AccuRadio Song Of The Day-PJ Harvey

 

Artist:PJ Harvey

Song:Down By The Water

Album:To Bring You My Love

Singer songwriter Polly Jean "PJ" Harvey has been successful mostly in her native England. The 1995 single Down By The Water is probably her best known song. She was born Oct. 9, 1969 in Bridport, Dorset, England. Her parents owned a stone quarrying business. Steve Knightley of Show of Hands was a family friend and he gave her guitar lessons. While in school PJ appeared in a couple of bands and the folk duo The Polekats. In 1988 she joined Automatic Diamini and that's where she met John Parish who would become her main collaborator during PJ's prime on the 90s. PJ left Automatic Diamini in 1991 to go solo. She moved to London and was still attending school uncertain if she wanted to pursue music. She did release a single on a small label that went nowhere. But she was encouraged by support from legendary BBC DJ John Peel. PJ released the album Dry in 1992 and this led to a bidding war won by Island Records. PJ's commercial breakthrough was with the 1995 album To Bring You My Love. Down By The Water was the first single. PJ wrote and produced the album with long time collaborators John Parish and Mark "Flood" Ellis. Down By The Water seems to be about suicide. PJ says it's not autobiographical. The single reached #38 on the British singles chart and #2 on the US Alternative chart. The album sold a million copies worldwide. PJ has continued to tour and record. She has never had a hit single. I was surprised that Island hasn't released a career spanning comp CD. It's possible PJ doesn't want to do one. To Bring You My Love is available as a budget CD. PJ still records for Island. Her latest album of new music was released in 2016. Recently she has released albums of demos for Dry and To Bring You My Love. John Parish left PJ in 1998 but he returned in 2006 and continues to work with her. Like I said, her success is mostly in England and that continues today. Here's the video for Down By The Water by PJ Harvey.