Janis Ian
:
This article is about the singer-songwriter. For the character from the movie Mean Girls, see Janis Ian (Mean Girls).Janis Ian (born on
April 7,
1951) is a
Grammy-winning American
songwriter,
singer and multi-instrumental
musician.
Born
Janis Eddy Fink in a
Bronx hospital (she was raised in
New Jersey), she changed her name while still a child. She had a successful singing career in the
1960s and
1970s, recording into the 21st century.
At the age of 15, Ian legally emancipated herself from her parents and also wrote and sang her first hit single, the song "
Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)", which told the story of an interracial romance forbidden by the narrator's mother and frowned upon by her peers and teachers. Produced by melodrama specialist
George "Shadow" Morton and released three times between 1965 and 1967, "Society's Child" finally became a national hit the third time it was released, after
Leonard Bernstein featured it in a TV special titled
Inside the Rock Revolution. The song's lyrical content was too taboo for some radio stations, and they withdrew or banned it from their playlists accordingly. Allegedly at least one radio station that played it was burned to the ground in protest. But that didn't stop "Society's Child" from becoming a hit. In the summer of 1967 the single reached #14 on the Billboard Hot 100, though in fact it was #1 or top 10 in several key cities across America (including
Detroit, where the song reached #1 on both of the city's Top 40 stations,
CKLW and
WKNR).
Apparently "Society's Child" was too hot for
Atlantic Records as well at the time. Ian relates on her website that although the song was originally intended for Atlantic and the label paid for her recording session, the label subsequently returned the master to her and quietly refused to release it. Years later, Ian says, Atlantic's president at the time,
Jerry Wexler, publicly apologized to her for this. The single and Ian's 1967 self-titled debut album were finally released on Verve/Forecast; her album was also a hit, reaching #12. In 2001, "Society's Child" was inducted into the
Grammy Hall of Fame, which honors recordings considered timeless and important to music history.
Her most successful single was "At Seventeen", released in
1975, a bittersweet commentary on adolescent
cruelty and teenage
angst, as reflected upon from the maturity of adulthood. "At Seventeen" received acclaim from record buyers - it charted at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart - and critics, as it won the 1975 Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, beating out the likes of
Olivia Newton-John and
Helen Reddy. Its parent album,
Between the Lines, also hit #1 and earned a platinum certification for sales of one million copies.
"Fly Too High" (1979) was her contribution to the soundtrack of the
Jodie Foster film
Foxes. It earned her a
Grammy nomination and became a hit single in many countries, including
South Africa.
One other country where Ian has achieved a surprising level of popularity is
Japan. She had two top 10 singles on the Japanese
Oricon charts, "Love Is Blind" in 1976, and "You Are Love" in 1980; and her album
Aftertones was a #1 best-seller there in October 1976.
By contrast, in the U.S., Ian made the pop charts only once more after "At Seventeen" ("Under The Covers," #71 in 1981), though she had several more songs reach the
Adult Contemporary singles chart through 1980 (all failing to make the Top 20, however). Ian spent much of the 1980s and early 1990s without a record deal; her label dropped her in 1981 following the disappointing sales of
Miracle Row (1977),
Night Rains (1979), and
Restless Eyes (1981). Ian finally resurfaced in 1993 with the album
Breaking Silence, its title a reference to having "come out" as a
lesbian and acknowledged the rumors about her sexuality that had been circulating for nearly two decades. Ian has released five more albums since (including one live album, 2003's
Working Without A Net). Her most recent album,
Folk Is The New Black, was released jointly by the Rude Girl and Cooking Vinyl labels in 2006. She also still tours and has a devoted fan base.
Other artists have recorded Ian's compositions, most notably
Roberta Flack, who had a hit in 1973 with Ian's song "Jesse" (also recorded by
Joan Baez; Ian's own version is featured on her 1974 album
Stars). Ian also co-wrote "What About The Love?", featured on
Amy Grant's 1988 album
Lead Me On.
She is an outspoken critic of the
RIAA, a
record industry organization which she sees as acting against the interests of musicians and
consumers. As such, she has willingly released several of her songs, including the popular "Walking in the Rain," for free download from her website (see below for a link). She was not only one of the first artists to do this but also was one of the first to show that free downloads dramatically increased hard-copy sales, contrary to the claims of RIAA and
NARAS.
Besides being an award winning
singer/songwriter, Ian writes
science fiction. Her works have been published in an assortment of anthologies, and she is co-editor, with
Mike Resnick, of
Stars: original stories based on the songs of Janis Ian, published in
2003.
Ian currently lives in
Nashville, Tennessee, with attorney Patricia Snyder, whom she married in
Toronto,
Canada on
August 27,
2003.
Albums
*
Janis Ian (1967)
*
For All the Seasons of Your Mind(1968)
*
The Secret Life of J. Eddy Fink (1968)
*
Who Really Cares (1969)
*
Present Company (1971)
*
Stars (1974)
*
Between the Lines (1975)
*
Aftertones (1976)
*
Miracle Row (1977)
*
Best of Janis Ian (collection) 1977
*
Janis Ian II (1978)
*
Night Rains (1979)
*
Restless Eyes (1981)
*
Uncle Wonderful (1983)
*
At Seventeen 1990
*
Up 'Til Now (1992)
*
Breaking Silence (1993)
*
Simon Renshaw Presents: Janis Ian Shares Your Pain (1994)
*
Revenge (1995)
*
Live on the Test 1976 (1995)
*
Hunger (1997)
*
Unreleased 1: Mary's Eyes (1998)
*
The Bottom Line Encore collection (Live 1980) (1999)
*
Unreleased 2: Take No Prisoners (2000)
*
god & the fbi (2000)
*
Unreleased 3: Society's Child (2001)
*
Lost Cuts 1 (2002)
*
Janis Ian Live: Working Without a Net (2003)
*
Souvenirs: Best of Janis Ian 1972-1981 (collection) (2004)
*
Billie's Bones (2004)
*
Folk is the New Black (2006)
*The hit
2004 movie
Mean Girls features a character named "Janis Ian" who was called a
lesbian by some of her classmates. Unlike the real Janis Ian, the character, played by actress
Lizzy Caplan, is not a lesbian.
*
Janis Ian's Official Site*
Interview with Janis Ian by Jan Vanderhorst*
Free ebook of Janis Ian at
Project GutenbergJanis Ian's comments on the music industry:
* Janis Ian's
critique of the RIAA's policies*
Janis Ian interview on Slashdot
*
USA Today: Music industry spins falsehood
