AccuRadio Song Of The Day-k.d. lang

 

Artist:k.d. lang

Song:Constant Craving

Album:Recollection

k.d. lang has been successful mostly in her native Canada. Attempts to break through in the US have been moderately successful. Constant Craving was her biggest hit in 1994 mostly because MTV played the video to death. lang is frequently described as eclectic which is a label given to artists who are critically acclaimed but commercially disappointing. The word "eclectic" seems like the kiss of death so I never use it. Kathryn Dawn Lang was born Nov. 2, 1961 in Edmonton, AB but she grew up in the small eastern Alberta town of Consort. While attending Red Deer College, lang became fascinated with Patsy Cline and she decided to become a singer. She started The Reclines as a Patsy Cline tribute band but it went into performance art. In 1985, Rolling Stone called her Canadian Cowpunk. She signed with Warner Bros. and the 1987 album Angel with a Lariat was produced by Dave Edmunds. She recorded Crying with Roy Orbison and it was a top five hit in Canada. Her 1988 album Shadowland was produced by Patsy Cline's producer Owen Bradley. Though lang was very successful in Canada, her shtick didn't go over well in Nashville. So with the 1992 album Ingenue, she decided to record what I would describe as adult contemporary pop. That seemed to work better commercially. Constant Craving reached #38 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the Adult Contemporary chart. The album was certified 2XPlatinum. The video was in constant rotation on MTV. lang wrote and produced Ingenue with violinist Ben Mink. He's a veteran sideman from Toronto. I've known about him since the 70s. He has played with everyone. lang also composed the music for the 1993 film Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. That was the peak of k.d. lang's commercial success. This 2CD comp covers her 90s recordings. Since then she has done all kinds of stuff including a 2002 album of duets with Tony Bennett. She currently records for Warner's Nonesuch label which is where Warners puts highly acclaimed artists who aren't commercially successful. The last time lang recorded a solo album was in 2008 though she released an album with Neko Case and Laura Viers in 2016. k.d. lang seems to be semi retired. Apparently she prefers to stay at home these days. She was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Here's the video for Constant Craving by k.d. lang.