After reading Duffy's harrowing tale of rape and abduction, it got me revisiting her music catalog. I was a huge fan of "Rockferry" -- then very belatedly bought a used copy of the followup, "Endlessly," and never listened to it. (I'm nothing if not a completist.)
Although she writes that she's vanished for the past 10 years, I subsequently discovered she'd performed three songs on the soundtrack for "Legend" in 2015 -- as well as this 2009 contribution to "War Child Presents Heroes," of one of the best Bond themes ever.
"Endlessly," the follow-up album to Duffy's "Rockferry," doesn't come out until Dec. 7. But the Welsh beauty performed the title track on Jay Leno this week, and I must say I liked it a lot better than the previous song I heard from it, "Well, Well, Well." I knew CD sales were way down and everything. But I must say that I was still kind of shocked to read that "Rockferry" -- one of the biggest albums of 2008 -- sold a mere 6.5 million copies worldwide. I figure the new one will do considerably worse, so we should expect to be seeing a lot of Duffy on the road in the coming year, which is anything but a bad thing. Her 2008 gig at Webster Hall was a real treat.
As planned, we caught Duffy last night at Webster Hall and she did not disappoint. Wearing a tight red dress that accentuated her '50s pinup bod, the Welsh neo-soul singer opened with a stop-and-go rendition of "Syrup & Honey," carrying on a flirtatious getting-t0-know-you dialogue with the sellout crowd as she struck various come-hither poses. Her voice was flawless from beginning to end and what she lacked in personality she more than made up for in exuberance.
The set list included all 10 songs from "Rockferry," plus "Tomorrow," the brilliant b-side of her megahit "Mercy" that is better than at least half of the actual album and another new one, and "Breaking My Own Heart." She also debuted a new song called "Rain on Your Parade" -- apparently slated as the single for an upcoming "expanded" re-release of "Rockferry" (it never ends!) -- but if I didn't know better I'd have sworn it was "Mercy" with alternate lyrics (or at the very least the "Quicksand" to Martha and Vendellas' "Heatwave"). Whatever the case, the crowd loved every second of it and so did we.
I had an interesting conversation last week with a friend of mine who has been in bands since he was a kid and is on the brink of finally "making it" now that he's married and in his early 30s. (Rich's band -- the Dirty Pearls -- is really something.) I put making it in quotes because as we were discussing, what does it really mean to make it in music anymore? Getting signed doesn't really mean much these days (according to Rich) because no one sells CDs. And record labels aren't going to groom you or nurture you through a few albums until you "make it big" (Martha Davis told me over the summer how happy she is she started out under the old model -- and I think my friend dearly wishes it were around too). When I pushed back at Rich a little and said, "Hey, people still make it. Look at how big Duffy is." He said, "But how long will that last?" It's a good question and one I will be very curious to see through. Sure, she might be the one-album wonder type in either scenario (we don't know yet). But with her first major release coming out in 2008 -- unquestionably in the post-CD era -- it will be really fascinating to see how new artists maintain their star status in this iTunes and free music environment.
Whatever the future holds, being a great live performer is undoubtedly going to be a big part of the equation anymore. And on that front, Duffy has little to worry about.
Michael and I are seeing Duffy tonight at Webster Hall. Word on the street is she's sensational live (she's opening for Coldplay in some cities and I've read she's making them look really bad), and with just 10 songs on her debut album, I'm expecting some fun new stuff, b-sides and covers, like Solomon Burke's "Cry to Me."
With concert tickets in hand for the upcoming Paul Weller show and feelers out for the Duffy on, it wasn't hard for me to shell out my $9.25 for the new issue of Q magazine with my two faves on the cover together. (There's also a BRILLIANT piece on the history and making of The Pogues & Kirsty MacColl classic "Fairytale of New York" that is a must-read.) While the cover photo hints at what's to come, I'm still thinking if a picture's worth a thousand words then there must be some serious outtakes somewhere that we're not seeing. Now I'm not saying Duffy's a fool, but Weller sure didn't suffer her very kindly in this tag-team interview. The poor, defenseless Welsh girl! And I say girl because of my absolute horror when I realized that not only was she born two years after The Jam disbanded, her first "memory" of Paul was listening to "You Do Something to Me" in a friend's car -- a song from his THIRD solo album (I'm still getting used to The Style Council being done ...) that she didn't even hear until she was in college (ouch!). But if you're a Weller fan, you won't want to miss his razor sharp tongue in action:
Duffy: (When asked about having a '60 influence) "... I never sat down with that in mind. I've just got to take it on the chin. Y'know, I am Dusty Springfield and, yes, I made a '60s record. Weller: You don't sound anything like Dusty. (Pause) No offense. Duffy: Well ... (flush of uncertainty), it's not my intention. Weller: Just cos your name begins with a D and ends in a Y. They're just getting the three letters in between mixed up, that's all. Duffy: I know. And I talk to people in all different countries and they're like, "You made a Dusty Springfield record." And it takes it toll, y'know?
Not nearly as much as this interview, I'm guessing. (More like The Bitch Council -- meow!)
Nonetheless, I still love my Duffy (I think Paul does too if you read between the lines). Her new single is the charmingly low-key "Stepping Stone," which you can watch below. Now I gotta get back to finding those concert tickets ...
'Take it all or leave me alone, I will never be your stepping stone ...'
As regular readers know, when it comes to pretty much everything music I'm hopelessly lost in the '80s. I was telling a coworker of mine yesterday that I recently admitted to myself that the reason I still buy new releases by the likes of Cyndi Lauper has less to do with any real desire to hear them and more to do with the fact that I figure if I don't know anything about what's going on in music now, I should at least be up-to-date with what I purport to know about. Every so often I try to get with it. Kind friends and readers have steared me in the right direction in recent years with occasionally good results (Goldfrapp, The Pipettes and Nicole Atkins come to mind). In March of last year I received a nice e-mail a fellow blogger who "noted our similarities in musical taste: Ronettes, Shangri-Las, Supremes, Shirelles! Wow. Yes. ... Then please don't miss my recommendation for you this month: Amy Winehouse. You'll swoon." I had never even heard of her at that point, but I happened to be in a Virgin Mega Store shortly thereafter and they had "Black to Black" available to listen to on the wall. Maybe it was the photo or the horrible font on the cover, or maybe it was the one song I listened to ("Rehab") rubbed me the wrong way, but I saw what my blog pal was getting at, but I wasn't buying it. Here we are a little more than a year later and Amy Winehouse is an international phenomenon -- yes, for her sad personal life but even more so for her much-celebrated music. Michael has since fallen in love with "Back to Black" and I've come to see the other songs are far more '60s magic that her most famous song I rejected at first blush.
So last night on my subway ride home from work I read the review in The Washington Post of the debut album from Duffy, "Rockferry," and couldn't help but wonder if the second time's the charm: "Amiee Duffy is a 23-year-old white girl from the United Kingdom with an aching, powerhouse voice; a knack for writing sharp confessionals about broken relationships; an apparent affinity for vintage Motown and girl-group pop; and an old-fashioned look, right down -- or up -- to her big bouffant. Kind of like Amy Winehouse, sans the messy personal life." Go on! "The Welsh singer, whose nom de art is simply Duffy, won't immediately be able to shake the Winehouse comparisons, as she's arriving a little bit late to this particular retro party. It's a shame, as Duffy is an intriguing young talent with a winning debut album and a hugely promising future." (I'm so there -- and the fact that she's a blond bombshell doesn't hurt one bit either!)
J. Freedom du Lac goes on to say that Duffy's "Rockferry" falls short on Winehouse's "exceptional 'Back to Black'" (which The Post erroneously calls "Black to Black" -- and I thought I was out of it!) but still raved enough to get me to come home and check this girl out. And I have to say, I really like what I hear and have already ordered the CD. Check her out and let me know what you think.
As I flipped through this photo essay about Brad Pitt 's ever-changing hairdos yesterday in the new Us Weekly, I couldn't help but...
Fake Jan Alert
My blog is featured in Susan Olsen's tell-all about the ill-fated "Brady Bunch Variety Hour"!
Little Kenny
Growing up in Madison Heights, Mich.
Back to the Old House
The Web leads to an unexpected return to a house I grew up in.
Oceans 11
Carlsbad, Calif. (2008)
1983
Go Behind the Music of my high-school band, A La Plage
A Death in the Family
Little Larry left us too soon.
Once I Had a Love
With Debbie Harry
'Jungle' Fever
With Robert Buckley
Roger & Me
With Roger Federer
Step Brother McMullen
With Ed Burns
Headline News
With Thomas Roberts
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