Music Feature Archives
Music Feature Archives.............................
Feature for the week of 10/24/99
Vitamin C
OK, maybe you haven't heard her song in awhile, but I've heard this CD and it's pretty cool. Plus, I'm being her for Halloween! Seriously though, you should check out her self-titled CD, but first here's a bio about the woman behind the orange hair.
"
Vitamin C’s infectious debut album just may be the most pure pop record
of 1999. But pay attention. Appearances can be deceiving. Both
accessible and daring, Colleen Fitzpatrick - alter ego for this new
female singing sensation - offers no apologies for what she calls
"the-girl-next-door-you-think-you-know" attitude. "You’re going to get
something a little different everytime you walk across my lawn."
She remembers spicing up the old record collection. "It contained what
we called the B’s - Beach Boys, Beatles, Blondie - " She pauses for
dramatic effect, " - and the Breeders...." Her quick laugh fills the
room. "Well, maybe I was the girl next door and a little left of
center." On her self-titled premier, she cleverly mines pop’s past and
present, utilizing some unique producers to help expand her
coat-of-many-colors approach, offering up 12 eclectic gems in the
process. From the disc’s indelibly catchy opener "Smile" - destined to
be a summer classic, complete with reggae star Lady Saw’s own delectable
toast - to a nastier swath of funk-punk-playfulness, "Fear Of Flying,"
(tugging affectionately on the hem of The Clash’s "Magnificent Seven,")
Vitamin C knows exactly where she’s going. And how she got there.
"I started out as a dancer. I’ve always loved to dance," she says
matter-of-factly. "Later, when I got into a few bands, I didn’t dance as
much. I wanted my new album to reflect all the different aspects of my
personality, to be fun and positive in spirit." Hailing from Old Bridge,
VC danced her way through high school, harboring many of the
star-crossed dreams that pop’s ex-dancer-female iconoclast-of-the ‘80’s
- ol’ what’s-her-name - also touted in early interviews.
"Madonna has definitely been an inspiration to me," she says. "She has
always been able to make good pop records - but with an intensity and
intelligence that also hinted there was much more going on." VC’s early
showbiz dreams led to a few acting roles. Eventually she decided she
wanted to play music. It absorbed her. She began to like the idea of
being in a band. "It’s funny, but I always found no matter what band I
was in, even if it had a slightly more frayed edge to it, I was drawn to
the more tongue in cheek elements, but it always had to have that edge."
She discovered that precise chemistry in the plucky Eve’s Plum. After a
grateful run, and two acclaimed LP’s, she would exit the band on good
terms, excited about the prospects of going solo. Her dream was to
combine a lot of her unrealized, "more playful/optimistic" notions into
one persona, Vitamin C. "I remember when I wrote "Smile," which is a
really positive song, I was feeling very down. The song kind of lifted
me up. A little of that remedy, now and then, is good for the soul."
In 1998, Vitamin C landed a development deal with Elektra. "I felt
really good about it. I felt I had the experience to take artistic
control and prove that this album could be an extension of my vision, as
well as the sum of everything I had learned along the way." Sr. VP of
A&R for Elektra, Josh Deutsch, (Third Eye Blind, Alana Davis, Vast)
recognized Vitamin C’s vision right from the start. Josh’s background
includes both production and writing experience, including a stint as a
songwriter for EMI publishing. The two became instant collaborators,
with Josh co-writing and producing several of the tracks with Vitamin C
."I was amazed at how focused she was," says Josh. "She’s an excellent
lyricist. She has a million ideas for songs and she brings such strong
concepts to the table that it makes collaboration easy. She’s an amazing
performer who is able to power all these songs with her own experience,
which is why they’re all believable."
Deutsch helped enlist other producers. One of them, Garry Hughes (who
has worked alongside Trevor Horn for many years) became a mainstay of
the project, working with Vitamin C and Deutsch as
producer/keyboardist/programmer to help bring more of Vitamin C’s ideas
to life. Other producers include Fred Maher, (Matthew Sweet, Eve’s Plum,
among others), Jim Harry (RuPaul), and Matt Mahaffey (Self). Vitamin C
co-wrote the feisty "About Last Night," with Robbie Nevil.
"It was great working with the different producers and writing with
Robbie," she recalls. "And Josh was the ultimate writing partner because
he had an understanding of the big picture. He’s one of those rare,
old-fashioned A&R guys who comes from a musician’s point of view. He’s
lived through this whole experience himself."
Vitamin C’s subject matter runs the entire gamut of coming-of-age
experiences. Some frothy samples are the punchy "Me, Myself, And I,"
produced by Josh, Garry and Fred Maher’s gated guitar
styled/throwback-club-romp "Not That Kind Of Girl," with VC’s unshakable
confidence shining through. She even quotes Digital Underground’s
"Doowutchyalike" on the funky "Do What You Want to Do." However, VC can
strike a wistful note when necessary. The album’s closer, "Graduation,"
touches a chord in anyone who has ever looked back on life’s changes.
"It’s about moving on. I used graduation as the setting because it is
such a universal and pivotal point in people’s lives.
For so many of us it’s both a beginning and an end. We used a real high
school choir, NYC’s All City Chorus, to enhance the spirit of the song.
When I was talking to the kids in the choir their outlook was inspiring.
So many of them believe that they will be ‘friend’s forever.’ I wanted
to keep a touch of idealism as part of this album."
Has she accomplished her goal?
"I like music that’s larger than life," she laughs. "And I set out to
make an intelligent pop record. I want people to look twice, think twice
and -- well, smile."
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