Dos minas injustamente olvidadas de fines de los 80 (Tks IRINA)

Tanita Tikaram

The Best of Tanita Tikaram
Tanita Tikaram

The Best of Tanita Tikaram sums up the singer/songwriter's first five albums, with a little too much emphasis on material from Lovers in the City and Eleven Kinds of Loneliness, and not enough from Everybody's Angel and Sweet Keeper (only one song from each album made it onto this set). Still, this is a lovely collection from start to finish, and showcases Tanita Tikaram as a singer who deserves much more attention than she has received. The album contains all of her U.K. hit singles, including four from her stellar debut, Ancient Heart, among those the sublime "Twist in My Sobriety," easily one of the greatest songs to have come out of the 1980s (an additional dance remix of that song closes out the album). Other highlights include the astounding, heartbreaking "Only the Ones We Love" (quite possibly the best song on this collection), the Phil Spector-ish "You Make the Whole World Cry," and the haunting "I Might Be Crying." Another definite standout is this album's only new recording (and the only cover), which is her version of "And I Think of You" (originally titled "E Penso a Te"). One only wishes other tracks, such as "We Almost Got It Together" and "Valentine Heart," were accounted for as opposed to so much material from her otherwise fine album Lovers in the City. Tikaram, with her heartbroken, world-weary, smoky voice, is in a league all her own and, because of her early start in the recording business, will hopefully have enough material to some day warrant a best-of volume two.

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Toni Childs

Union

Union's release in 1988 announced a bold, incendiary new voice in the singer/songwriter sweepstakes in Toni Childs. The well-traveled Childs, the short-term original lead singer forBerlin, draws upon the vast experiences of her life and delivers them with an urgency that is hypnotically compelling. It's all tied together by David Tickle's production and aided by first-rate backing by musicians including songwriting collaborator David Ricketts, drummerRick Marotta and guitarist David Rhodes. The single "Don't Walk Away" kicks things off in high gear and Childs rarely looks back. Her take-no-prisoners vocal drives the funky, horn-driven track, which is backed by the gospel swell of the background vocalists. Although the rest of the album is a little more sedate, Childs never loses the urgent edge to her dusky voice. "Stop Your Fussin'" is sung to a restless lover over a Caribbean rhythm and "Hush" has a playful bounce to it. Elsewhere, "Zimbabwae" is a parable detailing African strife complete with chanting background vocals and "Dreamer" provides her with a bed of keyboards that shimmer like stars. The twice Grammy-nominated Union received universal critical acclaim and is riveting right through the moody poetry of the final track, "Where's the Ocean."

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