Accompanied only by acoustic guitar, Winehouse is completely unadorned, and at the peak of her vocal powers. The A-side was bracing enough to win the 2004 Ivor Novello award for best contemporary song, but it’s the flipside that really warrants attention. Taken together, the songs signal her disdain for beta males (who are further criticised for not being able to “separate sex emotion” on In My Bed). Stronger Than Me sneers: “You treat me like a lady and you my ladyboy.” What It Is stingingly concurs: “Your attitude became a bore … Mr Ultrasensitive, I’ll never let myself forget you.” It’s the kind of blanket condemnation that really demands an answer record from the maligned Mr Ultrasensitive. The B-side of Winehouse’s debut single, Stronger Than Me, this track complements the A-side’s contemptuous romantic side-eye.
As one of the most covered jazz songs, ’Round Midnight presented a challenge, but she was completely at ease with its yearning and sensuality.
Amy winehouse albums series#
The influence of Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill is obvious, and there’s a touch of cabaret, but at around the 1:10 mark she casually bends a series of notes, and the rest of the track flows from there. Even more than the version used for the B-side, an alternate take presents her as young and in love with music: she scats, vamps and plays with the beat, just because she can. She covered the jazz standard ’Round Midnight as the B-side to her second single, Take the Box, and produced a freewheeling track that reflected her less publicised love of hip-hop and Latin. In itself, her idolisation of Dinah Washington and the Ronettes distinguished her from almost all newly minted pop singers of the early 2000s her exceptionally-susceptible-to-heartbreak voice did the rest. Although Amy Winehouse attended the Brit School and was initially on Simon Fuller’s management books alongside S Club 7 and Gareth Gates, her heart belonged to jazz and 1960s girl groups.
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