Born #OTD 1977: Fiona Apple

Fiona Apple, a slender maid of fair skin and a rich alto voice that might stir the soul of Etta James herself, emerged at the tail end of a brief yet glorious age in the 1990s, when the mainstream media and, to some degree, the general public embraced rock-based artists of merit and integrity. Her excellent first album from the year 1996, ‘Tidal’, did find great success in the marketplace; indeed, the lead single, ‘Shadowboxer,’ still sends chills down my spine. Yet her later works, though most worthy, have been wholly cast aside by a public and an industry that only cares about the trifles of shallow pop and country singers. In a better world, Fiona Apple would be a household name, though I strongly suspect she cares little for such fleeting fame or riches.

Copyright 2024, Arthur Newhook. @Sunking278 and @FloydEtcetera on X, and at the same handles on FACEBOOK. MASTODON - @ArthurNewhook@mastodon.world, BLUESKY - @arthurnewhook.bsky.social. DONATIONS GRATEFULLY ACCEPTED at https://tinyurl.com/ArthurNewhook.

Born #OTD 1964: Courtney Love

Courtney Love, circa 1994. Photo: Jeff Thurnher/CORBIS

By what machinations of fate has this most tempestuous woman, Courtney Love, reached the ripe age of threescore? Though she resides outside the public eye of late, and rock music is no longer a commercially viable genre, in the bygone days of the 1990s, she was ever-present, and she was a hot mess if ever there was one.

As a musician, one cannot laud her as a songbird of unparalleled voice nor a guitarist of prodigious skill. Indeed, the tasks of melody and intricate fretwork fell to the token male in the otherwise female band. Yet, for all her eccentricities (which likely persist to this day), she and her band, Hole, recorded two albums of undeniable merit: 1994’s ‘Live Through This’ and 1998’s ‘Celebrity Skin’. Both resonate with a power that defies the ravages of time, standing superior to the vast majority of the ‘alternative rock’ which dominated the airwaves and popular discourse during that halcyon decade.

Though she may have been, and perhaps remains, as mad as a hatter, the memory of Courtney Love stirs a yearning for a simpler time. An era before everything in music became fixated solely on the vapid offerings of the top forty, and everyone else was shut out of the conversation.

Copyright 2024, Arthur Newhook. @Sunking278 and @FloydEtcetera on X, and at the same handles on FACEBOOK. MASTODON - @ArthurNewhook@mastodon.world, BLUESKY - @arthurnewhook.bsky.social. DONATIONS GRATEFULLY ACCEPTED at https://tinyurl.com/ArthurNewhook.

#RIP Steve Albini: Renowned producer of bands such as Nirvana, Pixies, PJ Harvey, and more, departs at the age of 63 following heart attack

Record producer Steve Albini, circa 2023. Photo: John Semley/WXPN/NPR

NPR - Steve Albini, iconoclastic rock musician and engineer, dies at 61

Copyright 2024, Arthur Newhook. @Sunking278 and @FloydEtcetera on X, and at the same handles on FACEBOOK. MASTODON - @ArthurNewhook@mastodon.world, BLUESKY - @arthurnewhook.bsky.social, and @arthurnewhook on POST. DONATIONS GRATEFULLY ACCEPTED at https://tinyurl.com/ArthurNewhook.