Tanita Tikaram
Background information
Born	August 12, 1969 (1969-08-12) (age 37)
Origin	Münster, Germany
Genre(s)	Pop/folk
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)	Guitar, piano
Years active	1988–present
Label(s)	Reprise, Naïve
Website	Tanita-Tikaram.com

Tanita Tikaram (born August 12, 1969) is an English pop/folk singer/songwriter best known for the enigmatic hits "Twist in My Sobriety" and "Good Tradition" from her 1988 debut album, Ancient Heart (see 1988 in music). Successive releases failed to meet with similar commercial success although she has continued to release recordings as recently as 2005. Her style is based on her husky voice, acoustic guitar and quirky, poetic lyrics.

Contents 1 Career 2 Personal life 3 Discography 3.1 Albums 3.2 Singles 4 Other works 4.1 Music 4.2 Film 5 References 6 External links

Career

Ancient Heart, released when she was just 19 years old, became an international hit and led to a world tour. "Twist in My Sobriety" was accompanied by an award-winning black and white video, set in rural South America, and directed by Gerard de Thame. Three follow-up albums received mixed reviews and declining sales. Her co-producers and collaborators during this period were Rod Argent and Peter Van Hooke. Jennifer Warnes provided vocals on two tracks of Everybody's Angel.

In 1995, she released Lovers in the City, which she co-produced with Thomas Newman, and in 1998 collaborated with Marco Sabiu on the more pop music-oriented The Cappuccino Songs.

In 2005, Tikaram released her latest album, Sentimental. The album, which features two collaborations with Nick Lowe, was warmly received by critics and fans, but was released only on the French label Naïve Records.

Personal life

Tikaram was born in Münster, Germany, the daughter of a Malaysian mother and an Indo-Fijian British army officer, and grew up in Basingstoke, England. She is the sister of actor Ramon Tikaram.

The lesbian nightclub Le Boobsbourg in Beaubourg, Paris credited Tikaram with coining its name, after mispronunciation of the district's name by American tourists.

Discography

Albums

• Ancient Heart (1988) UK #3, U.S. #59
• The Sweet Keeper (1990) UK #3, U.S. #124
• Everybody's Angel (1991) UK #19, U.S. #142
• Eleven Kinds of Loneliness (1992)
• Lovers in the City (1995) UK #75
• The Best Of (1996) - compilation
• The Cappuccino Songs (1998) UK #69
• Sentimental (2005)

Singles

Year	Title	Chart positions				Album
		U.S. Hot 100	U.S. Modern Rock	U.S. Mainstream Rock	UK
1988	"Good Tradition"	-	-	-	#10	Ancient Heart
1988	"Twist in My Sobriety"	-	#25	-	#22	Ancient Heart
1989	"Cathedral Song"	-	-	-	#48	Ancient Heart
1989	"World Outside Your Window"	-	-	-	#58	Ancient Heart
1990	"We Almost Got It Together"	-	-	-	#52	The Sweet Keeper
1990	"Little Sister Leaving Town"	-	-	-	#83	The Sweet Keeper
1991	"Only The Ones We Love"	-	-	-	#69	Everybody's Angel
1991	"I Love The Heaven's Solo"	-	-	-	-	Everybody's Angel
1992	"You Make The Whole World Cry"	-	-	-	-	Eleven Kinds Of Loneliness
1995	"I Might Be Crying"	-	-	-	#64	Lovers In The City
1995	"Wonderful Shadow"	-	-	-	#198	Lovers In The City
1995	"Yodelling Song"	-	-	-	-	Lovers In The City
1996	"Twist In My Sobriety (remix)"	-	-	-	#82	The Best Of Tanita Tikaram
1998	"Stop Listening"	-	-	-	#67	The Cappucino Songs
1998	"I Don't Wanna Lose At Love"	-	-	-	#73	The Cappucino Songs
1998	"If I Ever"	-	-	-	-	The Cappucino Songs

Other works

Music

• Vocals for Bronte Brothers debut The Way Through The Woods
• Vocals for Christie Hennessy Lord of Your Eyes
• Harmony vocals for the 1989 self-titled third album by Brendan Croker & the Five O'Clock Shadows
• Cover version of Elvis Presley's 1957 "Loving You", included in the 1990 tribute album "The Last Temptation of Elvis".
• Vocals for the 1990 Mark Isham album Mark Isham; he covers her B-side "I Never Will Know".
• Vocals for the 1991 Nanci Griffith album Late Night Grande Hotel
• Musician for the 1997 Moodswings collaboration Psychedelicatessen and also sang vocals on the song "Redemption Song (Oh Happy Day)".

Film

• Tikaram had a cameo in the 1994 film Erotique, in a segment directed by Monika Treut titled "Taboo Parlor". Tikaram played a woman who walks in on two women making love. The segment also featured songs by her.
• Producer of the Jared Katsiane documentary drama Solace, also known as Everyday Is New (similar to a track on her album Sentimental), released 2005

References

1. Time Out Paris Eating & Drinking, Rosa Jackson, 2005.
2. http://www.hyenafilms.com/erot_en.html Hyenafilms.com Retrieved on 04-25-07

External links

• Official website (English)
• Tanita Tikaram Community Forum (English)
• Tanita Tikaram at MySpace
• Tanita Tikaram at the Internet Movie Database