Amy Winehouse (1983 - 2011)

I have no time for sensationalism. I don't give a damn what colour Cheryl Cole's hair is or whether she is back with that knobhead footballer. I don't know or care if Lyndsay Lohan is in jail or not. So, to me, Amy Winehouse will always be the woman with the great voice rather than the caricature that appeared in the tabloids. The way that the media and the public in general take such joy in building people up and then knocking them down depresses me, especially when you consider that many of the people who are now mourning her are the same idiots who laughed at pictures of her in the magazines that contributed to this circus. When you take away the sickeningly gleeful and smug reaction to Winehouse's passing, what you are left with is simply another tragic and pointless death of a young person.

The saddest thing about her death at 27 was its inevitability. This was always going to happen - this year, next year, whenever - and yet, despite this knowledge, nobody was able to prevent it. I don't know whether she had an especially dark past or if her descent into drink and drugs was simply down to an addictive and destructive personality, but as her body was carried from her London home yesterday, I couldn't help wondering what shape her life would have taken had she remained clean. Would she have been more successful and more productive, or did her creativity go hand in hand with her unhinged nature?

Whatever, because she allowed herself to become tabloid fodder - the trashed bag of bones that everyone could laugh at in the gossip magazines - it is easy to forget that, back in the day, she was a strangely beautiful, exciting and edgy character with an incredible set of pipes. And that's how I choose to remember her.

Sadly though, if ever there was an example of literally wasted talent, it's Amy Winehouse.


Words by Bobby Townsend

The Zutons - You Can Do Anything

THE ZUTONS
You Can Do Anything

The Zutons are perhaps best known for the fact that Amy Winehouse once sang one of their tunes. But while Mark Ronson and Winehouse’s cover of Valerie may have caused it to spend 100 weeks in the Top 100 Radio Airplay Charts, the five-piece is in no way a one-hit-wonder by association. Indeed, with two quality albums already under their belts, the Brits now prove their longevity with a third effort.

While there is no wheel reinvention here, You Can Do Anything sees The Zutons doing what they do best, which is belt out catchy pop befitting a band that hails from the same city as The Beatles. Other English influences shine through too, like the T Rex-style glam rock of Always Right Behind You. Frontman Dave McCabe’s vocal is deliciously strained as always and his wordplay is witty and observant. What’s Your Problem is oddly joyful considering that impending violence is at the heart of its subject-matter, but then The Zutons have always enjoyed pairing dark, sinister lyrics with unabashed pop. For instance, Family Of Leeches and Bumbag both deal with social disharmony and Freak is the depressing tale of a male prostitute, yet all these stories are enveloped in massive choruses, big hooks and Abi Cornish’s perky (if basic) saxophone accompaniment. It’s an interesting juxtaposition.

With its sheer vivacity, You Can Do Anything is comfortably an equal to The Zutons’ previous two albums. The misery of modern Britain never sounded so fun and, happily, it seems there is life after Valerie for these chirpy Liverpudlians.