completely blown away. She was like a woman in her thirties, with a whole, seasoned delivery, not fazed by anything at all. I was in awe of her. I thought, wow, you have a special talent. God, you are 18, where did that come from?’
In October 2003, Island released ‘Stronger Than Me’ as a single. Despite being pushed by Island and receiving attention from critics who were intrigued by Amy’s unique sound, the song only reached No. 71 in the UK charts. Frank was released later that month and Amy found herself heralded as the new girl in Britain’s ‘new jazz’ movement, along with such musicians as Jamie Cullum and Norah Jones.
The subject matter of most of the songs on Frank, Amy’s ex-boyfriend, immediately brought her a lot of media attention, as did the originality of her music and the influence and mixture of different and, to some critics, contradictory music genres, including jazz.
Favourably reviewed by most of the major British press (the Guardian compared her sound on Frank as sitting between Nina Simone and Erykah Badu, at once ‘innocent and sleazy’; the Daily Telegraph commented ‘she writes like Cole Porter, sings like Billie Holiday, plays snooker like a pro’), Amy continued to perform live, supporting Jamie Cullum and opening for Finley Quaye. In December 2003, she took to the stage in her first major solo showcase since the Cobden, at the famous Shepherd’s Bush venue, Bush Hall, to an audience of over 300 people. Her reviews were mixed, however – her performance described by some as confused and nervous.
Without a doubt Amy was beginning to catch the attention of the media, sometimes for her talent, sometimes for her comments. In an interview with MusicOMH.com , she made it clear that she didn’t like being lumped together with Jamie Cullum and Katie Melua, just because their records came out at the same time. While adding that she felt bad for Jamie who must feel frustrated, she said of Katie, ‘SHE must think it’s her f**king lucky day.’
Musically though, Amy was receiving critical attention from her peers and the public as well. Nominated for two BRIT Awards (British Female Solo Artist/British Urban Act), on 17 February 2004, she lost in both categories to Dido and Lemar respectively, but Amy was grabbing attention and to the media and her public she seemingly appeared more confident and more self-assured with every interview she gave.
Appearing on The Jonathan Ross Show in March 2004, a beautiful Amy – hair sleek and slim but curvaceous in a form-fitting short halter neck dress and high heels –explained to Ross that Frank was a ‘straight jazz–hip-hop cross. There is no blues or folk ….’ She added that she just wanted to write music that was ‘emotional’, something ‘that people would want to listen to and connect with.’
In that interview, Amy comes across as a normal, bright, lovely young woman, sure of her own opinions and views. Only the occasional movement of her hands betrays possible nervousness or just her youth. When Ross asks if her management company had tried to change her – her look, her way of speaking or behaviour – she jokes to the audience that someone tried to mould her into a big triangle shape and that she said ‘No-oh!’, to much laughter from everyone around her, Ross included. She then continues more seriously, ‘No, I’ve got my own style and I wrote my own songs and, you know, if someone has so much of something already, there’s very little you can add.’
Watching Amy give a mesmerising performance of ‘I Heard Love Is Blind’ from Frank at the end of that interview, playing an acoustic guitar, it’s hard to equate that self-assured and alluring young woman with the one who I meet in St Lucia in 2009.
So, I have to ask myself, what happened to Amy? When did things begin to go wrong? What caused this train wreck to happen? Do the reasons lie in her past? And why could – or did – no one stop her? I think about my
In October 2003, Island released ‘Stronger Than Me’ as a single. Despite being pushed by Island and receiving attention from critics who were intrigued by Amy’s unique sound, the song only reached No. 71 in the UK charts. Frank was released later that month and Amy found herself heralded as the new girl in Britain’s ‘new jazz’ movement, along with such musicians as Jamie Cullum and Norah Jones.
The subject matter of most of the songs on Frank, Amy’s ex-boyfriend, immediately brought her a lot of media attention, as did the originality of her music and the influence and mixture of different and, to some critics, contradictory music genres, including jazz.
Favourably reviewed by most of the major British press (the Guardian compared her sound on Frank as sitting between Nina Simone and Erykah Badu, at once ‘innocent and sleazy’; the Daily Telegraph commented ‘she writes like Cole Porter, sings like Billie Holiday, plays snooker like a pro’), Amy continued to perform live, supporting Jamie Cullum and opening for Finley Quaye. In December 2003, she took to the stage in her first major solo showcase since the Cobden, at the famous Shepherd’s Bush venue, Bush Hall, to an audience of over 300 people. Her reviews were mixed, however – her performance described by some as confused and nervous.
Without a doubt Amy was beginning to catch the attention of the media, sometimes for her talent, sometimes for her comments. In an interview with MusicOMH.com , she made it clear that she didn’t like being lumped together with Jamie Cullum and Katie Melua, just because their records came out at the same time. While adding that she felt bad for Jamie who must feel frustrated, she said of Katie, ‘SHE must think it’s her f**king lucky day.’
Musically though, Amy was receiving critical attention from her peers and the public as well. Nominated for two BRIT Awards (British Female Solo Artist/British Urban Act), on 17 February 2004, she lost in both categories to Dido and Lemar respectively, but Amy was grabbing attention and to the media and her public she seemingly appeared more confident and more self-assured with every interview she gave.
Appearing on The Jonathan Ross Show in March 2004, a beautiful Amy – hair sleek and slim but curvaceous in a form-fitting short halter neck dress and high heels –explained to Ross that Frank was a ‘straight jazz–hip-hop cross. There is no blues or folk ….’ She added that she just wanted to write music that was ‘emotional’, something ‘that people would want to listen to and connect with.’
In that interview, Amy comes across as a normal, bright, lovely young woman, sure of her own opinions and views. Only the occasional movement of her hands betrays possible nervousness or just her youth. When Ross asks if her management company had tried to change her – her look, her way of speaking or behaviour – she jokes to the audience that someone tried to mould her into a big triangle shape and that she said ‘No-oh!’, to much laughter from everyone around her, Ross included. She then continues more seriously, ‘No, I’ve got my own style and I wrote my own songs and, you know, if someone has so much of something already, there’s very little you can add.’
Watching Amy give a mesmerising performance of ‘I Heard Love Is Blind’ from Frank at the end of that interview, playing an acoustic guitar, it’s hard to equate that self-assured and alluring young woman with the one who I meet in St Lucia in 2009.
So, I have to ask myself, what happened to Amy? When did things begin to go wrong? What caused this train wreck to happen? Do the reasons lie in her past? And why could – or did – no one stop her? I think about my
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