get away from me

Nellie McKay made her remarkable debut with the sassy and sarcastic self discovery of this empowering and ambitious blend of lounge jazz, hip hop, disco, and pop.  She dropped out of the Manhattan School of Music and flirted with standup comedy before pursuing her lounge act at different clubs, drawing the attention of recording labels like Columbia, Virgin, and Blue Note.  She signed with Columbia and set to work on her debut album with producer Geoff Emerick.  McKay considers:   "I think they could tell I was pretty hip. In the contract, I was really looking out for creative control, so that was by mutual agreement. I did all the demos myself—not only writing and playing and singing, but producing—and they just wanted me to reproduce it for the album. What people generally tell you is, 'We'll all agree,' and then once you sign, they expect to get their own way. I think it was a bit of a surprise that I was still very headstrong even after signing. I wasn't so happy to get a deal that I would agree to anything. In fact, I disagreed on most things and got my way on most things, which I think was to all of our benefit. But they wanted the record to come out, and I wanted the record to come out, so we had to work together."

 She fought with the Columbia over titles 'Black America' and 'Penis Envy' before agreeing to 'Get Away From Me', a jab at Nora Jones' smash album 'Come Away With Me'.  McKay was able to convince the label to release it as a double disk even though it could have fit on a single:    "It was not very hard. My A&R guy didn't think it was a good idea. Nobody thinks it's a good idea if you're an unknown singer-songwriter. But I just kind of feel like if I want something, I can get it. That's the good side of being American, or something, you know? We gave them wine and peppermint patties and showed them a videotape of Geoff [Emerick] with FedEx tape wrapped around his body, and ketchup staining his face, and a cowboy hat on his head like he was in Mexico, and an Uzi to his head. He read this ransom note on a video screen. Then I gave a PowerPoint presentation and I invited all my friends, because rap stars have a posse, and I thought it would make me look more intimidating. That really freaked out the publicity lady and my A&R guy and the other publicist. They were only looking out for themselves, and they didn't really give a shit about what I was trying to do. Of course, the top reps didn't have any problem with any of this. So we just went ahead, and about halfway through, they stopped and said, 'You know, we think we can do this.' ... I assembled a number of figures and statistics with the help of a friend who worked at a research firm. We just put how many double albums have been ranked as the greatest albums of all time, how many they sold, how many tracks are typically on hip-hop albums nowadays, how much it costs to make that extra disc. Originally, we were quoted anywhere from $1 to $2. Bullshit! It costs, like, 49 cents. So I agreed to give that up out of my royalties. I wish I could just say, 'I want a double album,' but you have to fight. We used quotes of theirs and threw them back in their faces. I'm making it sound nasty, but we just talked about their commitment to furthering their art through their jobs, and how it wasn't just about business, but also seeking the best artistic solution, not just a commercial one. I'd like to think they were reminded of what they believe in. I think people at most record labels really like music, but it's hard because everything is so subjective, and everyone's so creative in their own right."  

'Get Away From Me' shows McKay playing with a diverse range of musical styles.  She says:    "I feel like you should always be questioning the genre you're doing. If you're doing something that sounds like a lullaby, it can be good to make it about someone stalking someone. The producer kept telling me to make it harder-edged, but I didn't want to do that at all. It's supposed to be creepy, but in a funny way. It just didn't work, so me and Momma decided to do it softer, in a kind of baby-girl voice."

With its iconoclastic perspective and genre defying sound, 'Get Away From Me' remained an underground sensation, only charting at number one hundred and eighty-one on the Billboard 200 album chart but making it to number seven on the Heatseekers chart.  McKay quips:   "You think that your personality is going to go over, but it doesn't.  I thought I had a talent for alienating people, but I have no idea what it is that doesn't go over."






http://www.nelliemckay.com/


https://myspace.com/nelliemckay/



http://www.last.fm/music/Nellie+McKay/Get+Away+From+Me





"David"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5OBo3sKrYk






"Ding Dong"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leqm00CmeT8




"Dog Song"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gO11WcWFLow




"Change the World"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnS6ZMDU0-o





"Toto Dies"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ep-hKE3A-1s


"Won't U Please B Nice"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLDGaWqPlks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQf9_TMmTvU


"Inner Peace"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2fza-r4fiM


"Suitcase Song"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RovTPFxiG-0


"Work Song"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PQQsOVbe3I




"Respectable"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_mjAQb_2gc







full album:




Disc 1

"David"
"Manhattan Avenue"
"Sari"
"Ding Dong"
"Baby Watch Your Back"
"Dog Song"
"Waiter"
"I Wanna Get Married"
"Change the World"

Disc 2

"It's a Pose"
"Toto Dies"
"Won't U Please B Nice"
"Inner Peace"
"Suitcase Song"
"Work Song"
"Clonie"
"Respectable"
"Really"