Toni Childs “Don’t Walk Away” charted

Don’t Walk Away Toni Childs

Writer(s): Toni Childs, Phil Ramacon (see lyrics here) First Charted: August 6, 1988 Peak: 72 BB, 80 CB, 10 CO, 17 MR, 53 UK, 17 AU, 2 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 1.3 video, 2.26 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Toni Childs was born in California in 1957. She grew up in a home where they weren’t allowed to go to the movies or listen to pop and rock music. She ran away from home at age 15 to pursue a music career. She had a few gigs subbing for Terri Nunn in some Berlin shows in 1979 and then toured with her band Tori & the Movers for a couple of years. She moved to London in 1981 after signing a publishing deal with Island Music. In 1985, she moved to Los Angeles and signed a deal with A&M Records. She also provided backing vocals on David + David’s 1986 album Boomtown. Both Davids – Baerwald and Ricketts – contributed to writing and production on Childs’ debut album, Union. She moved in with Ricketts the same day she signed to A&M. JC They split by the time she was recording her album, but she said, “I think of this as a David + Toni record.” JC Early entrants into the Lilith Fair genre like Suzanne Vega and Tracy Chapman were strongly rooted in folk-rock. However, debut albums in the summer of 1988 from Toni Childs and Melissa Etheridge served as welcome reminders that full-on rock was not an all-boys club. Never was that more apparent than on “Don’t Walk Away,” the lead track and second single from Union. AllMusic.com’s Tom Demalon says it “kicks things off in high gear” AM while Coffee-for-two.com’s Dan Seeger’s raves about how it puts “the powerhouse vocals of Childs on display.” DS Seeger adds that she is “no dainty singer-songwriter ingenue, but a true belter.” DS Demalon also praises her singing and its impact on the song, saying, “Her take-no-prisoners vocal drives the funky, horn-driven track, which is backed by the gospel swell of the background vocalists.” AM Childs co-wrote the song with Phil Ramacon, who has also collaborated with Jimmy Cliff, Neneh Cherry, and Keb’ Mo.’ The song garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. Resources: AM AllMusic.com album review by Tom Demalon JC Jay Cocks (6/8/1988). Time magazine. “Music: Catching the Sweet, Scary Feelings” DS Dan Seeger (7/13/2018). Coffee-for-two.com “One for Friday – Toni Childs, ‘Don’t Walk Away’” Related Links: First posted 1/12/2025.

Pretenders “Brass in Pocket” charted

Brass in Pocket Pretenders

Writer(s): Chrissie Hynde, James Honeyman-Scott (see lyrics here) First Charted: November 17, 1979 Peak: 14 US, 13 CB, 15 HR, 10 RR, 1 CL, 1 CO, 12 UK, 5 CN, 2 AU, 2 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 8.7 video, 132.55 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “By the time Chrissie Hynde and her Pretenders released their seminal hit ‘Brass in Pocket,’ the band was already on its third lineup – and that’s before they had any chart success. Their third single, ‘Brass in Pocket’ was their first U.K. No. 1 and reached No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100.” UCR She said, “The market was wide open for a band like ours with a girl vocalist and solid, simple, straight ahead rock songs. It sounds perfect on the radio, too.” TC “The brass in the song’s titular pocket is meant to mean ‘money,’ picked up from a bit of Yorkshire slang Hynde heard from a member of another band. Hynde’s vocal imbues that brass with a far greater meaning: It’s an emblem of confidence, a symbol of the certainty the singer feels when she considers what she wants and how she will achieve it.” UCR The song was significant for showing that “a central role in rock’s power and impact – the bandleader, the frontperson, the boss – could just as easily be filled by a woman as a man.” UCR It was also “one of many great singles to emerge from a musical era awkwardly known as ‘new wave.’” UCR The term “conjures images of synth-drenched pop and Flock of Seagulls haircuts” UCR but was really “about a level of artistic integrity that vanished in the rock indulgences of the ‘70s and was made possible by the deck-clearing ferocity of punk.” UCR The Pretenders had “punk rock credibility but unlike most other punk groups they could play. Honeyman-Scott’s guitar parts bristled with ideas – sparkling melodic touches that complemented Hynde’s prickly lyrics. Chambers and Farndon put a soulful bedrock under Hynde whether she was bitter or wistful – as is the case with ‘Brass in Pocket.’” TC Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Pretenders TC Toby Creswell (2005). 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time. Thunder’s Mouth Press: New York, NY. Pages 291-3. UCR UltimateClassicRock.com (6/20/2013). “Top 100 Classic Rock Songs” Related Links: First posted 7/22/2022; last updated 11/12/2022.