July 26, 2011

Gone too soon

RIP Amy Winehouse.

I loved her rendition of Moody's Mood for Love best.



Of all the tributes to Winehouse, I loved the one written by that brilliant British comic Russell Brand. He not only talks about the magnitude of her talent, but also about addiction in general and how governments can help eliminate it. It should be noted that Brand himself, has battled his own personal demons:

"I arrived late and as I made my way to the audience through the plastic smiles and plastic cups I heard the rolling, wondrous resonance of a female vocal. Entering the space I saw Amy on stage with [Paul] Weller and his band; and then the awe. The awe that envelops when witnessing a genius. From her oddly dainty presence that voice, a voice that seemed not to come from her but from somewhere beyond even Billie and Ella, from the font of all greatness. A voice that was filled with such power and pain that it was at once entirely human yet laced with the divine. My ears, my mouth, my heart and mind all instantly opened. Winehouse. Winehouse? Winehouse! That twerp, all eyeliner and lager dithering up Chalk Farm Road under a back-combed barnet, the lips that I’d only seen clenching a fishwife fag and dribbling curses now a portal for this holy sound. So now I knew. She wasn’t just some hapless wannabe, yet another pissed up nit who was never gonna make it, nor was she even a ten-a-penny-chanteuse enjoying her fifteen minutes. She was a fucking genius." (Click here for the rest.)

And who would've thought...from whence that immense talent came from...none other than her father Mitch, who sings ala Sinatra. Here he is singing his first single, Rush of Love:

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