In 1984, I was living near Philadelphia. One Sunday morning, I heard a beautiful and heart-wrenching ballad on the radio. I had never heard a voice quite like this--so powerful and vulnerable. One line in particular stood out--"If you're so strong, then resolve the weakness in me..."
That was my introduction to Joan Armatrading. I became an instant fan and sought out everything she had ever recorded. She released her first album in 1972. From 1975 through 1981, she released seven albums and one EP. She was immensely popular in Great Britain during that time, and she earned a strong following in the United States where she was considered an "album artist" who never received much airplay on popular radio here.
Despite her lack of radio airplay, Armatrading has earned many accolades during her career. In 1999, VH-1 named her as one of the 100 Most Influential Women in rock history. She has influenced many current artists, such as Tracy Chapman and Indie Arie. Her music has been covered by Jewel, Keisha White and Melissa Etheridge, among others.
Armatrading is equally talented as a songwriter and performer. Her voice highlights the intimacy of her lyrics. Love and Affection is one of her best-known songs and opens with "I am not in love...but I'm open to persuasion..."
Armatrading was born in 1950 in St. Kitts, and her family moved to England when she was 8 years old. Her music reflects her diverse background, traversing many styles including jazz, blues, reggae, pop and rock. At one point, she was even called "the female Jimi Hendrix." Her early recordings contained acoustic and jazz influences, but by 1980, she had evolved more toward rock and pop. A true singer-songwriter, she has never recorded a song written by anyone else.
She is still recording successfully. In 2007, she released Into the Blues, an album that debuted at #1 on the Billboard Blues Chart in Britain. Her most recent album, This Charming Life, shows that she's still got it. Here she is performing the title track on the British equivalent of the Today Show.
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