It has been ten years since American indie-rock quartet The Breeders released their last album. Much has happened in the meantime, particularly to founder member and frontwoman Kim Deal. But the band are back on the music scene now with their critically acclaimed fifth studio album, All Nerve.
The new album debuted at number nine on the UK chart. It comes as no surprise that this is the record’s highest chart position anywhere in the world.
“The British people have been particularly supportive of us,” remarked Kim, now 56. “They’ve always seemed to appreciate what we do, much more so than anywhere else. I don’t know why that should be but we’ve always been grateful for their enthusiasm.”
Kim’s involvement with music dates back to childhood. She and her twin sister Kelley, who is also a member of The Breeders, began singing together when they were just four or five years old. Both girls learned to play instruments and formed a folk-rock band in their mid-teens which they named The Breeders.
“We lived in Dayton, Ohio. We’d hear mainstream rock bands on record or radio but didn’t get to see or hear any others until a friend of Kelley who lived in California started sending us tapes. These contained songs by artists such as Siouxsie and The Banshees, The Sex Pistols, James Blood Ulmer, The Undertones and Elvis Costello. The tapes were our most treasured possessions.”
Kim’s university years were spent at seven different colleges. She graduated from none of them although she eventually earned an associate degree in medical technology which allowed her to take several jobs in the field of cellular biology.
Music was never far from her thoughts. After being the only person to answer an ad in the Boston Phoenix arts and entertainment paper, 1996 saw Kim become the bass player and backing vocalist for a new alternative rock band called Pixies.
“They already had their lead and rhythm guitarists. I had to borrow Kelley’s bass, which I’d never played before. But I was invited to join and we began rehearsing in my apartment.”
Like The Breeders, Pixies were far more popular in Britain than elsewhere in the world. Five of their six albums made the UK top ten. But there always seemed to be friction within the band. During one show in Stuttgart, Black Francis actually threw a guitar at Kim. She was fired from the band and reinstated before continuing internal acrimony triggered their break-up in 1993.
By this time, Kim had already found success with The Breeders resurrecting the name of her teen years band. She formed the group as a side project in 1989 with Throwing Muses’ guitarist Tanya Donelly. After recruiting Josephine Wiggs to play bass and Britt Walford, credited as Shannon Doughton, on drums, the band released their critically acclaimed debut album, Pod, in 1990.
With Kim’s involvement in Pixies now ended, 1993 saw The Breeders release their sophomore album, Last Splash. Kelley Deal had replaced Tanya on guitar while Jim MacPherson had taken over drumming duties from Britt. Although there were further personnel changes for 2002’s Title TK and 2008’s Mountain Battles, it is this line-up of Kim, Kelley, Josephine and Jim who are back together again now on All Nerve.
The intervening years have seen many changes in Kim’s life. After her sister spent time in drugs rehab, Kim also had a spell of being weaned off drink and drugs. She also formed another side band, The Amps. They released one album, Pacer, in 1995. Kim even rejoined the re-formed Pixies in 2004 and remained with the band until 2013.
A health issue in her family life has taken up much of Kim’s time since 2002.
“That was when my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. I decided to move back to Dayton to help care for her. I didn’t know how long she might survive or still be able to lead a relatively normal life. I eventually moved out again last year. She doesn’t really walk or talk any more. But they have a very good in-house care system. I realised I was really just in the way.”
The Breeders are supporting All Nerve with a concert tour beginning next month. Taking in North America, Britain and Europe, the schedule already consists of 48 dates. The number of sold out shows suggests more may be added.
“We’re really pleased that the demand is still there from fans who want to see us play live. We intend to give them a great and memorable show.”
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Sting and Shaggy
Some critics have expressed surprise about the partnership of former Police frontman Sting and reggae star Shaggy. But anyone who remembers Sting’s music with The Police will appreciate how many of their big hit songs were obviously reggae influenced.
Perhaps the only surprise about the collaboration is that Sting should choose to work with Shaggy rather than a more popular reggae artist.
Shaggy’s musical heyday was back in 2000 when his fifth album, Hot Shot, topped the charts in Britain, America and much of the world. The album also spawned a pair of massive number one singles in It Wasn’t Me and Angel.
His next album, 2002’s Lucky Day, did fairly well. Since then though, apart from a couple of compilation albums, Shaggy’s name has been conspicuously absent from the upper reaches of either the US or UK charts.
This lack of recent chart success played no part in the collaboration. It came about because Sting’s manager, Martin Kierszenbaum, was producing a recording session for Shaggy at The Village Studio in Los Angeles.
Martin sent Sting an unfinished tune called Don’t Make Me Wait. Sting was at his home in Malibu, not far from the recording studio. He was so impressed by the track that he visited the studio, surprised a delighted Shaggy and worked with him to finish the song.
The two artists quickly became firm friends, created more songs together and now have an album, 44/876, credited to Sting and Shaggy which is coming out on April 20.
Don’t Make Me Wait was issued as a promotional single. Sting and Shaggy performed the song during the 2018 Grammy Awards show and released an official video, filmed in Jamaica, which is posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0xKz5TsYb0.
They have now released an official audio of the single, Morning Is Coming. This can be heard at www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaZx4MptKjc. Sting and Shaggy talk about the song at www.youtube.com/watch?v=28fttRr2Zbs. A live performance of Morning Is Coming on Good Morning America is posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NZL6MVtFUE
Chris Brown/ Vanessa Carlton
R&B star Chris Brown posted the video of Vanessa Carlton’s 2002 smash hit single, A Thousand Miles, on his Instagram account. His caption, Mood. This song lit forever, succinctly summed up his feelings about a great song.
Despite receiving this praise from Chris, Vanessa used her own Instagram account to slam his gesture which happened to be made on March 8, International Women’s Day.
“Today Chris Brown posted my video,” she wrote. “I am now being repeatedly tagged to his account. Being that today is International Women’s Day, I feel compelled to draw a line. I support survivors, not perpetrators of domestic violence. I do not want to be associated with an artist that has assaulted women on a day like today.”
Chris was convicted of physically assaulting his then girlfriend, Rihanna, in 2009. But he insists he is a changed man and clearly felt wronged by Vanessa’s words. All he wanted to do was give due credit to a wonderful song and artist.
In his reply to Vanessa’s post, Chris wrote; “I posted a song that was and still is a great song and the artist felt she was doing her duty as a woman to continue to spread this kind of hatred today. I won’t keep Vanessa’s song up long. I just hope she knows she is loved and her song is great.”
Is Chris to be eternally condemned for his actions nine years ago? Was he wrong to post Vanessa’s song? Should he have contacted her to ask permission? Did Vanessa over-react? Should she at least have been more gracious about being praised for her work?
Whatever the answers to these questions might be, Vanessa could certainly use the publicity. Thanks to her success with A Thousand Miles, her career began with a bang. Her debut album, Be Not Nobody, was a massive world-wide hit.
But the last 16 years have seen Vanessa’s career spiral downwards. Each of her albums have successively sold fewer copies. Her last LP, 2015’s Liberman, did not even make the Billboard 200. She hasn’t been in the Hot 100 since 2004 when White Houses peaked at number 86. Vanessa should perhaps be grateful to Chris Brown for bringing attention to the great songs she is capable of writing.
NEW VERVE: The Breeders (Kelly, left and Kim) are supporting All Nerve with a 48-date concert tour beginning next month.
