Suzanne Vega

"When Suzanne came to the label, she was immediately intriguing – a great person, and very creative. At the time, international sales were very important, and she was an immediate success in London. 'Luka' was already a hit, and 'Tom's Diner' was a tremendous record. The big decision was, a couple of disco guys had remade the track, and some people questioned whether we should put that version out. I said, 'Of course we should put it out – it's a another hit!' It was good for her as an artist, and a lot of fun to see her have that big success."

"If Suzanne Vega had a hit record in London, we sent her over there. She still has an audience in England to this day. She can work for a living somewhere and not have to go to the company for money or make a record. She can just go and perform."--Jerry Moss

"If you just come running out and hitting someone over the head with a message, that's not my kind of songwriting really. To me you don't learn anything from it, really. A lot of the things that I write about are hidden things...and that's why I feel it is necessary to write in that way."--Suzanne Vega (Reuters)

SOLITUDE STANDING (1987)

Charlie Minor, A&M Records Senior Vice President of Promotion told Billboard, "['Luka'] is the freshest new piece of music on the street, and it's such a change from the urban/dance situations. Suzanne is an artist, and I really have to pat radio on the back for being awake and aware."

The self-titled debut album sold over 200,000 copies in the US and over 500,000 copies outside the US. It went double platinum in the U.K. and was on the American Billboard Chart for 27 weeks.

Solitude Standing was released in May 1987.

_{Front: Gerry Lacoursiere, Alice Barrett, Shelley (Gerry's secretary), Suzanne Vega, Geoff Kulawick, Nicole Duschene, Anne Forbes
Back Row: Randy Wells, JP Guilbert, Jim Monaco, Joe Summers, Ray Rosenberg, Lacoursiere,.}

A&M's Latin Division asked if Suzanne would record "Luka" in Spanish. Suzanne reworked the lyric with her stepfather to ensure the meaning was true and that it would be well-received in different Latin markets. After hearing the Spanish version of "Luka," Herb Alpert asked if she wanted to record the whole album in Spanish.

DAYS OF OPEN HAND (1990)

Days of Open Hand sold only about 350,000 copies.

99.9F (1992)

The medical themes in this album were a result of doctors asking Vega if they could use her lyrics to "Fifty-Fifty Chance" and "Men In a War" from Days Of Open Hand. 99.9F retained some of the sounds of her first to albums while extending her songwriting and sounds into new territory. For this album, Vega had a demo of six of the songs. She had three producers review it and selected  Mitchell Froom. She also worked with new musicians. Recording took about two weeks.

A&M primary promotion of the album was to alternative radio and "Blood Makes Noise" video was sent to MTv. As the record developed they also approached AOR and CHR radio.

OFFICIAL PROMOTION BY A&M RECORDS

RetroSpective: the Best Of press release

The Queen and the Soldier Live In-Store 1996

 
This is an after work in-store performance after a full day radio interviews....Suzanne on the road was so wonderful to work with and no matter where she was she connected with the audience and they loved her.
Copyright by Al Marks. Used by permission.