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Fiona
Apple Maggart, Garett's half-sister,
was born September 13, 1977
in New York, USA.
Growing up in a
dysfunctional New York family, Fiona Apple soon discovered the impetus to
articulate frustrations that would eventually result in widespread
comparisons to
Alanis Morissette
for her 1996 debut,
Tidal
. As a child she was introduced to the
Beatles
by her stepfather, while her mother educated her in jazz standards. By the
age of 11 she was writing her own songs, as a means of coping with
self-imposed isolation caused by her shyness and lack of confidence about
her appearance, and a rape ordeal at the age of 12. She found solace in
the poetry of Maya Angelou, which she maintains to be her biggest
influence. She took her first step on the road to international success
when Clean Slate Records owner Andy Slater overheard her demo tape
(recorded on a cheap tape recorder in her bedroom) at a Christmas party in
1993. He quickly signed her to the label, but allowed her a full two years
of writing and recording before her debut album was released in July 1996.
Tidal
made an immediate impact, entering the Billboard Top 100 while Apple built
up encouraging reviews by opening for
Chris Isaak
on tour. She was subsequently asked to appear on a November 1996 edition
of Saturday Night Live - a booking that carries a de facto nod of approval
from the music industry's left-field cognoscenti. The album's attendant
single, the haunting "Shadowboxer", also earned rave reviews,
and was playlisted on several Top 40 radio stations. In 1997, Apple won
the Best New Artist accolade at the
MTV
Awards. Her relationship with magician David Blaine raised her media
profile, although the couple split up while Apple was recording her
sophomore collection. The title of this album runs to an astonishing 90
words, but is commonly abbreviated as When The Pawn .... When all the fuss
regarding its title had died down, the album proved to be another
challenging collection of singer-songwriter material, albeit less
accessible than her debut.
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