The first time I saw Tracy Chapman, I was watching America's Top 10 with Casey Kasem. My Saturday morning routine involved getting up early with my brother (before our parents), fixing a bowl of cereal, and settling in for our Saturday morning cartoons. Cartoons got us from 6:00 AM until about noon.
Then the music part of our morning started. It was American Bandstand, followed by America's Top 10, and then Soul Train. Casey Kasem would always do his Top 10 countdown, showing videos of all the songs on the charts. He would sometimes close out the show with, "Artist to Look Out For." Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" single had not yet made it into the top ten but she did make his list of those to watch because her single seemed to be rapidly rising to the top of the charts.
I remember seeing her video and looking at my brother and saying, "I really like that song." I remember watching Tracy Chapman sing and not being totally sure if I were watching a male or a female (but I was leaning toward female). And I remember after hearing the song for the first time on Casey Kasem suddenly hearing the song every time I turned on the radio. And I remember days later becoming so enamored with the song that I would buy it as a 45 from our local record store.
Tracy Chapman would go on to have quite the musical career releasing eight studio albums, earning 13 total Grammy nominations and winning four of those, and peaking at number three with her single "Gimme One Reason." Chapman considers herself very socially conscious and likes to perform at charitable events as often as she can, especially when the event is for human rights.
Oddly enough, Tracy never outed herself to the media, she was accidentally outed by her former partner Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple. In an interview where Walker was asked about great loves in her life, she shared about her relationship with Tracy Chapman. Oops!
Another favorite of mine is "Baby Can I Hold You." Get into it below:
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