Like most of you, I suspect, I am most familiar with Joan Armatrading via her singles from the early 80's - All the Way from America, I'm Lucky, Drop the Pilot , etc. Some pretty good poppy stuff.
I picked up The Collection in Whithorn recently which features her stuff from the mid 70's up until she became a household name
It does contain a few like All the Way From America, Willow and Love and Affection which I recognize.
However, I was presently surprised as to the broader range of some of the others I was unaware of which have more of a blues and soul feel to them.
Here are a couple of examples
Joan Armatrading - Like Fire
Joan Armatrading - Turn Out the Light
Leo's favourite is The Theme From The Wild Geese, so much so I had to get it on vinyl from Discogs I think it cost me 45p for a ex copy plus p&p
ReplyDeleteWhen I first got a job behind the counter of a record shop in the early 80's, one of my co-workers played Joan Armatrading a lot and I've retained a fondness for her work from that period. Well crafted pop.
ReplyDeleteI was hoping for some Stranraer Americana!
ReplyDeletePatience dear boy,patience
DeleteJust love Joan Armatrading, but for some reason she seems to have been forgotten in recent years. Her greatest hits collection Love and Affection Classics (1975-1983) is a good place to start but all her first half dozen albums contain great songs. My personal favourite non-single track is Barefoot and Pregnant although Dry Land pushes it close. When there's so much pap these days, it's hard to credit that the talent she possessed in spades, seemingly counts for naught.
ReplyDeleteI recently discovered Joan Armatrading as I'm doing a series over at my blog about 80s music. I hadn't heard those tracks you shared, so thanks for that
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