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Here's an old trick that Sam Cooke recommended: place a blindfold over your eyes. Listen to the artist or record in question. Focus on the music.
Result? "Back To Black" is a superb record. Amy is a wonderfully talented singer. "Love is a losing game" is one of the best soulful ballads in YEARS (perhaps why Prince has taken to covering it in concert).
And guess what? All of this would still be true if Amy was Baptist, or from Uganda, 48 years old, or is she weighed three-hundred pounds. It would still be true if she was a teetotalling virgin living in her granny's basement. All of this other stuff is a sad distraction.
It's obvious that Amy Winehouse has a lot of serious personal problems (which may indeed kill her, sad to say), but if you bother to read any interviews, she asks to be judged by her MUSIC. She is an important artist and a major talent. Stop focusing on the bullsh*t.
p.s. I agree that Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings are outtasight. Do yourself a big favor and see them in concert! An absolute dynamo, and one of the best live funk acts I've ever seen.
