Tanita Tikaram
Tanita Tikaram |
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Tanita Tikaram (born 12 August 1969, Münster, Germany) is a British pop/folk singer-songwriter, best known for the hits "Twist in My Sobriety" and "Good Tradition" from her 1988 debut album, Ancient Heart. She is the younger sister of actor Ramon Tikaram.
Career
Tanita Tikaram started singing in nightclubs while she was still a teenager, and got the attention of WEA Records. Her debut album Ancient Heart, produced by Rod Argent and Peter Van Hooke, was released in 1988 when she was 19 years old. It became an international hit and led to a world tour. The singles "Good Tradition" and "Twist In My Sobriety" were top 10 hits in Europe. "Twist in My Sobriety" was accompanied by an award-winning black and white video, set in a rural village in the Bolivian Altiplano, and directed by Gerard de Thame.
Her second album, The Sweet Keeper was released in 1990 and while it was a Top 10 hit in the UK Albums Chart, it was less successful than her debut. Everybody's Angel followed in 1991, with Jennifer Warnes providing vocals on two tracks, including the lead single "Only The Ones We Love". In this album Tikaram also co-produced for the first time.
1992 saw the release of Eleven Kinds Of Loneliness. In this album she ceased collaborating with Argent and Van Hooke, and produced the album herself. It was her worst seller yet, not charting in the UK.
In 1995, she released Lovers in the City, which she co-produced with Thomas Newman. In 1996 she terminated her contract with WEA with the release of a Best Of compilation. Signed to Mother Records, in 1998 she released The Cappuccino Songs, which was produced by Marco Sabiu. One of the singles off the album, "I Don't Wanna Lose At Love", was remixed by the Asian Dub Foundation. She then retired from the music scene for several years.
In 2005, Tikaram released her latest album, Sentimental. The album, which features two collaborations with Nick Lowe, was released on the French label, Naïve Records.
Personal life
Tikaram was born in Münster, Germany, the daughter of a Malaysian mother Fatimah Rohani and an Indo-Fijian father Pramod Tikaram. Her father's military career meant that she spent her early life in Germany before moving to Basingstoke, England when she was in her early teens. She is the younger sister of actor Ramon Tikaram. Tikaram is the great-niece of Sir Moti Tikaram, who was the first Lord Chief Justice of an independent Fiji and the world's longest-serving national ombudsman.[citation needed] She studied A-level Politics, Sociology & English at Queen Mary's College, Basingstoke: her final grades were AAB. She had a place at Manchester University to study English and American Literature but left in order to follow her musical career. Nothing known about present relations or marriage.
Discography
Albums
- Ancient Heart (1988) UK #3, U.S. #59
- The Sweet Keeper (1990) UK #3, U.S. #124
- Everybody's Angel (1991) UK #19, U.S. #142
- Eleven Kinds of Loneliness (1992)
- Lovers in the City (1995) UK #75
- The Best of Tanita Tikaram (1996) - compilation
- The Cappuccino Songs (1998) UK #69
- Sentimental (2005)
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart[1] | U.S. Mod Rock | |||
| 1988 | "Good Tradition" | 10 | - | Ancient Heart |
| "Twist in My Sobriety" | 22 | 25 | ||
| 1989 | "Cathedral Song" | 48 | - | |
| "World Outside Your Window" | 58 | - | ||
| 1990 | "We Almost Got It Together" | 52 | - | The Sweet Keeper |
| "Little Sister Leaving Town" | 83 | - | ||
| "Thursday's Child" | - | - | ||
| 1991 | "Only the Ones We Love" | 69 | - | Everybody's Angel |
| "I Love The Heaven's Solo" | - | - | ||
| 1992 | "You Make the Whole World Cry" | - | - | Eleven Kinds of Loneliness |
| 1995 | "I Might Be Crying" | 64 | - | Lovers in the City |
| "Wonderful Shadow" | 198 | - | ||
| "Yodelling Song" | - | - | ||
| 1996 | "Twist in My Sobriety (remix)" | 82 | - | The Best of Tanita Tikaram |
| "And I Think of You - E penso a te" (promo only) | - | - | ||
| 1998 | "Stop Listening" | 67 | - | The Cappuccino Songs |
| "I Don't Wanna Lose at Love" | 73 | - | ||
| "If I Ever" | - | - | ||
| 2005 | "Don't Let the Cold" (promo only) | - | - | Sentimental |
Other works
Music
- Vocals for Bronte Brothers debut The Way Through The Woods.
- Vocals for Christie Hennessy Lord of Your Eyes.
- Harmony vocals for the 1989 self-titled third album by Brendan Croker and the Five O'Clock Shadows.
- Cover version of Elvis Presley's 1957 "Loving You", included in the 1990 tribute album The Last Temptation of Elvis.
- Vocals for the 1990 Mark Isham album Mark Isham; he covers her B-side "I Never Will Know".
- Vocals for the 1991 Nanci Griffith album Late Night Grande Hotel.
- Musician for the 1997 Moodswings. collaboration Psychedelicatessen and also sang vocals on the song "Redemption Song (Oh Happy Day)".
Film
- Producer of the Jared Katsiane documentary drama Solace, also known as Everyday Is New (similar to a track on her album Sentimental), released 2005.
- "Twist in my Sobriety" features in the film, Bandits (Bruce Willis and Cate Blanchette on the beach scene)
References
- ^ a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 559/560. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.