Thursday, September 07, 2006

Music Box: Joan Armatrading


I remember the first time I heard Joan Armatrading. It was the early days of MTV and Joan's 1983 album "The Key" had two videos in heavy rotation -- "Drop the Pilot"* and "I Love It When You Call Me Names." I was hooked on KajaGooGoo and Spandau Ballet at the time and then Joan appeared onscreen with that adorable big smile and I didn't know what to make of her. But when she started blurting out that infectious chant "Animal! Mineral! Physical! Spiritual! I'm the one you need, I'm the one you need," I knew I was witnessing something very special.

In the years since I have gotten to know a lot more of Joan's music and have become a devoted fan. If you haven't already discovered the St. Kitts-born Brit for yourself, the 2000 remastered "Best of" is a great place to start. It includes the video-hit songs, plus her U.K. singles "Love and Affection," "Me Myself I," "All the Way From America" and many other Armatrading classics.

Especially: "I'm Lucky," "The Weakness in Me," "Rosie" and "Show Some Emotion"

Visit Joan Armatrading's official site here.
Watch the "Drop the Pilot" video here.


* FOOTNOTE: When researching this post I came to find out that Mandy Moore(!) did a cover of "Drop the Pilot" on her 2003 album, "Coverage." I really cannot even imagine that, but if anyone's ever heard it, please let me know what you think!
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6 comments:

  1. Anonymous5:53 AM

    God, we must be exactly the same age....
    Drop the Pilot has been in heavy rotation at my house since 1984. It's been on my treadmill playlist ever since I've had a treadmill playlist!

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  2. Anonymous10:38 AM

    Mandy Moore's version of that song makes me ill. I love Mandy Moore but that whole Coverage album was sickeningly sweet. This from an avid Debbie Gibson fan, so I KNOW sweet pop. But even I have my limits.

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  3. Anonymous10:55 AM

    Too funny. I was just playing Drop The Pilot in my car earlier this week. When it first came out, I thought the title was "DUMP THE PILOT" - lol.

    Yes - must be same age - Love the blog. :)

    Nuno

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  4. John3:09 PM

    ARRRGHHHH...you beat me to a Joan post by two days! And here I already have a page and a half done. Should I do it anyhoo?

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  5. Kenneth M. Walsh5:41 PM

    Do it anyway, John. I'm fascinated by her appeal to so many New Wavers of the time and would love to hear your take.

    I always felt that she and Rosanne Cash had his crossover appeal to gay boys -- though I was never entirely sure why.

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  6. Anonymous5:31 AM

    I first heard of Joan as a college freshman in 1982 when the girl across the hall kept blasting "The Weakness in Me." I think she had boy trouble. Beautiful song, but I kinda got sick of it!

    ReplyDelete

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