Aimee Mann

Aimee Mann playlist

Contributor: Merric Davidson

Aimee Mann (lead singer and bass) formed the short-lived punk outfit The Young Snakes in 1981, a year before fronting the Boston new wave group, ‘Til Tuesday, who recorded three albums up to 1987: Voices Carry, Welcome Home, Everything’s Different Now. Right up to and beyond her nomination for Best Song at the Academy Awards for Save Me in Magnolia in 1999, Aimee Mann’s solo career has been a thing of rare beauty and, in this writer’s view, she stands apart from other singer/writers.

This listing is pre-Charmer (2012), a stab at the best of an artist who has impressed time after time. For me, it was a first encounter with I Should’ve Known in an indie record store (remember them?) in 1993. I bought the vinyl single (remember them?) on the spot and played it a lot. So I bought the album and loved the carefully knitted narratives throughout, e.g. the father figure of Mr. Harris: “… his hair is white but he looks half his age, he looks like Jimmy Stewart in his younger days”.

The first two solo albums, Whatever and I’m With Stupid, are brilliant, timeless items of cool, and represented here – I Should’ve Known and Mr Harris are on the first, and it was with the uniformly excellent third album, Bachelor No.2 or the last remains of the dodo, which incredibly did not appeal to the incumbent record label and was sold through Aimee Mann’s website, that a songwriting star was fully confirmed. This is one fabulous album.

“Finals blew, I barely knew, my graduation speech, and with college out of reach, if I can’t find a job it’s down to Dad and Myrtle Beach.”

Ghost World is still my No.1 Aimee song. It’s perfect.

One of the finest songwriters of our time, this is a brief look at the best of AM’s output over the fifteen years and seven studio albums and one soundtrack, 1993-2008. As with all the greats, her songs just get better and better with every listen; Aimee Mann, good as it gets.

Aimee Mann official website

Aimee Mann biography (Apple Music)

Merric Davidson is a retired publisher. He tweets toppermost @AgeingRaver

TopperPost #46