written by KT Tunstall

produced by Steve Osborne

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I made this page June 23rd, 2021, the 46th birthday of Kate Victoria

Tunstall. Happy Birthday, KTT!!

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I love coincidences. Just earlier today, I made the page for

“Smalltown Boy” by Bronski Beat, because yesterday was Jimmy

Somerville’s birthday (big six-oh). Jimmy’s a Scottish singer, originally from Greenock. Katie Tunstall here, as it turns out... is also a Scottish singer, from Edinburgh. And her birthday is today. I have seen bigger coincidences, but this one’s still rather impressive. But we’re not going to turn around after this and realize it’s Annie Lennox’s birthday too, because I happen to know that she was born on Christmas. And so being that today’s June 23rd, the day I’m writing this, Annie’s birthday could hardly be literally further away, in either direction. Almost an exact six months.

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Now, I’ll admit: I’m the right age for having witnessed KT Tunstall’s entrance into the mainstream, and I heard her hits as they first reached the airwaves... and at first, I wasn’t the biggest fan of hers. But over the years, she’s really grown on me. (It doesn’t hurt that I find her incredibly sexy... and her voice has a little depth and a slight husky quality to it, but it’s still hot.) Perhaps I should’ve watched her video for this song as soon as I could, which I love. It takes her everyday excursion and turns it into a series of wild circus-themed fantasies with the help of her imagination. Though that’s to take nothing away from the other and equally delightful, enchanting video for the song. I do prefer this song to one like “Black Horse And The Cherry Tree”; this one is simply more suited to my tastes.

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Kate certainly has a unique heritage going on; she’s Irish on her Dad’s side, and Scottish and Chinese on her Mom’s. Coming from a family with little to no interest in or exposure to music in a major way, it seems unlikely for a girl like Katie to grow up into a successful recording artist. But as the 21st century opened, so did the floodgates for Miss Tunstall’s career. She was approached by the independent British label Relentless Records for a deal, but was hesitant to go with them at first, wanting instead to sign with a major US label. However, the US deal fell through, so Relentless it was.

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Katie was intrigued by her adoptive Dad’s (she never knew her biological Dad) career as a physicist when visiting his lab, as the name of her first album alludes: Eye To The Telescope. Commercially, it remains her most successful album, charting highest on average around the world with the most sales and accolades. Midway through the 2010s, her records stopped charting, but fortunately as the recording business goes, by then she’d acquired enough of a loyal fanbase and following to keep herself alive, and album sales sufficient. Her sophomore album, however, 2007’s Drastic Fantastic, matched its predecessor’s #1 status in her homeland of Scotland. That of its singles paled a bit in comparison, but that didn’t stop Drastic Fantastic from going gold... or album three, Tiger Suit, from going silver.

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“Suddenly I See” is still Katie’s biggest hit, and is likely to keep that title. If you want to see it put to good use opening a major hit motion picture, watch The Devil Wears Prada. And if you haven’t seen its music video—either one—don’t wait any longer. The one I described above with the circus fantasies will be linked from #1 below.

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Have notes to add? Let me know!

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YT:

full version

music video #1

music video #2

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KT’s official website