Amy Winehouse - Frank (2003)

"You Sent Me Flying" by Amy Winehouse


Ms. Dynamite worked closely with several producers in getting her debut album ready, one of them being Hip Hop DJ and songwriter Salaam Remi. He helped give several hit singles their R&B tastes until he stumbled upon a creative partnership with jazz chanteuse Amy Winehouse.

Amy was a stand out performer in her teens and garnered the music industry's attention at the age of 18 in the newly minted millennium. Not only did her talents spark a bidding war as a non-pop performer amongst major labels, but they also sparked her management (a managing company headed by Simon Fuller, creator of the Idol franchise) to keep her a company secret as they began to build her image and the tracks to her debut. Universal won Amy's publishing rights and released her debut single "Stronger Than Me" in the waning days of 2003. The single performed poorly, hitting the wrong side of the UK Top 40. In fact, the three other singles from her debut, released throughout 2004, performed no better than 57 on the UK charts. The success of her debut, however, bolstered her under-performing singles. Frank, released at the end of 2003, peaked at #3 after a slow start in the UK and performed just as well in other countries. The album would earn itself a triple platinum sales figure.

Critically, Frank met with critical acclaim. Amy's sincere talent and unique qualities followed the populist trend against label-fabricated singers and boy/girl groups. Critics fell in love with her voice, her songwriting, and her look. All of these elements took cues from her female predecessors (Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, Ronnie Spector, Erykah Badu, and even Ms. Dynamite), but she effortlessly transcended these influences falling somewhere in between them all but standing just as tall as the rest. Her critical acclaim led to music prizes such as the Ivor Novello for songwriting, BRIT Awards for popularity (basically), and a shortlisting for the 2004 Mercury Prize. Frank played a strong debut from a talented singer and set off a promising start to what would become a tragic career.

Here is the discography surrounding Amy Winehouse's debut album:

Stronger Than Me (2003 single)
Frank
Take the Box (2004 single)
In My Box (2004 single)
Sessions@AOL (2004 Live EP)
Pumps (2004 single)



If you have any ideas for where the tour should go next, please give a shout. I'm open to whatever as long as the artists are historically related in some way and go in an artist's chronological order.

Pass the Headphones!!