Tori Amos - Boys for Pele

1995-12-07 / 1995-12-20 / 1996-01-16 / 1996-02-13
1996-02-20 / 1996-04-02 / 1996-05-09 / 1996-06-11
1996-07-16 / 1996-07-23 / 1996-08-20 / 1996-09-17
1996-12-04 / 1996-12-04

Atlantic Records press release
February 13, 1996

TORI AMOS' "BOYS FOR PELE" ERUPTS AT RETAIL;
THIRD SOLO ALBUM SETS NEW CHART HIGH FOR ARTIST

"BOYS FOR PELE," the third solo album from Atlantic recording artist Tori Amos, has proved to be one of the year's biggest out-of-the-box success stories. Supported by a huge and loyal fan base, Tori's new album debuted on the national album chart at #2, making the artist's highest-ever U.S. chart position. The momentum continues this week, as the album, which shipped gold, remains in the top ten, with SoundScan sales rapidly approaching the 200,000 mark.

The powerful, immediate response to Tori's new album has been fueled by a series of network television appearances (including NBC-TV's Saturday Night Live and The Tonight Show), a wave of press coverage (including cover stories in the current issues of Billboard and Spin), and strong support accross the country from the retail community as well as alternative and college radio outlets. Atlantic set up the album's release with a major advance marketing and retail campaign.

Excitement surrounding the album was further generated through a series of 70 Atlantic-sponsored, fan-oriented listening parties, held on the evel of "...PELE"'s release. The events - staged in clubs, on-campus coffeehouses, and both mom & pop and chain retail outlets across the country - were organized in conjunction with Tori midnight madness sales. On average, more than 150 eager fans lined up at each store to take home the new album; in Gainesville, Florida and Cleveland, Ohio over 250 fans made the "...PELE" pilgrimage. An additional series of 18 listening parties were sponsored by Out magazine in association with Atlantic's Gay Markets Product Development Department.

Tori's high profile presence on the Internet also played a major role in stirring anticipation for the album's release. Since January 21st, the Atlantic Records website has received a record-breaking two million hits, an average volume increase of over 100 per cent -- much of which was driven by fan interest in the site's numerous, multi-faceted Amos-related pages. Intense interest in Tori webfare has since radiated from Atlantic's onlin epicenter to more than 50 fan-constructed Tori home pages.

On December 11th, the album's first single, "Caught a Lite Sneeze," was made available on the Atlantic website using groundbreaking RealAudio technology. This marked the first time a complete track by an artist of such popular stature had been made instantly available via the Internet prior to its official release. Tori's area on the Atlantic website includes video segments, music samples of each of the album's 18 tracks, and a series of Internet-only digital photos shot exclusively for the site by entertainment photographer Frank Micelotta.

As it continues to climb the charts, "Caught a Lite Sneeze" is among the most-requested tracks at Alternative and Adult Alternative radio outlets nationwide. The song's companion video, directed by Mike Lipscombe (b-tribe, Tricky), is in Active rotation on MTV, Custom rotation on VH-1, and is receiving steady airplay on The Box. The commercial CD-5 version of "Caught a Lite Sneeze" features four bonus tracks not included on "BOYS FOR PELE."

In addition to Saturday Night Live and The Tonight Show, Ms. Amos has also recently performed on Live with Regis & Kathie Lee, CBS This Morning, and MTV's 120 Minutes. She has also been featured on CNN and NBC-TV's Today.

Ms. Amos is slated to kick off a U.K. headlining tour February 23rd, with a headlining U.S. tour scheduled to begin April 9th.

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