I must admit my admission to the Grace Jones fan club was a little late. I knew of her and had perhaps heard a couple of her songs but until Hurricane, her tenth studio album released in 2008, I had never owned or listened to a full album of hers. Hurricane was like a delicious appetizer than left me hungry for more. And so I began to collect her iconic back catalogue and learn more about her remarkable work and enduring appeal.
She was born in Jamaica and moved to Syracuse, New York before starting her modelling career in New York and then Paris. She was also a regular at Studio 54 in the late 70s and early 80s. She then signed a record deal with Island Records and released her first album, Portfolio, which included three songs from Broadway musicals, a reimagined and extended version of Édith Piaf's La Vie en Rose as well as her first club hit, I Need A Man. She went on to release two follow-up disco albums, Fame and Muse, before transitioning to new wave music with the release of Warm Leatherette and Nightclubbing, which is regarded as her best album.
Early on in her career she collaborated with French photographer and graphic designer Jean-Paul Goude, who designed her distinctive album covers, directed her groundbreaking videos and helped shape her public image. Her unique sound, drawing on several genres including reggae, funk, disco, new wave and pop, together with her androgynous style have made her an enduring icon and influenced many artists from Annie and Lady Gaga to Beyoncé and Solange. Vice magazine once described her music as "weird, vibrant and progressive" and I can't think of a more appropriate description of her discography nor a greater compliment for an artist.
She is also no stranger to the silver screen and starred in several (mostly low budge) films in the 70s and 80s, including Conan The Destroyer (as Zula the Amazonian), the horror comedy Vamp (as the artistic stripper, Katrina), the Bond film A View To A Kill (as the fierce bodyguard, May Day), and Eddie Murphy's romantic comedy Boomerang (as the eccentric fashion diva Helen Strangé).
If you are not very familiar with Grace Jones (like I was) and have no idea where you should start to get to know her, here are 20 of my favourite tracks of hers, from earliest to latest. Some are perfect for chilling with a glass of wine (or something stronger if that's your thing) while others will make you want to get up and dance under a mirror ball.
- I Need A Man [Portfolio, 1977]
- Pride [Fame, 1988]
- All On A Summer's Night [Fame, 1988]
- Warm Leatherette [Warm Leatherette, 1980]
- Love Is The Drug [Warm Leatherette, 1980]
- Bullshit [Warm Leatherette, 1980]
- I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango) [Nightclubbing, 1981]
- Pull Up To The Bumper [Nightclubbing, 1981]
- Feel Up [Nightclubbing, 1981]
- Nipple To The Bottle [Living My Life, 1982]
- Everybody Hold Still [Living My Life, 1982]
- Slave To The Rhythm [Slave To The Rhythm, 1985]
- I'm Not Perfect (But I'm Perfect For You) [Inside Story, 1986]
- Victor Should Have Been A Jazz Musician [Inside Story, 1986]
- Bulletproof Heart [Bulletproof Heart, 1989]
- Dream [Bulletproof Heart, 1989]
- Someone To Love [Bulletproof Heart, 1989]
- Ring Of Fire - Demo [A cover of the seminal Johnny Cash hit, featured on Private Life - The Compass Point Sessions, 1998]
- Williams Blood [Hurricane, 2008]
- Sunset Sunrise [Hurricane, 2008]
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