Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Duffy plots U.S. tour with a stop at First Ave. July 31st

2538476493_ca55fbcfa0_b Duffy the rising soul singer arguably ahead of Adele at the moment gets set for her first full American tour. Most of her fans have been comparing her to Dusty Springfield. At age 23 Duffy's full name is Aimee Anne Duffy. She changed her name to Duffy when she was 19. Growing up with her sisters in North Wales, Duffy has had a pretty rough life. Divorced parents, Getting put into a safehouse (because her stepdad's exwife hired a hit man to try to kill him), and of course lot's of moving.

Duffy played in a bunch of various bands and started singing at a very young age.  But in reality she has the classic american idol story where she appeared on a tv show and slipped her way into the door.  Their is no surprise that she was quickly snatched by the media, she is arguably the best looking female artist out today next to maybe Carrie Underwood(who's awful).  

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The Pop/Soul singer has quickly risen to the top of U.K. charts with her debut album "Rockferry"  Selling close to 2 million copies already, this album also was the # one album in the U.K. for 5 weeks.  I'd compare it to Amy Winehouse a little, but it's truly and old school 60's soul album.  Throw in Aretha Franklin and a little french twist and you have Duffy.  

I think Duffy and Adele will be the biggest U.K. female artists in the U.S. Both because of their voices and Duffy has the whole package with her looks.  Dido has fallen off the globe and Imogen Heap has been in hiding working on her next album.  Until those to come back Adele and Duffy will continue to shine.  

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My ranking for U.K. Female Artists 

1. Laura Marling
2. Imogen Heap
3. Adele
4. Kate Nash
5. Ida Maria(Norway)
6. Florence and the Machine
7. Candie Payne
8. Duffy
9.Wallis Bird
10. Charlie Jones


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17 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

except Duffy is terribly boring live

9:03 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Actually, no, she is very entertaining live and getting better each month with experience.

Check out her live reviews from the major UK newspapers or view her Youtubes from the Jools Holland show.

Most Americans who have seen her did so at SXSW and Coachella Festival, outdoors and in the afternoon - not the best environment to see her. Adele's
great performance here recently here in Minneapolis
at the Jeune Lune Theater would have been lost in Coachella desert.
Duffy has played small to medium
indoor venues in the UK.

First Ave will be a fantastic venue for her, expecting this to be the top concert in Minneapolis in 2008.

4:16 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

(Forgot) My top five UK females currently:

1. PJ Harvey
2. Duffy
3. Amy MacDonald
4. Imogen Heap
5. KT Tunstall

5:14 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sorry, long day today, but my
#5 would be Candie Payne instead of KT

5:17 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

nah, i saw her in NYC last month and she was just terrible and had no real stage presence at all.

if you like American Idol style performers, fine, maybe you'll dig Duffy, but i don't

4:59 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I dislike all the American Idol stuff out there but she is nowhere in that range of performers. Will see for myself here in Mpls on July 31st.

Duffy influences come from some of the great UK performers from the 60's - Sandy Shaw, Lulu, Dusty Springfield. UK Northern Soul.

You know, performers before the age of American Idol.

5:45 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

twinsrule, are you going to deny that she won basically the UK version of American Idol?

cuz that's a fact, and it shows in her performance style, i'm sorry, but it's true.

yes she has a great voice, and it may be reminiscent of those you listed, but her stage presence and persona is both lacking and contrived at the same time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pOwFQkEwAg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkkmQNA_aRs

that's just like watching AI to me... her voice sounds fantastic, but she has a LONG long way to go as far as live performers go, sorry to break it to you.

1:08 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

sorry, she didn't win Wawffactor (the Welsh equivalent of Pop Idol), she came in 2nd, but my point still stands

1:10 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I leave it in the hands of some of
best and toughest music critics in the world - the major UK major newspapers. The majority of them say she passes the test performing live. I'll take their word at it.

Funny though, NME rips her every chance they get - but then she came out of nowhere, but the time they noticed her "Mercy" was already #1 in the UK single charts.
So they missed out being "early" with her, looking a little foolish.

6:46 PM  
Blogger Brody McCoy said...

love it, keep up the debate...

11:03 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i hate to break it to you, UK critics are quite awful barometers of taste for the most part. NME being the worst.

1:24 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'll take the reviewers at The Times, Guardian, and the Telegraph
over Rolling Stone or Pitchfork any day of the week.

Dude, chill out, I don't think Duffy cares what either of us thinks, she has already sold millions in the UK, Europe and the US. She will be capable of selling out Vegas shows way out in 2030, long after everyone has forgotten about the boring Pitchfork artists of today.

2:58 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Rolling Stone and Pitchfork are terrible too, so that's not saying a lot :)

and you're talking like sales actually mean anything, or have any bearing on an artists quality?

2:21 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sure, its not easy but possible to be both good and a popular seller -Beatles, Rollings Stones,
Beach Boys, Led Zeppelin, Supremes,
Carole King, Elton John and others all did it the past. A few bands can do it today - Radiohead and Coldplay, for example.
Too many artists today whine, moan and complain that they can't get the financial rewards they think they deserve. It's not surprising
because many of these same artists have contempt for the mainstream audience and radio. The key to success is to come up with a killer single, come up with something that can come close to something done by the Supremes or Beach Boys. Duffy did that with "Mercy" and with that success will be able to call her career shots the rest of the way.

10:45 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Coldplay = music for soccer moms.

No need to waste your time with them when we've got Doves & Elbow

12:03 PM  
Blogger Brody McCoy said...

love it, keep it up.. Coldplay is amazing.. Everyone should listen to them including soccer moms. Coldplay's first two records are much better than their last two records.

As for Duffy I didn't like her at first but after listening to the record, and seeing that mercy video she's kind of catching on to me.

She is still a distance from Adele, Imogen Heap, and Laura Marling.

8:16 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ida Maria > Duffy

10:47 AM  

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