Personnel: Sophie B. Hawkins (vocals, keyboards); Roger Greenwalt (acoustic 12-string guitar); Eric Bazilian, Rick DiFonzo, Gary Lucas (guitar); Fred Zlotkin (cello); Ralph Schuckett, Peter Wood (keyboards); Mark Egan (bass); Omar Hakim (drums); Mino Cinelu, Cafe (percussion); Sammy Merendino (programming).
Engineers include: Steve Churchyard, John Agnello, Stewart Lerman.
Recorded at Electric Lady Studios and Messina Music, New York City.
Personnel: Sophie B. Hawkins (vocals, keyboards); Eric Bazilian, Gary Lucas , Rick DiFonzo (guitar); Roger Greenawalt (12-string guitar); Frederick Zlotkin (cello); Ralph Schuckett (keyboards); Peter Wood (synthesizer); Omar Hakim (drums); Mino Cinelu, Caf‚ (percussion).
Audio Mixers: David Leonard ; Steve Churchyard.
Recording information: Electric Lady Studios, New York, NY; Messina Music, New York, NY.
A New York eccentric type, Sophie B. Hawkins began her music career studying ethnic percussion. She moved to jazz, then was a drummer in a punk band while sidelining as an actor and performance artist. Hawkins' debut disc Tongues and Tails is as eclectic as her career choices. The songs ranges from the hook-filled mainstream pop of "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover" to an off-center rant about mothers in "Carry Me" that dissolves into feedback mayhem. Hawkins stitches together bits of jazz, folk, tribal, rock, and atmospheric new age noodling while efficiently camouflaging the seams. Somehow, it all works with repeated listens. The common thread is her distinctive, streetwise but unjaded voice. ~ Roch Parisien
Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (5/28/92, p.53) - 3 Stars - Good - "...Hawkins's voice varies from wail to plead, growl to whisper, croon to chirp, Joni Mitchell to Bjork of the Sugarcubes....a searching, seductive debut..."
Q (9/92, p.74) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...Her selling point is a general air of sensual desire....nudges originality while remaining rooted in the traditional pop/rock constructions of chart-toppers past and present..."
Q (12/94, p.165) - 3 Stars - Good - "...pretty one-track, but impassioned...On the way, presumably, to finding her own voice, amid a rich stew of synthesized orchestras and street sounds she sings variously like Madonna, Kate Bush and Polly Harvey..."
