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This is probably as good a time as any to take a step back and reflect on Amy Winehouse. The reason is that after 2-3 years of constant headlines, she has retreated to record material for her third album, to spend time with her "Blake incaserated", and hopefully to get well. So it's easier to take a step back to look at her, without all of the media noise that generally surrounds her. If you look beyond all of the dreadful headlines, you see an extremely talented singer songwriter, and possibly one of the most important artists to emerge from the UK.

When I first came across Amy, she was slightly plump, and very excited to have landed a record deal. Having lived in Camden at the time when she first emerged, I had heard of her, but it wasn't until I went along to Mica Paris's Soul Soultions night at the Jazz Cafe (I think it was 2003) that I first heard her live. She sang In my Bed, and Stronger than me, and blew the crowd away.

I was an instant fan, and really loved that first album Frank. She looked like she took style tips from the wife on Married With Children, but I didn't care. Yes, she was gobby and cheeky, but in a fun way. I loved the fact that in the early days, Amy seemed to happy and carefree. Frank was a small commercial success, and at the time, she seemed like a well kept secret. I once saw her in Parkway on my way home from work in early 2004, and was tempted to say hello. I should have- I'm sure she would have appreciated it, but she looked like she was in a hurry.

Then, of course her next album Back to Black changed everything. It was both the best and worst thing that could have happened to her and her fans. Firstly, the album itself is quite possibly the best and most influential album to come out of the UK this decade. You can see its influence everywhere nowdays. All of pop has gone retro. The songs on this album are amazing, and really map out Amy's life and experiences. Out of all of the great tracks on the album, I think that Tears Dry On Their Own is my favourite. The lyrics on the album are so melancholy, and yet, so clever and witty. It is delivered with an honesty that only the writer can give, and she married it off with an new look- the iconic beehive. As a fan, I was so happy for her that the secret was out, and that she was having all the success that she deserved. And in the early days, when she was promoting Rehab, she still looked like she was enjoying the success. She did appear half cut at times on TV- who can forget her slurring away to Michael Jackson, with a very annoyed looking Charlotte Church on the Charlotte Church show- that's still a classic. At that stage, it all seemed a bit of a laugh.

Her success in the US was a bit of a shock. I just didn't think that the AMericans would take to it, but they did, in droves. Only the mean spirited would not have been happy for Amy when she walked away with 5 Grammys, and it was great to see the effort that she made to clean up for her Grammy performances.

I really don't think that Amy could cope with the success and adulation that the album brought. The ironic thing is that she never chased this level of success- it almost came too easily. She often seems ill at ease performing live, and the reason I believe is that she's just a shy and insecure person. Add to this her drug woes, and really, it has been very sad to see that her life has overshadowed her terrific talent. Some people like the dark, and some artists need chaos to inspire them to deliver great art. Maybe Amy is one of these people. I just hope that she can get well enough to function on a day to day basis, and to get some stability.

Encouragingly, I hear that the early demos from her 3rd album are great. I hope audiences who have been let down by her erratic and sometimes shambolic live performances, and those who are tired of hearing about her antics will give her another go when her new material gets released. I've seen her live when she was great, and she was absolutely brilliant. I've also seen footage of her Glastonbury performance, and can understand why fans have turned away.

If Amy does nothing else in her career, she has left us with 2 great albums, one of them a timeless classic. However, I suspect that she is going to have a long and great career, and only hope that she is strong enough to be able to handle her success.

Some useful links:
http://www.amywinehouse.co.uk/
http://www.discogs.com/artist/Amy+Winehouse

Some of my favourite Amy Winehouse tracks:

Stronger than me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WedUn-_Y4-4
In my Bed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdW27IBEOZM
You Sent me Flying
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjNLCbIMzZs
Take the Box
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOE_Xou4q7U
Rehab
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD5sahXoj0U
You Know I'm No Good
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFVM5pVTwkM
Back to Black
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aygAu1x2uQo
Tears Dry On Their Own
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6LVGcIC1Tc
Love is a losing game
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfC6CCtZjxk
Valerie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI_xYIxUTE0

All 60 watts in my belly.

Yum. :wavey:

I'm pretty excited that we've got tickets to see Grace Jones at the Roundhouse in January. Can't wait- glad that it is such a good venue as well. It should be a great show:bounce:

So I've listened to the new album, Hurricane, a few times now, and it's really good. The album starts out really strong, and the first 5 tracks in particular are great. The first half is really modern, as reflected in the single Corporate Cannibal. The second half of the album is the Sly & Robbie half, which revisits the feel of Nightclubbing, which I think might have been better left in the past. I think that the album does peter out in the last couple of tracks, but it is only 9 tracks long. I wish she had been confient enought to stick with the more modern sound for the whole album.
Despite that very small criticism, overall, definitely one of the best albums of the year, and worth the wait.

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For some reason, most of the best bands come out of Manchester. I'm not sure why- maybe because the weather is so dreary, and there isn't much to do there. There is no doubting however, that it is Manchester's musical heritage, from bands like Joy Division, New Order, Factory records and Tony Wilson, and then onto the Hacienda, and even Oasis, that have really led the regeneration of Manchester as a city.

New Order, much like the Pet Shop Boys and Primal Scream, are prolific UK bands in that they have been around forever, just do their own thing, and have a hardcore base of devoted fans. New Order of course came from the ashes of Joy Division, when their lead singer Ian Curtis killed himself. I love a lot of Joy Division's stuff, but it is so dark. Songs like She's Lost Control, Love Will Tear Us Apart, and Transmission are brilliant, but bleak. We were watching the film Control again on the weekend, the story of Ian Curtis's life- a brilliant film, beautifully shot, and highly recommended.

New Order are much more optimistic, but they really moved from the guitar sound into various electronic experimentations, and back to guitar again. Their influence is wide reaching, and they really belong as one of Manchester's finest ever bands. It's also great that some of New Order, The Smiths, and Neil Tenant from PSB did a couple of tracks as Electronic- those tracks, Getting Away With It and Disappointed are two of my favourite pop songs ever.

The range of New Order's work is vast. I wasn't keen on some of the mid-80s stuff that turned too poppy, like Bizarre Love Triangle, but fantastic records like Blue Monday belong on a very small and elite list of electronic classics.

I also love a lot of the tracks on their last two albums. Crystal , Krafty, and Here to Stay are as good as anything they've done. Of course, also being from the Factory records heritage, their artwork and videos have always been spot on, with more than a little help from Peter Saville.

Unfortunately, strong personalities, and a long history, means that they occasionally have massive rows, and break up. I believe this is the case at present. Still they have been around a lot longer than bands like the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays. I only hope they get back together and give us some more great music.

Some useful links:

http://www.discogs.com/artist/New+Order

http://www.neworderonline.com/

Some of my favourite New Order Tracks:

Blue Monday
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftJZomwDhxQ

Shellshock
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4l8PSdxy-_s

Touched by the Hand of God
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMYBQeukrJk

True Faith
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og1HAkjOuL0

Fine Time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjo_jMBORcQ

Ruined in a Day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7wmRXEHizI

Everything's Gone Green
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRgHSxWnhqk

Crystal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipbobacFiUY

Here to Stay
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjwXXCJs7PU

Krafty
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8OcjdL8GvE

Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yTIpcwBTTs

Getting Away With It - Electronic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98Micc6sG60

Disappointed - Electronic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdH5c2nSV28

I love the new V V Brown single, Crying Blood. It's a lot of fun, and the video is great also.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3-Q4T7bC2c

Here's a nice article about her from the Times:

VV Brown: second time lucky

After a false start in the music industry, the girl from Northampton is ready for her close-up


(Island Records)

VV Brown has a smile that can light up not only a room, but a windowless bunker under railway arches up a scuzzy side street in Shepherds Bush. Eighteen months ago, that was where I first saw the skinny, near 6ft tall singer. At the time, she was a skint, unsigned 22-year-old with a failed shot at pop already behind her. Over two days in the claustrophobic rehearsal room, Brown sang six songs to a succession of record- company A&Rs in the hope of securing a deal. She played solo at a tiny red keyboard, clapping her hands and stamping her feet to keep the beat, smiling as though success was already assured.

“I remember the room,” Brown laughs as we sit in the considerably swankier surroundings of a Manchester hotel, where she is sipping a Malibu and pineapple.

“I had only written the songs a few weeks before, so I should have been nervous, but every time I sat down to sing them, I felt insanely happy. Finally, I had found a sound that was totally me.”

Soon after, Brown — who uses her nickname, VV, instead of her first name, Vanessa — was signed to a major label in a deal that (unusually for a young woman) allowed her to co-produce her debut album, Travelling Like the Light, due out early next year. Since she began gigging in earnest this summer, the response has been ecstatic. In September, she performed on Later... alongside Metallica and Kings of Leon, was hailed one to watch by Vogue, and appeared on the catwalk at London fashion week, with Cheryl Cole and Sugababes, at a charity event hosted by Naomi Campbell. Last month, she joined Damon Albarn’s Africa Express in Lagos and was in Manchester to headline a night of hotly tipped new artists at the music-industry event In the City.

Next week, Brown releases her debut single, Crying Blood, a mix of doo-wop, groovy blues and 1960s girl-group soul that dissects a relationship breakdown with all the sorrow of someone planning a party. Brown has dubbed her sound “musical mashed potatoes”, perhaps because Crying Blood borrows heavily from Bobby Pickett’s novelty hit Monster Mash. Elsewhere on the album, there is a song based on that piano pupils’ staple Chopsticks, a squally mix of swing and indie, a celestial ballad and the clatter of liquid-filled bowls from Brown’s kitchen being banged.

What sets Brown apart from the flurry of post-Winehouse wannabes is the absence of glossy production and an abundance of quirks that reflect the personality of a playful 24-year-old whose self-styled hair is a dinner-plate-sized flat top above a couple of school-girl bunches.

The eldest of six children born to Jamaican parents who run a school in rural Northampton — her dad taught her PE, her mum English literature — Brown grew up musical. She wrote her first song at five, studied classical piano and jazz trumpet, and played organ in church every Sunday. She had a band with her two closest siblings; she played a Casio keyboard, her sister (who now fronts a rock band) a blow-up guitar, her brother (now a drummer) a toy drum kit. At school, she formed what she calls an “Um Banana” vocal group with two friends. “You know those old 1950s songs where the chorus goes ‘Um banana, um banana?’ ” she giggles. “We did covers of those. I used to nag the other girls to practise every break time. I said that if we didn’t, we’d never make it. In the end, they called me a nightmare and quit.”

Brown’s break came at 14, when she was chosen to sing lead in a gospel choir. When that broke up, the funk band who backed them moved to London and asked Brown to be their singer. For a year, her mum drove her from school to north London every Wednesday for rehearsals and open-mic nights. Brown typically earned a tenner, and had to do her homework en route, but the live experience proved invaluable. When she took her A-levels a year early (she got four As and was offered a place to study law at LSE), she decided to defer university to try to get a record deal. “I moved to London and gave myself 12 months to make it,” she recalls. “In fact, it took almost two years to get signed, but I earned enough to pay the bills. I sang backing vocals for Madonna and Westlife.”

Demos that Brown recorded at home got her a deal with a major label, which sent her to America to work with some big-name R&B producers, including Christina Aguilera’s mentor, Ron Fair. “The production took my songs somewhere I had never envisioned,” Brown says. “The more strings they added, the more the music lost its honesty and innocence. I was too scared to say I hated it.”

Brown’s album was never released and she ended up singing backing vocals for Pussycat Dolls. Broke, she sold her keyboard to buy a ticket back to London, where she moved into her aunt’s unfurnished attic and started writing on a guitar bought from a charity shop. She sold two songs to Sugababes and Pussycat Dolls, but it was when she wrote Crying Blood that she found her sound.

“I had been dating a booking agent in LA who was a real arsehole,” Brown recalls. “I loved him, but I knew he was no good. One day, I dumped him by phone and broke down in tears. That’s when Crying Blood came tumbling out of me. It took only five minutes.”

Within a week, Brown had the six songs that earned her a deal with Island Records. Travelling Like the Light, which was largely self-produced, sees Brown play keyboards, drums, brass, bells and a single-string bass. Her nine-year-old twin brothers sing and her sister plays guitar. “All but one of the songs are about my ex,” Brown says. “But most are in a major, melodic key, so they sound energetic and joyful.”

It was on a trip to see her model boyfriend at New York fashion week that Brown became a model herself. On the plane, she sat next to a booker from Select, who tried to sign her. Brown politely declined. “Then she brought out a copy of Vogue and saw me in it. She told me it was fate, and that I had to give modelling a go. I have done a few shoots and shows, but I’m a songwriter, then a singer. Model is way down the list.” Still, there are fringe benefits. “I get free shoes wherever I go,” Brown laughs. “And I love my heels.”



Great also to see the Pet Shop Boys recognised at the Brits. Looking forward to seeing what they do at the ceremony.

Pet Shop Boys to be honoured at the Brits

Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe will pick up the Outstanding Contribution to Music Award at the 2009 Brit Awards in February

The Pet Shop Boys will be honoured at the Brit Awards in February, when the duo will pick up a gong for exceptional musical achievement.

Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, who will perform live during the awards ceremony, will collect the Brits' Outstanding Contribution to Music Award.

The dance duo have sold 50 million records since they first signed to record label Parlaphone in 1985, have had four number one singles, 22 top 10 hits and 39 top 30 singles.

In 1986, their classic hit West End Girls topped the charts across the world, followed in 1987 with What Have I Done To Deserve This?, a collaboration with Dusty Springfield. They have also worked as producers with artists who include Robbie Williams, David Bowie and Madonna.

Chairman of the Brits committee Ged Doherty said, “Since their first Brit Award over 20 years ago, Neil and Chris have produced a fantastic body of work with songs that truly were the soundtrack to a whole generation’s lives. The Pet Shop Boys have since become one of the most influential groups of the modern era and are deserving recipients of the award.”

The Pet Shop Boys won their first Brit Award in 1987 for West End Girls, picking up Best British Group in 1988. In 1994 they performed their song Go West during the awards show, accompanied by a 200-piece Welsh male choir.

The awards will take place at London’s Earls Court on Wednesday February 18 and will be broadcast live on ITV1.


Finally, had a first listen to the Girls Aloud album, Out of Control. I was slightly disappointed, but it would have been difficult to match the last 3 albums they have released, and continue such a great run of albums. This seemed a lot more restrained and safe. It may take a couple more listens to see whether it is as good. I wasn't that keen on The Prmise the first couple of listens, but it's grown on me a lot.

The Grace Jones album arrived in the post last night. I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, so will report back. Reviews have been generally favourable though mixed.

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Ugh, not sure why, but woke up this morning in a filthy mood. Poor Simon- the red mist has descended. Maybe because the weather is horrible, with no chance for nice weather now until next Easter. Could be that the Warhol exhibition at the Hayward was a total let down. Could be that the Keane album was disappointing (like it always is). Could be that out of all the nice things that they could play as part of the BBC Electric Proms, I am enduring the BBC Orchestra doing the Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack featuring BoyZone. Bleh- my ears are bleeding. How depressing to see a great talent like Bryn Christopher having to sing the Bee Gees to further his career. Of course, they won't show the terrific Coldcut, but instead will pollute the airwaves with this rubbish. Gabriella Cilmi is murdering Dionne Warwick's Heartbreaker as I type.

So let's see who I can stick the knife into. Beyonce is a good start. That new single If I Were a Boy is a new low for her. Truly terrible. It will probably go onto be her biggest selling single! Honestly, I just don't get it with her.

Not sure why I am stubbornly holding onto the no house! thing today- sometimes I'm just too stubborn for my own good. Simon played me the new remix of the Crazy Penis single which sounded great, but I wasn't in the mood for it. Ugh, maybe I have male PMT today.

Some nice new releases in the next few weeks to look forward to.

Here's some of what's around at the moment:

Spiralling- Keane- The next single is due out soon.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=M-LZ7yH-JBM

Make you feel my love- Adele

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-jpzBE...eature=related

BTW Adele gave a showstopping perfect performance of Baby It's You on the Burt Bacharach show at the Electric Proms.

If She Knew- Lemar

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=UAqOrAepWgo

Just closing off say that I thought that Peter Kay's Britain's got the Pop Factor was brilliant - so true, and done subtly, which is what made it so funny. Since my sister left the UK, I have been under strict instructions to tape it for her each week. I must admit that this season has been alright. There are some truly talented girls on this year, which has made it good to watch- better thna last year. But Peter Kay nailed it in one with his show- so funny, and nothing more funny than the Winner's Song, which ironically charted higher then Leon Jackson, the winner from last year. GOLD.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=fzkTKnRPS7s

I think I'll go to bed now with my hot water bottle and think of the nice Grace Jones CD which is in the mail and heading my way..................

A nutty performance on Jonathan Ross on Friday night, and then this article in the Times. 60 and still a fruitcake! Welcome back Grace..........

Grace Jones and the mother of all comebacks

Grace Jones is pushing 60, but that's not stopping her


Image :1 of 3

Giles Hattersley

By the time I finally pinned down Grace Jones for this interview, I had decided she was a rude has-been with an addiction to tardiness and a penchant for petty thievery.

I had heard she once kept an interviewer waiting for eight hours, but she kept me waiting for five days. On the first attempt, she held a crew of 12 at a photo studio for six hours, before sending word that she wasn’t in the mood to be snapped today. I turned up to find an unamused photographer, a weary stylist and a little chap called Filippo, from Bentley’s restaurant, whose job it was to handfeed her the oysters she had demanded we provide. “She no coming?” asked Filippo, dejected as a kicked puppy, as he sadly packed 85 top-notch molluscs back into his icebox.

Grace deigned to show up the following evening, whereupon, my sources tell me, she had a noisy on-set bust-up with Philip Treacy, then proceeded to make everyone work through the night, announcing, in her low boom: “I don’t do daytimes.” Kate, Style’s unflappable picture editor, told me she was “quite sweet, actually”, but this was before the studio called to accuse Style of stealing the orchids from reception. Predictably, the CCTV footage showed Grace, in grainy black-and-white at 4am, manhandling the flowers into her handbag on her way out the door. Classy.

After eternal wranglings, I finally secured a dinner date with this apparent nightmare near her home in Putney, southwest London. “Putney? Are you sure?” I had asked her PR. “I know, bizarre,” he had laughed. Bizarre indeed. At her local Italian on the riverfront, lousy with gilet-wearing bankers’ wives and Bugaboos, Grace suddenly arrives — an alien extraordinaire and self-confessed “black panther”. She is wearing a wide-brimmed felt hat, sunglasses (it’s night-time) and several challenging garments by Issey Miyake. She has a small, unlikely-looking entourage in tow — a tiny woman in an anorak and baseball cap, who tells me she is Ms Jones’s assistant, and Chris, her brother — who both shake my hand, then evaporate the second their parts in her grand entrance are over and done with. All of a sudden, it is just me and the black panther sat opposite one another. She is staring at me, unblinking — and something like fear grips my stomach.

“Would you mind if I ordered something to eat first? Some Pinot Grigio Santa Margherita? Some bellinis?” she begins softly. A waiter is summoned, and Grace launches into fluent Italian. Then, once the table is groaning with booze and seafood, she does something truly shocking. She apologises. “I’m so sorry about the other night,” she says, her accent a throaty car crash of Jamaican, American and Eurotrash. “Eat some calamari, drink some wine,” she soothes. “I know people are intimidated by me, but that’s just theatrics. I’m a fun person, I promise.”

You canny old broad, I marvel, as my considerable ire begins to lift. But then canny is Grace all over. This autumn, she has expertly masterminded the mother of all comebacks. Her first album in two decades, Hurricane, is released at the beginning of next month (it is blisteringly good), and next year promises a docu-film by Sophie Fiennes about Grace’s life and times. Whisper it, but Grace Jones is about to become relevant again. Her festival dates over the summer certainly left fans panting. “They were rocking. I was worried that the people were going to fall off the balconies at the Festival Hall,” she tells me. Were you nervous waiting to go on? She stares incredulously. “I’m never nervous. I yawn before a performance.”

Such diffidence exists because Grace has seen it all before. Reportedly 60 years old (“I’m younger, but if you want to know by how much, call the FBI”), she was born into a family of die-hard Pentecostal Christians in Spanish Town, Jamaica, in the late 1940s. Her parents soon relocated to Syracuse, in New York state, leaving the children to be raised by their grandmother and step-grandfather, a man so strict, he made Grace climb trees to pick the switches he would later beat her with. She joined her parents in America as a teen and planned on becoming a Spanish teacher — “Can you imagine?” she honks — before taking an acting class, catching the drama bug and decamping to New York City, baby.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Grace was it. Warhol’s muse, Schwarzenegger’s mate, supermodel, disco queen and Bond girl — not to mention a drunk, sexaholic gym maniac who starred in an ill-advised Playboy shoot with Dolph Lundgren, her body-builder boyfriend. Then, thump, it went quiet. Jones has materialised occasionally during the past 18 years — releasing novelty records or performing Pourquoi me réveiller with Pavarotti — but, by and large, she had been relegated to a kitschy footnote in the history of camp. Who even knew she was living in London? I call Treacy, who has been hanging out with her for several years. “Her name equals danger, but she’s really very sweet,” he says, laughing. What about that row on the shoot? “We do try to kill each other, but usually it’s over a hat. I can see why Andy Warhol and Keith Haring were obsessed with her. She’s one of the few true icons of fashion and music — a legend.”

“A legend is someone who has died,” Grace drawls when I tell her this. Back in the restaurant, the wine has taken hold and, diva antics aside, I must confess she has revealed herself as seriously good company. But has she always been so scary? “Oh, I’m sure I have, honey. I used to drag people up on stage, whip them and pretend to f*** them in the rear. You can’t get more intimidating than that. But I’m honest about it, so the men who go out with me know I’m going to be more macho than them. My husband used to shout at my mother, ‘What is wrong with your daughter? I’m married to a man.’ ” She throws back her head and roars with laughter. “I’m not like a normal woman, that’s for sure.”

Grace has always liked a shock tactic. In the late 1970s, she shared a flat in Paris with Jerry Hall and Jessica Lange, and remembers going to a party with various French ministers wearing nothing but a string of bones around her neck. “It was no big deal,” she shrugs. “Can’t do that now, though. You’d end up in jail.” When Grace was invited to Schwarzenegger’s wedding — he was her co-star in Conan the Destroyer — she was determined to make a play for one of the Kennedys, the family of the bride, Maria Shriver. Did she score? “They all wanted to sleep with me,” she says, but declines to confirm if she sealed the deal. London society was similarly stunned when Jones began stepping out with Ivor Guest, the 4th Viscount Wimborne, a couple of years back. Tatler ran a bitchy piece saying she was a terrible choice, as she was too old to produce an heir. It appears they are no longer together, though. Didn’t you want to be a viscountess? “I’d rather be queen.” Do you manage better without sex now you’re older? “No, I get cranky. It’s not in my blood to get bored with sex. When I don’t have one guy, I usually have six or 10 of them fluttering around.”

You used to claim you would never meet a man you couldn’t have. Is that still true? “It’s totally true, but I wouldn’t want most of them now,” Grace says flatly. “I’ve become more particular. I have gotten myself into hot water — gone for a really hot, good-looking guy, and he has turned out to be a psycho. Let me tell you, you don’t want to do that more than twice.” Pause. “I did it thrice. Ha-ha-ha.” Why keep going for dangerous men? “They go for me,” she replies wearily. “Then it always ends up that either I’m going to kill them in their sleep or they’re going to kill me.”

So, what type of man do you prefer? “I’m attracted to the artistic type,” she says, dead serious. Oh, please — what about Dolph? Or Atila Altaunbay, the 21-year-old Belgian bodyguard you married in the 1990s? “My husband was a wedding singer,” she protests. “He had a beautiful voice. But, like always, they turn, and you see the little demon coming out. He was cool for years, then — bang — he changed. Became very aggressive.” So you choose your men more carefully now? “Oh, no,” she says, shocked at the idea. “We’re still good friends, obviously.”

My jaw has hit the table by this point, but Grace is merrily sucking the eyes out of an enormous tiger prawn and ordering the first of the five rounds of flaming sambucas we will imbibe. The waiter gets the giggles. Apparently, she is always in here knocking them back. “Don’t tell on me,” she yells. “Sambuca is good for the breath. Tequila, though, is the devil in my life. I once drank so much on my birthday in Beverly Hills that Sven — who I was living with at the time, a best friend of Arnold’s — let me out of the car and drove off. I woke up under a stairwell in my Bulgari jewellery and Claude Montana fur with a bump on my head. For alcohol, it’s the best high. Although,” she continues pensively, “I did almost kill somebody in a tequila-drinking contest in Belgium. An ambulance had to come and get him. He was in hospital for three days.” How much had you drunk? “A bottle,” she grins. “I’m the tequila queen.”

It is no wonder she was a chat-show staple (remember her going for Russell Harty with her handbag?), but is the tough-talking, shot-downing, oddly dressed Jones more a creation of her alpha amours than her own woman? In the early 1980s, she had a child with her lover and collaborator Jean-Paul Goude, who recently told The New York Times: “I was more interested in the virtual character than the real woman. I still am.” “It’s true,” she shouts, throwing back another sambuca. “That’s why I left him. I was an object always. It wasn’t until we had our son that he realised I was a human being.”

Amid all the bluster, she concedes she can get lost in the performance of being Grace Jones — potty-mouthed cyberbitch, what a scream at parties — and that it has cost her. Apparently, she likes to curl up at home, watching TV and eating soul food — but this can be disappointing to the men in her life. “Jean-Paul is still angry with me in public, though we are close in private,” she says sadly, before insisting I save her number in my phone (under Black Panther) and requesting that I take her out on the town the following night (I don’t). Interviewees occasionally resort to faux buddy tactics to ensure a good write-up, and Grace has gone so far as to snog her previous inquisitors. It is a pose, however, and it implies nerves. Underneath that fabulous exoskeleton, there is a human heart that minds very much what you, me and Goude thinks of it.

Grace has found love, though. She dotes on her son, Paolo, 28, who lives in Paris and whose sports days and parent-teacher meetings she religiously attended, albeit in a series of Thierry Mugler jump suits. He is among the few who have been permitted to know the fried-chicken-eating, infomercial-watching mortal underneath the high-fashion hat. In fact, for all the sex she has had, it is telling that the only men whose affections Grace seems confident of are Paolo’s and Warhol’s — a man who carted around his own sack of myth-making neuroses. “All my memories of Andy are happy ones. The saddest part was the shock I felt when he died. I’m full of conspiracy theories.” You’re convinced there was something sinister about his death? “Absolutely. He came through the operation fine, and he had an all-night nurse — and I don’t want to rehash things, because of his family — but he called for somebody and nobody came. I think they purposefully ignored him. You don’t have somebody like that, with an all-night nurse, and he’s pushing the button and she’s not there. I don’t believe it was a natural death.”

She is upset, and thinks it is time for a cigarette, throwing a minor tiff when it dawns on her that we have to go outside for it. “It’s f***ing ridiculous. You eat dinner, then you have a f***ing cigarette. It’s f***ing civilised.” This gives rise to a more general complaint about the sorry state of pleasure-seeking in the Noughties. “A lot of people look back too much. My son’s friends sit there and tell me: ‘We’re so jealous of Studio 54,
we wish that was happening now.’ It was an amazing time, but people have to make their own parties. I keep telling people to get out there and party. Open some clubs! Personally, my best parties are wherever I am at the time.” Even when you were hanging with the toffs? “Sure. High society likes to have fun too. They just need someone to tell them it’s all right to take their shoes off, get naked, stick a joint in everyone’s mouth.” Still getting high, then? “You wanna get me arrested?”she chuckles. “I’m Jamaican. I always ask for a little spliff when I’m on stage. They used to throw them up to me, but not any more,” she sighs.

As we are pretty drunk by this point, I pluck up the courage to tell her I know that she stole the flowers from the shoot earlier in the week. “Oh, honey, they were fake anyway,” she says, “We did a lot of shooting, so I thought, why not? That’s the least I should get, right?” Sure, I find myself saying, beaten down by irrepressible, irresistible Grace. You can steal all the flowers you want.

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Marvin Gaye

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbN5jRKryRk

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Marvin+Gaye

We started the first part of the list with an American legend, so we might as well start the second part of the list with another. Marvin Gaye was a lost soul really, but also a genius. His voice is one of the best male voices I have heard, and songs like I Want You reflect the pain and emotion he felt during his life. In the end, he was a victim of drugs, drink, women and depression, and was murdered by his father. But he left the world as one of the most influential soul artists of the last century and his legacy is enduring. What's Going On is a standard bearer for the genre.

5 of the best
Mercy Mercy Me
What's Going On
Let's Get It On
I Want You
I Heard It Through The Grapevine

Missy Elliott

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS8s0Af4x3w

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Missy+Elliott

Missy and Timbaland are artists that have transformed music. To the point that their style has been copied to death. But when Missy first burst onto the scene, she was fresh and innovative. I remember when I saw the video of Beep me 911 and The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly), and I thought Who is this? I was intrigued. To me Missy is a great singles artists. She has released some great tracks, but her albums are wildly inconsistent. I think Work It is definitely her best album. Missy can still deliver the goods from time to time, but with everyone copying her style, she has found it hard to put herself ahead of the pack again.

5 of the best
Beep Me 911
Work It
Gossip Folks
Lick Shots
Get U R Freak On

Loose Ends

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkB6Ebs9gn4

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Loose+Ends

For a while in the mid 80s, Loose Ends ruled the roost in both the UK and the US. They were really the first black artists from the UK to find success in the US, and their funk dance records really established them as firm favourites on both sides of the ponds. All you ever need to know about Loose Ends is on their 1992 compilation Tighten Up Vol.1, and great album helped along by great remixes from Frankie Knuckles and David Morales.

5 of the best
Hangin' on a String
Slow Down
Don't Worry
Love's Got Me
Watching You

Toni Braxton

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHyKLf-HH4U

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Toni+Braxton

For a brief time in the early 90s, Toni Braxton was the top R&B diva. Brilliant songs crafted by Baby Face were really representative of the times, plus club remixes by Knuckles and Morales helped propel her as a club favourite. You're Makin' Me High and Unbreak my Heart from the second album Secrets were fantastic vocal house records. Toni just couldn't maintain the momentum or quality of the material, and fell away quickly as new artists such as beyonce took over the reigns. I heard that she fell into money problems, and has struggled in recent years, though she is still releasing music.

5 of the Best
Give U My Heart
Love Should Have brought You Home
You're Makin' Me High
Unbreak My Heart
He Wasn't Man Enough For Me

Terri Walker

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jjs7tuDoceI

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Terri+Walker

Terri Walker is one of those UK soul artists with a great voice, terrific personality, and great material who just can't seem to carve a living as a solo artists, due to lack of support from the UK market. I saw her at the Jazz cafe a few years ago, and she was terrific. Her second album is probably her most commercial, and I really liked it, but it was like they were trying to make her Beyonce-lite. I'm not sure what she is up to now, but I really enjoyed the 3 albums that she has released so far. I hope she gets a new record deal and puts out more material.

5 of the best
Guess You Didn't Love Me
Ching Ching
This Is My Time
L.O.V.E
I Am

Guru

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq6urq2w3Yw

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Guru

Guru's day job is as part of the hip hop outfit GangStarr, but he is on this list for his Jazzamatazz series, which has released 4 albums to date, and provided us with a dazzling mix of hiphop and soul with the most important artists of the time of release of each of the 4 albums. He's had everyone collaborating on these albums- the only on I can think of that hasn't done a track on one of these albums is Jill Scott- every other notable US and UK soul artist has. That's what I like about Guru- he draws from both sides of the atlantic. Each of the albums is great in their own right, and reflective of the time in which they were released.

5 of the best
Trust Me (feat. N'Dea davenport)
No Time to Play (feat. Dee C. Lee)
What Whatcha Say (feat. Chaka Khan)
Keep Your Worries (feat. Angie Stone)
Supa Love (feat. Kelis)

Whitney Houston

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=JJRGmw...eature=related

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Whitney+Houston

More pop than anything, there's no doubt that Whitney Houston has a great voice. Again, a really inconsistent career littered with soppy drivel, but amongst all of that some great pop moment. Of course, no one can ignore the drama of Whitney's life, and her fall from grace, probably the most dramatic of any modern artist. Who can forget her appearance at michael Jackson's party at Madison Square Garden- she was really skeletal. Yet she's a fighter, and by all accounts has brought herself from the brink. Let's see what she comes up with. I don't think that there is anyone, fan or not, that does not wish her well.

5 of the best
Saving All My Love for You
Love Will Save The Day
So Emotional
Queen of the Night
Step by Step

Kenny Thomas

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=IJBNJJc5pcs

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Kenny+Thomas

Kenny is a lovely northen boy whose brand of blue-eyed soul was delivered at the peak of the UK soul period of the early 90s. His first 2 albums were great soul albums, with a mix of soul dance which was so prevalent of the time. Not afraid to mix covers with original material, Kenny built up a pretty good following. However, that genre fell out of fashion by the mid to late 90s, and it would not be until 2006 that he would release his 3 album, finding success with the single Crazy World. He still plays in venues from time to time - I'd really like to catch him if he ever plays in London again.

5 of the best
Outstanding
Thinking About Your Love
Stay
Trippin on your love
Crazy World

Erykah Badu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X28-iijgNQs

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Erykah+Badu

Erykah Badu is such an earthmother, and a bit kooky, as I found out when I saw her play at the Brixton Academy a few years ago, but what a talent. Baduizm her first album is sublime, and is credited with kicking off the nu-soul movement along with D'Angelo. What I love about Erykah is that she isn't afraid to experiment and play around with her sound. Each of her 4 albums sounds different from anything she has done.

5 of the best
On & On
Next Lifetime
Back In The Day
Love of my Life World Wide
Honey

Will Downing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIr1_w7amPs

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Will+Downing

We finish off the list with an old school crooner, who at his peak in the mid to late 80s mixed soul, and house together. His songs not only stood up on their own, but were turned into club classics by Arthur Baker, David Morales, and Frankie Knuckles. I saw him at the Jazz Cafe a few years ago, and that voice is amazing live. Plus, he is a great entertainer, engaging with the crowd, and making it feel intimate. And the ladies love him....still!

5 of the best
A Love Supreme
In My Dreams
Come Together As One
The World Is A Ghetto
There's No Living Without You

Music with black origins has been a huge influence on my musical tastes, and really encompasses a wide genre, from soul, to modern R&B, neo-soul, hip hop, disco, acid jazz, and even blue-eyed soul. The tag "Urban" really doesn't do it justice, and I really hate using, so I have stolen MOBO, from the annual awards ceremony.

I've put together a list of 20 artists that I really love, that weren't quite the calibre of being "Featured" mainly due the fact that they might have been before my time, or only had a very short career, or simply that they have been wildly inconsistent, or that I have really liked them but not absolutely loved them. I think that UK soul is underappreciated and UK audiences should embrace their artists more. There's a nice balance of UK and American artists. I've tried not to include artists already included in favourite albums lists- I want to get as many of my favourite artists in this blog as possible. Sincere apologies to people like Lupe Fiasco, Jody Watley, Beverley Knight, Shaun Escoffrey, Lynden David Hall, Angie Stone, Jungle Brothers, A Tribe Called Quest, and many more whom I have loved but did not make the list.

So, in no particular order:

Stevie Wonder

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYKYka-PNt0

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Stevie+Wonder

So I start the list really with a legend, and hugely influential artist, who was untouchable at his peak in the 60's and early 70s. A run of incredible albums, peaking at Songs in the Key of Life. The reason why he is on this list and not "Featured" is that he is ahead of my time, and his catalogue is so vast, that I haven't had a chance to get to grips with it all. Plus there's a lot of time spent in the wilderness too- I Just Called to Say I Love You for instance, which is ironically his biggest hit. Anyway, Stevie's influence can been seen in all of the male sould artists of the last 30 years, from Jamiroquai to Jamie Lidell.

5 of the best:
Blame it on the Sun
As
Superstition
I Wish
Don't you worry 'bout a thing

Jill Scott

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw3Z8Oa7E3Y

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Jill+Scott

From the old to the new, Jill Scott is an inspirational figure, and a spearhead of the nu-soul revolution that began in the late 90s and peaked in the early 2000's. Her first album Who is Jill Scott is a classic album. I view her firstly and foremostly as a poet, over which she them builds music around her poetry. Interestingly enough, her records translate well to house productions, and many of her tracks are huge vocal house hits. I was lucky enough to see her perform at Brixton Academy a few years ago, and she didn't disappoint. Funny, charming, and a fantastic voice.

5 of the best
Gettin' in the Way
A Long Walk
Golden
Day dreamin'
Hate on me

Innocence

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAea5...eature=related

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Innocence

Innocence are a British outfit, around in the early 90s, when British soul/dance was at its peak. They made 2 incredible albums, Belief and Build, which still sound great today, and were one of the few albums that could be played from start to end without disappointment. I've not heard anything of them recently, but they have left two much loved albums.

5 of the Best
Let's Push it
Silent Voice
Build
I'll be there
One love in my lifetime

Kelis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFjVPDpi48U

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Kelis

There's just something inately cool about Kelis. From when she burst onto the scene screaming I Hate You So Much Right Now! to present day, each Kelis release is highly anticipated. However, like some of the artists on here, she can disappoint. It seems that she releases a good album followed by a bad album, followed by a good album followed by a bad album. Overall Tasty would be her best album, and at her best, Kelis is unstoppable.

5 of the best
Caught out there
Good Stuff
Milkshake
Trick Me
Supalove

Queen Latifah

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZACI-PtHYI

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Queen+Latifah

I should qualify Latifah's inclusion pre- talk show host corporate animal, on the strength of her first 2 albums. When Latifah was a hip hop artist in the late 80s and early 90s , forming a posse with Monie Love, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, and Jungle Brothers, she was the Missy Elliott of her time. Plus it was an really exciting time for hip hop, before it went corporate and bling. I really loved her then. All Hail to the Queen and Nature of a Sista are two of my favourite hip hop albums from that era. Too bad she has blanded herself out ..........

5 of the best
Ladies First
Come Into My House
Find a Way
Fly Girl
How do I Love Thee

Jamiroquai

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzietI2qEAc

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Jamiroquai

Let's face it, Jamiroquai is Jay Kay. When they first burst onto the scene in 1993 with Emergency on Planet Earth, I was so excited by them. A fusion of soul, acid jazz, and a lot of Stevie Wonder, that album was the album of the year. Over the years, they have had a patchy run, maybe because they haven't strayed too far away from the formula. It has been surprising that they have had such success in the States. At their best, they are terrific, and they have left some great tracks and videos for us to enjoy.

5 of the best
Too Young to Die
Emergency on Planet Earth
Deeper Underground
Little L
Corner of the Earth

Mariah Carey

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShSHuseHjTk

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Mariah+Carey

Probably the best and most consistent of the big corporate belters, arguments often rage as to whether Mariah or Whitney has sold more records. Who cares really, because at the end of the day Mariah has left us with some great pop songs. Forget all of the soppy ballad dross, like Hero, Mariah is at her best when she's going mid-tempo. Plus her collaborations with David Morales have left the club world with some great mixes of these songs. As always, I love the fact that Mariah is mad as a hatter, and so spolit that she's detached from reality. It suits her.

5 of the best
Make it happen
Dream lover
Fantasy
Honey
It's Like That

Lemar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0K3QXZDmk-s

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Lemar

It's almost ridiculous now to think that Lemar finished 3rd on the BBC's Fame Academy in 2003, given that we are about to receive a fourth album. It's a blessing in disguise that he didn't win, because it gave hime the creative freedom to establish himslef as probably the UK's best male soul artist. Each album has been terrific, and each with a subtly different feel. Out of all of them, I love the 3rd album The Truth About Love the best. Incidentally just saw the video for the first single off his new album this morning. It looks like this album will have a really up to date contemporary sound. I'm really looking forward to it.

5 of the best
50/50
Another Day
If There's Any Justice In the World
It's not that easy
Someone Should tell You

Diana Ross

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9Y0-bUXsPQ

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Diana+Ross

Let's face it, Diana Ross's career has been all over the place. Because of the fact that she has been around for a million years, and pumped out so much product, that I have been able to put together a collection of songs that I really love. As a solo artist, her material has often been terrible, but she did hit her peak with the album Diana with the help of Ashford and Simspon in 1980. The Boss, from the album of the same name is Diana at her best, and is a disco classic. As for her work with the Supremes, I liked the stuff that came after their peak, which was darker and edigier, like Love Child. Diana not only invented the Diva, she took it to a whole new level. She was also the original make a little go a long way just via sheer detrmination and ambition.

5 of the best
Love Child
I'm Gonna Make You Love Me
A'int no Mountain High Enough
The Boss
My Old Piano

Mary J Blige

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1u0c0b2fQlI

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Mary+J...v=Mary+J+Blige

Like many on this list, Mary has had a very inconsistent career. Much is made of her being the Queen of Hip Hop Soul, and who am I to dispute this. When Mary arrived on the scene, she was a breath of fresh air. She was gritty, and those first two albums were the spearhead of the New Jack Swing sound of the late 80s early 90s. My Life in particular is a powerful album chronicling Mary's descent into drugs and depression. Since then, Mary has blinged herslef up, taken herself far too seriously, and been caught up in the hype. The material has been really patchy, the one exception is the brilliant Family Affair, which is probably the hip hop record of the new millenium. Contrary to popluar thought, I don't think Mary is a particularly strong singer. However, she sings from the heart- always.

5 of the best
Real Love
You Remind Me
Happy
Love is All You Need
Family Affair