Amy Winehouse “Frank”: A 15th Anniversary Retrospective
It’s been 15 years since Amy Winehouse’s classic debut LP was released. Why and how has this album managed to elude the mainstream success it so richly deserves even years after Amy Winehouse’s passing and how come there aren’t more American music journalists actively championing its cause?
Almost an entire generation has passed since the late Amy Winehouse‘s debut LP “Frank” was first released in the UK/Europe. When Winehouse first appeared on the music scene she was considered an extremely young Nu Jazz vocalist devoid of the social grace and seasoning that most other UK artists had who were considered for a huge push overseas. What she lacked in polish she more than made up for in terms of natural charisma, quick witted humor and flat out talent.
Even though she was managed by Simon Fuller, the man who brought the UK show Pop Idol to America and rebranded it American Idol, it was the British teen Soul singer Joss Stone who was instead chosen to get the international push. Joss Stone’s album “The Soul Sessions” was released the month before Amy Winehouse’s “Frank” was and it went on to became very popular stateside. The push from online music communities like Okayplayer led the way in getting the word out about the album initially. In Boston, the response to Joss Stone was pretty overwhelming. Let me tell you the story about the first time I ever heard Amy Winehouse’s music.
It was late October 2003, I was down because the Boston Red Sox had recently been eliminated by the hated New York Yankees in Game 7 of the ALCS and I was working the register at my overnight job at CVS in Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood. Just a little past midnight, a woman who was an Emerson College student and a regular customer entered the store with her friend. As they were making their purchases at the counter the girl’s friend sighed and remarked how sad it was that no one in America even knew what Grime was. I then said, “If someone else besides The Streets or Dizzie Rascal can make a classic album that makes American music journalists take notice of it, I guarantee you they’ll make it a point find out.” She shot me a puzzled look and asked “How exactly did you hear about Grime?”.
I told her that it went back to my record stores days hanging out with DnB heads & Junglists back when UKG (UK Garage) slowly morphed into Grime thanks to So Solid Crew and Wiley’s Pay As U Go Cartel. I also explained that I had to get my Grime tracks from Kazaa and Limewire and I often had to figure out the proper name of songs/riddims/instrumentals and artists by visiting the RWD forums or boards like Dissensus. We then struck up a conversation about the UK urban music scene and as you’d expect, the subject turned to Joss Stone. She said “I mean…I like Joss but I fuckin’ LOVE Amy!”
I said “Amy who?”. She looked at me and smiled then said “I’ll be right back!” then ran out of the door. She returned to the store about 15 minutes later smiling while holding a CD player and she said “I’m going to change your life forever. You get me, yeah?”. She then placed the headphones over my ears as “You Sent Me Flying” started up. Once the beat dropped I gave her a look that was the precursor to the one Jaden Smith gave when Drake took the stage during the MTV Video Music Awards that time.
I pressed the button on my register which produces the register tape those long ass CVS receipts are printed on, took out a black Sharpie and wrote “AMY WINEHOUSE FRANK” on it immediately. I thanked her again even though I didn’t quite understand why yet. I suspect she might have known, though…
What we need to keep in mind was the bloggerverse was in its infancy at this time, the focus was still on music message boards back in late 2003. The average Internet user had only had 24/7 Internet access for between 6–18 months dependent on where in the country they lived. The iTunes Store was only six months old and the overwhelming majority of music fans still didn’t understand how to use it to buy full albums, especially from international iTunes Stores on the site.
Amy Winehouse didn’t have the benefit of Vimeo, YouTube or Dailymotion so people could see her videos. There was no Twitter or Tumblr where people could help spread her music via the Internet. Back when “Frank” dropped, MySpace was only a few months old and it was a space for friends rather than sharing music.
When an online friend from the UK sent me a link to “Frank” my brother bought it from the UK iTunes Store the same day (this also predates Cloud services). We both played the album to death and we felt like we knew a secret that few people in America knew. It remained this way for years. I repeat, my brother and I were introducing people to this album for YEARS. It was one of the first albums I loaded onto my first iPod Nano I got for Christmas 2005.
Let’s discuss what it is about “Frank” that makes it such a special album. First of all, it’s the fact that Amy Winehouse was only 19 years old at the time she began recording it. Rather than look up to Mary J. Blige or Mariah Carey like most young vocalists in her age group, she instead gravitated to Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holliday, Sarah Vaughn and other great Jazz vocalists from that era. Additionally, Amy wrote her own material which was fairly rare for an artist her age since she was inspired by singer/songwriters like Joni Mitchell, Carole King, James Taylor and the like.
Whereas Joss Stone’s album consisted entirely of covers which showcased her vocal ability which completely stunned and blew away listeners stateside due to her youth and appearance, Amy was impressing people with original material she had penned herself. Unfortunately, they never had the same reach.
Had these same fans got the opportunity to hear Amy Winehouse’s original songs and they way her album seamlessly blended Jazz, Soul, R&B and Hip-Hop production no doubt they would’ve been just as impressed, if not more by “Frank”. I’d go as far as to argue that had “Frank” received the same push Joss Stone’s “The Soul Sessions” did in North America it probably could’ve even outsold it over time. We’ll never know now…
Amy Winehouse’s lyrics showcased a deep understanding of complex relationship dynamics plus they gave the listener a glimpse into her mind and thought process (plus she made great love songs to weed). When we heard “Take The Box” we completely understood how she felt about her breakup and her immediate need to put it behind her. We felt the same emotions she did as she went through her disappointing relationship with Frank on “Stronger Than Me” where she chides her boyfriend for being the older more experienced person but leaving her to have to take the lead and make the decisions.
We then comprehend the spell he had her under initially with “You Sent Me Flying” where her lyrics tell the tale of a normally confident young woman who gives in to doing things totally out of character for a man and how she can recognize herself doing so. You simply don’t expect such a young person to be that introspective and self aware in their music. It took on an entirely new meaning after the documentary “Amy” was released back in 2015.
Production on her album was handled by Salaam Remi, Commissioner Gordon, Jimmy Hogarth, Matt Rowe and Amy herself. When you hear songs like “I Heard Love Is Blind” and “F-ck Me Pumps” you’re instantly impressed by the imagery and the level of her songwriting at such a young age. It also took me a while to realize that the entire album was inspired by her early infatuation with Frank Sinatra and that’s why the album was titled “Frank”. After discovering that little wrinkle my appreciation for it increased even more.
Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of music fans stateside had no clue who Amy Winehouse was even as her album was selling all over Europe, Oceania, Asia & South America throughout 2003 and 2004. It took until 2006 before any serious effort was put into introducing Amy to American music fans (“Frank” was released in Canada back in the Summer of 2004 and has yet to even go Gold there) and that was due to the success of other British female vocalists.
The breakout success of Lily Allen could be attributed to several key factors, first of all MySpace had reached critical mass as a new means of getting music out to fans online. Secondly, the blog game had finally reached a point where it drew enough eyes and traffic to become a viable promotional tool for musicians. This was due to the fact Vimeo, YouTube and Dailymotion made it possible for these blogs to embed videos from artists all over the world.
In addition, by 2006 Apple sold numerous iPods and the wider proliferation of the iTunes Store helped to familiarize consumers with it enough where they knew the layout inside and out by the time Lily Allen’s “Alright, Still” was released in the UK/Europe in Summer 2006 and was later made available for purchase stateside.
Lily Allen’s breakaway success in America was also aided by a kind of odd two pronged British counter programming campaign as Corrine Bailey Rae was being marketed and promoted successfully stateside through more traditional means to a more adult demographic following the overwhelming reaction to her lead single. This led to a mini British Invasion over the next few years featuring Lily Allen, Corrine Bailey Rae, Leona Lewis, Kate Nash, Duffy, Adele, Estelle, Candie Payne and, of course, Amy Winehouse.
Amy didn’t appear on the radar in America until her lead single “Rehab” from her sophomore LP “Back To Black” was released in the UK in October 2006. By the time it was officially released stateside the following March it was already a breakout hit as was the album. “Back To Black” was illegally downloaded by rabid American music fans via blogs in late 2006 who helped to spread the word until it was officially sold in the US in March 2007. The album went on to be hugely successful and the rest is history…
In November 2007, “Frank” was finally released stateside but the print music press, digital music media and music networks were all so enamored with “Back To Black” that barely anyone even paid attention to it. In my biased opinion, this makes “Frank” is one of the most underrated classic LP’s released in the past 20 years largely because it came out too soon for American music fans to truly appreciate it.
It is a sad fact that 15 full years after its initial release the album has still failed to even go Gold in North America (Canada & United States). We often think that the story with classic music is that it finds the audience it’s intended to. The unfortunate part is that sometimes it doesn’t happen until said artist is no longer with us anymore. Rest in eternal peace, Amy Winehouse. We all failed you.
