Friday Nite Retro

Happy Friday and welcome once again to Friday Nite Retro here at Left in Aboite! My original plan for this evening's segment was a video-laden biography of Gerry Rafferty. However, there was a shortage of quality video available. . .so tonight I will be featuring several of my favorite pop/folk/alt divas. Ladies with a style all their own that's not "format friendly".

These talented artists are somewhere just under the radar of mainstream radio, but you can find ALL of them on the air somewhere. You may know some of them, you may know the song but not their name, but I think you'll enjoy ALL of them. Most of these ladies were introduced to me over the last decade by WJHS 91.5 FM - "The Eagle".

My first two artist tonight are exceptions to the above source; I heard them over and over on the "adult contemporary" format that played on my Musak system back in my retail mgnt days. First up is Jann Arden. Arden spent most of the 1980s playing her music in bars and busking, struggling to get noticed. Her breakthrough came with her critically acclaimed 1992 debut album Time for Mercy and her first single "I Would Die For You". Her success grew with 1994's Living Under June, which featured her biggest hit to date outside of Canada, "Insensitive", which was released as a single from the soundtrack to the Christian Slater film Bed of Roses (number 12 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100). And here it is:

Jann Arden - "Insensitive"


Next up is Michelle Shocked. Shocked is the daughter of a carpenter and a woman who would end up committing her to a psychiatric hospital when she was 22 years old. She graduated from high school in Gilmer, Texas and received her bachelor's degree in the Oral Interpretation of Literature from the University of Texas in Austin. She was raised in a strict Mormon household and worked her way through college to pay for tuition.

Michelle's name dates back to the name she gave when arrested in 1984 at a protest called "The War Chest Tour" during the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco, California. The demonstration challenged the practice of U.S. corporations giving campaign contributions to both Democratic and Republican parties, benefitting from political favors regardless of which party is elected. Michelle Shocked was a play on words intended to resemble the phrase "shell shocked". From her HUGE album "Short Sharp Shocked" comes the following single:


Michelle Shocked - "Anchorage"


If you've followed FNR from the start, then you know I love Jonatha Brooke! Her music merges folk and pop, often with poignant lyrics and complex harmonies. Her most recent studio album, Back in the Circus, released in 2004, featured new material along with covers of songs by Alan Parsons Project, The Beach Boys, and James Taylor. The album was also released in the UK in 2005, combining some of its tracks with some from Steady Pull, the album that the following song is from.

In August 2006 she released a combo CD and DVD titled Live in New York. Her next studio album Careful What You Wish For will be released in April 2007 via Rykodisc distribution. Its first single, also titled Careful What You Wish For, has been released on iTunes. This is the very first song I heard from her; it was love at first sound. =) Live on Letterman. Jonatha performs "Linger":

Jonatha Brooke - "Linger"


You may know Brit "folktronica" artist Beth Orton from her touring with Lilith Fair; American movies and TV shows such as Felicity, How to Deal, and Vanilla Sky have featured her music and provided her with long-deserved exposure to an American mainstream audience as well. If she sounds familiar but you don't recognize her name, that may be where you have heard her voice:

Beth Orton - "Stolen Car"


Y'all Southern friends o' mine likely know this gravelly-voiced lass! She's a popular alt-country artist down in yer neck of the woods, but she also has a strong college-radio following in the rest of the country. The below video was created by someone with a Russell Crowe fixation, so enjoy it if you are a fan or close your eyes and fixate on Lu's voice. . .her moody lyrics. . .and her essence:

Lucinda Williams - "Essence"


Next we have Ani Difranco. Although DiFranco's music has been classified as both folk rock and alternative rock, she has reached across genres since her earliest albums. DiFranco has collaborated with a wide range of artists including pop musician Prince, folk musician Utah Phillips, funk and soul jazz musician Maceo Parker and rapper Corey Parker. She has used a variety of instruments and styles: brass instrumentation was prevalent in 1998's Little Plastic Castle, strings on the 1997 live album Living in Clip and 2004's Knuckle Down, and electronics and synths in 1999's To the Teeth and DiFranco's latest studio recording, Reprieve.

DiFranco herself noted that "folk music is not an acoustic guitar--that's not where the heart of it is. I use the word 'folk' in reference to punk music and rap music. It's an attitude, it's an awareness of one's heritage, and it's a community. It's subcorporate music that gives voice to different communities and their struggle against authority." Here's a "two-fer" for you that features a couple of her different styles:


Ani Difranco - "32 Flavors"


Ani Difranco - "Little Plastic Castles"


Shea Seger is singer-songwriter born in Fort Worth, Texas. Her sound has been likened to a combination of Olivia Newton-John, Sheryl Crow, Ani DiFranco and Tori Amos. She has toured with Toploader, James, David Gray and John Mayer. Shea herself describes her music as "mutt dog... bluesy pop with beats". I describe her as fun and easy to listen to. Enjoy:

Shea Seger - "Clutch"


And that's a "wrap" for this week's FNR. I hope you enjoyed these artists as much as I do! Until next week, keep on rockin' it "old school"!