Happy Birthday To Who? – Joni Mitchell vs. Sharleen Spiteeri
There are only so many candles to go around, so it's nigh-on impossible to celebrate the birthday of more than one musical luminary on any given day. So, through a detailed, methodological process of unadulterated bias, I will seek to find out who is worthy of the music world's adulation on a particular date each week.
November 7th marks the day on which both seminal folk artist Joni Mitchell and Texas singer Sharleen Spiteeri were born. Both are spirited females who at different times in their career have moved from stardom to obscurity with frequent regularity. They are also joined by the fact they have both released an album this year that was largely ignored by the rational world and principally abhorred by those who heard it.
However, the resonance of past glories lives on. Mitchell played a key part in music's development, influencing countless peers in the 60s and 70s and sleeping with most of them. Her power as a performer peaked with the faultless album Blue in 1971, a landmark for singer-songwriters that included songs such as A Case Of You and River. Bob Dylan and Neil Young have played with her, Led Zeppellin and Sonic Youth have written songs about her and Prince and Kanye West have covered her. She has 20 records under her belt and has also regularly charmed with sniping comments such as calling modern music "a cesspool".
It is arguable that the various hits Spiteeri sung with Texas can be included in this melodic gutter, but undoubtedly tracks such as Summer Sun and In Demand were popular. In fact, it's odds on you're mum has hummed Say What You Want while doing the hoovering at some point. During the barren years of post-Britpop, everyone had to listen to something and Spiteeri did at fill the feisty Scottish girl role without being as face-achingly irritating as KT Tunstall.
Nevertheless, the closest she will ever get to legendary status is when she dressed up like Elvis for a video, although Ricky Gervais did immortalise her band in The Office. Apparently, fictional Wernham Hogg boss David Brent toured with the group in their early days, and even then they knew he was better than them.
If Mitchell's emotive, heartbroken soprano was representative of a female society breaking away from oppression but unsure where to go, Spiteeri's neat, anthemic pop was a symbol of a nauseating Nineties night out with Bacardi Breezers and bezzie mates in tow. Let's face it, Mitchell is an iconic trailblazer, while Spiteeri is more difficult to defend than a Rory Delap throw-in. There will be closer contests in the future, but in the meantime, happy birthday to Joni Mitchell.
There are only so many candles to go around, so it's nigh-on impossible to celebrate the birthday of more than one musical luminary on any given day. So, through a detailed, methodological process of unadulterated bias, I will seek to find out who is worthy of the music world's adulation on a particular date each week.
November 7th marks the day on which both seminal folk artist Joni Mitchell and Texas singer Sharleen Spiteeri were born. Both are spirited females who at different times in their career have moved from stardom to obscurity with frequent regularity. They are also joined by the fact they have both released an album this year that was largely ignored by the rational world and principally abhorred by those who heard it.
However, the resonance of past glories lives on. Mitchell played a key part in music's development, influencing countless peers in the 60s and 70s and sleeping with most of them. Her power as a performer peaked with the faultless album Blue in 1971, a landmark for singer-songwriters that included songs such as A Case Of You and River. Bob Dylan and Neil Young have played with her, Led Zeppellin and Sonic Youth have written songs about her and Prince and Kanye West have covered her. She has 20 records under her belt and has also regularly charmed with sniping comments such as calling modern music "a cesspool".
It is arguable that the various hits Spiteeri sung with Texas can be included in this melodic gutter, but undoubtedly tracks such as Summer Sun and In Demand were popular. In fact, it's odds on you're mum has hummed Say What You Want while doing the hoovering at some point. During the barren years of post-Britpop, everyone had to listen to something and Spiteeri did at fill the feisty Scottish girl role without being as face-achingly irritating as KT Tunstall.
Nevertheless, the closest she will ever get to legendary status is when she dressed up like Elvis for a video, although Ricky Gervais did immortalise her band in The Office. Apparently, fictional Wernham Hogg boss David Brent toured with the group in their early days, and even then they knew he was better than them.
If Mitchell's emotive, heartbroken soprano was representative of a female society breaking away from oppression but unsure where to go, Spiteeri's neat, anthemic pop was a symbol of a nauseating Nineties night out with Bacardi Breezers and bezzie mates in tow. Let's face it, Mitchell is an iconic trailblazer, while Spiteeri is more difficult to defend than a Rory Delap throw-in. There will be closer contests in the future, but in the meantime, happy birthday to Joni Mitchell.
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