Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman - 1988

A retrospective on Tracy Chapman's eponymously titled debut LP from 1988. We look at how Tracy went from playing small venues to 72,000 people in a short space of time and the massive impact on her career that her performance at the Nelson Mandela 70th birthday tribute concert had. Not only was it a huge live crowd at Wembley, but she performed to a global audience of over 60 million TV viewers across more than 60 countries. 

The legacy of her huge hit single 'Fast Car' comes under the spotlight including a look at some of the cover versions that have been released and materialised in recent years. 

The album introspective also includes a look at the other singles released and their performance, the album sales and how it stacks up against other debut albums written and performed solely by female artists, the award nominations and wins, and the usual track by track review and album rating from both Rick and Kate. 

The top 50 American bands of all time countdown continues, moving in to the top 10 with 'Ultimate Classic Rock's' rankings 10 - 6 being scrutinised. 

The LP was released on the 5th of April 1988, so we look at the other songs troubling the UK single and album charts, what was performing well at the UK box office, what was being watched on TV (and for this episode, specifically BBC1 on the date of release) and what was being reported in the news from April 1988. 

Finally, discover what our 'random single of the week' is...

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