I'm late to the party for Amy Winehouse, but that doesn't really matter -- she's still sloshed and adorably so. I dismissed her entirely and unfairly as the buzz started mounting for her sophomore disc, Back to Black. I thought her 2003 debut, Frank, was corny (in retrospect, I was probably wrong). I figured this new wave of mass gushing made her the next great white Brit hype, a phenomenon that's easy enough to avoid once you get the hang of it. I'm sure at some point I also became aware of Perez Hilton's endorsement of her, which is sort of the Photoshopped semen on any artist's career, given his method of relating his taste ("We are such a lesbian!!!"). It wasn't until someone whose opinion I find infallible told me to listen to Winehouse that I actually gave her a chance. I'm so happy that I cut the seventh-grade bullshit and finally dug into Back to Black. I'd been missing out on the rare album-wide intersection of R&B and wit. I fell in love the first time I listened to Black, and almost immediately became depressed. Can Winehouse ever live up to track after track that twists hazy oldies nostalgia with the MySpace-generation's enthusiasm for exhibitionism? More selfishly, in a digital world where listening to music is to be bombarded with it, when is the next time I'll hear an album I love so completely that I want to keep returning to it?
I want to hug Amy Winehouse. Modern soul singers are expected to make their effort your business with melisma you can feel (whether it's nails on a chalkboard or aural fireworks to your senses). Winehouse, however, just is and, what's more, she just is amazing. Wednesday's Washington Post piece on her runs through four comparisons to the diva canon (Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, Dusty Springfield and Nina Simone); Ella Fitzgerald and especially Billie Holiday are common reference points, too (a few have even noted that Winehouse dips into a golden-throated Lauryn Hill throwback from time to time). She invokes so many beloved voices at once, but I wonder if this means she's supremely derivative (not that I ever take points off for that) or just plain classic in her own right. I'm smitten, so I'm thinking it's the latter case.
Yes, she can sing, but that's just part of her appeal. Her lyrics flesh her out as something of a poor little rich girl; the woman who uses her perfect voice to relate an extremely flawed existence. Black's mush-loved first single "Rehab," cheekily dismisses most of the 12 steps ("They tried to make me go to rehab/I said, no, no, no") until it hits a harrowing bottom ("I'm gonna, I'm gonna lose my baby/So I always keep a bottle near"). It continues to chime and skip on like a Spector-production, and sounds morbid for carrying on. Chemical dependency is central to her work -- "It's got me addicted, does more than any dick did," she says of weed in the charming closing track, "Addicted." But that's not for dick's lack of trying (or her lack of trying it on). Black is filled with tales of cheating -- it's mostly all about the same affair, but Winehouse gives clues to a dependency on infidelity itself. "Even if I stop wanting you, and perspective pushes through/I'll be some next man's other woman soon," she says in "Tears Dry on Their Own," a song I've listened to enough times in the past week to suggest that I, too, have a dependency. The lyrics would sound like wallowing if the track weren't so bouncy, and likewise, Winehouse would sound intangible with that gorgeous voice if she didn't paint the picture of someone so fucked up. It's endearing then, when she follows the above-quoted lines with, "I shouldn't play myself again/I should just be my own best friend/Not fuck myself in the head with stupid men." How often do you come across someone who's so ready to admit that she's wrong, let alone a pop star who does so?
Winehouse's messiness spills out of her recorded persona and into her personal appearances. This makes her everything I could ever want in a celebrity. I can't get enough of the cocktail of talent and brilliance and functionality and craziness that she regularly serves. Even something like her shitfaced cover of Michael Jackson's "Beat It" with Charlotte Church goes back easy because you know that tomorrow she'll probably have it more together. Or maybe not, and, anyway unpredictability makes gawking exciting. Her persona most reminds me of Whitney Houston circa Being Bobby Brown (pre-Christmas special), except she's less shifty: on her dramatic between-album weight loss, Winehouse said she suffered from, "a little bit of anorexia, a little bit of bulimia. I'm not totally OK now but I don't think any woman is."
Admitting you have a problem is the first step, but Winehouse perhaps is a mess that she'd be foolish to clean up. Everything about her -- her lyrics, her uncouth public displays (like this vomit shocker), her strung-out appearance (dig the rat's nest) -- falls brilliantly into place. Her ticking time-bomb nature only strengthens her capacity for endearment -- there's barely a jump between buying into her persona and rooting for her. In that Washington Post piece linked to above, she "requests an amaretto sour -- to hoots of approval. It's a part of her shtick, what her fans have come to expect." It's important to keep in mind that even when honest, shtick is still shtick. Winehouse packages and sells herself remarkably well for someone so artistic.
In response to the Post article, Idolator fretted over the state of (and cause for) Winehouse's celebrity: "If being able to get into Perez Hilton's shitshow for throwing up and unleashing drunken rants is the benchmark for her 'star potential,' then she--and the apparatus that's trying to break her in the States--is screwed...it's hard not to worry that her persona will overshadow all [the] marketing initiatives---and that she'll become nothing more than the next Britney Spears, without even a '...Baby One More Time' under her belt." It's a fair concern for someone as gifted as Winehouse, but that's a risk taken as soon as the camera starts clicking for the album-cover photo shoot of anyone. We're talking about pop-stardom here -- the music's only part of the message, and Winehouse is a woman of many talents. If not part of her artistry, her tabloid messiness at least informs and complements it. This kind of honesty, integrity and seeming willingness to live what one sings about is so rare in pop music that whatever the eventual consequences, I can't help but be awed by it now. Amy Winehouse is either the most honest pop star I've ever taken a liking to, or she's a tremendous actress decked out in a perfectly tailored image. Either way, I don't want to take my eyes off of her.
I'm sure at some point I also became aware of Perez Hilton's endorsement of her, which is sort of the Photoshopped semen on any artist's career, given his taste ("We are such a lesbian!!!").
Seriously, Rich. Seriously.
Posted by: ♥dex | February 08, 2007 at 11:27 AM
I didn't love that first album either, especially musically. But the second album is pretty hot - I am sure in no small part to Mark Ronson's work.
Posted by: Foxy | February 08, 2007 at 11:28 AM
I've loved Amy since she came out in the UK a couple years ago. F*ck me pumps is by far my favorite song on the first album. I hate that Perez is promoting her.. it makes me feel dirty and vapid all at the same time.
Posted by: Sarah | February 08, 2007 at 11:31 AM
Glad to see you are in love with her like I am!!! She is great.
Posted by: duane | February 08, 2007 at 11:45 AM
I was hoping you would review Amy Winehouse, she really is great - 'Back to Black', 'You Know I'm No Good' and 'Wake Up Alone' have been in my head on repeat for the last month now.
Posted by: deeyou | February 08, 2007 at 11:48 AM
You weren't wrong, the first album is pretty bad. Though, I saw her last month in NYC and even though she was trashed, it was pretty magical.
Posted by: Cameron | February 08, 2007 at 12:22 PM
It wasn't until someone whose opinion I find infallible told me to listen to Winehouse that I actually gave her a chance.
Ditto again.
I just did and couldn't be more pleased; thanks for this post (and "Tears"), Rich.
Posted by: ♥dex | February 08, 2007 at 01:16 PM
Oh Rich,
I adore her and want to take her (and Kelly Osbourne) out for a hearty lunch and a long chat. Makes sense to me that they'd be friends, they both seem so edgy and fragile. My favorite tracks on the album are Back to Black (which I seriously listened to on repeat for practically a week), and Love is a Losing Game. Now you need to go check out Alice Smith. "Dream" is my new favorite song ever.
And although I am one of the pathetic many who is addicted to perezhilton, I am proud that I discovered and downloaded Mz. Winehouse on The Smoking Section. That site is pretty awesome when they deviate from nonstop rap.
Posted by: afrobella | February 08, 2007 at 02:25 PM
ugh I saw her live when I went to the taping of the Charlotte Church show and she was the musical guest....
girl is such a crack head!!!
she was so nuts up on that stage!
either way I like her 2nd single 'you know I'm no good'
Posted by: Peter | February 08, 2007 at 02:26 PM
i found her first album extra corny with a side of cheez.
Posted by: | February 08, 2007 at 03:00 PM
i found her first album extra corny with a side of cheez.
Posted by: rolanda watts | February 08, 2007 at 03:00 PM
I cannot say enough good things about "Back to Black". It will likely remain in my top 10 albums indefinitely. I want everyone to hear her, but also I want to keep her all for myself, in a "I liked her before she was famous" kind of way. I know, that's lame!
Posted by: Lara | February 08, 2007 at 04:28 PM
I recently became a convert and I am enamored by her voice. The album revisit is a good idea, I did the same and I'm now hooked.
Posted by: Heather B. | February 08, 2007 at 04:29 PM
Ghostface did a remix of "you know i'm no good" on his latest cd that is genius...
Posted by: AliG | February 08, 2007 at 05:06 PM
Right on, Rich! Thank you for this. I can't stop loving her. It'll be me, you, and Amy in NYC as soon as she brings are sozzled ass stateside.
Posted by: Nine | February 08, 2007 at 05:18 PM
Afrobella had the right idea. Both "Dream" and "Rehab" are two of the best songs I've heard in years.
Posted by: fasthugs | February 08, 2007 at 05:19 PM
I obviously need to lay off the afternoon wine myself... *her* sozzled ass. sheesh.
Posted by: Nine | February 08, 2007 at 05:21 PM
Yay! I've loved "Rehab" for a long time now (unfortunately, I found it through Perezhilton.com...sigh). Speaking of good stuff, I'm kind of loving Jamie Lidell's "Multiply" right now (the single, not the album; the Gonzales Mix is especially great, IMO). I'm kind of culturally ignorant, so maybe you won't like it, but give it a try anyway.
Posted by: Lindsay | February 08, 2007 at 05:23 PM
I haven't bought the album yet, but I've been listening to the song "Back to Black" and Ghostface's remix of "You Know I'm No Good."
She is just phenomenal.
Posted by: Queen Lena | February 08, 2007 at 06:17 PM
I gots to love all of this rising commotion about Ms. Winehouse. I'm thankful that I found out about the girl through Honorable Media when they did a piece on her last September and not that mess Perez... still you definitely hit the nail on the head as usual. I've only recently statred listening to mainstream pop music again since mid-January. I hear she's coming to the US in March, I'm practically melting already. Thank you for this post.
Posted by: theCritic | February 08, 2007 at 06:19 PM
You mention how much Rehab sounds like a Spector production and it definitely does - one of my first thoughts upon a first listen was that it had that unmistakable "wall of sound" texture to it. Interestingly, on Amy's cover of Valerie (which you can find on YouTube here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r74XbrYWHNA and which I love so much that it is my current favorite song) she sounds much like yet another diva - Spector's former wife, Ronnie of Ronnie and the Ronettes and "Be My Baby" fame. Her current look is also very reminiscent of Ronnie, with the Egyptian/cat eyes and big hair.
Posted by: Marie | February 08, 2007 at 07:35 PM
fasthugs, so glad you liked Dream. Her voice is amazing, and I love how the song builds to that incredible climax. I heard that and Woodstock, and I had to name Alice Smith my Afrobella of the Week. She hasn't blown up yet. But she will...
Rich, I know everyone is invoking Billie, Ella, and Dinah Washington, but I feel you on the Lauryn Hill. I also hear the nasal intonation of Randy Crawford. I bet Amy could do a righteous remake of "One Day I'll Fly Away" if she wanted to.
Posted by: afrobella | February 08, 2007 at 08:23 PM
Spot on deconstruction of the Winehouse's appeal, Rich. Your genius never ceases to amaze me.
Welcome to the Winehouse Clubhouse. It's veryfun in here. And don't worry...we only let Perez out of his cage once a day.
Posted by: judge jru | February 08, 2007 at 08:47 PM
the girl can sing, but i literally thought she was a drag queen the first time i saw her picture.
Posted by: | February 08, 2007 at 09:31 PM
I love that you love Amy Winehouse! I saw the video for "Rehab" about a month ago on IMF and have been enamored ever since. I feel so validated that you dig her, and Clipse, as much as I do.
Posted by: Maria Alana | February 08, 2007 at 09:32 PM