Tanita Tikaram
The greatest singer songwriters have a style all of their own and this applies to the English artist, Tanita Tikaram. Her dark, brooding looks and throaty voice have given her a cult following. The pop/folk recordings have yielded only moderate commercial success over the years but she has enjoyed critical acclaim for most of her career. She is an accomplished guitarist and writes off the wall lyrics.
Born in 1969 in Munster, Germany but growing up in England, Tanita Tikaram has interesting family roots. Her mother hailed from Malaysia and her father, an Indo-Fijian, was an officer in the British Army. Her brother is the actor Ramon Tikaram, a well known face on British television screens.
The debut album, Ancient Heart was released in 1988 and the nineteen-year-old singer performed all over the world following its international success. Her best known tracks, Twist In My Sobriety and Good Tradition come from this very first release. The video for Twist In My Sobriety, a moody piece shot in South America, won an award. Follow up albums have never reached the same level of acclaim or sales. Nevertheless, other artists were keen to work with Tanita Tikaram and she collaborated with Rod Argent and Peter Van Hook on production. Jennifer Warnes also provided backing vocals on two songs.
The 1990s brought more working relationships, with Thomas Newman on the album, Lovers In The City and Marco Sabiu on The Cappuccino Songs. This release from 1998 was more pop influenced than others. Producer Sabiu had previously worked with a variety of artists, including Kylie Minogue, Moby, Take That and Dubstar. The most recent album, released in 2005, called Sentimental, is the result of collaboration with Nick Lowe and has been highly praised. It is a sultry, jazz tinged collection of songs. Other artists have paid their respects to Tanita Tikaram. Asian Dub Foundation and Ashley Beadle have both re-mixed some of her tracks. She has lent her talent in contributing to other's records, by providing vocals to artists such as Nanci Griffith and Mark Isham.
Each new release is looked forward to by her loyal fans. Chart success has been mixed. The highest position attained for an album in the UK was number three for Ancient Heart. The most successful single there was Good Tradition, which reached number ten. She has had particular success in Norway. The only single to chart in the US is Twist In My Sobriety, reaching number twenty-five in the modern Rock category.
