Gosh, where to begin with Tori Amos?
She’s a piano virtuoso who broke all the rules, and boundaries, of music. From a very young age she saw the world differently, and invited us into that world with her iconic early albums Little Earthquakes and Under the Pink. Tori was making indie pop art songs on a piano as grunge guitars dominated the mainstream, and she found a place and gave a voice to a huge legion of loyal fans.
I still have my copy of Under the Pink; when getting ready for this Take 5 I put it on and realised I still knew every word, every little inflection, like I’ve heard it yesterday. Such is the power of music, of songs that find you when you need them most, and help you breakthrough.
That’s the theme I gave Tori herself. Because it wasn’t just coming up in the music industry that had her shattering glass ceilings. She’s been a trailblazer her whole life, and continues to do things her own way. For the series finale of Take 5 on TV, we head to Hollywood, and the Sunset Marquis Hotel. In the basement of this legendary hotel on the Sunset Strip lives Nightbird Studios, and here – surrounded by music history – Tori opens up about her incredible life in music through the prism of the songs that helped her breakthrough.
- The Beatles - Eleanor Rigby
- U2 - In Gods Country
- Nina Simone - Mississippi Goddamn
- Stevie Wonder - Living For The City
- Rickie Lee Jones - On Saturday Afternoons in 1963