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ABC Double J Radio
May 15, 2020

Tori Amos on 5 'sonic hunters' that bring magic to music

The classic songwriters who helped open her eyes and ears

Tori Amos is an icon.

Her work in the 90s changed the way many young fans thought about classical music and built a path for pianists to become cool again.

She's released 15 albums since her astounding 1992 debut Little Earthquakes, and has just released her second memoir, Resistance.

When she joined Zan Rowe for the Take 5 on Double J, she chose five songs from 'sonic hunters' that stopped her in her tracks when she first heard them. These are the artists who brought a sense of magic to music, and who Amos was deeply inspired by.

Queen -- 'Killer Queen'

I'd never heard anything like this.

I just remember the impact; it was like a meteorite that hit the sonic realm. It woke me up and it made me think about what was possible in a song. Queen's songs are pure magic. And we need magic so desperately right now.

Nina Simone -- 'Mississippi Goddam'

I think anyone who is called to write about issues -- whether it's equality or other issues -- Nina Simone is a real guide. The way she does it, she's so masterful.

Her energy also, when she performs the song she writes, that's the combination that changes the world.

This was a Civil Rights song. The lyric:

Alabama's gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam

She's shaking us. Bringing us to task. And it's unbelievable.

She had a hard time because she was such a threat. That's how the boys club, and the women who are complicit in that club, play this game.

Let's not walk on eggshells about it: if you have a mercurial power to arouse the public and address something as inequality for people of colour and women of colour, the boys club finds ways to undermine that.

It's not a new tool, it's a little bit tiresome and boring, but it can be effective. It's how propaganda works.

She couldn't be controlled. That's the point. Nina Simone could not be controlled.

Joni Mitchell -- 'Carey'

This brings me joy. This song just brings me joy and makes me smile. I thought we needed a little joy right now, in this cataclysmic time.

This song is true magic to me and this album [1971's Blue] changed my life. It's been like a guiding post through my life. When I'm confused about anything, this is one of the records I go back to.

It was so unusual at the time. I remember hearing this for the first time when I was a little girl, and there was nothing like it. Absolutely nothing like it.

Led Zeppelin -- 'Going To California'

This song is different to a lot of the work they put out, which grabs you by the throat. Teenage girls were running away from their families. Daughters of people in the church ran away from their families to chase Led Zeppelin on tour.

I was thinking, 'What's going on?' I was eight years old or something like that. My father [Amos' father was a reverend in the Methodist church] would talk about devil music and the demons and these girls being stolen away...

I got my hands on this record from a friend whose older sister is a teenage girl and I put it on and thought, 'I know why they're going. This Robert guy is channelling the goddess! These teenage girls don't know why they're going, but they're trying to find this goddess energy'.

When I met him, I told him, 'That's what you were doing!" and he smiled that smile. He's such a wonderful human being.

They are one of my very favourite bands of all time. I just love them.

Don't believe that saying 'never meet your heroes'. I don't agree with that. I think you can get unlucky, but Robert was so giving and supportive: that's key. For an artist to be supportive of another artist that's coming up: that's huge. Just huge.

The Beatles -- 'A Day In The Life'

My mother loved The Beatles. Everybody loved The Beatles.

I don't know if my father - the reverend - really understood them. He really didn't understand that this was a drug record. I don't know if I did until later.

My mother was an amazing DJ. She had a record collection, because she'd worked in a record store. Once the reverend left, she'd take off her apron, put on her loafers and there we were, just twirling to this music.

The imagery was so wonderful and magical to a child. 'A Day In The Life' was just one of those songs that was like nothing I've ever heard before. I've said that more than once about these songs that I've chosen, because these are all magical songs.

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