Johnette Napolitano is an American singer, songwriter and bassist best known as the lead vocalist/songwriter and bassist for the alternative rock group Concrete Blonde.
Solo career
She has also recorded as a solo artist, with the albums Sketchbook, Sketchbook 2, Scarred, and Sketchbook 3, and as a member of:
Dream 6.
Vowel Movement, a side project; a semi-improvisational musical collaboration with Holly Beth Vincent.
Lead singer for the album tour for, the re-formed Talking Heads' project, with Jerry Harrison, Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth. She is featured on the 1996 album No Talking, Just Head. This was, at the time, intended to turn into a full-time project, with further studio albums and tours. A live CD-video of the first tour was planned, featuring performances from many of the album's guest artists and Napolitano on vocals for the songs originally recorded by Talking Heads. David Byrne sued the band, saying their name and presentation was too evocative of Talking Heads, and put an end to those plans.
Napolitano also recorded a solo album titled Sound of a Woman around 1996–1997, and performed many of the songs on a solo tour opening for Paul Weller. The album was set to be released on IRS, the label of her old band, Concrete Blonde. 1997–1998 was a bad time for Island, starting with the sudden departure of founder-CEO Chris Blackwell and ending with the total reorganization of the label. Sound of a Woman was, effectively, lost in the shuffle, and at this point is unlikely to ever be officially released. Bootleg copies of this album are rare and highly valued.
Napolitano is a resident of Joshua Tree, California. She composes music for films and works as a gallery artist, specializing in working with discarded and reclaimed materials. She also takes care of rescue horses.
Johnette Napolitano and Buzz Gamble "Cheap Tequila" single
Sketchbook 2
Scarred
Sketchbook 3
"Naked" EP
"The Naked Album"
Other projects
She has contributed music to many films, including the 2006 Australian filmCandy, and "Suicide Note" from Underworld. The following films and TV programmes also feature songs performed by Concrete Blonde:
Beavis and Butt-Head – "Blood Drive" episode
Beverly Hills, 90210 – "One Man and a Baby" episode
In 1996, Napolitano produced an album by Australian group In Vivo. Napolitano collaborated with Danny Lohner on the horror filmDead Silence. The pair had successfully collaborated previously for the films Underworld and Wicker Park. Napolitano contributed vocals to an album by John Trudell, and performs backing vocals in "Struck a Nerve" by Bad Religion on the Recipe For Hate album. Napolitano performed the main vocals on the score of the Australian film West, written and directed by Daniel Krige. She also sang the title song, "Falling in Love". Napolitano also performed the duet "My Little Problem" with Paul Westerberg on The Replacements "All Shook Down" release. Napolitano provided vocals on the track "I Am Where it Takes Me" by metal band Black Light Burns. Napolitano is credited as co-writer of the Ashes Divide song "Too Late". Napolitano wrote and sang, with Steve Wynn, the song "Conspiracy of the Heart" included in the Steve Wynn's album Kerosene Man.
Pretty and Twisted
Johnette Napolitano joined Marc Moreland and Danny Montgomery to form Pretty & Twisted in 1995. Their self-titled debut, Pretty & Twisted, was produced by Napolitano and released on Warner Brother Records, Inc. The track listing for the album was:
