Back To Black: Triumph Over Tragedy｜Modern Classics Month 

We've been robbed of hearing 50 year old smoky, sultry Amy.

Back to black will be listened to for the next 50 years. A incredible piece of art by a once in a generation artist. Future music historians like yourself will be studying Amy Winehouse for a long time. Be fascinating to see what influence she will have on the next generation of singers.

Excellent show, Abigail, I do believe her self-penned “Love Is A Losing Game” is one of the best songs written in the last 50 years!

Overlooked , is the fact that its a great album.

If you set aside all her problems, her antics, her addictions, you are left with one incredibly talented woman with a voice that transcends soul. This album is evidence that despite the struggles an artist may go through, they can still make defining pieces of work, even if it ends up being their last. It breaks my heart to know that we'll never get the chance to see how her career would've blossomed further, and also because she's not here to see just how impactful her music really was. In short, there will never be another Amy Winehouse

My son used to pop in to The Hawley Arms pub where Amy was the French to be found. Sometimes she would work the bar for a laugh and she enjoyed throwing chips / fries around at customers. Unique talent. Tragic waste. Unforgettable. Great job Abby. Stay safe out there.

I am ashamed that I never listened to Amy before my friend introduced me to her like 3 years ago. I absolutely love her music and think she is by far one of the most important artist of the 2000s. This album in particular is top notch. Also, I enjoy your channel. It is interesting how much music you showcase on your channel that I love.

Its a modern classic thats why its on mod month♉️🙋‍♂️

That is such an amazing record. "Love is a losing game", and I loved her.

It was very strange. When Amy died I felt like I’d lost my little sister, and that it was partly my fault because I somehow failed to protect her, although I’d never met her and we’re nothing alike. Sort of like Elvis, with once in a lifetime talent, she had a way of making everyone who’d listened to her sing maybe 3 songs or so, it seems to me, feel like he knew her personally and that she was personally speaking to, begging for help from, him. I don’t know how it’s possible to do that, but she had it, and it’s a regret for a lot of people I’ve talked to still, even 10 years later and besides the fact that there’s nothing probably we could have done differently, that we let her slip away. Thank you for this, Miss Abigail.

IMO, Amy was the greatest talent this side of 2000. Her lyrics were so real, I think they painted her into an emotional corner she couldn't get out of every time she performed. I miss her more than any other artist.

Got to the party late but I’m glad I made it. Beautiful genius. As Tony Bennet said, she had the Complete Gift.

Tally hall/miracle musical vinyl Monday when? Now that that’s out of the way, Amy whinehouse was a genius who left this world far too early and back to black is one of the greatest records of the 21st century. (Also your hair looks great!)

There will never be another Amy Winehouse. She was a north London 🔯 girl next door' who took the world by storm. She only made two albums, but I'm a firm believer in quality over quantity..'BTB' is and always will be a classic album that will inspire many artists for decades to come. My favorite track from the album is Me & Mr Jones. RIP Amy.❤ P.S. Has anyone seen the new Amy Winehouse movie ? What are your thoughts about it and the lead actor Marisa Abela ?.

Ain't no fuckery in this one, Abi! Another great job done on another great album! Me & Mr. Jones was my immediate favorite on this album, although Back to Black comes in a very close second.

Tragic and deeply sad as her personal life was, thanks for concentrating on her music. Her talent overcame any disabling effects from outside the studio, and we are left with a legacy of pure soulfulness (is that a word? It is now) that probably benefitted from her experiences. Such a musical loss, she would have stayed the course on talent. Just imagine the sound of a truly mature Amy...

Abby, another great review.I believe ;Back in Back will be remembered in history as a much more important tLP than Is This it. I feel you made an excellent comparison with Amy and Billie Holiday, both being stellar interpreters of songs. Amy’s promotion of classic girl groups such as The Ronettes and her creating the following blue eyed soul movement, with Adeke becoming one of the biggest singers in the world and Mark Ronson the ‘It’ producer for half a decade (hell, he even put Josh Homme on a Lady GaGa record!) all had a galvanizing effect on modern pop music. I think you nailed this one. Great show!

Love is a Losing Game just wrecks me every time.

Like the target 🎯 Pink vinyl reissue.

Abby you always look smart just like your courageous reviews.

Omfg I almost screamed when this video popped up in my feed! This album is such a seminal work for me, that soundtracked some of the most formative years of my life. Amy is sorely missed… I wonder what her discography could’ve been like. 😔❤

🏆 Your hair and Billie shout-out each get an award. Each gen needs a Bessie Smith > Billie > Etta James.

I've got nothing to add. Amy and her music speak for themselves. Excellent job, Abby!!!!!!

A great highbred sound melding 1940's American female jazz vocal styling and that British penchant for SKA....

Do I see The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society record at the end of this video?????

Thank You.

I had wished you could cover Amy, but didn't srsly think you ever would. So this is great. I'm glad you got to realize the impact she had, with just two albums! Wonderful review of a really important artist.

Tragic, but we have Amy's music for an eternity , her life reminds me of Dolores from the cranberries, RIP talented beautiful ladies

This record is an essential title for all who love music. - As always, top notch essay, thanks for your videos.

I know history and popular culture can give someone a image and reputation that isn’t necessarily the true story.

Damn, the new videos and sound clips make the videos much better

this is great timing as in my film class, we're studying the documentary Amy!

This is a great review of a great album. And, you totally look the part too.

the deeper tones of her voice are distinctive and there are some rich backing vocals. for me she wore her influences on her sleeve a little too much but she wore her heart there too. if we can't respond to that then we're lost. if you have a song like love is a losing game in your repertoire people are always connect, at least in part.

Sensational Amy, absolutely the best singer since 2000 by a light year! Also the first Mod Month act who actually sang Mod music! Now where's my Ogden's Nut Gone Flake review?

Great video Abby Amy Winehouse was a very talented singer keep it up Abby ❤❤❤

Thanks for this video. I needed another way in to appreciate this record, and your comments about the sound being a great fusion of past styles but not becoming lost in a retro attitude works for me. And not to add too much to the sadness of Amy’s demise, RIP Dennis Thompson, which i’m sure you’ll address next week.

Been a fan of the channel since your Siamese dream video last summer. I'm always excited to see what albums you talk about every week, you've turned me onto so many new artists, helped me reevaluate albums I've overlooked and given praise to my favorites. Keep up the great videos and thank you for putting Amy back into my listening cycle 🤟

Yayyy, i guessed it right!

I see we're about to get Kink-y on Monday. Looking forward to your take on that album. It's always been a bit elusive to my ears.

A tragic story but the material left behind is fantastic!

It's probably my most listened album and a forever favourite. Hate the new movie though, boycotting it. BTB and Frank are perfect from start to finish. I literally love her work so much, she created such an unique sound and she put her soul into the music and you can feel it.❤ there will never be one as good as her.

Fantastic video, Abby, and I love all the effort you put into the look (although I like your regular bangs better.) Thrilled to see my favorite band, The Kinks, finally making an appearance! Can't wait... This is the first mod month choice I really relate to, since grunge turned me off of rock so much that I went full-on into jazz and Great American Songbook, even starting our own label to release my wife's retro jazz records. I greatly appreciate that you concentrated on Amy's music and not her tragic personal life. I don't know if you're old enough to remember, but there was a period when she was treated as an easy punchline by comics, which struck me even then as cruel and unfunny. For instance, there was an episode of the sitcom "'Til Death" where Brad Garrett told someone who was partying hard something like, "Slow down, Winehouse," and the audience (or the laugh track) roared. That hasn't aged well. I credit Craig Ferguson with finally shaming people into stopping that with his 2007 monologue in which he revealed that he'd once been a hopeless alcoholic who came very close to suicide, and he refused to do any more jokes mocking Britney Spears, who was obviously in pain and needed help. That, and I think the concurrent photos of Amy looking like a Dachau inmate finally shocked people into realizing this was serious.

Abby, YOU are great!

That beehive would fit right in a John Waters movie

Bravo! I have all of Amy's records on the shelf. Well done, Abby. Thank you.

Amy is the most important singer since 2000. Period. She is the most talented singer since Freddie Mercury. In some ways the tragedy of Amy's death is that we were deprived of hearing what she was truly capable of creating. Back to Black is a phenomenal record. Other than American Idiot, I can't think of a more relevant album from the 2000s. But it's Amy shoved in an overproduced box of nostalgia. She excelled because of her brilliance and interpretation. But it was a sandbox of Phil Spector sounds overseen by Mark Ronson (who did a great job, no disrespect intended). She was capable of much more, and we never got to hear her 2nd or 3rd acts. Where would she have taken that amazing voice and phrasing if given the opportunity to explore other musical veins? I'm grateful for Frank and B2B (and Lioness), but it's a shame this is all we have. She was a true original.

Try to track down a Helen Shapiro LP. She was a proto-Amy Winehouse and also an associate of The Beatles. Not to mention, as a youngster was in a band with Marc Bolan.

Computer recording technology actually started to sound good (instead of cold and thin) during the early 2000s - maybe that's what sparked the whole fusion of classic soul and sampled beats back then? I also remember Back To Black and Multiply by Jamie Lidell rarely being off my turntable as the 2000s wore on. B2B takes the crown though - never has heartbreak sounded so compulsive and infectious! Edit: can't agree about He Can Only Hold Her being the weakest track, though!

I think of Addicted fondly whenever I'm into the weeds. I'm moved to tears, literal tears, everytime I listen to this album. Not always a specific song or line, but somewhere in there different every time. I think a person would have to be soulless not to be moved as such. It was a terrible time to be a woman in the public eye in the early 2000's. Around that time, people said Lindsey Lohan was throwing her life (and looks) away doing drugs. Charlie Sheen got a high fucking five from the same shit talking misogynists for doing the same damned things. They hated Lana Del Rey, remember that? Not even her music, like they hated her personally for daring to exist. Amy Winehouse always looked a bit freaked out in front of people, but could you blame her? She was in the public eye when the public eye was fixed in its most patriarchal and most misogynistic leer on women. When a woman was a normal human size, she was "fat", then when she lost weight she was "anorexic". It's enough to drive a person to drink. Things seem better now, at least I hope so.

"Enjoy this, cause it will literally never happen again" ....until the B-52's review.

Glad to say I saw her a couple of times *before* she went off the rails.

I got an Amy tattoo on my arm. Thank You for doing this.

She had chops what a damn shame she didn't make it breaks my heart

Great video.

Fantastic review!! Also, Ronson captured more of a Phil Spector sound than Motown... I am not saying that there is no Motown influence, but listen to how Ronson captured Spector's wall of sound.

you used the opening note from"our prayer" from SMILE as a censor bleep? lmao. yes i agree Brian wilson is a genius

I appeiciated the insight about the album tracks , because I had been meaning to get this album one of these days , and figured to just get my first pink colored album, until the story developed, since I was going to target anyway. once again the costume was a hit, but without the full beehive , a sinister element was lost , and the character became just "very cute" like someone from a sixties surf movie. Real dangerous women beehives raised the question about possible hidden razor blades in the hair, just in case.

A wig woulda been fine but it's good backcombing and nowhere near enough regular chances to say backcombing, backcombing. Ray Davies and them at last YES!

NEXT WEEK'S ALBUM! HOW MUCH DO I LOVE THEE LET ME COUNT THE WAYS.

Xennial guy on the internet, Pluto 6 Libra only heard of this artist during the media storm after she died. So tragic. I need to go listen to some Yes or something. It's not cathartic for me to listen to people who have sunk lower than I ever want to go, it's a drag. Moon in 9th house Gemini hears the torture in the voice when the musician lacks inner health and wellness. Jon Anderson sounds angelic cause he's happy and alive inside and in love with life. Being a wide ranging vocalist myself, my south node in fact on the degree of Gemini with the Sabian symbol "the first mockingbird of spring" I can mimic Amy's voice with ease and it doesn't feel good. That Gemini house with my wide open Moon answers to my Capricorn Mercury on the throne of my Capricorn Sun in the bottom house, so the sounds coming in through my Moon go all the way into my heart; I hear with a kind of depth that makes it hard for me to enjoy singers with suicide in their hearts, already audible in their voices in the months and years before they succeed. I cannot stand the sound of the Joy Division guy, for example. That said, some guy on the internet loves your music history lessons, keeping the music alive!

One thing I recently I found about Amy Winehouse is that she was a major wrestling fan Her favorites being the badass Rob Van Dam and... Chris Jericho (wonder how she feels about him being a washer up old man)

spooky...I bought a copy of this today and played it a few hours ago as i cooked my meal...gobsmacking to see it pop up on your latest vid...i actually met her way back...without realising it of course at the time...s brought in by her gran Cynthia and unusually she would not sit with any of the other visitors and would move if one tried to sit near her and her young jet haired daughter...i nearly fell off my chair when i seen the picture in the documentary of Cynthis holding Amy and it was the same person !! far out !!

Being a big fan of classic rock, oldies, soul, jazz, reggae, ska etc. it wasnt a no brainer becoming a fan of Amy's music in the early 00's. Her style and music appealed instantly. Of course when she passed away it was a punch in the gut, but it's awesome to see that all these years later music fans are still reviewing, appreciating, talking about and listening to the music. Makes me hopeful for the future. Btw, are there any classic SKA albums in your collection & any hope of seeing any reviewed on this channel?

Its sad when the tragedy overtakes the talent. I hope in future times she will be rediscovered for the artist she was.

Fell in love with this episode!!!

Can you imagine the music that Amy might have done now ? Bloody Hell ! It doesn’t bear thinking about!

I don’t plan on seeing the movie but this video will probably go down as a better tribute to Amy than that

1st of all great Video as always but please do a clothing vid! Btw where is the Kick out the Jams Tee from

Awesome choice. There is a lot that can be discussed, but the music on this album is all you need.

Loved the videos but wanted to ask where you got those white cupboards/cabinet that you have your records in? I've been looking for a good way to store my own records sooo.

I liked her voice, but I never quite got into her because of a lot other public behavior. But when I listen to her now, it's heartbreaking because she was so good and we lost her way too soon. It would have been great to see what could have been if she had lived at least a little bit longer and put out a few more albums.

I knew Amy a bit before Back To Black. She was a huge Nas fan. Even referred to him as her Elvis.

Way back in 2008 I was in a pub in London buying a drink when I felt a shove in my back. It was Amy Winehouse fighting with some random guy right behind me. I don't know what he did to her but she wasn't happy. The bouncers threw him out. I was a fan of her music, shame what happened to her.

Abigail is dressed like the girls on the old Black Velvet whiskey billboards.

i wish she was still with us :( rip amy

It’s a shame Amy died so young, but it was sadly inevitable and no big surprise when it happened. Lennon was right, better to fade away like an old soldier than burn out like Sid Vicious

I love what you do cuz i DONT know these albums! And ...not only are you thorough, i dont feel like a piece of * because of that ( which 90% of youtubbers will try...). You also make us feel like this slab came out literally today. Not an easy accomplishment. ☮️

A wig!! I always learn from these wonderful essays

Open bets to guess how many cans of hair spray Abby spent to get the Amy Winehouse hair doo

I enjoyed this video Thanks

Amy Winehouse broke my heart by dying the way she did. Tony Bennett's heart, too. I mean, he had to sing with Lady gagagoogoo because Amy died. Stefani meant well, but she was no Amy. I still have difficulty listening to Amy Winehouse. I was going to start this comment by saying "Too Soon." As Mr. Bennett said "Amy had that gift. The fact that she died at 27 years old is just horrible to me." Me too, Tony. Thanks for giving us this appreciation of her artistry, Abby. Job well done.

I really enjoyed this ❤ although I'm not a fan of Amy's voice. I love Billie Holiday, and I love the classic motown sound. But...just can't listen to a whole Amy track. (Very sad story, though. I was aware of her troubles and spiralling condition at the time)

when is Alvvays debut

OH MY GOD IS THIS A DREAM? AN EPISODE ON MY FAFORITE ARTIST

One of my deserted island albums

Id love to see a viynl monday of the white stripes elephant

You are very sweet ❤️🇺🇸

Amy Winehouse and Jeff Buckley are the two musicians that I wish didn't pass away so early. What we could have had.

USA Music industry stuffs up again. 😂 A unique talent 🖤🎶🖤Always look in the import bin.. Great choice for mod💔Friday Dr Abbey

Actually if I understand correctly, I think Jimmy Page funded the albums himself and Zep moved quick because Jimmy was cheap. His nickname was Led Wallet

She's interesting. Laura Nyro is another one who was in love with Motown girl groups and such--and really raised that sound to a nearly symphonic level.

106 likes 423 views posted 59 mins ago Your a Great Story Teller

Yes yes YES YES YES. wwwww Abby

Review the new Chief Keef please😢

Damn my streak of the first to comment as ended 😢

34th liked 140 views posted 15 mins ago

Shrangrilas is pronounced shan-greh-LAHS. Moore an "eh" than "ee".

It’s a very great debut album for a short lived artist Edit:People have pointed out its not her first solo album,oops 😅 Honestly the 27 club added a new member Amy and thats just sad because she could still be making music today

You should have gotten Amy loaded before filming this review