From this Top 10 of Amy Winehouse singles, you could just imagine what more she might have accomplished had her life not been cut so tragically short. Unfortunately, we have these precious few bon mots that should remind us to savor and appreciate what a redoubtable talent she was.
10. Mr. Magic (Through the Smoke)
A jazzy uptempo number punctuated with horn riffs and a buoyant chorus with Amy’s signature nasal vocal delivery.
9. Hey Little Rich Girl
This amazing number comes from the Back to Black B-Sides. Consider it: this was a B-side that didn’t even make the cut on her watershed Back to Black album. It’s a curiously wonderful amalgam of breezy Caribbean and bluesy 60’s Soul. It’s catchy and so immediately authentic that all I can think is that she had so many wonderful cuts, some keepers like this one had to be left behind.
8. Back to Black
Another stunning midtempo ballad that frames Amy’s desolate lyrics in Mark Ronson’s Soul 60’s production values. The feel and message, however, is thoroughly modern as it crescendoes into a dramatic free-fall of hopelessness and isolation.
7. You Know I’m No Good
Amy warns her boyfriend in this hip-hop inflected retro number that she’s no good. She cheats on him, but no one holds her more accountable than singer herself. Self flagellating, Winehouse painfully admits that she cheated herself long before she cheated on her man.
6. Rehab
Full of old school R&B; sass and attitude, Rehab is Winehouse’s signature single complete with hand claps and Motown-inspired melodies. But it’s also the first telling sign that Amy may not have had all her demons in check.
5. F*ck Me Pumps
From her debut album “Frank”, Amy proves that it’s not just her voice, but her songwriting abilities that established her as such a powerhouse. With just a harp lick and a programmed backbeat, Winehouse paints both a funny and scathing picture of shallow, gold-digging bar flies.
4. Me & Mr. Jones
That voice. Singular and recognizable in an instant, Amy bellows, “What kind of fuckery is this”, kissing off some guy who keeps breaking her heart. She does it in an old-school shoop-shoop melody and chorus, but the send off is pure Amy, filled with hurt and even a bit of humor.
3. Valerie
This single was featured on Mark Ronson’s solo effort and Amy turns this remake by the Zutons into a whirligig and thoroughly catchy dance floor number. By the way, check out the acoustic version of this single as well. It’s equally stunning.
2. Wake Up Alone
Nobody does a dirge ballad like Amy Winehouse. Plaintive, sad and longing, Winehouse’s turn of phrase and songwriting prowess wrings every bit of despair from such telling imagery as lines like: This face in my dreams seizes my guts/He floods me with dread/Soaked in soul/He swims in my eyes by the bed/ Pour myself over him.
1. Love is a Losing Game
Understated and confessional, in just under 3 minutes Winehouse weaves enough suffering and mourning in this elegiac ballad to last a listener for thirty years. It’s probably one of the saddest and gorgeous ballads I’ve ever heard.
