year was The Motherlode: 100+ Women Who Made Hip-Hop. It is wonderful reading about the iconic women of Hip-Hop from the early days to now:

“From the start, hip-hop was about storytelling. Just as the sound of the movement was created by the creative repurposing of music that already existed, the success of the genre’s MCs was based on their willingness to shatter old forms and wield the shards to create a new style of self-expression. Male and female rappers alike used wordplay, repetition, and extended metaphor to relate experiences that were dark, violent, romantic, or hopeful, casting themselves as hero, witness, or seer.

But given the music industry’s history of marginalizing the contributions of women, it’s easy to see hip-hop as a boys’ club. Braggadocious lyrics about violence, sex, swagger, and masculinity reign in a space where women, in most cases, are cast as either conquests or a faceless Greek chorus, their own stories largely ignored. But in the early days of the genre, while critics were still deriding hip-hop as a passing fad, female rappers were beginning to make up a formidable piece of the genre’s biology, unapologetically detailing their interpretations and experiences of the world they lived in. They all had distinct variations in style, flow, and lyrical content, but what each woman had in common was a fiercely independent voice and the power to remain consistently and resoundingly herself.

MC Lyte

The first solo rapper to release her own, full-length album, MC Lyte’s Lyte As A Rock dropped in 1988. Lyte’s flow, lyrical precision, and refusal to self-censor gained her industry attention quickly. She has described the scene in its early days as competitive and skill-based, but not without a gender bias. “There may have been times when promoters didn’t want to pay me what I deserved. In a line-up, they didn’t want to put me where my songs warranted me going. But none of it affected me to a degree to where it mattered. There may have been setbacks but I never let them get to me.”

In 1993, “Ruffneck” was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rap Single, making MC Lyte the first female rapper nominated for a Grammy. In recent years, Lyte herself has called for the Female Rap Solo category to be reinstated, saying “it destroys [hip-hop] culture to not have the perspective of a woman.”

Queen Latifah

Part of the New York area’s storied Native Tongues crew, along with the likes of Jungle Brothers, De La Soul, and A Tribe Called Quest, Queen Latifah was one of the earliest female rappers in hip-hop. The Native Tongues collective were known for their socially conscious, largely positive lyrical content, but Latifah made a name for herself talking about issues in the lives of black women. Songs like “Ladies First” and “UNITY,” which discussed domestic violence, street harassment, and the need for coalition-building between females, made the New Jersey native a powerful voice for change.

Monie Love

One of the only other female rappers in Native Tongues, Monie Love and Queen Latifah struck up a fast friendship after Latifah and Native Tongues traveled to the UK, where, at a show, they met the British rapper, who had been making noise in the underground scene there for years. Love eventually joined Native Tongues in New York, where she collaborated with Latifah on “Ladies First,” and released her own album, produced by Afrika Baby Bam. Songs such as “Monie In The Middle” and “RU Single” both slyly and cleverly struck back at expectations and assumptions about black women in relationships without sacrificing the flow.

Salt-N-Pepa

When Cheryl James and Sandra Denton joined forces in 1985, much of the record industry still believed hip-hop was a fad. Calling themselves Salt-N-Pepa, the two put out “The Showstopper,” a response to Doug E Fresh’s hit “The Show.” Clad in short shorts and tight midriff-baring shirts, this duo ruled the sex-positive revolution of the 90s. With songs such as “Push It,” “Do You Really Want Me,” “Let’s Talk About Sex,” and “Shoop,” Salt-N-Pepa were frank and outspoken about their desires and their sexuality, while simultaneously demanding respect, preaching feminist values and speaking out against assault and discrimination.

Bahamadia

One of Philadelphia’s first prominent MCs, Bahamadia, a former producer, was moved to join the rap game after being inspired by the likes of female rappers Salt-N-Pepa and Lady B. Lyrically dexterous with a smooth, unflappable flow, Bahamadia’s verses serve less bombast than her contemporaries, but are no less verbally crafty. Her debut album, 1996’s Kollage was an instant classic, and the very first LP to be co-produced and entirely written by a female rapper. Loaded with deceptively simple beats that reveal their complexity as they weave over, under, around, and through textured melodies, the album is both warm and fresh, full of the jazz and soul influences that have become synonymous with the Philadelphia sound.

Foxy Brown

One of the most distinctive voices in rap, Foxy Brown entered the scene at a mere 15 years old, and first appeared on LL Cool J’s album Mr. Smith , rapping over the remix for “I Shot Ya.” She was signed to Def Jam in ’96, the same year she appeared with Lil’ Kim, Total, and Da Brat on the Bad Boy Remix of “No One Else.” It was also the year her debut album, Ill Na Na, dropped. Critical reviews were mixed but Foxy’s sales were strong, and “Get Me Home” was that rare radio banger with decades of staying power. Like Lil’ Kim, Foxy was frank and outspoken about her sexuality and her desire while still commanding – and demanding – respect.

Lauryn Hill

From the moment critics got their first taste of Lauryn Hill on the 1994 Fugees album, Blunted On Reality, she was hailed as a star. Fellow Fugee Wyclef Jean acknowledged it himself in a verse on 1996’s The Score: “The magazine said the girl shoulda went solo/The guys should stop rapping/Vanish like Menudo.” Hill did go solo, releasing The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill in 1998 to public and critical acclaim. Mixing neo-soul sounds with powerful feminist lyrics, Hill delved deep into the complications inherent in womanhood, motherhood, black femininity, and the music business. Hits like “Doo Wop (That Thing),” “Everything Is Everything,” “Lost Ones” and “Ex-Factor” still sound as fresh and compelling today as they did at the time of their release. Hill hasn’t released an album since a compilation in 2007, but remains an irreplaceable voice in the canon of female rappers.

Lil’ Kim

The woman who rapped “got buffoons eatin’ my pu__y while I watch cartoons” needs no introduction. She hasn’t released a major studio album since 2005, but Kim remains in the canon as one of the most gifted MCs of either gender. Flipping sexual mores on their head, Lil’ Kim twisted the paradigm that said a female rapper had to come with a masculine swagger. Draped in mink and diamonds, lace, and lingerie, Kim embraced the feminine sexual aesthetic that kept many women in the genre locked in the role of “video vixen.” “I’ve always been super sexy and feminine,” Kim told Billboard in 2014. “My record company didn’t understand a female rapper being sexy. They thought I needed to look like MC Lyte, wear sweatsuits and all that.” Instead of changing to fit the mold of female rappers, Lil’ Kim doubled down on her sexuality and used it to unapologetically empower herself in a world of men, whom, in many ways, she still needed in order to access power.

Missy Elliott

With a visual and sonic vocabulary that’s one of a kind, it’s not an exaggeration to say that the southern-born Missy Elliott changed the game. After years of collaboration with the likes of Jodeci, Ginuwine, and Aaliyah, Elliott headed into the studio with childhood friend and longtime collaborator Timbaland to work on her debut album. The result, which took only two weeks, was Supa Dupa Fly, which yielded the radio hit “The Rain.” Laced with inventive wordplay (“I sit on hills like Lauryn”) that sampled Ann Peebles’ 1973 single and with one of the most inventive videos in the history of the medium, “The Rain” was a surprise and a smash.

Elliott’s next album, Da Real World, was equally successful, and her third album, Miss E… So Addictive, gave the world “Get Ur Freak On,” one of the most enduring hits of the decade. Missy’s look – baggy pants, cartoonish silhouettes, and bright colors – added comedy to an often hyper-serious musical genre. She was in stark contrast to many of the newer commercial female rappers who were scantily dressed and hypersexualized, working hard to appeal to a fanbase of young men. Through her unique vision, Missy created a body of work that has cemented her position as one of the legends of modern music.

Roxanne Shante

Roxanne Shanté began rapping at the age of 9, displaying an almost inherent knack for rhyme schemes and flow patterns. This talent earned her acceptance into the widely popular Juice Crew, which included Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, and Kool G Rap. The crew was tough-talking and wouldn’t take slander from anyone, and over the course of the group’s existence, the crew produced many answer records in response to disses and engaged in numerous beefs. They were also a major player in the rise of the posse cut, when each member would handle a verse on an extended song. Shanté was also a frequent collaborator of Marley Marl. Though she practically retired at the age of 25, her monumental impact on the rap game is still felt to this day.

Sha-Rock

Every artist on this list has a rightful claim as a pioneer, but no one had the impact Sha-Rock had. She was quite literally the first female rapper recorded on vinyl, and she was rapping during a time when female MCs just weren’t accepted in any meaningful way. Within the hip-hop community, she has rightfully come to be celebrated as the “Mother of the Mic.” As a member of the first hip-hop crew to appear on television, known as the Funky 4 + 1, her style of delivering raps on early mixtapes influenced notable superstars like MC Lyte and DMC (born Darryl McDaniels) of Run-DMC. McDaniels cited Green as a significant influence on the style of rapping associated with the pioneering group.

Trina

Way back in 1998, Trina was studying to get her real estate license, when she caught the attention of Miami rapper Trick Daddy, who serendipitously recruited her to appear on his track “Nann Ni__a.” The song was released as the lead single from Trick’s second studio album, www.thug.com in 1998, reaching No.3 on the Rap Songs chart. The feature essentially kickstarted Trina’s rap career, leading to a record deal with Slip-n-Slide Records with distribution from Atlantic Records. She released her debut LP, Da Baddest Bitch, two years later, and would forge a career celebrated for its consistency and longevity.

Da Brat

Da Brat’s first major breakthrough occurred when she won the top prize in a local contest in her hometown of Chicago, Illinois, sponsored by Yo! MTV Raps. Her reward? Meeting the wildly popular rap duo Kris Kross. They introduced her to their producer, Jermaine Dupri, who signed Da Brat to his So So Def label. Dupri initially intended to position Da Brat’s image as a “female Snoop Doggy Dogg,” and she became one of the first female rappers to spit openly about her life. Da Brat’s debut album Funkdafied was released in 1994 and entered the Rap Albums chart at No.11. The album went platinum, making her the first female solo rapper to sell one million copies.

Ladybug Mecca

Ladybug Mecca introduced the world to her slick, impossibly cool rhymes as a member of the seminal jazz-rap group Digable Planets. The group signed to Pendulum Records in 1992, and Ladybug, born and raised in Maryland, relocated to Brooklyn to record their debut. That album, Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space) was released in 1993 and certified gold soon after, thanks to the unimpeachable interplay of the members. Ladybug went on to pursue a solo career after the group disintegrated, releasing the brilliant Trip The Light Fantastic in 2005. She continued to collaborate regularly with other musicians, notably on Legacy/Sony’s Billie Holiday Remixed and Reimagined album, Del tha Funkee Homosapien’s Eleventh Hour, and with rap supergroup eMC.

Lady of Rage

The entire rap world could be connected in two steps if every segment traced back to Lady of Rage. The Virginia-born and LA-based MC was pivotal to a number of essential rap movements. She was an integral part of albums from several Death Row Records artists, including Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg on their seminal albums, The Chronic and Doggystyle. Before she departed the rap world to take up acting, Lady of Rage also appeared on a project with Gang Starr, and had a production deal with L.A. Posse, who produced several hits for LL Cool J.

Eve

It can be argued that DMX was the most popular rapper alive in the late 90s. Right by his side was Eve, who in 1999 released her debut album, Let There Be Eve…Ruff Ryders’ First Lady. The project reached No.1 on the Billboard 200, making her (at the time) the third female rapper to accomplish this feat. She continued to be a magnetic force in the Ruff Ryders universe, though she began her career on Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Records. But it wasn’t until the release of her 2000 breakthrough album Scorpion, that she would become a household name.

MC Trouble

LaTasha Sheron Rogers, better known as MC Trouble, left a large legacy during her short life. She became the first female rapper signed to Motown and was an early pioneer for blending hip-hop and R&B styles. Her biggest hit, “(I Wanna) Make You Mine,” featuring the Good Girls, charted at No.15 on the Billboard Rap Charts, but it was her influence on MCs like Q-Tip and Phife Dawg from A Tribe Called Quest, Boys II Men, and more, that resonated so deeply with the rap community. Though she only released one EP and album during her career, she quickly became your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper, a legacy that will live on forever.

Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopes

In 1990, after hearing word of an open casting call for a new girl group through her then-boyfriend, Lisa Lopes moved to Atlanta to audition. Originally starting as a female trio called 2nd Nature, the group was renamed TLC. The members didn’t stick, but Lopes did, recruiting new members and re-branding herself as Left Eye. TLC, obviously, went on to enormous fame, one of the biggest hip-hop and R&B groups on Earth, but Lopes’ deft lyricism as an MC is celebrated by rap aficionados everywhere. Left Eye was planning to work with Death Row Records after TLC split up, even boasting a song with Tupac they recorded before he died. But Lopes died tragically in 1992, leaving behind one of the most successful legacies in rap history – male or female.

Jean Grae

Jean Grae was a massive part of the New York underground in the 90s, and effortlessly began to become an integral member in the 2010s indie scene in part due to her thrilling collaborations with partner Quelle Chris. Back in her early days, Grae built a large, worldwide fanbase thanks to her clever bars and unique delivery. Her unimpeachable lyrical prowess has earned her recognition as a favorite emcee by many stars in the game like Talib Kweli, Jay-Z, and Black Thought of the Roots. Grae was also an influential figure in the movement of artists going independent, first offering all of her guest verses for a fixed fee via Craiglist, and later becoming an early adopter of the artist-friendly platform Bandcamp.

Remy Ma

A Big Pun endorsement goes a long way in rap circles. Remy Ma was one of Pun’s favorite MCs, and after he discovered her talent, she came to prominence for her work as a member of Fat Joe’s group, Terror Squad. She appeared on their second and final album, True Story, released in 2004. Their single “Lean Back” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks and garnered Ma her first Grammy nomination. Her work as a solo artist was equally impactful. There’s Something About Remy: Based on a True Story remains a classic in rap circles.

Gangsta Boo

All hail the queen of Memphis! Long before artists like NLE Choppa and Moneybagg Yo were dominating the scene, Three 6 Mafia were the pioneers of horrorcore in town, and Gangsta Boo was the lone lady stealing the show alongside Project Pat and Juicy J. Outside of her work as a member of Three 6 – which is as impactful as any rap group from the 90s – Boo’s first solo album, Enquiring Minds, was released in 1998 and reached No.15 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and No.46 on the Billboard 200. The album featured the surprise massive hit “Where Dem Dollas At!?”

Amil

Amil came to prominence in the late 1990s as a Jay-Z protege and recorded the single “Can I Get A…” with him from the Rush Hour soundtrack. She got her start after Hova was looking for female vocalists on his album Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life, but when Jay heard Amil freestyle, he decided he didn’t need to look elsewhere for vocalists. It fast-tracked her career, and her solo debut album, A.M.I.L – All Money Is Legal, was released in 2000. The album featured the single “I Got That”, a duet with Beyoncé, and All-Star Roc-A-Fella single “4 Da Fam.”

Rah Digga

Rah Digga came up as a longtime member of the Flipmode Squad, a hip-hop group led by Busta Rhymes. Her debut solo album, Dirty Harriet, was released in 2000 and featured Busta Rhymes and Eve. She also worked with Bahamadia on the track “Be Ok” from Lyricist Lounge, Vol. 1. At that time they were the two leading women of the Lyricist Lounge movement, which also served as the home base for artists such as Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Pharaohe Monch, Common, Lord Have Mercy, Foxy Brown, and Shabaam Sahdeeq.

Mia X

If you like Southern rap, you better know about Mia X. She was the first female emcee to get a contract with Master P’s No Limit Records, and subsequently, started being called the Mother of Southern Gangsta Rap. Aside from her solo output, she has a number of collaborations with several No Limit Records artists under her belt, including Master P and Silkk the Shocker on the seminal Louisiana albums, Ice Cream Man, Ghetto D, and Charge It 2 Da Game.

 Diamond And Princess

Diamond and Princess were members of the Atlanta-based crew Crime Mob. Casual rap fans will likely recognize their groundbreaking hit, “Knuck If You Buck,” though the group’s impact on Atlanta’s sound goes much deeper than just one hit. Rumors have since grown quiet, but the duo was reportedly making music together as recently as 2019.

Yo-Yo

Yo-Yo is one of the first female rappers to openly advocate and be a staunch advocate for the feminism movement in the industry. Much of her music touches on a need for female empowerment and denouncing the frequent sexism and misogyny in rap. Yo-Yo is the protégé of Ice Cube, who helped inspire her political bent. True to form, she dubbed her crew the IBWC, for the Intelligent Black Woman’s Coalition.

Charli Baltimore

Anyone that names themselves after Geena Davis is good in our book. Luckily, Charli Baltimore raps her ass off, too. Her stage name is taken from Geena Davis’s character in the film The Long Kiss Goodnight, which by our estimation, is a total power move. Baltimore began her musical career when she met The Notorious B.I.G. and they became involved in a romantic relationship. Rumor has it that several months into their relationship, she left him a voicemail of a rap verse that she had written and he immediately recognized her natural lyrical abilities. From there, Baltimore became a fixture in the rap scene, releasing her stellar lone studio album, Cold As Ice, in 1999.

Erykah Badu

Erykah Badu glided so smoothly onto the scene with 1997’s Baduizm that you could be forgiven for failing to realize she was about to change the game. Cleverly barbed and artfully built lyrical structures and a jazzy funk-tinged bluesy sound got her branded as the first lady of “neo soul,” a label that makes feeble attempts to describe her sound. It’s exceptionally difficult to describe Badu’s music without resorting to 70s-sounding expressions like “tapestry” or “potpourri,” but it’s even tougher to recall another artist from any era who infused a distinct, modern sensibility with the level of historical richness and references that Badu brings to every project.

Elements of soul, funk, and R&B are brilliantly deployed through rap rhymes and references to hip-hop culture. There’s rarely a genre that can’t find a home on one of her tracks. The music is as layered and polychromatic as the woman herself. If she’s sly and knowing (“You Loving Me”), she’s also vulnerable and seeking (“Out My Mind,” “Just in Time”). She’s the lady who wrote “Tyrone,” perhaps the most poignant song about being done with a dude’s bulls__t ever sung, while “Green Eyes” remains a timorous ballad about the danger of an open heart.

Nicki Minaj

If you want to know what the soil’s like, look at what’s grown on it: Nicki Minaj, Queens native. She’s what happens when 90s predecessors feed your already-sharp tongue, drawling delivery, and the kind of syllable-stacking honed-blade verbal dexterity that forces Kanye to let you show him up on his own track. Her domination of the verse is absolute, and her aesthetic sensibilities are one of a kind. If her talent weren’t enough, her insight makes her additionally formidable. Her off-the-cuff remarks on the now-viral video known as “the pickle juice clip” were an astute and poignant distillation of the absurdity of double standards in the music industry – but really in any workplace – and her comments about a culture that chastised women for the same behavior it encourages in men feels eerily prescient. Her early works have been a proving ground and, with a new batch of singles under her belt (“Changed It,” “No Frauds,” “Regret In Your Tears”), Minaj seems in every way to be poised for long-term success.

New school artists: Azelia Banks, Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B, Doja Cat, and more

As the hip-hop scene continues to star more female rappers, we thought it would only be right to list a few of our favorites, like the groundbreaking Azelia Banks, whose anthem “212” became the official song of New York shortly after it was released. Then there’s Megan Thee Stallion, who has not only become the most exciting female rapper out of Houston, but arguably the best rapper in the city, period. Her “WAP” collab with Cardi B became an instant classic upon its release in 2020. Doja Cat has topped the Billboard chart and racked up Grammy Award nominations. We’re also partial to Miami’s City Girls (Yung Miami and JT), who create dancefloor anthems at every opportunity, and Tierra Whack who has melded the avant-garde and mainstream in a thrilling and fascinating way. Some of our other favorites include Rico Nasty, Latto (FKA Mulatto), Lakeyah, Buffalo rapper Armani Caesar, Flo Milli, and more”.

Maybe it seems like a bit of a cheat when I take an entire article! I could not short-change the remarkable words and work that illustrate and emphasise the importance of women in Hip-Hop. To this day, I feel women are at the vanguard. They are the most creative and compelling. Many think that it is the men and male groups who have defined Hip-Hop. From researching and reading, I would say it is the stunning and innovative women who have made the biggest mark! I feel that the Hip-Hop community…

OWE them such a debt.

FEATURE: What I Can Do for You: Sheryl Crow at Sixty: Her Ultimate Collection

FEATURE:

 

 

What I Can Do for You

PHOTO CREDIT: Ryan Pfluger/The New York Times/Redux

Sheryl Crow at Sixty: Her Ultimate Collection

___________

ONE of my favourite artists ever…

celebrates her sixtieth birthday on 11th February. Not to bring too much emphasis on age but, as Sheryl Crow is marking a big birthday, it gives me a chance to mark her enormous impact and share some of her music. I love everything Crow has produced through the years, but one of the first albums I really fell for was 1998’s The Globe Sessions. Previously, Crow worked as a backing singer on the Michael Jackson Bad tour. She went on to sell more than fifty million albums worldwide and garnered nine Grammy Awards from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. I want to showcase her magnificent work through the years with a playlist at the end. Prior to that, and as I am prone to do, AllMusic’s biography provides huge detail about the Missouri-born songwriter:

“Sheryl Crow's fresh, updated spin on classic roots rock made her one of the most popular mainstream rockers of the '90s. Her albums were loose and eclectic on the surface, yet generally tied together with polished, professional songcraft. Crow's sunny, good-time rockers and world-weary ballads were radio staples for much of the '90s, and she was a perennial favorite at Grammy time. Although her songwriting style was firmly anchored to the rock tradition, she wasn't a slave to it -- her free-associative, reference-laden poetry could hardly have been the product of any other era but the '90s. Her production not only kept pace with contemporary trends, but sometimes even pushed the envelope of what sounds could be heard on a classicist rock album, especially her self-titled sophomore effort. All of this made Crow one of the most dependable stars of the decade, and she showed no signs of relinquishing her hard-won success in the new millennium.

Sheryl Suzanne Crow was born February 11, 1962, in Kennett, Missouri. Her parents had both performed in swing orchestras, her father on trumpet and her mother as a singer; her mother was also a piano teacher, and ensured that all her daughters learned the instrument starting in grade school. Crow wrote her first song at age 13, and majored in music at the University of Missouri, where she also played keyboards in a cover band called Cashmere. After graduating, she spent a couple of years in St. Louis working as a music teacher for autistic children. She sang with another cover band, P.M., by night, and also recorded local advertising jingles on the side. In 1986, Crow packed up and moved to Los Angeles to try her luck in the music business. She was able to land some more jingle-singing assignments, and got her first big break when she successfully auditioned to be a backup singer on Michael Jackson's international Bad tour. In concert, she often sang the female duet part on "I Just Can't Stop Loving You," and was inaccurately rumored by the tabloids to have been Jackson's lover. After spending two years on the road with Jackson, Crow resumed her search for a record deal, but found that record companies were only interested in making her a dance-pop singer, which was not at all to her taste.

Frustrated, Crow suffered a bout of severe depression that lasted about six months. She revived her career as a session vocalist, however, and performed with the likes of Sting, Rod Stewart, Stevie Wonder, Foreigner, Joe Cocker, Sinéad O'Connor, and Don Henley, the latter of whom she toured with behind The End of the Innocence. She also developed her songwriting skills enough to have her compositions recorded by the likes of Wynonna Judd, Céline Dion, and Eric Clapton. Thanks to her session work, she made a connection with producer Hugh Padgham, who got her signed to A&M. Padgham and Crow went into the studio in 1991 to record her debut album, but Padgham's pop leanings resulted in a slick, ballad-laden record that didn't reflect the sound Crow wanted. The album was shelved, and fearing that she'd let her best opportunity slip through her fingers, Crow sank into another near-crippling depression that lingered for nearly a year and a half. However, thanks to boyfriend Kevin Gilbert, an engineer who'd attempted to remix her ill-fated album, Crow fell in with a loose group of industry pros that included Gilbert, Bill Bottrell, David Baerwald, David Ricketts, Brian MacLeod, and Dan Schwartz. Dubbed the Tuesday Night Music Club, this collective met once a week at Bottrell's Pasadena recording studio to drink, jam, and work out material. In this informal, collaborative setting, Crow was able to get her creative juices flowing again, and the group agreed to make its newest member -- the only one with a recording contract -- the focal point.

Crow and the collective worked out enough material for an album, and with Bottrell serving as producer, she recorded her new official debut, titled Tuesday Night Music Club in tribute. The record was released in August 1993 and proved slow to take off. Lead single "Run Baby Run" made little impact, and while "Leaving Las Vegas" attracted some attention, it reached only the lower half of the charts. A&M took one last shot by releasing "All I Wanna Do," a song partly written by poet Wyn Cooper, as a single. With its breezy, carefree outlook, "All I Wanna Do" became one of the biggest summer singles of 1994, falling just one position short of number one. Suddenly, Tuesday Night Music Club started flying out of stores, and spawned a Top Five follow-up hit in "Strong Enough" (plus another minor single in "Can't Cry Anymore"). Crow was a big winner at the Grammys in early 1995, taking home honors for Best New Artist, Best Female Rock Vocal, and Record of the Year (the latter two for "All I Wanna Do"). Her surprising sweep pushed Tuesday Night Music Club into the realm of genuine blockbuster, as its sales swept past the seven million mark. After close to a decade of dues-paying, Crow was a star.

Unfortunately, success came at a price. In 1994, Crow had been invited to perform "Leaving Las Vegas" on Late Night with David Letterman. In a brief interview segment, Letterman asked if the song was autobiographical, and Crow offhandedly agreed that it was. In actuality, the song was mostly written by David Baerwald, based on the book by his good friend John O'Brien (which had also inspired the film). Having been burned by the industry already, some of the Tuesday Night Music Club took Crow's comment as a refusal to give proper credit for their contributions. Baerwald in particular felt betrayed, and things only got worse when O'Brien committed suicide not long after Crow's Letterman appearance. Although O'Brien's family stepped forward to affirm that Crow had nothing to do with the tragedy, the rift with Baerwald was already irreparable. Some Club members bitterly charged that Crow's role in the collaborative process was rather small, and that the talent on display actually had little to do with her. Tragedy struck again in 1996 when Crow's ex-boyfriend, Kevin Gilbert, was found dead of autoerotic asphyxiation.

Stung by the accusations, Crow set out to prove her legitimacy with her second album when the heavy touring for Tuesday Night Music Club finally ended. Bill Bottrell was originally slated to produce the record, but fell out with Crow very early on, and the singer ended up taking over production duties herself. However, she did bring in the noted team of Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake as assistant producer and engineer, respectively. Froom and Blake were known for the strange sonic experimentation they brought to projects by roots rockers (the Latin Playboys) and singer/songwriters (Richard Thompson, Suzanne Vega), and they helped Crow craft a similarly non-traditional record. Released in the fall of 1996, Sheryl Crow definitely bore the stamp of the singer's personality and songwriting voice, especially in the idiosyncratic lyrics; plus, she was now doing most of the writing, usually with her guitarist, Jeff Trott, proving that she could cut it without her estranged collaborators. The singles "If It Makes You Happy," "Everyday Is a Winding Road," and "A Change Would Do You Good" were all radio smashes, and "Home" also became a minor hit. Sheryl Crow went triple platinum, and Crow brought home Grammys for Best Rock Album and another Best Female Rock Vocal (for "If It Makes You Happy").

Crow toured with the Lilith Fair package during the summer of 1997 (the first of several tours), and subsequently wrote and performed the title theme to the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies. In the fall of 1998, she returned with her third album, The Globe Sessions. A more straightforward, traditionalist rock record than Sheryl Crow, The Globe Sessions didn't dominate the airwaves in quite the same fashion, but it did become her third straight platinum-selling, Top Ten LP, and it won her another Grammy for Best Rock Album. It also spawned two mid-sized hits in the Top 20: "My Favorite Mistake" and "Anything But Down." In 1999, she contributed a Grammy-winning cover of Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child o' Mine" to the soundtrack of the Adam Sandler comedy Big Daddy. She also performed a special free concert in New York's Central Park, with an array of guest stars including Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Chrissie Hynde, the Dixie Chicks, Stevie Nicks, and Sarah McLachlan. The show was broadcast on Fox and later released as the album Live in Central Park, just in time for the holidays. "There Goes the Neighborhood" won her another Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal; however, partly because of some shaky performances, the album flopped badly, not even going gold.

 Hit with a case of writer's block, Crow took some time to deliver her fourth studio LP. In the meantime, she produced several tracks on Stevie Nicks' 2001 album, Trouble in Shangri-La, and also recorded a duet with Kid Rock, "Picture," for his album Cocky. Finally, in the spring of 2002, Crow released C'mon C'mon, which entered the LP charts at number two for her highest positioning yet. It quickly went platinum, and the lead single, "Soak Up the Sun," was a Top 20 hit and another ubiquitous radio smash. The follow-up, "Steve McQueen," was also a lesser hit. At the beginning of 2005 it was announced that there would be two simultaneously released new albums available by the end of the year. The project was then scaled back to the single-disc Wildflower, which saw release at the end of September. Crow was forced to take time off from her musical career in 2006 after being diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer. After successful treatment, she returned in 2008 with her sixth studio album, Detours. The soul-inspired 100 Miles from Memphis followed in 2010 and featured guest spots from Keith Richards, Justin Timberlake, and Citizen Cope. By the end of that year she had performed with Loretta Lynn and Miranda Lambert on the title track of a Lynn tribute album, Coal Miner's Daughter. This country-focused collaboration was an early indicator of the direction that Crow's work would eventually take in the years that followed.

A creatively quiet 2011 ended with her appearance on William Shatner's space-themed third studio album, Seeking Major Tom. Crow's delicate, piano-fueled cover of K.I.A.'s "Mrs. Major Tom" was generally received by critics as one of the highlights of the disc. Then, in summer 2012, she revealed details of another health scare. Although Crow had been diagnosed with a brain tumor at the end of 2011, it was found to be benign, and six months on she was quoted in many news reports as feeling healthy and happy. That November she issued the download-only, politically charged "Woman in the White House." It was her first self-penned material to appear in a couple of years and was her most out-and-out mainstream country track to date. March 2013 saw the release of "Easy," the first single to appear ahead of Feels Like Home, a country-steeped full-length that appeared in September of 2013. Feels Like Home debuted at seven on the Billboard Top 200 -- and number three on the country chart -- but generated no country hits, so Crow changed direction for 2017's Be Myself by reuniting with her '90s collaborators Tchad Blake and Jeff Trott. The politically charged 2018 single "Wouldn't Want to Be Like You" saw Crow pairing up with St. Vincent's Annie Clark. That track later landed on her star-studded duets album, Threads, which recruited a wide array of guest artists including Stevie Nicks, Bonnie Raitt, Mavis Staples, Chuck D, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, and Willie Nelson. Upon its September 2019 release, Threads debuted at number 30 on the Billboard Top 200”.

Many happy returns to Sherly Crow for 11th Feature. Although Crow intended for 2019’s Threads to be her finback studio album, one can never rule out more music. It would be a shame if we heard the last of this amazing musician! Even though she has not released an album since then, she has released singles, collaborated and appeared on other tracks. I am a huge fan of hers, so it is good to be able to compile a playlist of her excellent music. Here is a selection of Crow cuts that proves what a…

UNIQUE artist she is.

FEATURE: Kate Bush: The Iconic Shots: Before the Dawn, 2014 (Ken McKay)

FEATURE:

 

 

Kate Bush: The Iconic Shots

PHOTO CREDIT: Ken McKay 

Before the Dawn, 2014 (Ken McKay)

___________

I wanted to return to this feature…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Ken McKay 

for one more outing. I have been looking at photographs that, I feel, capture Bush in extraordinary situations. Iconic because of the composition or setting, this part takes me back to 2014. Her Before the Dawn residency in Hammersmith was the last real time anyone heard anything live from Bush. In fact, it is the most recent time we heard music from her at all. 2011’s 50 Words for Snow is her latest album, and she followed it with an incredible and unexpected return to the stage in 2014. I have already included a very nice shot from her first huge live outing, 1979’s The Tour of Life. In 1979, Bush was very much a musical pioneer. I don’t think the world had really seen a Pop concert like this. Madonna is often credited with reinventing what a Pop gig could be with her 1990 Blond Ambition World Tour. In fact, a lot of factors that people pick up can be traced to The Tour of Life! The wireless headset/mic was something Bush and her team pioneered. The thing about changing outfits and sets for each songs was also something Bush did. She also, before Madonna in 1990, mixed magic, mime, theatre, cabaret and dance. We do not credit Bush and her crew with what other artists are being credited for! Because of that, I think the photos from The Tour of Life are really important. Also, as that same innovator was still blowing people away and raising the bat thirty-five years after she first did, the shots captured during those twenty-two Hammersmith dates are vital.

The one I have chosen is from Ken McKay. I am going to come to a review for Before the Dawn, as it helps frame and contextualise the image. There were some great shots taken at Hammersmith (Bush returning to the same venue she was at in 1979, despite the fact it is the Eventim Apollo). I really like McKay shot, as the set and colours behind Bush are like the sun rising. She is almost welcoming in the day, at the same time as commanding the stage. I know she said how nervous she was when she was performing each night. The lift and warmth from the audience touched her. I am not sure which number Bush is performing in the photo, though you can tell that she is in her stride and drinking it in. Capturing her in an arena at a very special time for a live event that we will never see her repeat, it is one for the memory chest for sure! I was not quick or lucky enough to get a ticket…but, as Alexis Petridis notes when writing for The Guardian, Kate Bush and her musicians/cast pulled off something remarkable:

“Backed by a band of musicians capable of navigating the endless twists and turns of her songwriting – from funk to folk to pastoral prog rock - the performances of Running Up That Hill and King of the Mountain sound almost identical to their recorded versions - but letting rip during a version of Top of the City, she sounds flatly incredible.

You suspect that even if she hadn't, the audience would have lapped it up. Audibly delighted to be in the same room as her, they spend the first part of the show clapping everything she does: no gesture is too insignificant to warrant a round of applause. It would be cloying, but for the fact that Bush genuinely gives them something to cheer about.

For someone who's spent the vast majority of her career shunning the stage, she's a hugely engaging live performer, confident enough to shun the hits that made her famous in the first place: she plays nothing from her first four albums.

The staging might look excessive on paper, but onstage it works to astonishing effect, bolstering rather than overwhelming the emotional impact of the songs. The Ninth Wave is disturbing, funny and so immersive that the crowd temporarily forget to applaud everything Bush does. As each scene bleeds into another, they seem genuinely rapt: at the show's interval, people look a little stunned. A Sky of Honey is less obviously dramatic – nothing much happens over the course of its nine tracks – but the live performance underlines how beautiful the actual music is.

Already widely acclaimed as the most influential and respected British female artist of the past 40 years, shrouded in the kind of endlessly intriguing mystique that is almost impossible to conjure in an internet age, Bush theoretically had a lot to lose by returning to the stage. Clearly, given how tightly she has controlled her own career since the early 80s, she would only have bothered because she felt she had something spectacular to offer. She was right: Before The Dawn is another remarkable achievement”.

In a career spanning nearly five decades, there have been so many iconic and unforgettable images of Kate Bush. I want to finally end this feature with a shot from the last time Bush performed in public. It is one of the more recent photos of her. After 2014, there is the odd shot, though none of her performing. It is almost a time capsule and end of a chapter looking at the snaps from the 2014 residency. Ken McKay helped immortalise a national treasure delivering music that, to many, was akin to a sermon or prayer! One can almost feel the electricity, atmosphere and sheer passion that would have been in the London night back in 2014. Like she was in 1979 (paving the way for the likes of Madonna in terms of spectacle and busting the boundaries of the live experience), Kate Bush’s Before the Dawn in 2014 proved that she was…

SUCH an innovator and ground-breaker.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Tora-i

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: Alfie White & Rashidi Noah 

Tora-i

___________

I will bring in some bands soon…

but, when thinking about the artists who are going to be big this year, my mind goes to solo artists. Today, I wanted to highlight the word of the amazing Tora-i. I have a few interviews and features that I want to drop in. The London-based R&B artist is someone who definitely lit a fuse last year. She has been courting a lot of attention with tracks like Serial and PBFF. I am new to her work, though I already recognise her as one of the most promising young artists in the country. It is no wonder that, last year, AWAL were keen to sign a deal with Tora-i. This Music Week article explains more:

“AWAL has signed a new worldwide deal with Tora-i, offering the emerging R&B artist its full range of services.

Real name Tora Lambie, Tora-i, is a 21-year old East Londoner influenced by Mariah Carey, Outkast and more. She released debut EP Cavalierlast yearand has enjoyed support from a range of platforms including No Signal, Complex and more.

Tora-i has a new single, Serial, out now and will play All Points East Festival in August 2021.

AWAL president Paul Hitchman said: "AWAL is increasingly the partner of choice for breakthrough artists with important things to say. Tora-i is a supremely talented and inspirational artist who has huge potential and a unique creative vision. We believe there is no limit to what she can achieve in partnership with AWAL."

We believe there is no limit to what she can achieve

Paul Hitchman, AWAL

Eve Fairley-Chickwe, AWAL senior A&R manager, added: “Tora-i is an incredible artist, and a true creative across every aspect of her music and visuals. It's been amazing to see Tora-i steadily gain traction as an independent artist and start to build an audience here in the UK as well as in the United States. With her new music we are set to see her further evolve in her sound and style."

Pierre Bost, owner of Out Deh Management, commented: "From the release of her debut project Cavalier to now, Tora-i has built an impressive audience and AWAL is the perfect home for her to be empowered as a creative independent artist as well as continue to build globally”.

There might be those of you who are new to Tora-i and want to know more about her sound and background. She is an artist with her own vibe. One that, once heard, gets into the head! Although there is not a tonne of interviews available from Tora-i, the ones that there are reveal quite a bit. CHECK-OUT spoke with the London-based wonder around the release of her single, Serial:

“Jeffrey Thomson: How would you describe your sound?

Tora-i: An experimental soulful experience.

JT: What’s your first memory of music?

Ti: Listening to the radio with my parents.

JT: Just over a year has passed since you dropped your debut single, Vein. How has your life changed since then?

Ti: Crazy to think it’s been a year, in pandemic time that’s like six weeks so technically it wasn’t really thaaat long ago. I don’t feel any major changes though, people know that my music exists, that's about it.

JT: What do you hope people will take away from your songs?

Ti: I want them to feel understood.

JT: What advice would you give to other young female artists trying to make it in music?

Ti: Don’t mek anyone tek yu fi eediat! Bring family or someone you trust along to help and also so you don’t give the impression of being alone, that way people can’t try and take advantage of you. It’s hard not to live on defence but you have to ensure you’re protected. Learn an instrument and/or produce. And don’t worry about proving yourself to anyone, if your intention is pure it’ll happen naturally”.

Before I close things off, there is another interview that I want to bring in. TEETH spoke with Tora-i back in November. It is the deepest and most extensive interview with her so far. Among other things, Tora-i spoke about the new track, PBFF:

“Tora-i exudes authenticity and procures a confident development in her sound. With jazz and funk elements echoing through her R&B and pop melodies, this artist has continuously developed her sound in a progressive and alternative fashion. With talent and a love for corresponding visual art in the form of music videos, Tora-i brings sultry, smooth production to her effortless vocals that provide easy and intriguing listening to her audience.

The intimate creativity of Tora-i’s intentional art has captivated audiences and produced impressive streaming numbers, including over 5 million streams on Spotify alone for her debut EP, Cavalier. The celebration of beauty and womanhood can be visually and audibly endured in her music, within her straightforward songwriting. She embodies the phrase, “empathy with a sharp tongue,” in her honesty. The magnetic power of Tora-i’s music is impeccably represented by her endearing and personable disposition.

Tell me about your creative influences, both inside the walls of music but also outside in general art and creativity.

I would say they range… I think when I was younger I used to be like, ‘Oh, this is my one-person [or] this is my one-person.’ But I think as I’ve gotten older, you just take things from different people or just by life, you’re just inspired by different things. I think the artists that influenced me are usually people that are not just specific in music, they are more well-rounded and have dabbled in other things. So I would say like Prince or Frank Ocean or Andre 3000… that’s a lot of men… Solange. Yeah, those are the ones that come to my head.

PHOTO CREDIT: Alfie White & Rashidi Noah 

Your stage name is ‘Tora-i,’ could you tell me a little bit about the origin of that name?

My parents picked the name ‘Tora’ because it means ‘strong’ and ‘tiger’ in Japanese. So that’s where they found that name. As I’ve gotten older I’ve realized there are lots of different meanings but that’s why they picked it.

Who is your dream collaboration? You can give a top three.

This is a hard one, you know. Okay… I think some part of me is like, ‘What if I meet them and start fangirling and that’s annoying.’ Top collaboration, I would say James Fon*, for helping me write a song, he would be one of the top ones. Andre 3000, yeah, a verse from him would be, like, it. And then… I’m just going to say those two.

In regards to your upcoming music, what can you tell me about your creative process, what is the messaging behind it? In collaboration with that, will there be a music video associated with this song?

So, “PBFF” is about the marks that we leave on each other that you don’t really heed of until the other person’s gone. It was written in a relationship sense but I think, and I wrote it a while ago, but now that I’m out of that space and I’ve heard it a lot of times now, it can relate to a lot of different things. Just general life, like we all have an effect on each other. That’s more significant than I think we pay attention to. I guess now we feel like, in the last couple of years, we are very singular and isolated, we are living our own life. Everything’s about being self… I guess as people, as humans, I think we’re meant to be community-led and yeah, it is just about that.

There will be a video, I don’t think I’m going to do a video every single time, but there is a video for this one”.

I think that, perhaps, PBFF is the finest song from Tora-i. It is a song that I have been listening to a lot since it came out late last year. I am not publishing this feature until late in January (I am writing this on 11th January), so there may be announcements regarding new work between now and then. As this article rightly states, PBFF is a captivating listen:

“London’s rising songstress Tora-i, formally known as Tora, has recently graced supporters with the release of her brand new captivating single named, “PBFF”.

Exploring a difficult relationship with someone, Tora-i dives into the decisions you have to make amidst the aftermath of it all and what lessons you can takeaway from doing so. Housing an ethereal and laid-back production courtesy of LA beat-smith Josh Grant, Tora-i’s raspy yet rich vocal tone takes centre stage in this captivating listen.

Speaking on the release, Tora-i commented, “PBFF is about acknowledging the lasting effect that people can have on you & rather than it being a permanent stamp it’s about choosing what to take from them as you move forward”.

A sensational talent who is among the absolute pride of London, make sure that you get involved with Tora-i’s work. She is an incredible and tantalising proposition that is going to keep making strides through 2022. I cannot wait to see where she heads! Although most of Tori-i’s fanbase are U.K.-based right now, her stunning music is gripping people…

ALL around the world.

 _______________

Follow Tora-i

PHOTO CREDIT: Alfie White & Rashidi Noah 

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/toradifrance/

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/toradifrance

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/toradifrance

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz_xxwLr6YNKLdKAernHPMQ

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/4oJsWKOJCNMfUbIpR2jk8Z?si=NIQiK29JTauN39XJfdCCzQ

FEATURE: Paul McCartney at Eighty: Paul McCartney and Me: The Interviews: Roy Kerr

FEATURE:

 

 

Paul McCartney at Eighty

IN THIS PHOTO: Paul McCartney in 1964/PHOTO CREDIT: RA/Lebrecht Music & Arts 

Paul McCartney and Me: The Interviews: Roy Kerr

___________

I have already begun…

a forty-feature run that leads to Paul McCartney’s eightieth birthday on 18th June. In addition to features about The Beatles, Wings, his solo material, in addition to why he is such a legend, inspirational human and genius, I am interviewing various amazing people. I ask what Paul McCartney means to them, and when they first experienced his music. In this interview, Roy Kerr discusses working with McCartney, touring with him as a support act, in addition to working on the Twin Freaks album. In a deep and illuminating interview, Roy speaks passionately and fondly about…

THE magnificent Paul McCartney.

____________

Hi Roy. In the lead-up to Paul McCartney’s eightieth birthday on 18th June, I am interviewing different people about their love of his music and when they first discovered the work of a genius. When did you first discover Paul McCartney’s music? Was it a Beatles, Wings or solo album that lit that fuse?

I was first aware of The Beatles through my dad. He was a huge fan, especially of the early stuff. At university, I fell in love with their later more experimental/anthemic music.

I honestly didn’t know much about Wings or his solo work until I started DJing in the early-2000s (other than the huge chart hits). That was when I started to truly appreciate his individual talent and thirst for experimentation.

Like me, you must have been engrossed by The Beatles: Get Back on Disney+. How did it change your impression of The Beatles at that time, and specifically Paul McCartney’s role and influence on the rest of the band?

Mainly how much love they clearly still had for each other. That and the humour…

All I’d ever known was stories of them fighting and sniping, and it was so lovely to see them joking in spite of the clear differences. Having got to know Paul a little bit, his managerial behaviour didn’t surprise me all that much. I was impressed by his grace under pressure, though. It can’t have been easy being so young - and yet he clearly had the oldest head in comparison to the others.

On tour, he always spoke lovingly of John and Yoko (which surprised me, having only read gossipy anecdotes), so I was a little prepared. I’m still gobsmacked at him coming up with Get Back out of thin air though!

That film should be a permanent exhibit in The British Museum imho…

I know that you worked with McCartney between 2004 and 2007. How did that come about? Did you two know about one another prior to 2004?

It was a complete bolt from the blue!

My manager said he was looking for a tour DJ for an upcoming European tour and a bunch of us submitted mixtapes. I did a 5-minute megamix (cut-n-paste job), which I think worked in my favour.

The others did longer 40-60 minute mixes I believe, and I don’t think he would have sat through all of them. Plus, I was having a bit of a moment as mashup artist/DJ, so was being featured in magazines and on radio.

I got a call at home one night from one of his people and they said “Paul will call you in about half an hour”. And he did. We had a quick chat. He was lovely. He invited me to MPL (his offices in Soho) and we hit it straight off!

As a D.J./support act during the 2004 Summer European tour (including Glastonbury) and the Back to the U.S. arena tour in America in 2005, what was life like on the road with McCartney? Do you have any favourite memories of that time?

It was the most incredible experience.

My first rehearsal was at The Millennium Dome (now the O2) in London. They had a full (stadium-sized) stage set up inside an otherwise completely empty void. We were using bikes and scooters to get around, it was so vast. From then on I was treated like one of the band. It was all private jets and police escorts and Four Seasons hotels. I still pinch myself all these years later. He was so lovely and welcoming. Everyone was. He’s very disarming and gentle, but you know there’s a steely centre and you have to be at the top of your game. Everyone there was at the top of their game.

My favourite memory was when my parents joined me in New York. We did several nights at Madison Square Garden. I had my own dressing room. My mum and dad came to soundcheck and started dancing to some of the old rock ‘n roll warm-up songs Paul and the band would play.

Paul called out to them from the stage “Is that Mr & Mrs Hellraiser?!” After the show that night he met them, and he told my dad that I was a genius! My dad never really understood what I was up to with my DJing and remixes etc…but that trip changed everything.

 You made the Twin Freaks album with him where there are great remixes of some of his tracks. What was the criteria when it came to selecting the songs to remix? How much input did McCartney have when it came to the overall sound/track sequencing?

He gave me absolute free reign to do whatever I wanted.

The only stipulations were no Beatles stuff and I wasn’t to play any original music over any of it. But I got full access (including any multitracks I wanted) to all the Wings and solo catalogue (including later experimental projects such as The Fireman with the producer Youth). I was a bit cheeky by including Live and Let Die, because he didn’t own the multis to that (the Broccoli family do), but I just snipped the intro and looped it like an old Beatles loop and he loved it.

He even cheekily played it live once at soundcheck and I nearly fainted.

What was it like working with his team when putting the album together? Did you learn anything new about Paul McCartney’s music and importance during the making of Twin Freaks?

His team were wonderful.

I had my own tech on tour, Jamie, who had worked for Paul for some years, and anything I needed I got. I offered some fairly creative suggestions (I thought of having masks based on his Twin Freaks painting), and they all helped me every step of the way. I never felt like the new boy or a pain in the arse. I was surprised at how much electronica there was in his sound. Loads of amazing synths and textures. Plus all the collaborations; Stevie Wonder and Jimmy Page and others.

If you had to select your favourite Beatles, Wings and McCartney albums (one each), which would they be and why?

So tough…

Having just finished the doc., I bought the remastered/mixed albums again on vinyl and fell in love with The White Album again but, for all times, probably Revolver.

For Wings it would be Band on the Run. Mainly for the American tour, because I’d heard those songs growing up but never understood the impact they’d had until I saw them played to an American audience. He’d open with Jet right after I finished my set.

As for his solo stuff, it was McCartney II that I’d discovered through DJing electroclash parties in the early-2000s, and it properly blew me away. Still does.

Maybe an impossible question, but what does Paul McCartney, as a human and songwriting icon, personally mean to you?

As a human, he was so welcoming and open to me. He got to know my wife and young daughter (similar age to his youngest), and after all the touring he would invite me out for his boys nights out in London and Sussex. I bumped into him in St. Johns Wood a couple of years ago and he was still so warm and friendly. We had a lovely catch up walking to Pret together!

As an artist, I really think he’ll go down as our greatest ever songwriter and be thought of like one of the great classical composers for decades to come. Clearly, there are all the hits but also his endless thirst for experimentation and new frontiers too, which I think has become more understood and appreciated over time. His latest work is a reflection of that.

“He’s never happy to just simply do what others have done”.

It is difficult to say just how far and wide McCartney’s influence spans across music, culture and the world at large. If you were trying to explain to a child (or someone who had never heard of Paul McCartney) who was unaware of Paul McCartney why they should listen to his music, what would you say?

Funnily enough, my wife is a child-minder, and she loves to play her kids music. I wondered why she’d never made a Beatles kids playlist. I made her one including The Frog Chorus and a load of Beatles, and the kids love it. So, you can go from pre-schoolers to songs that make 80-year-olds cry and become 18 again, and Avant Garde songs that make young experimenters’ minds boggle. I’m not sure there’s ever been any (non-classical) composer like that. Ever.

He’s never happy to just simply do what others have done.

If you had the chance to interview Paul McCartney now and ask him any one question, what would that be?

I would want to know if he’d ever wanted to swap it all for anonymity.

He’s been famous around the world since he was a teenager and, for all the wealth and accolades, I can’t imagine the stress and strain that it has put on his personal relationships and privacy.

If you could get a single gift for McCartney for his eightieth birthday, what would you get him?

Probably a nice tasty Margarita.

To end, I will round off the interview with a Macca song. It can be anything he has written or contributed to. Which song should I end with?

Selfishly, I’ll go with Oh Woman Oh Why from Twin Freaks. This was always my opener, and it takes me back to a dark, packed, expectant stadium. It’s a full-body sensation I’ll never forget, and this one instantly takes me there.

FEATURE: Second Spin: Charli XCX - Sucker

FEATURE:

 

 

Second Spin

Charli XCX - Sucker

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THIS is an album…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Emma Swann

that was positively reviewed when it came out in 2014, though the songs from it are not played as much as they should be now. In fact, when people talk about the very best albums of the 2010s, how many mention Charli XCX’s Sucker? Her second studio album, it was an incredibly accomplished, confident and exceptional release from the twenty-two-year-old Cambridge-born artist (real name Charlotte Emma Aitchison). Even though, years after the album came out, that she felt some of it felt fake now (2018), I feel it is a great album that solidified the status of one of the world’s best young Pop artists. Although subsequent albums have been truer to Charli XCX’s true talents and potential, Sucker is a brilliant album that should be hyped! I want to get to a couple of contrasting reviews for the 2014 album soon. Most of the reviews were very positive, though a few were a bit more mixed. Prior to that, there are a couple of interviews from around the release of Sucker that I want to bring in. COMPLEX covered an artist who was definitely ion the rise:

“Charli’s songwriting process is astoundingly spontaneous and reactive: Listening to a beat for the first time, she sings and records whatever comes out. Sometimes there are additional takes, but not always.

There’s a distinctly electric, kinetic quality to “I Love It,” the hook to “Fancy,” and “Boom Clap”—they’re built for parties and mixtapes, totally singable anthems. Incredibly, when lacking anything remotely resembling self-consciousness, Charli XCX produces hits that resonate around the world. But what about her more deliberate, self-conscious efforts?

True Romance, released in April 2013, didn’t have any hits, per se. The album had catchy songs about relationships destroyed and young, dumb love—common pop wheelhouse stuff. It was the packaging that set her album apart to its vocal admirers, many of whom were music critics. Lush, dreamy soundscapes and bedroom-ceiling musings with the coolest girl in school, finely produced to a tee, with each note exuding Charli’s naturally charismatic, smart edges. Maybe too smart. The album was a critical success, but despite building Charli’s devoted following, it struggled commercially, never cracking the Billboard 200. She loves True Romance but admits to making music in a way she’s not entirely proud of: “I just wanted to make sure people thought I was cool,” she says. “That’s what I was worried about.”

Charli went to Sweden. She recorded those punk songs. She stopped caring about pleasing critics or becoming famous. After turning down so many people in the industry for writing work, she decided to work with whomever she felt like, appearances notwithstanding. She wrote for Britney Spears and with Dr. Luke. Iggy Azalea’s people sent her a beat. Charli was a fan of Iggy’s song “Work.” She wrote several hooks to the beat. “I had that rap in my head, the ‘Who dat, who dat? I-G-G-Y,’” she says. “I was like, that’s fucking cool. Then I just did my thing.”

Her “thing” resulted in yet another No. 1 single. And her not giving a fuck resulted in new sessions, with Batmanglij, Cuomo, and über-producer Stargate, that birthed material for a new album, Sucker, to be released this fall. She acknowledges that some people—maybe even some of her core fans, Charli’s Angels, as they call themselves—might not like it, that it might be too pop for them. “Some people will look at that like, ‘She’s working with Stargate, she’s sold out.’ That’s the kind of person I used to be—and now I think that kind of person is fucking retarded.”

Of course, mixed in with all of the work, there’s semblance of a life. She still has a handful of close friends who “literally do not give a fuck about Charli XCX” and a few real friends she’s made in the music industry. It’s a close circle. Charli considers herself an awkward person, or at least has felt like one lately. She’s had panic attacks in the studio, during which she’ll start to crawl on or under the equipment. She’s shut down before, emotionally. She’ll quickly cop to feeling self-conscious at existential moments of recognizing her weird, sometimes isolating existence.

When I ask her to elaborate on all of this, she’s already ahead of me. It all just spills out:

“There are days where I can go into a room full of people, talk to every single person, and feel completely at ease, and feel like making every single person laugh, and feel like everyone’s having a great time. There are other times where I go into a room of people and I literally want to run and hide. I want to lock myself in the bathroom and cry, which I’ve done. It’s not because anyone’s saying anything horrible to me. It’s just...people are asking me questions—not even asking me questions about Charli XCX.”

Before I can ask her whom these people are asking her about: “I’ve felt like a schizophrenic person since the beginning of 2014. Sometimes I just shut down and want to stay in bed and cry. Other times I want to get fucked up in the most fun way possible.”

It doesn’t seem to be my place to tell her that this is a surefire indicator of a human being in her 20s. But there are also hints of something a little more existential. And then:

“I haven’t figured out what triggers the sudden thing. I’m exhausted today. So tired. I woke up at 4 a.m. yesterday and stayed awake until 6 a.m. because I was having loads of sex”—here, she laughs to herself—“and then I woke up at 9 a.m. this morning because I had to go, so I’ve had three hours of sleep in the last two days. But I’m not moody. So, it’s not because I’m tired, because otherwise I would’ve shut down now”.

In another interview, Pitchfork asked whether it was more difficult for Charli XCX to stay private and have some space now that she is a bigger artist and is getting attention from various quarters:

“Pitchfork: It’s funny to hear you say that because one thing you really excel at on Sucker is bridging the gap between the mainstream pop world and the “cool” pop world—you’re mixing big Top 40 producers and songwriters, like Stargate and Benny Blanco, with critical darlings like Robyn producer Patrik Berger, Cashmere Cat, Ariel Rechtshaid, and Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmanglij.

XCX: That’s what I aim to do as an artist. I hate the idea of people thinking that I’m just a little girl who goes into studios with pop producers, and they work their magic. I executive-produced this record myself and I put those people in a room together because I thought it would be right. A lot of artists in my position, particularly before “Fancy”, would be very afraid to work with Stargate for fear of what people would say about them. But I don’t give a fuck because I think Stargate are tight and I work really well with them—they can sit in a studio and write seven songs in a day. And Cashmere and Benny have worked together forever, they live in the same house. I want to bring those people together because I think I can make it work. I’ve always been good at never being the same thing twice, and it’s partially because I like collaboration.

Pitchfork: There was almost lore around Sucker before it was even announced: how you went to Sweden to make a punk record to get out your anger and then abandoned that album in favor of a more traditional pop record. But I still hear the punk bits in some of these songs.

XCX: Some of the poppier songs on the punk record are now the most punk songs on the pop record. There were some full-on, two-minute-long, me-screaming songs. There was one called “Mow That Lawn”, which is so sick. It goes, “Oooh! Baby mow that lawn/ Oooh! Really turns me on/ Oooh! Got no mobile phone/ Oooh! ‘Cause the signal’s gone.” It’s about me moving to the countryside and being bored of taking too many drugs and drinking too much, and just wanting to have a cat and mow the lawn.

That experience was therapeutic for me, because I was bored of being the girl who didn’t sing “I Love It”, even though I do fucking sing all through that song—I’m pretty audible on it. I was bored of getting requests to rewrite that song for other people. I had lost myself in the music industry and in the idea of being “the best” songwriter; I was going down a Dr. Luke road with my competitive mentality. I didn’t like it. That’s not who I am. So I went to Sweden and spoke with Patrik [Berger] and Pontus [Winnberg, aka Avant of production duo Bloodshy & Avant] about it. Pontus worked on a lot of the Britney [Spears] stuff back in the day, and I asked him, “What do you think about how I’m feeling?” He said he felt like that, like the pop world is this weird competitive environment that he wanted to get out of. Everyone in Sweden is cool, it’s not like L.A.; I got all my shit out and felt better about myself belonging in the music world.

PHOTO CREDIT: Terry Richardson 

Pitchfork: Do you find that it’s gotten harder to stay private as you’ve gotten more popular? It seems like there’s this expectation among pop stars who write their own lyrics to reflect their personal lives in a way that can be voyeuristic, and ultimately feed into the cult-of-personality cycle of fame.

XCX: The thing that differentiates me from someone like Taylor Swift is that I don’t live in gossip magazines. I don’t want that. It’s not a slight on Taylor—she’s a genius—but I’m not about to date a boy-band member. I don’t have interest in fame, at all. I have an interest in people listening to my music. That’s it. I don’t want to go to a fucking fashion party. It’s hard for people to be truly voyeuristic about me because they don’t know that much about me. I’m not getting chased while buying eggs, like Iggy was the other week. I don’t even buy eggs, I can’t fucking cook! Maybe I’m being naïve, expecting that I’m going to be able to stay like that if I continue to do what I’m doing. But I’m very conscious to keep it like that.

Also, I’m very selfish when I write songs and I don’t really think about my audience. My subject matters are broad, and I’m very much a blunt songwriter. So it’s quite easy for people to apply my shit to their life. That takes the pressure off me a little bit”.

To round off, I want to source two interviews. I will end with a mor positive one. The Guardian had some slightly mixed opinions when they sat down with Sucker:

“Indeed, you get the sense that Sucker has been attended by perhaps a little too much excitement for its own good. In the US, where the album was released in December (it appeared at No 6 in Rolling Stone’s best albums of 2014 list), reviews went big on its radical and uncompromising nature: it was frequently referred to as punk. That is obviously talk to get the blood up. Punk is a catch-all term, encompassing everything from the shouty vegan anarcho-syndicalism of Crass to the intricate concept albums of Fucked Up to the late GG Allin throwing his own excrement around on stage while singing Eat My Diarrhea. Adopting any of these as an influence would clearly represent a radical gesture on the part of a mainstream pop star.

In the case of Sucker, however, punk means the occasional presence of some distorted guitars and some swearing. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but the listener should perhaps adjust their expectations of uncompromising radicalism accordingly. With its synthesisers topped with chugging riffs and powerchords, what Sucker usually resembles is a more unbridled, less obviously micro-managed version of the Strokes-inspired new wave pop style unveiled on Kelly Clarkson’s 2004 hit Since U Been Gone and later adopted, to staggering commercial effect, by One Direction. At its best, as on the withering string of put-downs that comprises Breaking Up or Hanging Around’s homage to I Love Rock’n’Roll, it’s great, fizzy, trashy fun. At its worst, as on London Queen, it gets a bit tinny and irritating: a criticism that’s been levelled at virtually every attempt to graft a new-wave/pop hybrid over the last 40 years, from Back of My Hand by the Jags to Busted.

The one thing it never is, though, is particularly radical. It’s tempting to say that it doesn’t really need to be. If her songwriting occasionally misfires, churning out stuff that’s indistinguishable from every other indistinguishable song on the Radio 1 playlist – the Rita Ora feature Doing It is a case in point - it’s frequently dead on target, as evidenced by the closing So Over You, which distinguishes itself from dozens of other big, synthy mid-tempo pop tracks out there simply by being a slightly better song.

That said, there’s certainly a hint of screw-you subversion about the lyrics, at least in the context of recent pop music. The usual you-are-beautiful, believe-in-yourself platitudes are dispensed with in favour of paeans to hedonism, or “getting high and getting wrecked” as Break the Rules puts it. Famous features what appears to be a reference to taking LSD, of all things; the closest it comes to the arena of self-help is a song about having a wank. In marked contrast to the X Factor-peddled notion that celebrity is within everyone’s reach, Aitchison’s songs present her fame and success as something fantastic, unattainable by mere mortals. It would sound a bit snotty if she wasn’t so funny: Gold Coins depicts her literally building a castle out of money, pulling up the drawbridge, then sitting inside it, smoking a fag.

One of the reasons that image is funny is that it wildly overstates the level of success Charli XCX has achieved thus far: as it turned out, Sucker was a modest US success rather than a chartbuster. But for all its failings, and for all that it falls short of the more hysterical hype, it does enough to convince you that her long-delayed moment in the sun won’t be fleeting: perhaps she’ll get there yet”.

To end, I want to include AllMusic’s take on Sucker, it is far kinder. It is more accurate. I think that Charli XCX’s second album is one that everyone should hear and spend some time with:

“For a while, Charli XCX seemed to be tiptoeing into the spotlight. After co-writing and singing on Icona Pop's smash hit "I Love It," her album True Romance -- which had a darker, indie-friendly sound -- earned more acclaim than sales. Her next big break came with another collaboration, 2014's inescapable "Fancy," where she provided the sing-songy chorus to Iggy Azalea's brash verses. On Sucker, she keeps more of that hit-making swagger for herself, delivering attention-getting pop that's bold enough to ensure she isn't overshadowed by anybody. She makes her purpose clear with the album's title track, a musical middle finger to the clueless set to revved-up synths and stabbing guitars. It's a big change from the gothy pop of True Romance, though even on that album, XCX's hooks were undeniable. Sucker is also full of should-be hits, but these songs also show how creatively she fashions the shiniest parts of the '80s, '90s, 2000s, and 2010s into her own highly stylized sound. "Famous" bops along on a riff that nods to Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"; there's a bit of Elastica in "Breaking Up"'s buzzsaw guitars and flirty put-downs; "Caught in the Middle" could be vintage Gwen Stefani; and "Doing It"'s retro dance-pop feels equally informed by XCX's own fascination with the '90s and HAIM's update on that decade.

Similarly, Charli still exudes plenty of sass on Sucker, but the exact kind of attitude has changed. She retrofits some of True Romance's atmosphere on "Boom Clap," turning it into a sparkly anthem to young love that seems more innocent than it actually is. If she was trying to keep up with the hip kids before, now she sounds like an older sister sharing her tricks on "Break the Rules," where she's literally too cool for school. Anytime it feels like XCX may have oversimplified her sound -- like the notable absence of one of her finest singles, "Superlove" -- she proves otherwise. There's a realness to her writing no matter how shiny the album's surfaces are, and while these songs are influenced by the success she's had with others, she's saved her most personal songs for herself. It's hard to imagine any of her collaborators or contemporaries belting out a lyric like "When I'm driving down the wrong side of the road, I feel like JFK you know" with as much mischievous glee as Charli does on the standout "London Queen"; later, she states her independence, sexual and otherwise, on "Body of My Own." From song to song, she bounces from hanging out in her friends' bedroom to flying on private jets, making both sound like the coolest possible thing to do. Sucker's mix of youth and sophistication is more than a little volatile, and sometimes it feels like XCX is still figuring out what really works for her music. Nevertheless, it succeeds as an introduction to Charli XCX the Pop Star while retaining her whip-smart songwriting and attitude”.

With her hotly-anticipated fifth album, Crash, due in March, it is a good opportunity to look back at an earlier album. One that deserves more spins and credit. An artist who grows stronger with every release (she turns thirty in August), Charli XCX is one of our best artists. A remarkable songwriter and modern-day star, it will be interesting to see how her career progresses. Sucker is an album full of brilliant material. If you do not believe me, then go and…

LISTEN for yourself.

FEATURE: Vinyl Corner: Silverchair – Freak Show

FEATURE:

 

 

Vinyl Corner

Silverchair – Freak Show

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THIS is a Vinyl Corner…

where I am featuring a band I have not included before. Silverchair were an Australian Alternative Rock group. They left us with some sensational albums. I think that their second album, Freak Show, is their best known. It is an album that I would encourage people to seek out on vinyl. It is an amazing album from a band that are not really played an awful lot now. They were very popular in the mid to late-1990s, though I wonder how many people are discovering Silverchair today. If you have not heard of the band before, then I would suggest Freak Show as a starting point. Released in February 1997, the album celebrates its twenty-fifth anniverssary soon. Five years ago, Cryptic Rock spotlighted and explored Silverchair’s second studio album twenty years down the line:

“Back in the ’90s, when Alternative Rock was king, Aussie band Silverchair were etching their  name in history. Only 13 years of age when beginning their band back in 1992, their 1995 debut album, Frogstomp, was recorded in just nine days, going on to become one of the hottest releases on the charts.

As Frogstomp and “Tomorrow” continued to gain in popularity, the group toured the US with the Red Hot Chili Peppers in June, The Ramones in September, and also played on the roof of Radio City Music Hall at the MTV Music Awards. Going on to become a #1 album in Australia and New Zealand, it was certified as a US double-platinum album by the RIAA, triple-platinum in Canada by the CRIA, and multi-platinum in Australia. Not bad for 15 years old still attending high school, right?

Looking to keep the momentum of their success going, in May of 1996, the Hard Rock trio composed of Vocalist/Guitarist Daniel Johns, Drummer Ben Gillies, and Bassist Chris Joannou re-entered the studio to work on their sophomore album. Often the most challenging record for a band, of course with success and record sales always comes a certain degree of criticism as well as backlash.

For Silverchair, many felt that the band’s debut album relied too heavily on their Seattle Grunge influences. Songs like the singles “Pure Massacre” and “Israel’s Son” seemed derivative of the teens’ influences ranging from Nirvana, to Pearl Jam, to Soundgarden, to Alice In Chains, as well as Black Sabbath. For this, critics gave the group serious flack for wearing their influences on their sleeves, instead of melding their own, original sound.

So it was their second album, Freak Show, that the trio from Down Under had much to prove. Concluding the recording process in November of 1996, the album hit record stores across the U.S. on January 31, 1997. Now, twenty years later, the album remains a pivotal point in the story of Silverchair.

Lyrically, many of the songs on Freak Show focused on the backlash and anger of the expectations put on the band during their Frogstomp period. The group’s lyricist, Johns, focused his young mind, determined to prove the naysayers wrong. For his efforts, the album reached #1 and two-times platinum in Australia; was #12 on Billboard and certified gold in the United States; hit #2 in Canada; was in the Top Ten in New Zealand; and its global sales eventually exceeded 1.5 million copies. Say what they might, how many critics had released two #1 discs before graduating high school?

For the album, Johns wrote all of the lyrics with Gillies collaborating on the music. The young duo were no strangers to radio gold, and Freak Show‘s singles – “Freak” and “Abuse Me” – would help propel it to the top. (A third single/video was released in Australia and Europe for “Cemetery” but never made it to the U.S. An additional fourth single, “The Door,” received an Australia-only release.)

“Freak,” the first single and video, reached #1 on the Australian charts; it was the second single by Silverchair to do so after “Tomorrow” in 1994. (The band would not have another #1 hit until “Straight Lines” in 2007.) The music video for this song was directed by Gerald Casale, a member of Devo, who also directed the majority of their other videos. It raises the pertinent question, “What is a freak?” Are the black-clad teenagers with eyebrow piercings freaks, or is it the women that seek plastic surgery to look younger? Although, with their bass-heavy, grungy sound, none of this really mattered: they were the perfect sign of the times, musically speaking. The video for “Freak” won the International Viewer’s Choice Award for MTV Australia at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards.

Second single/video “Abuse Me” reached #4 on Billboard‘s Hot Modern Rock Tracks and Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks charts in the U.S. The video depicted the trio performing on a silver stage, amidst freak show performers and paraphernalia, and a Rock-n-Roll astronaut inside a human gyroscope. As far as videos go, it was not-monumental, but it continued the push for the album and the band. The song, however, was a clear jab at critics who had lauded the band for copying their influences. “Come on, abuse me more, I like it,” Johns taunts in the now-classic chorus. It was a mirror of Nirvana’s “Rape Me,” but that did not stop fans from loving the track and the album.

Third single, “Cemetery,” received an overseas release but was never available here in the U.S. Die-hard fans did not much care and still managed to get their hands on the video. Reportedly, Johns had never actually intended to release the song, as he was apprehensive about being ridiculed for having written a ballad. Of course, Johns need not have worried: both his bandmates and fans loved the song. In fact, to date, it has been covered by a plethora of artists, most notably Good Charlotte.

By late 1997, the trio had completed their secondary education and were free from school books and exams. After Freak Show, the band would go on to release three more albums, 1999’s Neon Ballroom, 2002’s Diorama, and 2007’s Young Modern over the next ten years before announcing an indefinite hiatus in May 2011. The music has not seized for the members of Silverchair though as they continue to write and record in other projects since, notably Johns’ released an impressive debut solo album in 2015, entitled Talk.

Nonetheless, the importance of Freak Show in the Silverchair oeuvre is as the catalyst for the band’s third, arguably most beloved album, Neon Ballroom. It was with this disc that their sound would truly begin to take on its own voice, moving away from Hard Rock and toward something much more Pop-friendly”.

Some would say that Silverchair’s third album, Neon Ballroom (1999), is their finest moment. I would plump for Freak Show. It is an album that got a lot of love back in 1997. It was a great year for Rock and Alternative music. I want to end with a review for Freak Show. Rolling Stone had their say in 1997:

“Bonding with Silverchair’s ’95 debut, Frogstomp, was like finding cool clothes at your local mall: No matter how much you wanted to dismiss it as a fluke, one that somehow stumped your hip radar, it ultimately fulfilled some deep, aesthetic need. So Freak Show should be the teenage trio’s embarrassing second album, one that proves that this Australian outfit is truly the Menudo of grunge. But as Freak Show demonstrates, you weren’t duped the first time around — Silverchair own the attitude, passion and songwriting skills that most Nirvana Juniors can only feebly approximate.

“If only I could be as cool as you,” sings Daniel Johns on “Freak,” addressing the you-only-think-you’re-from-Seattle issue with a sarcastic one-liner. The band then moves on to pillage other sources, namely the hardcore guitar assault of Helmet and the heavy-duty groove of its parents’ Black Sabbath albums.

Johns’ bittersweet, crackly voice tops the ample power chordage, sounding eerily close to Kurt Cobain as Johns hits shivery, emotional notes that convey both sweet idealism and disappointment. The 17-year-old singer’s lyrics aren’t quite as deep as the Nirvana frontman’s; instead, Johns is a fount of the kind of poetry etched on the walls in fifth-period English class (“No more maybes/Babies got rabies”). And that’s enough — for now, it’s Johns’ voice that’s doing all the communicating.

Throughout, Silverchair spin out songs strong enough to crack the charts, yet the band plays them with the spontaneity of an after-school jam. A number like “The Door” is as catchy as a Monkees tune, but Silverchair actually wrote it themselves. The only problems with Freak Show are that a few tracks sound too much alike and the proggy ballad “Cemetery” is as overblown as the hairstyles in any high school annual (you watch, it’ll be their biggest hit).

Silverchair have loads of potential. The band may still be using other peoples’ riffs to guide its post-pubescent fury, but it’s the enthusiasm that makes this Freak Show more than a novelty”.

An album that is well worth getting on vinyl, make sure that you add Silverchair’s Freak Show to your collection. I encountered it first time around in 1997, though it is an album that I have come back to. Freak, to me, is one of the defining songs of the 1990s. I have been dipping back into it the past few days. A terrific album from the much-missed Silverchair, Freak Show is an album that sounds pretty raw and epic…

ON vinyl.

FEATURE: Paul McCartney at Eighty: Paul McCartney and Me: The Interviews: David Quantick

FEATURE:

 

 

Paul McCartney at Eighty

IN THIS PHOTO: Paul McCartney in 1964/PHOTO CREDIT: RA/Lebrecht Music & Arts  

Paul McCartney and Me: The Interviews: David Quantick

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I have already begun…

a forty-feature run that leads to Paul McCartney’s eightieth birthday on 18th June. Alongside features about The Beatles, Wings, his solo material, in addition to why he is such a legend, inspirational human and genius, I am interviewing various amazing people. I ask what Paul McCartney means to them and when they first experienced his music. In this first interview is the terrific novelist, author, music journalist and comedy writer, David Quantick. Having appeared numerous times on Chris Shaw’s phenomenal Beatles podcast, IAmtheEggPod, I can confirm that David knows his stuff when it comes to Paul McCartney! David also made a programme about what if John Lennon had left The Beatles in 1962/lived (the Beatles icon was killed in 1980) for Playhouse Presents. To start this interview series ahead of Paul McCartney’s eightieth birthday in June, David Quantick explains what the music icon…

MEANS to him.

______________

Hi David. In the lead-up to Paul McCartney’s eightieth birthday on 18th June, I am interviewing different people about their love of his music and when they first discovered the work of a genius. When did you first discover Paul McCartney’s music? Was it a Beatles, Wings or solo album that lit that fuse? What was your reaction when you first heard the band?

I first heard Help! on the radio as a small boy. I think I liked it. Then I had tapes of the Red and Blue compilations (released in 1973, the Red Album covered their hits songs between 1962–1966; the Blue Album between 1967–1970) and became obsessed.

Like me, you must have been engrossed by The Beatles: Get Back on Disney+. How did it change your impression of The Beatles at that time, and specifically Paul McCartney’s role and influence on the rest of the band?

It didn’t really…

I enjoyed it and was pleased that The Beatles continued to be creative and so on. But to be honest, Let It Be is a bad album and The Beatles were right to jack it in.

Your excellent 2002 book, Revolution: The Making of The Beatles' White Album, looked at the classic 1968 eponymous double album from The Beatles. What did you learn about Paul McCartney as a songwriter whilst researching and writing that book?

Only that he is a unique and fantastic talent, which I knew already. The White Album is a pretty democratic Beatles L.P., and Paul’s contributions - from Back in the U.S.S.R. and Mother Nature’s Son to I Will and Honey Pie - show enormous range.

McCartney’s latest studio album, McCartney III, was released at the end of 2020. What do you think the future holds in terms of McCartney’s music? How do you think his sound/lyrics will change or evolve, if at all?

He is nearly 80, but shows no signs of retiring. He loves to work, and he loves new ideas.

So, I will continue to look forward to his next record.

If you had to select your favourite Beatles, Wings and McCartney albums (one each), which would they be and why?

The White Album (The Beatles) for the variety and the ambition; Wings Over America for the variety and the ambition, and McCartney I because it is lovely.

Maybe an impossible question, but what does Paul McCartney, as a human and songwriting icon, personally mean to you?

Talent, luck, ambition and genius sometimes attach themselves to really good people. Like his fellow Beatles, Paul has always tried to be a force for good.

I love him.

“ He is nearly 80, but shows no signs of retiring. He loves to work, and he loves new ideas”.

It is difficult to say just how far and wide McCartney’s influence spans across music, culture and the world at large. If you were trying to explain to a child (or someone who had never heard of Paul McCartney) who was unaware of Paul McCartney why they should listen to his music, what would you say?

Just buy the Red Album.

Reading The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present makes me realise that Paul McCartney might be underrated as a lyricist. He is lauded because of his musical innovation, but sometimes his lyrics get short shrift. Do you think he is undervalued as a lyricist, and do you have any personal favourite lines of his?

He is a great writer.

Often complex, mostly simple. I’d show someone The End of the End from Memory Almost Full for the complex, and Silly Love Songs for the simple.

If you had the chance to interview Paul McCartney now and ask him any one question, what would that be?

Could you sing I Don’t Know from Egypt Station for me?

If you could get a single gift for McCartney for his eightieth birthday, what would you get him?

A day off being asked about The Beatles.

To end, I will round off the interview with a Macca song. It can be anything he has written or contributed to. Which song should I end with?

I Want to Hold Your Hand.

Nothing has ever sounded like this before or since. My favourite single of all time. Or Mull of Kintyre, the first single I ever bought. I still love it.

FEATURE: Vinyl Corner: Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell

FEATURE:

 

 

Vinyl Corner

Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell

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FOLLOWING the sad…

death of Meat Loaf on 20th January, there were a lot of tributes about his success and legacy as an artist. Whilst he recorded so many great albums through his career, 1977’s Bat Out of Hell will always be seen as his peak. Produced by Todd Rundgren, the album spawned huge hits like You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night), Paradise by the Dashboard Light and Bat Out of Hell. One of the best-selling albums ever in the U.S., this is an album that everyone needs in their vinyl collection. No matter what your age, everyone can remember and sing along to the biggest songs on the album. It is operatic and huge, yet there is so much variety in terms of the songwriting and sound. I am going to end with a review of Bat Out of Hell. Prior to that, there are a couple of articles that give background to the blockbuster album. Classic Rock Review note how the album was a collaboration between Meat Loaf, Jim Steinman (who wrote the tracks) and producer Todd Rundgren:

“Although credited as a solo album by Meat Loaf, the blockbuster album Bat Out of Hell was actually forged through a collaboration of three people – Meat Loaf (born Marvin Lee Aday), songwriter Jim Steinman and producer/guitarist Todd Rundgren. This album would go into the stratosphere sales-wise, certified platinum fourteen times over and currently ranked ninth all-time in worldwide sales. However, these gentlemen may have been the only three to believe in this project during its early years. By the time of its release in late 1977, the album had been worked on for over five years but it had been rejected by every major Label (and quite a few minor labels as well). The project was finally picked up by tiny Cleveland International Records, not so much by musical merit but more so when owner Steve Popovich heard the witty dialogue which precedes the song “You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)”.

Meat Loaf met Steinman shortly after releasing his soul-influenced debut album Stoney & Meatloaf in 1971. Both were deeply interested theatrical music as Meat Loaf had starred in several Broadway plays and the film, Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Steinmen had composed for several productions including a sci-fi update of Peter Pan called Neverland, which was a pre-cursor to Bat Out of Hell. Writing for the album started as early as 1972, with the songs fully developed by the end of 1974, when Meat Loaf decided to leave the theatre to concentrate on this project. In 1975, the dual performed a live audition for Todd Rundgren, an avant garde performer and producer, who was impressed that the music did not fit any rock conventions or sub-genres to date. However, this was a double-edged sword as they had immense difficulty finding a record company willing to sign them. According to Meat Loaf’s autobiography, the band spent two and a half years auditioning the record and being rejected. One of the most brutal rejections came from CBS head Clive Davis, who first dismissed Meat Loaf by saying “actors don’t make records” before turning his ire towards Steinman’s songwriting.

The group had reached a verbal deal with RCA Records and started recording the album in late 1975 at Bearsville Studios in Woodstock, NY. However, the RCA deal fell through during production and Rundgren essentially footed the bill for recording himself. And this was no small bill as the album includes contributions by sixteen rock musicians and singers as well as the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Some of these backing musicians include members of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band as well as Rundgren’s backing band, Utopia.

Steinman, who wrote every song and gave the album its title and artwork, had wanted equal billing with Meat Loaf on the album’s title, but was out-voted by record execs who felt that Meat Loaf alone was a more marketable, with the unorthadox, “Songs by Jim Steinmen” sub-heading appearing on the album’s cover. Even after the album was finally released in October 1977, it took awhile to catch on In the U.S. Ironically, it was after a CBS Records convention where Meat Loaf performed a song for that label’s top artist Billy Joel, that the album finally got some mainstream momentum”.

The phenomenal songwriting of Jim Steinman (who sadly died last year), the huge personality and titanic voice of Meat Loaf and the epic production from Todd Rundgren is a brilliant combination! Bat Out of Hell is one of the defining album from the late-1970s. Albumism celebrated forty years of a classic in 2017:

“Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell is outstanding in every sense of the word. Produced in 1975, released in 1977, it went on to become one of the best-selling albums of all time. It sits neatly in the cross-hairs of all major rock music trends of the 1970s: teen angst storytelling, reverberating guitar shreds, and smooth soft-rock vocals. And yet, Bat Out of Hell is a complete oddball. It is an epic unto itself: a seven-track album averaging six minutes per song. The lyrics are kitschy and the song structure is intentionally inconsistent. It was a rock opera parody often taken a little too seriously. It was misunderstood, underestimated, and almost never released.

Bat Out of Hell plays like the soundtrack to a musical that would be cost-prohibitive and very dangerous to make: a tale of brash and intense young love, with motorcycles and fire strewn about. It’s intentionally over-the-top. The title track opener is an eight minute, 784-word opus that tests the limits of endurance from both a performer and listener’s perspective. It tells the story of a man who has crashed, is hurt and presumably dying (“Oh, like a bat out of hell / I'll be gone when the morning comes”). What ensues in the album is the flood of memories of his life with love: “If I gotta be damned, you know I want to be damned / Dancing through the night with you.” The subject is recklessness and the lyrics are carefree. As a whole, the album opener is turbo-charged and makes you want to move your feet at 158 bpm. The beginning of this album sounds like any other musician’s closer.

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Though it was Meat Loaf’s second album, it was his first collaboration with writer/composer Jim Steinman. Meat Loaf has a reputation for incredible vocals and passionate delivery, but Steinman represents the “signature sound”—a fact not lost on either party since the album’s release four decades ago.

Steinman shows strength in creating legendary singalongs without subscribing to pop music norms. One of his influences was 19th century opera composer Richard Wagner; Steinman described Bat Out of Hell thematically as Wagnerian Rock. One notable aspect of Wagner’s was his “through-composition”—that is, he set lyrical stanzas to different music for each verse, rather than relying on a more traditional “strophic” form which repeats the same music for different stanzas. Most songs on this album subscribe to this through-composed structure. “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” covers the whole arc of a teenage relationship in iconic micromovements, re-lived clumsily on most wedding dancefloors in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

According to Meat Loaf’s autobiography, producer and lead guitarist Todd Rundgren joined the project because he thought the concept was “just so out there.” It’s the exact reason label executives rejected the album left and right. Clive Davis of CBS famously lambasted Steinman on his inability to write music that fits into the pop music formula.

After at least two years of shopping it, Bat Out of Hell was ultimately picked up by Cleveland International Records, a subsidiary of Epic Records. According to Frederic Dannen’s book Hit Men, Cleveland International President Steve Popovich “did not care much for it” upon first listening but solicited feedback from two women whom he trusted: his ex-wife and sister-in-law. They both loved it. Ultimately the album grew on him and he thought the uniqueness of the sound could work to its advantage. After Cleveland/Epic picked it up, it took a few years of local radio play and a live performance or two before the album finally took off to the success we associate with it today. It has now sold over 43 million copies worldwide.

Unfortunately, the success of Bat Out of Hell is one that very few people shared in. According to a 1993 article by John Aizlewood in Q Magazine, after its release “Steinman hadn't been paid for Bat Out Of Hell. He sued Meat Loaf's publishing company, who hadn't been paid either. Everyone seemed to sue Meat Loaf, who filed for bankruptcy.” Steinman and Meat Loaf collaborated on follow-up projects but continued to wage subsequent legal battles (most recently over the use of the “Bat Out of Hell” name). Popovich sued Epic (now Sony) Records for lost royalties as record sales continued to soar and Sony hid behind a cross-collateralization clause, claiming that the costs of the album’s production were still not covered. Popovich passed away in 2011 in the midst of legal battles. Seemingly most important was his desire to restore the original “Cleveland International” logo to the album cover as his legacy”.

I am going to end with a review. AllMusic showed a lot of love and respect for an album that, whilst not ranked alongside the very best albums of the ‘70s in some people’s views, it definitely should be there:

“There is no other album like Bat Out of Hell, unless you want to count the sequel. This is Grand Guignol pop -- epic, gothic, operatic, and silly, and it's appealing because of all of this. Jim Steinman was a composer without peer, simply because nobody else wanted to make mini-epics like this. And there never could have been a singer more suited for his compositions than Meat Loaf, a singer partial to bombast, albeit shaded bombast. The compositions are staggeringly ridiculous, yet Meat Loaf finds the emotional core in each song, bringing true heartbreak to "Two out of Three Ain't Bad" and sly humor to "Paradise by the Dashboard Light." There's no discounting the production of Todd Rundgren, either, who gives Steinman's self-styled grandiosity a production that's staggeringly big but never overwhelming and always alluring. While the sentiments are deliberately adolescent and filled with jokes and exaggerated clichés, there's real (albeit silly) wit behind these compositions, not just in the lyrics but in the music, which is a savvy blend of oldies pastiche, show tunes, prog rock, Springsteen-esque narratives, and blistering hard rock (thereby sounding a bit like an extension of Rocky Horror Picture Show, which brought Meat Loaf to the national stage). It may be easy to dismiss this as ridiculous, but there's real style and craft here and its kitsch is intentional. It may elevate adolescent passion to operatic dimensions, and that's certainly silly, but it's hard not to marvel at the skill behind this grandly silly, irresistible album”.

We sadly said goodbye to Meat Loaf earlier this month. The outpouring of love on social media proves how adored he is. His music will stand the test of time and be revered decades from now. It has been an hour including Bat Out of Hell…

IN this Vinyl Corner.

FEATURE: A Radio Revolution: Celebrating BBC Radio 6 Music at Twenty

FEATURE:

 

 

A Radio Revolution

IN THIS PHOTO: Lauren Laverne and Mary Anne Hobbs/PHOTO CREDITS: BBC

Celebrating BBC Radio 6 Music at Twenty

___________

ON 11th March, 2002…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Gilles Peterson

BBC Radio 6 Music arrived in the world. In 2002, I don’t think many of us were too aware of digital radio and what it could achieve. My experience with radio to that point was with FM stations. I was conscious of the Internet and its powers, though digital radio was a new thing. It must have been nervous and exciting for listeners tuning in on 11th March, 2002. Phill Jupitus was responsible for welcoming in this new and brave dawn. I did not turn into that first show, though it was a thrilling and brilliant new era. Although the station was threatened with closure, it was saved from an ill-judged end. And, in spite of the fact BBC Radio 6 Music has received criticism, I think that BBC Radio 6 Music – who you can follow on Twitter – has broadened through the years. As an alternative station, its mandate was to be different to the mainstream and more popular BBC stations. At  the time of this feature going live, I am not sure whether there are any plans for the big anniversary. I am sure that there will be a dedicated day or events that herald an important occasion. Few who started at the station in 2002 (including early-morning host Chris Hawkins) could have envisaged that it would still be here twenty years later! It is a combination of great broadcasters, a broad aesthetic and loyal listenership that has ensured BBC Radio 6 Music has not only survived, but it has grown and continues to become more of a force.

Many of the broadcasters who joined the station in the first few years are still there today. The likes of Lauren Laverne, Chris Hawkins and Marc Riley are cornerstones! One of the criticisms levied at BBC Radio 6 Music in previous years was the sound and target audience. Maybe they were quite guitar-based in terms of music in the earliest days. Perhaps trying to present an edgier and hipper brand of radio, a certain all-inclusiveness was omitted. Listen to the station now, and they take from all corners of the music spectrum. The broadcasters are diverse too. From established names like Chris Hawkins to relative newcomers like Deb Grant and AFRODEUTSCHE, we have voices, tastes and faces from a wide spectrum. BBC Radio 6 Music, to me, is the most diverse and all-encompassing station we have.  The new head of the station, Samantha Moy, has brought in changes in terms of the presenters and timeslots. There have not been too many radical changes to the way BBC Radio 6 Music operates and what it says. Remaining fresh and must-listen, each broadcaster has their own style and appeal. From fascinating features to the most eclectic music, BBC Radio 6 Music has defied criticism and predicted shelf life. As the BBC celebrates its centenary later this year, it should be proud of a station that offers comfort and inspiration to so many. During the pandemic, it has not only been the blend of hot new music and wide-ranging older tracks that have kept people coming back. Each broadcaster, in their own way and from their individual studios, have offered guidance and warmth to the listeners.

 IN THIS PHOTO: IDLES in session for BBC Radio 6 Music in 2020

I think one of the most important moments in their twenty-year history is the way BBC Radio 6 Music has helped and embraced its listeners. When so many people were unbale to see others and live life in a normal way, BBC Radio 6 Music were there and offering strength, reassurance and strength. The station is often called, by its presenters, a family. It seems that way. A community of listeners that can find common ground and connection, this familial blanket is another major reason why listener figures continue to increase. I look forward to learning what BBC Radio 6 Music plans for its twentieth anniversary. Going forward, I expect that the station will increase its listenership and bring in some new names. The broadcasters there are dedicated and passionate about what they do – so one might not see too many of them depart anytime soon. I think there will be new shows and presenters coming to the station. Always remaining relevant and open to change, 2022 offers a chance for real impact. The station holds a festival each year but, due to the pandemic, it has not been in its normal format. That will, surely, return to its usual state this year. The station is likely to broadcast from Glastonbury in June, and there is likely to be positive news regarding increased listeners and new records. All of this is exciting for a digital station that launched humbly (yet optimistically) on 11th March, 2002. BBC Radio 6 Music has survived potential closure to find itself beloved and heard by millions each day. It is clear that this vital part of the radio landscape is…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Matt Everitt with Elton John

NOT going anywhere.

FEATURE: Inspired By… Part Forty-Eight: Carole King

FEATURE:

 

 

Inspired By…

IN THIS PHOTO: Carole King in an outtake from Tapestry album cover session/PHOTO CREDIT: Jim McCrary/Redferns

Part Forty-Eight: Carole King

___________

ON 9th February…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Kirsten Shultz

the legendary Carole King turns eighty. I have also marked that occasion with a playlist of her best work. When thinking about her, I realised how influential she is. So many other artists can be traced back to her. In this second feature celebrating Carole King at eighty, this Inspired By… is a selection of songs from artists who are similar to King. Before getting to the playlist, here is some biography from AllMusic  concerning the brilliant Carole King:

“Even before stepping out of the shadows into one of the brightest solo careers of all time, singer/songwriter Carole King had already firmly established herself as one of pop music's greatest composers, with work recorded by everyone from the Beatles to Aretha Franklin. Active as a songwriter in the legendary Brill Building since the late '50s, King penned hits like Little Eva's "The Loco-Motion," the Drifters' "Up On the Roof," "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," which the Shirelles scored a number one hit with, and countless other songs that would help define pop music throughout the '60s. King eventually applied her gift for songcraft to her own albums, reaching new levels of artistry and commercial success with 1971's landmark Tapestry. The album's flawless confluence of melodic hooks and soft rock textures would help define the entire era it soundtracked, going on to sell over 25 million units and consistently stay in the charts for over five years. She would have a vibrant solo career that produced multiple gold and platinum albums like 1971's Music and 1973's Fantasy, and she remained active as a songwriter and solo performer into the '80s, '90s, and beyond. King's work has won her multiple Grammys, an Emmy, and two separate inductions into the

Born Carole Klein on February 9, 1942 in Manhattan and raised in Brooklyn, she began playing piano at the age of four, and formed her first band, the vocal quartet the Co-Sines, while in high school. A devotee of the composing team of Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller (the duo behind numerous hits for Elvis Presley, the Coasters, and Ben E. King), she became a fixture at influential DJ Alan Freed's local rock & roll shows; while attending Queens College, she fell in with budding songwriters Paul Simon and Neil Sedaka as well as Gerry Goffin, with whom she forged a writing partnership.

In 1959, Sedaka scored a hit with "Oh! Carol," written in her honor; King cut an answer record, "Oh! Neil," but it stiffed. She and Goffin, who eventually married, began writing under publishers Don Kirshner and Al Nevins in the famed pop songwriting house the Brill Building, where they worked alongside the likes of Doc Pomus, Mort Shuman, Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, and countless others. In 1961, Goffin and King scored their first hit with the Shirelles' chart-topping "Will You Love Me Tomorrow"; their next effort, Bobby Vee's "Take Good Care of My Baby," also hit number one, as did "The Loco-Motion," recorded by their babysitter, Little Eva. Together, the couple wrote over 100 chart hits in a vast range of styles, including the Chiffons' "One Fine Day," the Monkees' "Pleasant Valley Sunday," the Drifters' "Up on the Roof," the Cookies' "Chains" (later covered by the Beatles), Aretha Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel) Like a Natural Woman," and the Crystals' controversial "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss)."

King also continued her attempts to mount a solo career, but scored only one hit, 1962's "It Might as Well Rain Until September." In the mid-'60s she, Goffin, and columnist Al Aronowitz founded their own short-lived label, Tomorrow Records; Charles Larkey, the bassist for the Tomorrow group the Myddle Class, eventually became King's second husband after her marriage to Goffin dissolved. She and Larkey later moved to the West Coast, where in 1968 they founded the City, a trio rounded out by New York musician Danny Kortchmar. The City recorded one LP, Now That Everything's Been Said, but did not tour due to King's stage fright; as a result, the album was a commercial failure, although it did feature songs later popularized by the Byrds ("Wasn't Born to Follow"), Blood, Sweat & Tears ("Hi-De-Ho"), and James Taylor ("You've Got a Friend").

Taylor and King ultimately became close friends, and he encouraged her to pursue a solo career. Released in 1970, Writer proved a false start, but in 1971 she released Tapestry, which stayed on the charts for nearly six years and was the best-selling album of the era. A quiet, reflective work that proved seminal in the development of the singer/songwriter genre, Tapestry also scored a pair of hit singles, "So Far Away" and the chart-topping "It's Too Late," whose flipside, "I Feel the Earth Move," garnered major airplay as well. Issued in 1971, Music also hit number one, and generated the hit "Sweet Seasons"; 1972's Rhymes & Reasons reached number two on the charts, and 1974's Wrap Around Joy, which featured the hit "Jazzman," hit the number one spot.

In 1975, King and Goffin reunited to write Thoroughbred, which also featured contributions from James Taylor, David Crosby, and Graham Nash. After 1977's Simple Things, she mounted a tour with the backing group Navarro and married her frequent songwriting partner Rick Evers, who died a year later of a heroin overdose. Pearls, a collection of performances of songs written during her partnership with Goffin, was released in 1980 and was her last significant hit, and King soon moved to a tiny mountain village in Idaho, where she became active in the environmental movement. After 1983's Speeding Time, she took a six-year hiatus from recording before releasing City Streets, which featured guest Eric Clapton. In 2001, she returned with Love Makes the World, a self-released disc on her own Rockingale label. Four years passed before her next record, The Living Room Tour, a double-disc set documenting her intimate 2004-2005 tour that found her revisiting songs from throughout her career with only her piano and acoustic guitars as accompaniment.

King joined longtime friend James Taylor for a co-starring show at L.A.'s famed Troubadour venue in 2007, and the pair followed it with several more shows, resulting in the Live at the Troubadour release in 2010. King released her first-ever Christmas album, A Holiday Carole, through the Hear Music/Concord Music Group on November 1, 2011. In 2013, King received a remarkable show business accolade -- her life became the basis for a Broadway musical, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, which followed her professional and personal life in the '60s and '70s. The show opened on Broadway in January 2014, with a score dominated by King's hit songs, and an original cast album appeared the following May. The next year, King was a Kennedy Center Honoree, and in 2016 she played the entirety of Tapestry at the British Summer Time Festival in Hyde Park. The concert was documented on the 2017 album/DVD set Tapestry: Live in Hyde Park. King's discography was largely absent of archival material for a star of her magnitude. With the exception of the odd live document, not much was released from the vaults until 2012's aptly titled collection The Legendary Demos. In 2019, another rare document of King's legacy was unearthed in the form of the DVD/audio combo footage Live at Montreux 1973. The material was captured at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland just weeks after the release of fifth album Fantasy, marking her first performance outside of the states. In 2021, King was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist. This was her second recognition from the Hall of Fame, following a joint induction with Goffin in 1990 as a songwriting team”.

To celebrate the magnificent Carole King turning eighty, here is a playlist of songs from artists who have an element of King about them. Whether it is the delivery or the sound, it is amazing (though not surprising) to see how far her reach has spread! One of the all-time great songwriters, many happy returns to…

A mesmeric artist.

FEATURE: A Natural Woman: Carole King at Eighty: Her Finest Songs

FEATURE:

 

 

A Natural Woman

Carole King at Eighty: Her Finest Songs

___________

ON 9th February…

one of the most important and influential artists ever turns eighty. Carole King has made twenty-five solo albums, though Tapestry is her most loved and successful. It held the record for most weeks at number one by a female artist for more than twenty years. I am going to end with a playlist of her best tracks. Before then, I wanted to include the biography from Carole King’s official website:

“Since writing her first number 1 hit “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” at the tender age of 17, Carole King has arguably become the most celebrated and iconic singer/songwriter of all time.

Since writing her first number one hit “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” at the tender age of 17, Carole King has arguably become the most celebrated and iconic singer/songwriter of all time.

Carole wrote "Will You Love Me Tomorrow for The Shirelles with then-husband Gerry Goffin. The dozens of chart hits Goffin & King wrote during this period have become part of music legend, including “Take Good Care Of My Baby” (Bobby Vee, 1961), “The Loco-Motion” (Little Eva, 1962), “Up On The Roof” (The Drifters, 1962), “Chains” (The Cookies, 1962; The Beatles, 1963), “One Fine Day” (The Chiffons, 1963), “Hey Girl” (Freddie Scott, 1963), “I’m Into Something Good” (Herman’s Hermits, 1964), “Just Once In My Life” (with Phil Spector for The Righteous Brothers, 1965), and “Don’t Bring Me Down” (The Animals, 1966).

In 1960 Carole made her solo debut with a song called “Baby Sittin’” and, two years later, her demo of “It Might As Well Rain Until September” made the Top 25 in the United States, climbing all the way to No. 3 on the British chart. In 1967 Goffin and King’s “Natural Woman”
was immortalized by Aretha Franklin. To date, more than 400 of her compositions have been recorded by more than 1,000 artists, resulting in 100 hit singles.

Carole's 1971 solo album, Tapestry, took her to the pinnacle. While she was recording Tapestry, James Taylor recorded King’s “You’ve Got A Friend,” taking the song all the way to number one. In a first for a female writer/artist, Tapestry spawned four GRAMMY Awards® — Record, Song and Album Of The Year as well as Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female honors for Carole. With more than 25 million units sold worldwide, Tapestry remained the best-selling album by a female artist for a quarter century, and Carole went on
to amass three other platinum and eight gold albums. Tapestry was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame® in 1998.

In 1987 Carole was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and, a year later, Goffin and King were awarded the National Academy of Songwriters’ Lifetime Achievement Award.
 In 1990 the duo was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2002, Carole was honored with the prestigious Johnny Mercer Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Two years later, Goffin and King received the Trustees Award from The Recording Academy®.

Carole King and James TaylorThe past decade has been among the busiest and most successful of Carole's career. She’s been the recipient of a number of esteemed awards and honors, and remained active in the public’s eye with musical and literary work.

Carole's many late-career achievements include a 50th anniversary Troubadour reunion run 
with James Taylor that became the RIAA gold- certified Live At The Troubadour, inspiring the pair’s 60-concert Troubadour Reunion world tour in 2010. The Troubadour shows also inspired the Morgan Neville-directed feature-length documentary Troubadours: Carole King/James Taylor & The Rise Of The Singer-Songwriter, and premiered on PBS’ American Masters in 2011 shortly after being released on DVD.

In 2012, Carole received the BMI Icon Award and an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of Music. The following year brought her The Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award, and she became the first woman to be awarded The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, presented by President Barack Obama at an all-star White House gala.

Carole published her memoir, A Natural Woman, in 2012, which debuted on The New York Times best-seller list at number six and prompted Vanity
 Fair to say, “America is having a Carole King moment."

On January 12, 2014, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical opened on Broadway. Audiences were amazed by her deep musical catalog, and captivated by her life story. The show became 
the hit of the season and won a GRAMMY®
 for Best Musical Theater Album and two Tony®
 awards.  The musical continues to tour across America.  In 2015, it made its international debut at London’s West End, where it garnered two Olivier Awards, and after wrapping up in London, toured throughout the UK. In 2017, Beautiful opened new shows in Japan and Australia.

In January 2014, Carole was honored as MusiCares Person Of The Year and a special gala was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center in which several of today’s most popular artists, including Lady Gaga, Alicia Keys, and Kacey Musgraves, performed many of her classics. To end the night, Carole herself came out to perform “Home Again”, “Jazzman”, and “Sweet Seasons”/”Hey Girl” with James Taylor; after all these years, she proved that she could still captivate an entire audience.

On December 6, 2015, Carole was introduced as a Kennedy Center Honoree for her lifetime contributions to American culture through her music.  Aretha Franklin, James Taylor, Sara Bareilles and Janelle Monae performed Carole's music at the ceremony to pay tribute to her indelible music.  The folowing February, PBS premiered "American Masters" - Carole King: Natural Woman," a documentary about her life and work.

On July 3, 2016, Carole returned to the UK stage for the first time in 27 years to perform Tapestry in full at a sold-out performance at Londone's Hyde Park during the BST Festival.  The 65,000+ audience spanned multiple generations and showed the power and timelessness of Carole's music.

In 2019, she performed at the national "A Capitol Fourth" concert in Washington D.C. and at the Global Citizen Festival in New York's Central Park, and presented the Artist of the Decade Award to Taylor Swift at the American Music Awards.

In 2021, Carole was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a second time, becoming the first person to be inducted separately as a songwriter and a performing artist.

In 2021, Carole wrote a new song, "Here I Am (Singing My Way Home)" with Jennifer Hudson and Jamie Hartman, for Hudson's star turn as Aretha Franklin in the biopic 'Respect.' The film aso includes Hudson's bravura performance of the Goffin/King song "(You Make Me Feel) Like a Natural Woman," the 1967 hit credited as cementing Franklin's status as a superstar.

Carole KingIn addition to her continuously evolving musical career, Carole, who has lived on an Idaho ranch since the early 1980s, is actively involved with the environmental organizations in support of wilderness preservation”.

To honour the truly inspiring and magnificent Carole King ahead of her eightieth birthday on 9th February, below is a collection of her best music. As you can hear, she is a remarkable talent whose words, music and voice is heavenly and like nothing else. A very happy birthday to a…

TRUE icon of music.

FEATURE: Get Into My House: Kate Bush and Why She Is So Relatable

FEATURE:

 

 

Get Into My House

 Kate Bush and Why She Is So Relatable

___________

THERE is no denying that Kate Bush…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in a photo taken during the promotion of 50 Words for Snow in 2011/PHOTO CREDIT: Trevor Leighton

is one of the most popular artists in the world. Her fanbase extends across all ages. It is not the case that she is only trending when there is news about her – which, as any Bush fan will attest, that is quite rare! She trends just because people are listening to her music! I have lost count of all the times I have gone onto social media and seen something about Bush and her music. There are so many sides to her career and artistry. There is no doubting there is something rarefied about her. I have written before how there is this balance between the deified and domestic regarding Kate Bush. She is such an icon and legend, yet one knows she is very grounded. Whereas it is the music and its genius that has reached so many people and continues to inspire all around the world, I think it is the personality of Kate Bush that draws so many close. One fan understand why she courted a lot of media attention back in the day. Incredibly intelligent, supernaturally beautiful and beautifully spoken, I don’t think music has seen anyone quite like her! Obviously very ambitious yet polite and warm, here is an artist who was very much herself in 1978. No ego or forced persona. Instead, Kate Bush connected with people because she was ordinary and humble. Whereas some of her heroes like David Bowie were less accessible and seemed to be on a different level when it came to accessibility, that was never a problem for Bush!

In an age where social media tends to detach and connect us with artists at the same time, it can be hard getting to know the real musician. There are a lot of walls and barriers. So many of the biggest artists lead lives that few of us can relate to. Even though Kate Bush lives in an expensive house, she is not someone who lives a famous life. She wants to be comfortable and live well, yet she is very much connected to the people and the real world. In December, she left a message for her fans on the Kate Bush News:

“With nearly two years of Covid, are any of us the same people we were before?  It’s left everyone confused and uncertain of the future.

It’s been a terrible time of loss for so many. I want to say a big thank you to all the people on the front line and in the NHS. I have such huge respect for all the nurses and doctors who’ve already been working flat out for nearly two years. These caring people are showing such extraordinary acts of kindness to others. Let’s hope they get the pay rises they rightly deserve.

I’d like to mention something that happened a few weeks ago on a walk;  stopping to look at the view, I noticed something moving in a tree right beside me. It was a Goldcrest  – the smallest bird in Europe, even smaller than a wren. I stood still, hoping not to frighten it away.  Its colouring is beautiful –  a peacock’s eye on each wing and a striking yellow streak on its tiny head. This gorgeous little ball of fluff flew away after ten minutes or so. I’ve only ever seen one once before and very briefly. It made my day. In these strange times, I really hope you can get the chance to stop for a moment and feel nature around you.

Please stay safe.  Wishing you a restful Christmas and hoping 2022 is a happier year for everyone .

With love

Kate”.

One can easily imagine Kate Bush doing the shopping, leading a normal life and being very lowkey. This is what she is like. In fact, it was something she strove to return to when her career took off. Before recording Hounds of Love, in 1983 she returned to the country and spent valuable time with her family and boyfriend doing stuff like garnering, going on trips and getting away from the pressure of recording. It inspired one of her best albums. I think this sort of less stressful and high-profile life is what is conducive to great material. Since 1993, Bush has recorded away from big studios and there is no real time pressures on her. The message she left for her fans shows that she is very much one of us. Even if we cannot dream of matching her in terms of musical brilliance, the fact she is relatable accounts for her incredible endurance – and why there is so much passion and love for her. In fact, another piece of news that arrived on Kate Bush News relates to the HomeGround fanzine. I think one of the reasons it is returning for a one-off anniversary edition is because of the swelling fanbase:

“In 1982, in the months leading up to the release of The Dreaming single, we first had the idea of making a Kate Bush fanzine. Over the following 30 years we put out 79 issues, full of news and information about Kate and her music and associated subjects, providing a platform for review and discussion of Kate’s work on a worldwide basis. On the way we also organised, with the official Kate Bush Club, the 1985, 1990, and 1994 fan Conventions, the 1986 Video Party, all of which Kate attended. We also organised the fan contribution to the video shoot for The Big Sky. We were asked to provide the chronology and discographies for the 1987 Kate Bush Complete music and lyric book from EMI Music Publishing, and the sleeve note for the 1997 EMI 100 remastered CD of Hounds of Love.

The last printed HomeGround magazine was published at the end of 2011 and rapidly sold out. It was followed in March 2014 by the hugely successful two-volume HomeGround Anthology, containing over 1,200 pages of material from all 79 issues.

In May 2022 it will be 40 years since the first issue of HomeGround, and we felt we should mark the occasion with a very special issue – issue 80. Our intention is to make this available as a free downloadable PDF enabling us to use full colour.

Just as no previous issue of HomeGround could have happened without contributions from Kate Bush fans around the globe this special issue cannot happen without your help.

We will be producing the familiar news and a special retrospective summary of the last ten years in the Kate Speaking world. What we need are other features, artwork, poetry, short “Letters to the Editor” and even For Sale, Wanted, and Personal Message ads, just as we always did.

Here are some ideas for articles: there’s the work Kate has done since 2012, the 2014 Before the Dawn live performances, the 2015 live album, the 2018 re-masters and The Other Sides, and the Record Shop Day specials. 40 years of The Dreaming. Last words on 50 Words for Snow and the animations. Tribute Bands and tribute gigs, cover versions and Kate songs on TV talent shows.

 Inspired fictional stories. Reviews and reactions to the many and various Kate related books now available. The trials and tribulations of collecting Kate material. Charts and facts. That day you met Kate. The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever, tales of fan conventions and other Kate fan meet ups. The wider KateSphere – Paddy and John Carder Bush, Beck Sian, Sarah Daly, Raven Bush …

But generally, whatever might have a connection to Kate’s music. Before now we have run material as diverse as the appropriate whisky to drink with each album, to an analysis of the Red Shoes myth. We are looking forward to your contributions. Have a go!

Our aim is to have the issue ready by 18th May 2022, the official HomeGround birthday, so four months”.

I am hoping to contribute to that publication. There is this ongoing drive and commitment from fans to share Bush’s work and explain why she is so special. One might think this sort of tsunami of love must be for someone who is mega-famous and starry. As I posited, Kate Bush wins so many hearts because she is not like this! From her charity work to her inspirational messages and her lack of social media presence, we can identify with and respect her. I guess, in a sense, there is also a degree of mystery and enigma that attracts people. As we do not hear from Bush much and nobody really knows what she is doing at the moment, there are always those questions. She just wants to live her own life and, at sixty-three, she has worked for decades and earned that right for privacy. A woman who is deified but also extremely relatable and almost quintessentially English (even though she is half-Irish), it is a reason why we will be talking about Kate Bush…

FOR generations.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Izzi De-Rosa

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

Izzi De-Rosa

___________

HAVING released some terrific music…

that displays huge promise, I wanted to spotlight the great Izzi De-Rosa. Although a lot of talk last year centred around the song Love & Roulette, she also released the excellent I Don’t Care. Not averse to describing her sound as ‘Brat Pop’, the North London artists has a big 2022 ahead! With new tracks, surely, on her mind and a bigger project likely, it is a great time to discover the music of De-Rosa. She has a growing and loyal army of fans who are recognising her work and sharing it. I think that there are some wonderfully interesting Pop artists around. Many are taking from the ‘80s or ‘90s, yet De-Rosa is someone inspired by the ‘00s. As she was a child then, inspired by the amazing Pop coming up early this century, it is no surprise that she would look to incorporate that into her own aesthetic. Reminding me of a cross between Britney Spears, Nelly Furtado with some Avril Lavigne in there, in fact, it is hard to actually compare her with anyone else (I hope she is not offended by those comparisons!). With a fresh and vibrant sound, I am looking forward to hearing an E.P. or album. As more live performances are occurring this year, it is a great time for De-Rosa to showcase her material and connect with fans in the live arena. If ‘Brat Pop’ is going to become a bigger sound – which I think it will -, then I feel De-Rosa is at the forefront. There are not many interviews with her available online. That will change as we go through this year. I am, therefore, going to source quite heavily from a great interview NOTION conducted last year. First, here is a bit more information about a wonderful young woman:

“Izzi De-Rosa is a British artist that developed her distinct and alluring sound in the underground Leeds scene, before returning to her home town of London. De-Rosa’s music features a signature combination of complex jazz-inspired techniques with endearing soulful melodies. De-Rosa’s commandeering attitude on the track illustrates the singer/songwriter’s empowering qualities. This is mixed with buoyant lyricism and a mature self-awareness that is instantly appealing to a variety of ears. The vocalist has been generating a buzz amongst her growing following, teasing supporters with a number of unreleased projects”.

Rather than Izzi De-Rosa’s music being throwback or endlessly nostalgic, it is actually a perfect cocktail of the best of the ‘00s Pop and R&B scene with one eye very much on the present. Recently, she has teased that a rather good demo has been recorded. With an energy and affectionate fanbase behind her, that is going to translate into some incredible music from a rising star. Back in July, NOTION sat down with De-Rosa and asked about her musical influences and the brilliant single, Love & Roulette:

“If you’re a fan of early 2000s pop, chances are you will love Izzi De-Rosa. The self-confessed “sasspot” and “brat” is one to watch, throwing back to a uniquely British sound of pop. Dubbed “Brat Pop” by myself and Izzi during the course of our interview, her sound favours the early noughties’ era-defining aesthetic. Think bright pink velour tracksuits, Bratz, Freaky Friday, and the likes of Brad Pitt, the Sugababes, Destiny’s Child, and Christina Aguilera at events like the GRAMMYs, where they radiate an aura of effortless coolness.

The North London native studied Philosophy at the University of Leeds, before scrambling to transition to music after two weeks on a masters course, where she became deeply embedded in the Leeds music scene, part of a collective of artists. Relocating back home within the first lockdown, she began to find her voice, her sound, and define her aesthetic. Her debut track “Love & Roulette” landed a spot on the Spotify UK playlist, and a clip of her showing the song to her crush (in which he is the subject of a verse) went viral, as it currently stands at 10.1m views. This resulted in a deal with Atlantic Records UK.

“Talk to me about the response to “Love & Roulette”.

I just keep pinching myself, it’s so unreal. I’ve been using TikTok to just get my name out there and I haven’t released any music – I’ve just been using it for things like creating songs about things I see around London, and my tattoos and stuff. I had this song, and I love it so I put the video up of me showing this guy that I’d been hanging out with a verse I’d written about him.

I don’t even know why I did it, and I don’t know what came over me because it was like the third time we’d hung out. “Can I record your reaction?” I said, and I don’t think enough people realize that it was so genuine. He’s also a musician so I think he thought that it was like a promo thing – he did not realize it was about him!

The video went crazy. I didn’t really expect it to have that reaction. I just thought I’d get a few views. But within a week, it was at almost 2 million views. My first thought was “Shit, this is crazy!” Because of the algorithm, you blow up like 2 or 3 weeks later, so I just thought the reaction it originally got was what it got. The links in the comments of people making their own are really cute. It really messed up my release schedule – I was going to release more jazz music over the year, and eventually became more of a pop artist.

The universe just throws these situations at you. I just think everything happens for a reason.

It’s mad to see how instrumental TikTok is becoming to a lot of artists now.

I got a lot of followers and then attention from labels, and back in the day to get that attention, especially from labels, you had to graft for years and years, to create a body of work like a mixtape to then present to them.

@izziderosa i probably shouldnt be showing u guys this but im so in luv with the song🥺❤️‍🩹 #newmusic #ukpop #ukartist #poprock ♬ original sound - Izzi De-Rosa🌹

You writing a song with things you see around London is taking off on TikTok – is this part of your actual process?

With those ones, I just go for a walk looking for something to write about, but the songs I make as a musician are based on my real life. In terms of writing my music, something will happen to me and I’ll write about that. The TikToks are really to keep people engaged, saying “I’m still writing and I’m going to show you what I can do”. It’s quite a nice way to show off your music without ruining the hype around a natural release.

For my music – and it’s cringy to say this, but – it’s almost therapy for me. I want to process my emotions and the events that I’ve gone through in day-to-day life through writing. When I release it and see it connect with people, I’m so elated. I feel like we’re all so busy with life that we forget that we’re all sharing this same experience. Those feelings of heartbreak, anger, or falling in love are universal. When I write about those things that are just so personal to me, it’s so amazing to see people print their own experiences onto that.

Tell me about the formative years of uni and the effect the city of Leeds had on you.

I did my undergrad at Leeds in Philosophy, and I ended up staying there for 5 years. I was on an MA course and I had an existential crisis, so I scrambled to get into the music college. I had to go as far as tracking down the Head of Year’s number and calling him! From there I spent a lot of time in the Leeds music scene.

Then I moved back to London in the midst of the first lockdown. But in Leeds, I was in a music collective, and I see it as my training ground, just doing gigs 3 nights a week. But I went back to London and spent the rest of the lockdown writing in my bedroom finding my sound, my aesthetic and just transitioning into a professional artist.

“You’ve said you were born in the wrong era – which is the best era?

The early 2000s was a cool combination of grunge and pink things, watching movies like Freaky Friday. Britney Spears in velour tracksuits and the Barbie aesthetic – I love that fusion. Some people now will be one or the other, and back then everyone looked so effortlessly cool. Think videos of Christina Aguilera at the GRAMMYS. Now everyone tries to follow the trend, but back then everyone owned the trend. Musicians and actors of that era all have their own thing going on, the likes of Destiny’s Child and Lindsay Lohan”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Ollo Weg for NOTION

Someone that I am keen to interview and see live soon (as I am based in North London myself), I am predicting some big things for Izzi De-Rosa this year. I think that she will get some good festival bookings, in addition to seeing radio stations turn onto her music in a big way. I feel that everyone from BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, and BBC Radio 6 Music could spin her music, such is its appeal and range. That would bring her to a massive audience and, as such, confirm her as a serious proposition! As more material comes, so too will honours, bookings and huge accolades. Make sure you follow De-Rosa, as she is someone who will be on the scene for years to come. It will be interesting seeing how her sound evolves and moves on. At the moment, even though these are fairly early days, she has that confidence and talent that you cannot knock or ignore. With a style (both visual and audio) that is her own, look out for De-Rosa! In that NOTION interview, she came across as such an incredibly bright and hungry artist. Someone who, no doubt, was raised around so much music and drank it in as a child, there was a part of her that knew that she had to follow that career path and put her own music out there. Dreams are turning into reality for the London-based artist. If you are seeking a new talent to follow in 2022, then I can definitely recommend…

THE terrific Izzi De-Rosa.

____________

Follow Izzi De-Rosa

PHOTO CREDIT: Ollo Weg for NOTION 

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/izziderosa/

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/izziderosa

TikTok:

https://www.tiktok.com/@izziderosa

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/3Z6QJOLlIS8vdKV4f3jc6g

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXyjEpOcKTUO4q04ielbukw

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/izziderosa/

FEATURE: Inspired By… Part Forty-Seven: Nicki Minaj

FEATURE:

 

 

Inspired By…

Part Forty-Seven: Nicki Minaj

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ONE of the most influential modern…

Rap artists, Nicki Minaj is a Trinidadian-born, singer, and songwriter. She is known for her versatility as an artist, in addition to the animated flow lyricism in her rapping. She often employs alter egos and accents. Not only an influence on fellow women in music, her impact spreads far and wide. I am going to end with a playlist of tracks from those who, in some way, have taken guidance from Minaj. Before that, AllMusic provide a biography of the iconic star:

“With an unmistakable style and charisma, Nicki Minaj skyrocketed to superstardom with a talent that brought to mind past legends but wasn't quite like anyone who came before her. Her early days included shaky attempts at an acting career and losing her job at Red Lobster for being rude to customers, but Minaj progressed quickly from MySpace demos to nationally adored mixtapes to household-name status. She worked closely with Drake, Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and virtually every upper-echelon rapper and pop star before ascending to the level of fame that had her selling millions of albums and performing in the Super Bowl halftime show. As a rapper, Minaj is ferocious, known for a unique flow that turns on a dime from sugary to snarling, with razor-sharp wordplay and mercilessly blunt lyricism. Her range isn't limited to mixtape fire, however, as her crossovers into pop territory have yielded some of her most successful work. Her 2010 debut album Pink Friday saw the rapper branching out into radio-friendly melodicism, and accordingly it was the first of her albums to sell in the multi-platinum reaches and top chart positions internationally. Establishing herself as more an iconic presence than an album artist, Minaj released well over 70 singles under her own name in her first decade of recording, and stole the show in guest appearances on countless hits for other artists. Minaj's fame was canonized with stand-alone singles like "Superbass," "Starships," and "Anaconda," all of which were chart-topping smash hits with stream counts in the hundreds of millions. As one of the most successful rappers and crossover pop stars of her age, Minaj is part of a lineage that includes Jay-Z, Missy Elliot, Drake, and Beyoncé.

Nicki Minaj was born Onika Tanya Maraj in 1982. Born in Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago to parents who were both gospel singers, she lived with her grandmother in Saint James until the age of five, when she joined her mother, who had relocated to Queens, New York. In high school she discovered the performing arts, setting her sights on acting as her main pursuit. She eventually transitioned into music, working as part of a group called the Hood$tars in the early 2000s before going solo. In 2007 she was discovered by Dirty Money Entertainment CEO Big Fendi, who happened upon her demos on MySpace and signed Maraj to the label. At Fendi's suggestion, Maraj took on the stage name Nicki Minaj, jumbling her last name to reflect a more ruthless persona. Dirty Money Entertainment released both her 2007 debut mixtape, Playtime Is Over, and its 2008 follow-up, Sucka Free. Industry buzz was already surrounding Minaj on her earliest releases, and these mixtapes featured guest appearances from stars like Lil Wayne, Gucci Mane, Jadakiss, and Lil' Kim.

The 2009 mixtape Beam Me Up Scotty was a favorite among a growing fan base, and also included her first songs to hit the Billboard charts. In August of 2009 Minaj signed to Lil Wayne's Young Money Entertainment, becoming the label's first female artist. The floodgates opened from there, as Minaj made cameo appearances on tracks from Gucci Mane, Kanye West, Pusha T, and others as well as offering verses to hits like "Bedrock" and "Roger That" from the 2009 Young Money collaborative album We Are Young Money. An official non-mixtape debut album came in the form of Pink Friday, released in November of 2010 but preceded by the hit singles "Your Love" and "Check It Out." The album saw her leaning more into a pop style than the hard-edged rap of her mixtapes, but the hybrid of the two proved immediately successful, and the album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 and went platinum, selling upwards of 375,000 copies during its first week alone. She earned a handful of 2011 Grammy nominations, including Best New Artist, Best Rap Album, and Best Rap Performance. An all-out media blitz followed between albums, with extravagant performances at award shows across the globe, an appearance as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live, and joining Madonna -- alongside M.I.A. -- for her Super Bowl XLVI halftime show.

In early 2012, the Euro-dance-influenced single "Starships" signaled the coming of her official sophomore effort, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, an album built around her devil-may-care alter ego "Roman Zolanski." Guest artists included Nas, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, Chris Brown, and Beenie Man, while production came from the likes of RedOne and Ke'Noe. The album hit number one on the U.S. album charts, driven by a Top Ten showing for "Starships," and "Va Va Voom" also reached the Top 40. By the end of 2012, Minaj had been announced as a judge for the 12th season of American Idol, although she left at the end of the season. It hardly affected her success, as she set two career records during 2013: the most-charted female rapper in the history of Billboard's singles chart, and the first person to win Best Female Hip-Hop Artist at the BET Awards four times in a row.

In December 2014, Minaj released her third studio album, The Pinkprint. First single "Lookin Ass" was also featured on the Young Money compilation Rise of an Empire released in March of that year, while follow-up "Anaconda" was nominated for Best Rap Song at the 2015 Grammy Awards. Filled with songs about guilt and failed relationships, the album was well received by critics and debuted at number two on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. Throughout 2016, Minaj guested on numerous singles, including DJ Khaled's "Do You Mind" and Ariana Grande's "Side to Side," and she also released her own "Black Barbies." In 2017, she issued a trio of stand-alone singles: "Regret in Your Tears," "Changed It" with Lil Wayne, and "No Frauds" with Lil Wayne and Drake. The latter track went gold and broke into the Top 20 of the Hot 100 and Top Ten of the R&B and rap charts. That year, she also appeared on the Migos track "MotorSport" with Cardi B, and on Jason Derulo's "Swalla" with Ty Dolla $ign.

She returned with the singles "Chun-Li" and "Barbie Tingz" in spring 2018, paving the way for her fourth studio album, Queen, which arrived in August of that year. In addition to third single "Bed" featuring Ariana Grande, the LP also features guests Labrinth, Eminem, Lil Wayne, the Weeknd, Future, Foxy Brown, and Swae Lee. Upon release, Queen matched its predecessor with a number two debut on the Billboard 200. More singles arrived the following year, including the non-album track "Megatron," "Tusa" with Karol G, "Trollz" with 6ix9ine. Minaj was also featured alongside Murda Beatz on PnB Rock 2019 track "Fendi." In February 2020, the rapper returned with her own stand-alone song "Yikes." Minaj's third mixtape Beam Me Up Scotty was reissued in 2021, eleven years after its original release. The project was given new cover art and the track listing was altered somewhat, omitting some of the songs from the original 2009 release and including several new tracks. This new version of Minaj's breakout project debuted in the number two spot on the Billboard 200, making it the highest-charting mixtape from a female rapper up to that point”.

To illustrate the artists who are following Nicki Minaj and are inspired by her incredible talent and strength, the playlist at the end contains cuts from some incredible Rap/Hip-Hop artists who are going to go on to inspire others. As you can see, there is some serious talent to be seen! They all have a lot of love and respect…

FOR the amazing Nicki Minaj.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Morgan Wade

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

Morgan Wade

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AN incredible talent that I am a bit new to…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Thirty Tigers

I want to spend a few moments spotlighting the brilliant Morgan Wade. The twenty-seven-year-old Country artist from Virginia is someone who instantly caught my eyes. Not only does her amazing music and stunning voice stay in the mind. She also has a range of tattoos that, are both super-cool and unexpected! She is an artist that everyone needs to follow! Released through Thirty Tigers, Reckless is an album that won more than its share of good reviews. I will come to one of them at the end. I also want to source some good interviews that Wade was involved with last year. First, her biography on her official website provides more detail and backstory:

“Morgan Wade has never sounded like anybody else, and for a long time, she thought that meant her songs were just for her. “Honestly, I think that was really good for me,” she says. “It made me think, ‘Alright, well, I’m not going to sing for anybody else––but I’m singing for myself.’” Since then, Wade has figured out that when you grow up in Floyd, Virginia, where bluegrass sustains everyone like the Blue Ridge Mountain air but you hear other sounds like pop and punk in your own head, singing for yourself is the way to become the artist you were always meant to be.

Produced by Sadler Vaden––Jason Isbell’s longtime guitarist and an acclaimed solo artist in his own right––Wade’s full-length debut Reckless is a confident rock-and-roll record that introduces a young singer-songwriter who is embracing her strengths and quirks as she continues to ask questions about who she is––and who she wants to be. Her voice, a raspy soprano that can soothe liltingly or growl, is on brilliant display. “I feel like the last couple of years have been me trying to figure out where I fit in, who I fit in with, and what’s going on,” Wade says. “I’m almost four years sober, so a lot of the friends I had, I don’t really hang out with anymore. When I wrote these songs, I was going through a lot, just trying to figure out who I am”.

The first interview I want to include is from EF Country. They spoke with Wade back in March about her plans for 2021. They asked her, among other things, about tackling mental health and sobriety in her lyrics:

“This record has been a while in the making – is it quite strange that it’s now going out into the world

Yeah, it is weird because I was in such a hurry. I’m very impatient. So we get the record done and a week later the world shuts down ’cause of the pandemic. And so then I’ve just had all this time – it’s literally been over a year. So now that it’s actually time to put it out I’m like, “is it really time to put it out? Are you guys gonna let me?” But I’m excited, I’m ready for everybody to hear it. We worked really hard. But it’s a little weird. It doesn’t feel like it’s real.

Do you feel the way you’ve approached your music has changed at all since you made the record? Or is it still pretty much the same?

Yeah, I mean to me, towards the end there’s a couple of last songs that we put on the record that I’d written to tracks. It wasn’t me sitting down with a guitar or piano or whatever, it was just a track. And so I’ve been writing a lot of stuff like that now, because I enjoy it and it adds something different. It allows me to change things up so they’re not the same. So a little bit has changed but it’s kind of like here and there. Since working with Sadler and a lot of these really talented people out here it’s challenged me to work harder with my writing and challenged myself. So, definitely.

PHOTO CREDIT: Ethan Luck 

You’ve also been very open on the lyrics of this album about your mental health and sobriety. Is that something that’s important for you to talk about – both in your music and more generally?

Oh, for sure. Like I feel like that’s such a big part of my life, and I feel like my fan base… I’ve gained a lot of fans through that because they connect with that, and so I feel like I owe that to them. It keeps me being honest and authentic. It’s something that I struggle with daily so it’s something that I shall always be open about. We have to talk about those things to be able to overcome them.

What’s next for you? Is the record and your upcoming shows your focus for the foreseeable future?

Yeah, just seeing what we can do, getting back to touring however we’re allowed to do that. But just pushing the record, getting out there and doing live shows. I’ve got some other TV stuff coming up to promote. There’s still the pandemic but at least we’re coming towards the end of it maybe, I can see the light so fingers crossed [laughs].

Are you thinking about the new project yet? Or is that still a way off?

Yeah, yeah. No, that’s not way off, not in my head. I’ve been sitting there thinking about record number two for months and they’re like, “well we kind of need to get the first one out”. I’m impatient, I’m always thinking about the next thing, so definitely I’ve been writing a lot and looking for future stuff”.

There were some great interviews with Morgan Wade last year. I got to know a lot more about her when researching. I was definitely interesting learning more about her musical influences. Off the Record discovered more about that when they spoke with her in September:

“Morgan Wade on her influences and her obsession with Elvis

Morgan Wade: I’m definitely a ’90s baby. And so, ’90s, early 2000s, Shania Twain, I called her ‘Nia Twain. That’s all I wanted to listen to as well. I was obsessed with her, and then especially it was the Tim and Faith era, and Garth Brooks, and all that coming about. But then, I discovered Elvis, and that changed everything for me. That’s all I would listen to. I was obsessed. And still pretty… We had a show in Memphis a couple weeks ago, and I went to Lansky Bros. They’re at the Peabody Hotel. I had to buy an Elvis leather jacket, and a bunch of stuff. I got a little carried away there, but super obsessed with Elvis.

Morgan Wade on being an old soul 

Joy Williams: My question is, do you feel like you came into this world with an old soul, and do you think that’s something to be proud of, if so?

Morgan Wade: For sure. My grandmother was a hairdresser, and she had her salon in her house. And so, I would sit down there with these women in their 80s, and listen to their stories. And then, my grandmother would also go over to the nursing home and do hair, and I gravitated towards those, it was called the C Wing, which was the wing that was locked down. They couldn’t leave there, because they were flight risks. Those were my friends. I would literally-

Joy Williams: Those were your people.

Morgan Wade: My grandmother would take me there a couple days a week after school, and I just loved it, because the stories they would tell you. And they never would remember me, but they could remember these stories, and I would sit back there with them for hours. It was hard too, because there was a point where my mom really had to kind of sit me down, because all my friends were sadly dying off left and right, because I was becoming friends with… I learned about that pretty early on. It seemed like everyone that I was gravitating towards was, like Elvis, she had to break that to me that he was not alive, when I discovered him. It just seemed like everybody that I loved was in their final days. It might explain a little bit about me, I think.

Morgan Wade on what she hopes fan take away from her debut album ‘Reckless’ 

I was really nervous to put this record out, because I didn’t know if it would be country enough for the people who like country, and would it be too country for the people that don’t like country? And so, I had all these things going through my mind. But now that it’s out, I’m super proud of this record. My main thing is, I’m so glad I put that out there, and I did it exactly how I wanted to. If anybody could take something away from what I’ve done, it’s just do what you want to do, and don’t worry about what everybody else is going to think. Because at the end of the day, Sadler, my producer and I, we talked about it, we were like, “All right, we’re not going to go in here and just try to make hits.” It’s like, we’re going to go in here and make stuff we believe in, and then at the end of the day, if we’re really happy with this, we’ve got something that we worked really hard on together. I think that’s what made this so great, is that we had such a good time doing this, and I can stand behind this. It’s not like I put something out there that I’m like, “Ugh, yeah, it’s doing really well, but I don’t believe in it”.

There is one more great interview that is worth popping in before getting to a review of Reckless. Hopping back to May, The Big Takeover interviewed Wade - in which we find out about her more contemporary musical tastes and tips:

“Tour dates are starting to roll out. Are you ready to get out on the road?

MORGAN: I am, yeah. I played five shows since Reckless came out. I played zero in 2020, so that’s really a good feeling. Now that we’re slowly getting back out there and stuff’s not being cancelled anymore, it’s a good feeling.

The Big Takeover has a strong history in punk rock, dating back to the early ’80s. I know you’re a country artist, but wondering how you might identify with punk, whether it be an attitude, or clothes you wear, or the tattoos you have?

MORGAN: I don’t really know what punk rock is, exactly. I don’t listen to country music, really, which baffles people because when people ask what I’m listening to, it’s never country music. Machine Gun Kelly’s last record, Tickets to My Downfall, now that was a punk record and that’s probably my favorite record that came out last year. I can’t deny that. I listen to a lot of, like, punk-rap and more of that sad music, like Lil Peep and stuff like that. I can’t say it’s too far off from punk rock, pretty much if I like music, I like it.

I always wonder, who is this generation’s Don Henley or Huey Lewis or Phil Collins. I’ve had people say that Post Malone fits that bill which, at first, I thought was crazy – he sounds nothing like the middle-age arena artists from the ’80s – but he does write hits, gets a lot of radio airplay, and can fill an arena, so maybe that is a good comparison.

MORGAN: Lana Del Rey goes over a bunch of different genres, she’s one of those that hasn’t had a ton of radio play but she can sell out an arena and tour and she can put out 10 albums in a year and they would all sell and do amazing.

You grew up as part of an MP3/streaming music generation but vinyl is making a comeback. Did you ever buy vinyl when you were younger or did you consume stuff digitally?

MORGAN: Honestly, because I’m 26, I still remember cassettes and being in the car with cassette tapes. And then I remember my grandpa being like, “What the heck?” when we moved over to CDs. So, CDs was my big thing. I remember going to Walmart or something and going back there to look at CDs. It’s funny because I was at Walmart today and I looked and there are almost no CDs. I guess it’s been so long since I’ve looked, but there was more vinyl at Walmart than there are CDs.

Is there a particular lyric that you’re really proud of, like after you wrote you said, “That is good!”?

MORGAN: In “Met You,” I took that from reading a book about Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley. If you read A Movable Feast, he talks about, “We would be happy, we have our books in bed every night.” So, there’s the line, I don’t know if people picked up on that – you know, in the bridge I talk about “But like Hemmingway and Hadley / It’s not the end of our story” – but in the second verse, I’m like, “We didn’t get our books in bed every night.” I kind of worked that throughout that whole song. I felt kind of artistic on that, I’m like, “I’m going to give myself a little pat on the back for that one”.

To round things off, I am getting to a review from SLATE. They sat down with a remarkable album from last year that went beyond the realms of Country. I think that modern Country is a lot more diverse and genre-spanning than the classic image of the form. They note how other musical elements and flavours are at work through Reckless:

“Morgan Wade grew up in the heart of Southwest Virginia—the same area of Appalachia from which the Carter Family and the Stanley Brothers hail—and her voice, a raspy soprano drenched in twang, is shaped by that geography. It’s a voice that sounds like it was built for murder ballads and songs about cheatin’ and drinkin’. But the 26-year-old singer-songwriter isn’t that kind of artist, and on her debut album, she refuses to be typecast.

Produced by Sadler Vaden, Reckless is striking in the way it upends expectations. Although country music is unmistakably present in the DNA of these 10 songs—from the glossy Nashville sheen that underscores opener “Wilder Days” to the aching sway of “Mend”—it’s not the driving force. You won’t find a lick of banjo, fiddle, or steel guitar on the album, and Wade’s songwriting steers clear of country music’s most common tropes, like religion and family, and the caricatures of rural identity that have become the hallmarks of country radio.

Instead, Reckless revolves around issues like addiction, mental health, and isolation—plights that are central to exurban life but mostly ignored by the music that claims to represent that culture. Wade navigates these topics with stark, evocative storytelling. “Tonight I am numb from a cocktail of pills,” she sings on “Met You,” the album’s haunting final track. “I hallucinate, think I’m touching your skin/I’d much rather die than think of the bed that you’re in.” It’s an affecting lyric in its own right, but it’s even more so when considered in context.

Like many of America’s rural communities, Appalachia has been ravaged by the opioid epidemic over the past two decades. For those, like Wade, who grew up in places like this, addiction is omnipresent, a defining characteristic of their hometowns. So it’s no surprise that it shapes almost every song here in ways that are often subtle but deeply consequential. With a few exceptions, these are songs of desire, dependence, and desperation—of a narrator who’s searching for a way to make things better, even if that means settling for a temporary reprieve.

At the same time that vital stories like these are excluded from country music, singers with voices like Wade’s are also denied a place in the broader popular culture. We rarely hear pop or rock that features thick mountain accents or deep Texas drawls—not a surprising fact considering the structural bias that exists against regional dialects (especially Southern ones). Faced with this dilemma, most artists choose one of two paths: cater to the stringent demands required to fit into the country music machine—which dictates everything from what you can sing about to how you dress—or learn to perform in ways that belie their roots.

 Wade makes no such compromises on Reckless. She blends pop and country without subjugating either, all the while covering a wide swath of stylistic ground that runs from searing country ballads like “Mend,” to the sauntering Southern rock of “Take Me Away,” to the radio-ready shimmer of “Last Cigarette,” a perfectly crafted track that takes cues from Halsey and the Chainsmokers. That Wade is equally compelling in all of these modes is a testament to her powerful, versatile, and unique voice.

It’s also a remarkable accomplishment considering the scale of the project. Only seven musicians, including Wade, appear throughout the album, but Vaden’s production offers Wade plenty of space without leaving the arrangements too sparse, which—given the rustic character of her voice—could have made Reckless come off like a roots record. Instead, each of the album’s 10 tracks features just the right level of polish and embellishment—especially the ballads, where Vaden’s masterful guitar playing shines, and where the occasional, well-placed synth or Mellotron adds depth to an otherwise guitar-heavy album”.

If you have not found Morgan Wade or know much about her music, then go and listen to Reckless and check out an amazing artist. I am looking forward to seeing what comes this year. Maybe we will see her come to the U.K. to play. That would be great. It is obvious that Morgan Wade is a fantastic talent who is…

PRIMED for big things.

_______________

Follow Morgan Wade

Official:

https://www.morganwademusic.com/

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/themorganwade

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/morganwademusic/

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMORtKGR7P8-0I3opEaKVWQ

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/morganwademusic

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/4eYE8Z6cfEHEdG22lTyucP

FEATURE: Running with the Hounds of Love: Kate Bush’s Ultimate, Defining Title Track

FEATURE:

 

 

Running with the Hounds of Love

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush captured in 1985 during the Hounds of Love video shoot/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush

Kate Bush’s Ultimate, Defining Title Track

___________

I ran a feature not too long ago…

when I ranked Kate Bush’s title tracks. I decided, perhaps unsurprisingly, that Hounds of Love got the top honour. Although Hounds of Love is not my favourite Kate Bush album (that is 1978’s The Kick Inside), there is something about her 1985 masterpiece that means it is most people’s favourite albums of hers. Inspired and hugely impressive. At the peak of her game as a songwriter, musician, singer and producer, I can appreciate why many people consider this to be the defining Kate Bush album. I feel a title track is often the song that is the theme or standout of an album. Not always the strongest track, I guess it is the artist trying to distil the album’s themes and meaning into a song. Bush in particular has produced some incredible and varied title tracks. Although Hounds of Love is split into two – the singles on the first side and the suite, The Ninth Wave, on the second -, I kind of think of Hounds of Love as the defining cut on the album. If one wanted a clear image and sound of the album, I would point them in the direct of the eponymous song. I shall talk about the video in a minute (which Kate Bush directed) but, as the single turns thirty-six on 24th February, I wanted to explore it from a different angle. This is the one single (from four) released off Hounds of Love that underperformed.

Running Up That Hill reached number three in the U.K. It was released in August 1985 – a month before Hounds of Love came out. Arguably, there was this excitement and anticipation of an album that propelled the single up the charts. Cloudbusting came out a month after the album release and reached twenty. The Big Sky only got to thirty-seven. I am generally surprised that the singles did not fare better. Although the album was a huge chart and commercial success and penetrated the U.S. market – Kate Bush became a much bigger name there from 1985 -, I am stunned a single like Hounds of Love did not get into the top ten. The fact that the U.K. B-side was The Handsome Cabin Boy, rather than another album track like Waking the Witch or And Dream of Sheep, might account for a slightly low placing. One reason why I think Hounds of Love is the ultimate Kate Bush title track is because the video was the first she directed. She would also direct the video for The Big Sky (and several videos after that). I love that one can see Bush’s love of horror/suspense director Alfred Hitchcock in the video. Influenced by his film, The 39 Steps, 'Hitchcock' also features in the promotion (a nod to the director's famous cameo appearances in his movies).

I have some more thoughts and points about the song but, first, the Kate Bush Encyclopaedia sources interviews where Bush talked about the inspiration behind one of the most important tracks from her most popular and revered album:

“The ideas for 'Hounds Of Love', the title track, are very much to do with love itself and people being afraid of it, the idea of wanting to run away from love, not to let love catch them, and trap them, in case th hounds might want to tear them to pieces and it's very much using the imagery of love as something coming to get you and you've got to run away from it or you won't survive. (Conversation Disc Series, ABCD012, 1985)

When I was writing the song I sorta started coming across this line about hounds and I thought 'Hounds Of Love' and the whole idea of being chasing by this love that actually gonna... when it get you it just going to rip you to pieces, (Raises voice) you know, and have your guts all over the floor! So this very sort of... being hunted by love, I liked the imagery, I thought it was really good. (Richard Skinner, 'Classic Albums interview: Hounds Of Love'. BBC Radio 1 (UK), 26 January 1992)

In the song 'Hounds Of Love', what do you mean by the line 'I'll be two steps on the water', other than a way of throwing off the scent of hounds, or whatever, by running through water. But why 'two' steps?

Because two steps is a progression. One step could possibly mean you go forward and then you come back again. I think "two steps" suggests that you intend to go forward.

But why not "three steps"?

It could have been three steps - it could have been ten, but "two steps" sounds better, I thought, when I wrote the song. Okay. (Doug Alan interview, 20 November 1985)”.

Most definitely a song that should be in everyone’s list of Kate Bush’s best twenty, Hounds of Love is a song that stands out on an album not short of highlights! The video is cinematic and incredible. I love the colour palette and Bush’s confidence as a director first time around. I hear Hounds of Love played a lot on the radio, as it is a song that has connected with so many people. One of most powerful, sweeping and punchy compositions on Hounds of Love (Jonathan Williams’ cello is especially memorable), it also features some of Bush’s most captivating and astonishing lyrics. She stops you in your tracks with these lines: “I found a fox/Caught by dogs./He let me take him in my hands/His little heart/It beats so fast/And I'm ashamed of running away”. Almost thirty-six years after the single came out, I wanted to spotlight one of Kate Bush’s greatest moments. Hounds of Love’s title track still sounds so potent and moving! It is a song that catches you and grabs the heart. With an exceptional video and lyrics that are among her best, no wonder Hounds of Love is played so much. It is a song that I…

NEVER tire of.

FEATURE: A Buyer’s Guide: Part Ninety: Lana Del Rey

FEATURE:

 

 

A Buyer’s Guide

PHOTO CREDIT: Joe Pugliese/August

Part Ninety: Lana Del Rey

___________

I recently featured Lana Del Rey’s 2012…

album, Born to Die, a few weeks back. I am revisiting it for this ninetieth edition of A Buyer’s Guide. With her eighth studio album,. Blue Banisters, released last year, I wanted to look more widely at her work. Before recommending the four essential albums, the underrated gem, the latest studio album and a book about her, I wanted to bring in some biography from AllMusic:  

“Lana Del Rey envisioned a Southern California dream world constructed out of sad girls and bad boys, manufactured melancholy, and genuine glamour, and then she came to embody this fantasy. At first, her stylized noir-pop garnered skeptical sneers -- the rise of her 2012 debut, Born to Die, was impeded by a tentative live debut on Saturday Night Live -- but Del Rey proved to be tougher than her soft exterior suggested. Following a hit remix of her single "Summertime Sadness," she steadily gained not only popularity but respect; her second album, 2014's Ultraviolence, received positive reviews to accompany her sales, and her imitators (of which there were many) became merely an alluring accessory. With subsequent albums like 2019's Grammy-nominated Norman Fucking Rockwell! and 2021's Blue Banisters, Del Rey grew more and more into the ideal she intended to be: a damaged torch singer designed as the tragic romantic icon for her age.

Lana Del Rey's journey to this stardom was a long, steady climb. Born Elizabeth Woolridge Grant in New York City to a pair of wealthy parents, she was raised in Lake Placid, not starting to pursue music until she was out of high school and living with her aunt and uncle on Long Island. Her uncle taught her how to play guitar and soon she was writing songs and playing New York clubs, sometimes under the name Lizzy Grant. While she attended Fordham University, she continued to play music and she started getting serious around 2005. In April of that year, a CD of originals was registered under her birth name with the U.S. Copyright Office and she recorded elsewhere, finishing up an unreleased folky album called Sirens under the name May Jailer.

Reverting to the name Lizzy Grant, she signed with 5 Points Records in 2006, recording an EP called Kill Kill with producer David Kahne, who would prove to be her first pivotal collaborator. Kill Kill appeared digitally in 2008, and over the next two years, Grant became Lana Del Rey, digitally releasing a full self-titled album under that name in 2010. Not long after its release, she teamed with managers Ben Mawson and Ed Millett, who helped her separate from 5 Points (rights to her recordings reverted back to her) and moved to England, where she began crafting the Lana Del Rey persona.

The first unveiling of Lana Del Rey arrived in 2011 via YouTube videos that quickly became a viral sensation, led by the moody, murky "Video Games" and followed by "Blue Jeans." Much of her success was limited to the Internet, but it soon started to spill over into U.K. pop culture. By the fall of that year, she released "Video Games" on Stranger Records, an independent division of Interscope/Polydor, in the U.K., and she won the Next Big Thing trophy at the Q Awards. Del Rey's full-fledged debut album, Born to Die, appeared to considerable anticipation in January 2012. Greeted by mixed reviews, Born to Die's launch also suffered a setback after Del Rey's halting appearance on Saturday Night Live on in January 2012, but that apparent stumble ultimately had the effect of raising Del Rey's profile, and soon Born to Die became a steady seller. That November, Del Rey released the Paradise EP -- at eight tracks and 33 minutes, it was essentially a mini-LP; some pressings bundled Paradise with Born to Die -- which, supported by the single "Ride," charted at ten in the U.S.

Throughout 2013, various singles and videos surfaced -- these included a cover of Leonard Cohen's "Chelsea Hotel #2," as well as a cover of Lee Hazlewood's "Summer Wine" performed with her then-boyfriend, Barrie-James O'Neill -- but her biggest release of the year was the new song "Young and Beautiful," penned for Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of The Great Gatsby. Ultimately, this single was overshadowed by Cedric Gervais' remix of Born to Die's "Summertime Sadness," a remix that turned the song into her first Top Ten hit in the U.S. At the end of 2013, Del Rey released a short film called Tropico, which was accompanied by an EP of the same name. All of these releases -- including a cover of the Disney standard "Once Upon a Dream" for the Disney film Maleficent -- kept Del Rey in the spotlight as she worked on her second album.

Del Rey hired Dan Auerbach, the leader of Ohio blues-rockers the Black Keys, to produce the majority of Ultraviolence, the sophomore set that appeared in June 2014, preceded by the singles "West Coast," "Shades of Cool," "Ultraviolence," and "Brooklyn Baby." Ultraviolence found a more receptive initial audience than Born to Die: not only were the reviews positive, so were the sales, with the album debuting at number one in both the U.S. and the U.K. Ultimately, Ultraviolence didn't generate hits as big as Born to Die, but it performed the crucial task of elevating Del Rey's critical reputation, illustrated by her selection to sing the title song for Tim Burton's 2014 bid for an Oscar, Big Eyes.

Del Rey wasted no time following Ultraviolence. During the first months of 2015, she worked on a third full-length album and announced a co-headlining summer 2015 tour with Courtney Love. As the summer wound to a close, Del Rey announced the September release of Honeymoon, an album she said was "very different from the last one and similar to the first two, Born to Die and Paradise." Her claim was borne out by the album's first two singles, "High by the Beach" and "Terrence Loves You." Honeymoon saw release on September 18, 2015. The album topped the charts in a handful of countries, peaking at number two on the Billboard 200. In addition to touring in support of Honeymoon, she contributed vocals to the Weeknd's chart-topping third LP, Starboy, and began recording for her own follow-up.

In early 2017, she released "Love," the first single from her fourth full-length album, Lust for Life, which arrived that July. Along with debuting at number one on the Billboard 200, the album earned Del Rey her second Grammy nomination for Best Pop Vocal Album. The following year, she began rolling out singles in advance of her fifth album, Norman Fucking Rockwell!, beginning with "Mariners Apartment Complex" and "Venice Bitch." The trickle of new music continued throughout 2019 with a steady stream of new songs, some one-offs, and some album tracks. After ramping up excitement for the record with a cover of Sublime's "Doin' Time" and a two-part joint single, "Fuck It I Love You"/"The Greatest," Norman Fucking Rockwell! was released in late August 2019. It received Grammy nominations for Album of the Year as well as Song of the Year for the title track. The following year, Del Rey issued Violet Bent Backwards over the Grass, a book of poetry that also yielded a spoken word album of the same name.

The official follow-up to Norman Fucking Rockwell!, Chemtrails over the Country Club, appeared in March 2021. Only a few months later, Del Rey released three more singles including the song "Blue Banisters" from her forthcoming album of the same name. Blue Banisters arrived in October of that year, featuring production on some songs from Kanye West and Kid Cudi producer Mike Dean”.

To highlight the incredible work of Lana Del Rey, this A Buyer’s Guide combines the albums that you must hear. If you are a new fan of hers, I hope that the details below are of some use. To me, Del Rey is one of the greatest artists…

IN the world.

_________________

The Four Essential Albums

 

Ultraviolence

Release Date: 13th June, 2014

Labels: Polydor/Interscope   

Producers: Dan Auerbach/Lana Del Rey/Paul Epworth/Lee Foster/Daniel Heath/Greg Kurstin/Rick Nowels/Blake Stranathan

Standout Tracks: Shades of Cool/Brooklyn Baby/West Coast

Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=697600&ev=mb

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/1ORxRsK3MrSLvh7VQTF01F?si=oblY2JJmReGb0a7v4QfFdQ

Review:

“The title of Lana Del Rey’s new album is a portmanteau coined in Anthony Burgess’ bloody dystopian fantasy A Clockwork Orange, which Stanley Kubrick turned into one of his signature films in 1971. Kubrick would have loved Del Rey — a highly stylized vixen who romanticizes fatalism to near-pornographic levels, creating fantastically decadent moments of film-noir melodrama. It’s an aesthetic that demands total commitment from both artist and listener, and it would be difficult to buy into if she didn’t deliver such fully realized cinema. Ultraviolence masterfully melds those elements, and completes the redemption narrative of a singer whose breakout-to-backlash arc on 2012’s Born to Die made her a cautionary tale of music-industry hype.

The addition of producer Dan Auerbach enhances Ultra‘s air of everyday menace, and finds Del Rey digging deeper. The Black Keys frontman doesn’t push — he’d rather let her shape-shifting moan brush up against dusty drum loops and dead-eyed bass drones. The spacey, sinister groove of ”West Coast” proves that frequent Auerbach collaborator Danger Mouse’s style has rubbed off on him too, and ”Pretty When You Cry” evolves from a woozy mumble into a widescreen blast of guitar heroics. Del Rey’s dark urges — for love, for money, for pure pleasure — don’t evoke the Clockwork droogs as much as they do Tom Cruise’s Dr. Bill Harford from Kubrick’s final film, Eyes Wide Shut. Like Harford, Del Rey has spent countless hours stalking the night, searching for answers and trying on various guises — and Ultraviolence is the masked bacchanalia that finally unleashes the full potential lurking beneath the hype. A” – Entertainment Weekly

Choice Cut: Ultraviolence

Lust for Life

Release Date: 21st July, 2017

Labels: Polydor/Interscope  

Producers: Lana Del Rey/Rick Nowels/Kieron Menzies/Dean Reid/Benny Blanco/Boi-1da/Emile Haynie/Tim Larcombe/Sean Ono Lennon/Max Martin/Metro Boomin/Mighty Mike/Jahaan Sweet

Standout Tracks: Lust for Life (with The Weeknd)/White Mustang/Get Free

Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=1212427&ev=mb

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/7xYiTrbTL57QO0bb4hXIKo?si=eDp5aMpFTTKgtNrN1r8Sxg

Review:

“For those who haven’t paid attention to Del Rey’s career since its first flourish – the sighing, sorrow-drenched Video Games – the Californian artist’s music has remained locked within a small range of emotions, most of which revolve around awful men (often elderly bikers or gangsters) doing awful things and Del Rey remaining belligerently in love with them. However, the world has changed considerably since 2015’s Honeymoon, and, much like Katy Perry’s ambition to make “purposeful pop”, Del Rey has decided to puncture her long-running narrative and reflect the troubled times we are in.

Here, her political approach is rooted in escapism. Del Rey’s longtime producer Rick Nowels recently declared When the World Was at War We Kept Dancing a “masterpiece” for its lyrical message about finding pleasure in the Trump era. Meanwhile, Coachella – Woodstock in My Mind is a sedated trap track; one that attracted derision for its title, given that Del Rey is the patron saint of wearing a flower garland at a celebrity-filled festival. It is a sweetly innocent song about observing an audience of young girls dressed just like her, and praying for their safety amid a period of global terror.

The triumphant God Bless America was written before the Women’s Marches of earlier this year and is a response to the Republicans’ attack on women’s rights – a relief for parents who’ve fretted over their children’s obsession with a singer who has a habit of romanticising toxic relationships. (Del Rey recently admitted that she no longer sings the Crystals-sampling lyric, “He hit me and it felt like a kiss” from her song Ultraviolence.) You can hear the pleasure in Del Rey’s vocals on Beautiful People Beautiful Problems, a piano ballad she shares with Stevie Nicks, which is comparable to Harry Styles’s vague, state-of-the-nation balladry.

But, for every socially conscious sentiment, she paints another pastel coloured paradise full of feted actors (“I’m flying to the moon again / Dreaming about heroin”), doe-eyed infatuation, and 50s girl-group appreciation (“My boyfriend’s back ... and he’s cooler than ever”). Groupie Love is spoken from the perspective of a devoted fan and features quintessentially Del Rey-like lines such as: “This is my life, you by my side / Key lime and perfume and festivals.” 13 Beaches is inexplicably about the time Del Rey travelled to 13 beaches before she found one with nobody on it. It’s surface-level stuff, but perhaps there’s a deeper message in there somewhere: the overwhelm of fame? Overpopulation? Climate change?

Still, Del Rey’s music has always been more about a feeling than an explicit lyrical message. This album features some of the most sophisticated production and shifting of moods from her four-album career. A$AP Rocky and Playboi Carti feature on the lazy rap track Summer Bummer, its eerie production and futuristic melancholy sounding closer to a track from Frank Ocean’s Blonde than her usual 50s and 60s enthralled shtick. The Beatles-referencing Tomorrow Never Came features vocals by Sean Lennon. It’s a strange, melodic reworking of the Beatles’ Something, a vintage glow that rubs up against the sleek contemporary-sounding soundscapes elsewhere. The Chris Isaak school of monochrome melancholy echoes around icy production. The old and new entwine throughout” – The Guardian

Choice Cut: Coachella – Woodstock in My Mind

Norman Fucking Rockwell!

Release Date: 30th August, 2019

Labels: Polydor/Interscope  

Producers: Jack Antonoff/Lana Del Rey/Rick Nowels/Andrew Watt/Zachary Dawes/Happy Perez/Kieron Menzies/Dean Reid/Mighty Mike

Standout Tracks: Mariners Apartment Complex/Cinnamon Girl/The greatest

Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/lana-del-rey/nfr-new-version/lp

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/5XpEKORZ4y6OrCZSKsi46A?si=IgTguzC8QbewVslfa_zdiQ

Review:

“Radiating new dimensions of sensitivity and eloquence, “Mariners Apartment Complex” is a towering peak on Norman Fuckng Rockwell!, a four-minute drama about fateful potential romantic energy. But its turbulent grandeur could speak to the whole Lana Del Rey story. “You took my sadness out of context” and “They mistook my kindness for weakness” are bold refusals to be misunderstood. Referencing Elton John with her pristine declaration “I ain’t no candle in the wind,” a phrase originally inspired by the early deaths of Marilyn Monroe and Janis Joplin, is a patent embrace of life from a woman who once wrote, “I wish I was dead.” When she sings, “I fucked up, I know that, but Jesus/Can’t a girl just do the best she can?” it could be a mic-dropping rebuttal to the ludicrous standards she faced from the start (and the overblown, Internet-engineered Lana outrage that now seems sexist and pathetic). The Hollywood author Eve Babitz once wrote, “Once it is established you are you and everyone else is merely perfect, ordinarily factory-like perfect… you can wreak all the havoc you want.” Lana’s evolution follows suit. “Mariners Apartment Complex” is the sort of ballad that makes teens want to bang on pianos and spill their souls.

Lana zooms out to find her zenith. A piano ballad to close down the bar at the end of the world, “The greatest” collapses time, as if Lana is writing the zeitgeist on a typewriter, her lines raving up with fevered reference to rock’n’roll and depression and a proverbial “Kokomo.” Turning the weight of a generation into light, her words crest like the white of a tidal wave—“L.A.’s in flames, it’s a getting hot/Kanye West is blonde and gone/‘Life On Mars’ ain’t just a song/Oh, the livestream’s almost on”—and they feel on arrival to have existed forever. As ever, Lana regards the despondency of existence as a realist, offering a funhouse reflection of the way we live.

Call her Doris Doomsday: “The culture is lit/And if this is it/I had a ball,” she resolves with ecstasy and fire, a lightning rod of humor, sadness, and perception; flip jadedness and abiding love. Fanning the flames of a culture ablaze, Lana sings each word like a prayer, finessed with conviction and smoke, chaos and control. “The greatest” is a galaxy-brain moment in the pantheon of pop, and it belongs to a generation fully aware we are at risk of being distracted into oblivion, Juuling towards early death while watching Earth burn.

But hope does not elude us yet. And Lana has an anthem for that, too. The title of Norman Fucking Rockwell!’s grand finale is itself a doomy 16-word poem called “Hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have - but I have it.” Whatever it was that brought Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen together half a century ago, that middle ground is in the solemn mood, hollowed space, and spiritual fortitude of this haunting song. In the muted resignation of her voice you can see her “trust no one” tattoo. She rejects a world of luxury, rejects happiness and sadness both, calls herself “24/7 Sylvia Plath.” And in this slow, glowering procession, she points more directly to her own personal history than ever—“spilling my guts with the Bowery bums” as a volunteer, FaceTiming her father “from beyond the grave”—and soberly she sings: “Hope is a dangerous thing for a woman with my past.” In the vacant spaces between her dark phrases is the unassailable fact that people bury their pasts in order to endure them.

Norman Fucking Rockwell! is the apotheosis of Lana Del Rey, songs of curiosity and of consequence, darkness and light, a time capsule of 2019, proof that a person cannot escape herself but she can change. Lana has said hope is dangerous because of her own experience, because in Hollywood she “knows so much.” Hope is dangerous because women are rarely taken seriously, from matters of authenticity to cases of assault. Hope is dangerous because the world fails women, and the bigotry to which American power is currently pitched ensures it. Lana calls herself “a modern-day woman with a weak constitution,” witnessing “a new revolution,” with “monsters still under my bed that I never could fight off.” What makes this final song of survival so cutting is the palpable difficulty in her delivery. When she lands on “a gatekeeper carelessly dropping the keys on my nights off,” it sounds like an oblique image of corrupted power, as upsetting as it ought to be, one to finally drain her of hope. But she still has it. In a piercing falsetto we rarely if ever hear from Lana, perhaps saved for her most pressing truth, she touches the sky: “I have it, I have it, I have it.” And when she does, you believe her” – Pitchfork

Choice Cut: Venice Bitch

Chemtrails over the Country Club

Release Date: 19th March, 2021  

Labels: Interscope/Polydor

Producers: Jack Antonoff/Lana Del Rey/Rick Nowels

Standout Tracks: White Dress/Tulsa Jesus Freak/Let Me Love You like a Woman

Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/lana-del-rey/chemtrails-over-the-country-club-black-friday-2021

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/6QeosPQpJckkW0Obir5RT8?si=0xIuyqMqTgqATX4blNNnDA

Review:

“Lana Del Rey's 2019 album Norman Fucking Rockwell! represented a new level of artistry, as the singer moved further from the disaffected Hollywood starlet persona of her early recordings into something more restrained, subtle, and mature. With seventh album Chemtrails Over the Country Club, Del Rey shakes off the cocoon of her slick pop days completely, continuing the nuanced songwriting and hushed perspectives of NFR! and turning in her most atmospheric set of songs to date. Much like its predecessor, the arrangements on Chemtrails are toned down, keeping the rhythmic elements minimal if they show up at all. This puts her layered self-harmonizing in the forefront of most songs, and also makes room for colorful smears of laid-back '70s-style lead guitar or delicate, jazz-informed touches. Del Rey again pairs with Jack Antonoff for production, and the duo map out every song with slowly evolving subtleties. "White Dress" opens with spare piano and a drawn-out vocal line, and slowly adds nearly imperceptible layers of sound as it goes on. On the surface, the song appears to be a simple nostalgic reflection, but the introduction of each new instrument adds tension and uneasiness, shifting the emotional undercurrents. In the first moments of the album, Del Rey delivers surreal and devastatingly sad commentary on the brutal machinery of the music industry and the sinister side of her own journey with fame, all deftly disguised with lyrics about remembering simpler days spent listening to the White Stripes and talking all night with friends. The title track is similarly sad and subdued, with willfully trite lyrics about the slow passing of an idyllic summer pushed forward by a dark, simmering instrumental.

While NFR! also had a restrained approach, there were multiple moments of accessible pop in the moody cover of Sublime's "Doin' Time" and the classic rock grandeur of "The Greatest." There's barely a hint of that here, with the booming bass and steady drum loop of "Dark But Just a Game" being the closest Chemtrails gets to pop production. There are more tendencies toward ghostly folk, as with the acoustic guitars and bongos of "Yosemite" or the lonely, drifting strumming of "Not All Who Wander Are Lost." Del Rey experiments with expanding the depths of her long-established persona, occasionally breaking the fourth wall with overtly personal lyrics. "Wild at Heart" includes one of several moments where she alters her phrasing to fit extra lyrics into a single line, wondering aloud about what would happen if she escaped her music career for a more frivolous existence. The opening lines of "Dance Til We Die" refer to "covering Joni" and the next song is a pristine cover of Joni Mitchell's Ladies of the Canyon classic "For Free," with vocal contributions from Weyes Blood and Zella Day. The track is a perfect closer for an album that further advances Del Rey's evolution from a constructed pop persona to a complex artist. It's on an entirely different page than the club-ready remixes of her earlier material, but with Chemtrails Over the Country Club, Del Rey shows her softest moments can be her most powerful” – AllMusic

Choice Cut: Chemtrails over the Country Club

The Underrated Gem

 

Honeymoon

Release Date: 18th September, 2015

Labels: Interscope/Polydor

Producers: Lana Del Rey/Kieron Menzies/Rick Nowels

Standout Tracks: Honeymoon/Music to Watch Boys To/Terrence Loves You

Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=884682&ev=mb

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/2DpEBrjCur1ythIZ10gJWw?si=hTb95k62TzSNzIrd6FC5DQ

Review:

“Earlier this year, Lana Del Rey said that her third album 'Honeymoon' would be "very different" to her previous release, 2014's underselling 'Ultraviolence'.

That album had seen the ‘Video Games’ singer work with Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach to strip away the more modern elements of 2012 debut 'Born To Die' in favour of a vintage, smoky feel. The constant was the character that Del Rey – real name Lizzie Grant – has fostered: a brooding femme fatale, a stray extra from a Tim Burton film, the sultry face of sadness.

Three albums in, the challenge of ‘Honeymoon’ is not only to reconnect with the audience who bought 'Born To Die' but also to see how far she can push that character before it becomes a caricature. It's the album on which she can widen her world or typecast herself for good, but the words "very different" were an exaggeration – bad boys, sadness, mortality and the myth of California are still on the menu, even if its crisp beats snap the album back to 2015.

The grainy video for the title track has the singer reclining on a bank by a freeway, battered paperback in hand; the song has sounds like the theme for a desolate Bond film directed by Lars Von Trier. Del Rey was, apparently, in the frame for Spectre at one point, and spy soundtracks inform much of the album, from the pensive 'God Knows I Tried' to the quietly powerful 'Terence Loves You'. Out of Bond mode, the mood is languid and tortured, the pace slow and intense even when underpinned by trap hip hop influenced beats as on 'High By The Beach'.

An intoxicating listen, ‘Honeymoon’ is designed for the red neon glow of a smoky cabaret bar, a Californian answer to the chanson tradition. Its lyrics are pulled from the jaws of tragedy, and its melodies evoke the uneasy state between wakefulness and dreaming. Lana seems more fragile, and more human this time. And it makes you think: perhaps it's not a character after all” – NME

Choice Cut: High by the Beach

The Latest Album

 

Blue Banisters

Release Date: 22nd October, 2021

Labels: Interscope/Polydor

Producers: Lana Del Rey/Gabe Simon/Zachary Dawes/Drew Erickson/Dean Reid/Loren Humphrey/Mike Dean/Barrie-James O'Neil/lRick Nowels

Standout Tracks: Blue Banisters/If You Lie Down with Me/Cherry Blossom

Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=2344513&ev=mb

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/2wwCc6fcyhp1tfY3J6Javr?si=BBvBVP-gQNSBHEBSIR23mQ

Review:

“Let’s keep it simple, babe/Don’t make it complicated,” Lana Del Rey purrs at the start of “Beautiful,” a track from her eighth studio album, Blue Banisters. The lyric serves as a statement of purpose, reflecting the album’s pared-down arrangements, as in the glistening, interlocking piano chords on “Beautiful,” the emphatically plucked acoustic guitar on “Nectar of the Gods,” and plaintive brass instruments on “Arcadia” and “If You Lie Down with Me.” The decision to keep the music sparse draws focus to the lyrical content, which is some of the most razor-sharp and bitingly funny of Del Rey’s career: “‘Crypto forever!’/Screams your stupid boyfriend/Fuck you, Kevin,” she quips on “Sweet Carolina.”

Where this past spring’s Chemtrails Over the Country Club underlined its genres of choice—country, folk, jazz—via overt lyrical and musical references, Blue Banisters merely hints at its own with far-off pedal steel (“Text Book”) and tittering jazz drums (“Black Bathing Suit”). This is, perhaps, due to the absence of producer Jack Antonoff, replaced here with less well-known collaborators like Gabe Simon and Drew Erickson. Hip-hop stalwart Mike Dean also contributes to one track, the piano-driven “Wildflower Wildfire,” but his presence is as much of a tease as the Morricone-quoting “Interlude – The Trio,” whose big, rattling 808s erupt out of nowhere on an album with otherwise minimal percussion.

A fascination with color, a recurring thread that’s ever-shifting in its meaning, is weaved throughout Blue Banisters. When, on “Beautiful,” Del Rey quips, “What if someone had asked/Picasso not to be sad…there would be no blue period,” we understand “blue” to represent not just a state of depression, but one that yields inspiration. On “Nectar of the Gods,” the singer admits that she gets “wild and fuckin’ crazy like the color blue,” suggesting inspiration morphing into impulsiveness. To further confound the motif, across the two distinct choruses of the title track, Del Rey describes a man who promises to paint her banisters blue and enliven her dreary existence. Later, after “a baby’s on the way,” her sisters come to paint her banisters “green and gray,” as if to highlight the man’s empty promise.

“Blue Banisters” marks a new wrinkle in Del Rey’s portrayal of gender. Her music has long explored the charged dynamics between men and women, but Blue Banisters ventures into untrod territory for her. “Thunder” sees the artist rebuking a man whom she knows so intimately that she sees through the veneer he puts on for other people. Del Rey is fraught yet also wiser for how she acknowledges the salve of love while questioning her own obsession with it. Ultimately, she finds a man’s attention unsatisfying and unfulfilling.

Elsewhere, “Violets for Roses” manages to be both beautiful and silly, contrasting city life and the countryside, with Del Rey making mention of a lover forcing her to trade her “new truck for horses” but reminding herself of the “simple life” that she chose. These and other references to a Midwestern existence are more detailed and self-aware than the idealizations on Chemtrails Over the Country Club, where the bucolic is merely seen as the antithesis to city life.

Del Rey’s vocals are as cherubic and distant as ever, stuck in a daydream but exactingly so. She’s torchy on “Dealer,” pushing herself to the brink of tears and her register to its highest reaches. On “Wildflower Wildfire,” she revs up an ever-accumulating force of melody. Sure, there’s an odd bit at the end of “Living Legend” where Del Rey’s trilling is processed through a wah-wah pedal, and there are several, perhaps inevitable, instances of thematic retreads from past albums. But by stripping back the sonic density of her previous work and taking its sweet time to unfold, Blue Banisters further fleshes out Del Rey’s increasingly vivid personal world” – SLANT

Choice Cut: Arcadia

The Lana Del Rey Book

 

Lana Del Rey: Her Life In 94 Songs: The Early Classics

Author: F.A. Mannan

Publication Date: 18th September, 2020

Publisher: Eyewear Publishing

Synopsis:

“Lana Del Rey seemed to appear fully-formed with her melancholy viral hit 'Video Games' - but the story started long before. In this anatomy, F.A. Mannan considers everything that has gone into the equation: the music, poetry and films but also the places and experiences that allow the songs to communicate despite the media circus around them” – Waterstones.co.uk

Order: https://www.waterstones.com/book/lana-del-rey-her-life-in-94-songs/f-a-mannan/9781913606190

FEATURE: My Picks and Predictions… Who I Think Will Win at the BandLab NME Awards 2022

FEATURE:

 

 

My Picks and Predictions…

IN THIS PHOTO: Wet Leg (Hester Chambers and Rhian Teasdale) are nominated in multiple categories, including Best Song in the World for Chaise Longue/PHOTO CREDIT: Holly Whitaker

Who I Think Will Win at the BandLab NME Awards 2022

___________

IN addition to music predictions…

there are some other categories as part of the BandLab NME Awards 2022 that I want to take a confident shot at. I have an interest in T.V. and film, so I do not want to be too restrictive. I have already written features about my predictions for this year’s BRIT Awards and the Mercury Prize (which occurs later in the year). Now, as I love NME and they definitely know their stuff, I want to cover most of the categories. This is NME’s piece on the upcoming award ceremony:  

“The full list of nominations for the BandLab NME Awards 2022 has been revealed – celebrating the best in pop culture across the worlds of music, film, TV, gaming and beyond over the last year.

The wildest night in music will return to London’s O2 Academy Brixton on Wednesday, March 2 to celebrate the best in music and entertainment from around the globe. Tickets to the event are on sale now and available here.

We’ve already announced that the evening will be co-hosted by comedian, actor and writer Daisy May Cooper and grime trailblazer and radio host Lady Leshurr, alongside huge live performances from Sam Fender, Griff, Rina Sawayama and the recently revealed BERWYN and Chvrches featuring special guest Robert Smith of The Cure. Halsey will also be in attendance on the night to pick up this year’s Innovation Award.

Now, we can reveal the full list of nominees for the BandLab NME Awards 2022 – with Sam Fender, Little Simz, Wet Leg, Wolf Alice, Billie Eilish, Rina Sawayama and CHVRCHES amongst those leading the nominations with multiple nods each, while the likes of Lana Del Rey, Self Esteem, Ghetts, BTS, Olivia Rodrigo, Lorde, Bring Me The Horizon, IDLES and Megan The Stallion are up for the some of the biggest gongs on the night.

Meanwhile, today also sees the announcement that Bleachers frontman singer, songwriter and producer Jack Antonoff, will be honoured with the Songwriter Award at this year’s event – following in the footsteps of 2020’s Songwriter of the Decade winner Robyn.

Following a landmark year, which saw Antonoff release Bleachers’ acclaimed third album ‘Take The Sadness Out Of Saturday Night‘ and work with the likes of Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen, Lorde, Lana Del Rey, Clairo and more, NME is thrilled to honour Jack with the award for his outstanding contributions to music over the past two decades. Previous winners of this award include Elton John and Bob Dylan. Bleachers are also nominated for the Best Live Act award.

“Looking at the company of artists who have received this award and I am absolutely humbled,” said Jack. “This one goes out to everyone who writes and knows that sacred place it comes from. If you know it, it’s a place you live in. This means the world to me.”

He added: “To hear that Bleachers are also shortlisted for Best Live Act… well, that’s the shit. We play every show like the last night on earth. So this one means a hell of a lot to be recognised for it.”

You can have your say too – head here to vote for who you think should be crowned this year’s Hero Of The Year and Villain Of The Year.

Check out the full list of winners in the Asia and Australia categories at the BandLab NME Awards 2022 here, and the remaining nominees below. Some of the biggest and most prestigious honorary awards are still to be announced in the weeks ahead – along with some more live performances”.

In anticipation of one of the coolest and best music award ceremonies in the U.K., I have listed most of the categories for the BandLab NME Awards 2022. It will be very exciting to see who takes away the prizes in March! Here are my tips as to whom…

 I think will win in the below categories…

 _____________

BEST ALBUM IN THE WORLD

IN THIS PHOTO: The cover for Halsey’s If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power

Genesis Owusu – Smiling With No Teeth

Ghetts – Conflict of Interest

Halsey – If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power

Lana Del Rey – Blue Banisters

Little Simz – Sometimes I Might Be Introvert

Sam Fender – Seventeen Going Under

Self Esteem – Prioritise Pleasure

Subsonic Eye – Nature of Things

Tyler, The Creator – CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST

Wolf Alice – Blue Weekend

The Other Best Three: Halsey – If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power/Little Simz – Sometimes I Might Be Introvert/Wolf Alice – Blue Weekend

Who I Think Will Win: Self Esteem – Prioritise Pleasure

BEST ALBUM BY A UK ARTIST

Ghetts – Conflict of Interest

Little Simz – Sometimes I Might Be Introvert

Sam Fender – Seventeen Going Under

Self Esteem – Prioritise Pleasure

Wolf Alice – Blue Weekend

Who I Think Will Win: Self Esteem – Prioritise Pleasure

BEST SONG IN THE WORLD

IN THIS IMAGE: Charli XCX

BTS – Butter

Charli XCX – Good Ones

CHVRCHES & Robert Smith – How Not to Drown

Lorde – Solar Power

Olivia Rodrigo – good 4 u

pinkpantheress – just for me

Sam Fender – Seventeen Going Under

The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber – STAY

Warren Hue – omomo punk

Wet Leg – Chaise Longue

The Other Best Three: Charli XCX – Good Ones/Lorde – Solar Power/pinkpantheress – just for me

Who I Think Will Win: Wet Leg – Chaise Longue

BEST SONG BY A UK ARTIST

Charli XCX – Good Ones

CHVRCHES & Robert Smith – How Not to Drown

pinkpantheress – just for me

Sam Fender – Seventeen Going Under

Wet Leg – Chaise Longue

Who I Think Will Win: Wet Leg – Chaise Longue

BEST LIVE ACT: SUPPORTED BY GROLSCH

 IN THIS PHOTO: Rina Sawayama/PHOTO CREDIT: Chloe Sheppard for TIME

Bleachers

Bring Me the Horizon

IDLES

Little Simz

Megan Thee Stallion

Rina Sawayama

Self Esteem

Tomorrow x Together

Wizkid

Yungblud

The Other Best Three: IDLES/Little Simz/Rina Sawayama

Who I Think Will Win: Self Esteem

BEST FESTIVAL IN THE WORLD

All Points East

Austin City Limits

Fuji Rock

Exit Festival

Green Man

Life Is Beautiful

Reading & Leeds

Riot Fest

TRNSMT

Wireless

Who I Think Will Win: Reading & Leeds 

BEST FESTIVAL IN THE UK: SUPPORTED BY WHITE CLAW

All Points East

Green Man

Reading & Leeds

TRNSMT

Wireless

Who I Think Will Win: All Points East

BEST SMALL FESTIVAL

End of the Road

Live at Leeds

Lost Village

Mighty Hoopla

Wide Awake

Who I Think Will Win: End of the Road

BEST FESTIVAL HEADLINER

IN THIS PHOTO: Tyler, The Creator/PHOTO CREDIT: Paul Farrell/The Guardian

Billie Eilish

Liam Gallagher

Megan Thee Stallion

Wolf Alice

Tyler, The Creator

The Other Best Three: Liam Gallagher/Megan Thee Stallion/Wolf Alice

Who I Think Will Win: Billie Eilish

BEST BAND IN THE WORLD

IN THIS PHOTO: Nova Twins

Amyl and The Sniffers

Ben&Ben

Bring Me the Horizon

CHVRCHES

Fontaines D.C.

Glass Animals

HAIM

Måneskin

Nova Twins

Wolf Alice

The Other Best Three: Amyl and The Sniffers/HAIM/Wolf Alice

Who I Think Will Win: Fontaines D.C.

BEST BAND FROM THE UK: SUPPORTED BY PIZZA EXPRESS

IN THIS PHOTO: CHVRCHES

Bring Me The Horizon

CHVRCHES

Glass Animals

Nova Twins

Wolf Alice

Who I Think Will Win: Wolf Alice

BEST SOLO ACT IN THE WORLD

IN THIS PHOTO: Little Simz/PHOTO CREDIT: HYPERBEAST

Arlo Parks

Billie Eilish

Burna Boy

Dave

Little Simz

Pyra

Rina Sawayama

Sam Fender

Tkay Maidza

The Weeknd

The Other Best Three: Dave/Little Simz/Wolf Alice

Who I Think Will Win: Billie Eilish

BEST SOLO ACT FROM THE UK

IN THIS PHOTO: Arlo Parks/PHOTO CREDIT: FADER

Arlo Parks

Dave

Little Simz

Rina Sawayama

Sam Fender

Who I Think Will Win: Little Simz

BEST NEW ACT IN THE WORLD: SUPPORTED BY CANO WATER

IN THIS PHOTO: Olivia Rodrigo

Bad Boy Chiller Crew

BERWYN

Bree Runway

Inhaler

King Stingray

Olivia Rodrigo

Shye

Tems

Wet Leg

Yard Act

The Other Best Three: Bree Runway/Olivia Rodrigo/Yard Act

Who I Think Will Win: Wet Leg

BEST NEW ACT FROM THE UK: SUPPORTED BY MUSIC VENUE TRUST

IN THIS PHOTO: Bree Runway

Bad Boy Chiller Crew

BERWYN

Bree Runway

Wet Leg

Yard Act

Who I Think Will Win: Wet Leg

BEST MIXTAPE

BERWYN – TAPE2/FOMALHAUT

Central Cee – Wild West

FKA twigs – CAPRISONGS

Holly Humberstone – The Walls Are Way Too Thin

PinkPantheress – to hell with it

 The Other Best Three: Central Cee – Wild West/FKA twigs – CAPRISONGS/PinkPantheress – to hell with it

Who I Think Will Win: Holly Humberstone – The Walls Are Way Too Thin

BEST COLLABORATION

IN THIS PHOTO: BTS

Baby Keem x Kendrick Lamar – family ties

Coldplay x BTS – My Universe

FKA Twigs x The Weeknd – Tears in the Club

Griff x Sigrid – Head on Fire

Rina Sawayama x Elton John – Chosen Family

The Other Best Three: Baby Keem x Kendrick Lamar – family ties/FKA Twigs x The Weeknd – Tears in the Club/Rina Sawayama x Elton John – Chosen Family

Who I Think Will Win: Griff x Sigrid – Head on Fire

BEST PRODUCER: SUPPORTED BY BANDLAB

IN THIS PHOTO: India Jordan

Arca

Fred again..

India Jordan

Nia Archives

Travis Barker

Who I Think Will Win: Nia Archives

BEST FILM

Last Night in Soho

Licorice Pizza

Promising Young Woman

Sound of Metal

The Harder They Fall

The Other Best Three: Last Night in Soho/Promising Young Woman/Sound of Metal

Who I Think Will Win: Licorice Pizza

BEST TV SERIES

 It’s a Sin

Feel Good

Sex Education

Stath Lets Flats

We Are Lady Parts

The Other Best Three: It’s a Sin/Feel Good/We Are Lady Parts

Who I Think Will Win: Stath Lets Flats

BEST FILM ACTOR

 IN THIS PHOTO: Riz Ahmed/PHOTO CREDIT: Sharif Hamza for British GQ

Alana Haim

Benedict Cumberbatch

Jonathan Majors

Riz Ahmed

Thomasin McKenzie

Who I Think Will Win: Thomasin McKenzie

BEST TV ACTOR

 IN THIS PHOTO: Mae Martin/PHOTO CREDIT: Matt Crockett

Aisling Bea

Mae Martin

Ncuti Gatwa

Olly Alexander

Zendaya

Who I Think Will Win: Aisling Bea

BEST REISSUE

IN THIS PHOTO: The cover for Taylor Swift’s Red (Taylor’s Version)

Nirvana – Nevermind

OutKast – ATLiens

Radiohead – KID A MNESIA

Taylor Swift – Red (Taylor’s Version)

The Beatles – Let It Be

The Other Best Three: Nirvana – Nevermind/Radiohead – KID A MNESIA/Taylor Swift – Red (Taylor’s Version)

Who I Think Will Win: The Beatles – Let It Be

BEST MUSIC FILM

 Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry

If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power

Oasis Knebworth 1996

Summer of Soul

The Sparks Brothers

The Other Best Three: Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry/Oasis Knebworth 1996/The Sparks Brothers

Who I Think Will Win: Summer of Soul

BEST MUSIC VIDEO

 IN THIS IMAGE: Billie Eilish/IMAGE CREDIT: Getty Images/Ringer illustration

Billie Eilish – Happier Than Ever

FOALS – Wake Me Up

Lil Nas X – MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)

Taylor Swift – All Too Well – The Short Film

Wet Leg – Chaise Longue

The Other Best Three: Billie Eilish – Happier Than Ever/Lil Nas X – MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)/Wet Leg – Chaise Longue

Who I Think Will Win: Taylor Swift – All Too Well – The Short Film

BEST MUSIC BOOK

Bobby Gillespie – Tenement Kid

Dave Grohl – The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music

Michelle Zauner (Japanese Breakfast) – Crying in H Mart

Paul McCartney – The Lyrics

Questlove – Music Is History

Who I Think Will Win: Paul McCartney – The Lyrics