Considering Amy Winehouse had released a grand total of two songs in the two and a half years rock nyc has been around, we've written about her quite a bit.I liked her -she was a rock and roll mess, but she had sass and smarts and both of her albums are faves.
People don't NECESSARILY take drugs because they are unhappy, alcoholism isn't always simply depression modification (boredom modification is a different question). It is more a question of chemistry. It's a chemistry class and if you get on the wrong side of it, you're dead. Somebody like Keith Richards knows how to self-medicate. Amy, who had OD a number of times, didn't. NME reports their are unconfirmed rumours she died from an Ecstasy overdose. I didn't know you could.
Kelly Osbourne tweeted: "I love you forever Amy and will never forget the real you". Quite. the real you. We think we know our stars though we really don't. I've met many many rockstars and have never seen the slightest connection between being great at your job and a nice person. Still, Listen to her music and you can't help fooling yourself into thinking Amy was a blast. Even in her biggie, "Rehab", her sassiness comes with a sweetness: "my Daddy thinks I'm fine…"
And there is the music. not that much, Frank and Back to Black, plus the Frank B Side double, a handful of remixes, especially Mark Ronson's remix of the B-Side "Valerie". A fine, fine thing by the way. Oh, and the Back to Black B-Sides. And the Quincy Jones produced "It's My Party" this year. Not much else. The remixes are remixes. The Hov "Rehab" remix is entirely forgettable. There may be stuff in the can from aborted recording sessions.
But they were the marks of a great artist, a woman who would have had a career for a life time. She paved the way for all the women, the Eliza's and the Ellie's, coming out of the UK. Some good, some less so. None Amy Winehouse.