Tracy Chapman: Tracy Chapman

Even though I haven't put this record on for probably fifteen years, all the songs on Side 1 still sound very familiar. Either because they're very catchy, or because they seemed to be played everywhere you went for a few years, or — probably — both.

The way I remember it, this album was welcomed as the return of authentic folk voices after the synthy power pop of the '80s. But what makes folk music folk music is that it belongs to the people and their lives. The paradox was that, despite Talking 'bout a Revolution, the folks that this music belonged to were the people listening to it on their Walkmans on the way Starbucks, not the folks who rioted in South Central LA after the Rodney King verdict.

I'd forgotten that I was still buying vinyl at the time this came out: my copy has a hand-written £3.50 tag; it might even have been second-hand.

MusicBrainz entry for this album