Swing the Statue! explained

Swing the Statue!
Type:Studio album
Artist:Victoria Williams
Cover:SwingtheStatue!.jpg
Released:June 1990
Recorded:1990
Studio:Sunset Sound Factory, Hollywood, California
Length:43:58
Label:Rough Trade
Producer:Michael Blair, Victoria Williams
Prev Title:Happy Come Home
Prev Year:1987
Next Title:Loose
Next Year:1994

Swing the Statue! is the second album by American singer/songwriter Victoria Williams, released in 1990 by Rough Trade Records.

Background

Williams’ debut, 1987's Happy Come Home, received some good critical reviews but made zero commercial impact, selling only fourteen thousand copies.[1] Her original label Geffen was unimpressed by the nonexistent sales and dropped Victoria,[2] after she fired her manager by mail.[3] Early in 1989 her marriage to Peter Case also fell apart.

After her split with Geffen, Victoria would record “Don't Let It Bring You Down” for the Neil Young tribute album The Bridge. She would record her second album in four days early in 1990,[3] focusing on the more joyful of the dozens of songs she had written over the three years since the debut album.

Williams would sign with Rough Trade Records early in 1990, as one of that label's last ever signings.[4] Despite many positive critical reviews, the collapse of Rough Trade would mean Swing the Statue! fared even worse commercially that its predecessor, selling a mere eleven thousand copies.[1]

Personnel

Notes and References

  1. Billboard. Bell. Carrie. Williams' "Musings" on Atlantic. 1997-12-13.
  2. News: The Times. Shreveport, Louisiana. Local Group, Soloist, Release Latest Efforts. 1990-07-01. Prime. John Andrew. 66.
  3. News: Hochman. Steve. Williams Finds New Joy After Some Sad Years. Los Angeles Times. 1990-05-29. F1, F10.
  4. Young, Rob; Rough Trade, p. 176