I've had the great good fortune to be friends with Suzanne. I met her when she was at Barnard College when I was a couple of blocks north at Manhattan School of Music. Later, I followed her when she was playing clubs in NYC before she recorded her first album with A&M Records. She's a wonderful woman who is smart, talented, funny and compassionate. By the way, she's also intense and a bit of a shark!
As a record company, A&M did something remarkable with her. They trusted her. They let her make her first record the way she wanted it. While it's an excellent debut eponymous recording, its sales numbers weren't spectacular. With the second album, "Solitude Standing" however, there was clearly more company influence and support with the desire to push the record more aggressively. It sold over 1,000,000 copies. When the album was released, the unique and unfortunate coincidence of a much-publicized fatal child abuse case in New York City helped to make "Luka" an instant hit.
I have all of her records but for me, her first record still chills me. "Marlene On The Wall," "The Queen And The Soldier" and "Small Blue Thing" are pure musical and emotional genius.
Here's "Marlene On The Wall"
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