yeah_yeah
Dec 14th, 2003, 06:56 PM
Pop’s original bad girl, Ford, to play Hartford
While her forthcoming album, “Sexysexobsessive,” takes her music in an industrial rock direction, singer-songwriter Willa Ford said she isn’t shying away from pop music. “Pop music has always been there,” she said. “U2 was pop. I mean, pop is just popular music. Why is everybody trying to get away from being pop?” Ford, who plays Wednesday in Hartford, added, “I’m pop music. I’m proud of it. We sell a lot of records. That’s what the game’s about.”
By David Friedman
NEWS-TIMES MUSIC WRITER
Willa Ford has a new album, “Sexysexobsessive,” due out in early 2004.
More than two years after her debut album caught fire with the hot single "I Wanna Be Bad,” Willa Ford is looking great and full of energy as she trades verses with rapper Lady May on her brand new single and video, "A Toast To Men,” a sorority anthem that says, "(Heck with) the men, let’s drink to us.”
But while the music is infectious and Ford is clearly having a ball taunting males with her sexy body, the video clip is a far cry from where the pop singer was as recently as 6 months ago. For several months starting in November 2002, Ford was chronically fatigued from a variety of factors, including her own tireless work ethic.
Battling with her label to include more rock elements in her music wore on her, as did the poor diet that often comes with extensive touring. An abusive relationship and another where a guy cheated on her didn’t help matters.
Ford, who was diagnosed with depression, discussed her experiences candidly in a Nov. 10 interview at Lava Records’ New York City office. These days, the singer — whose latest album, "Sexysexobsessive,” is due out in early 2004 — takes an anti-depressant called Effexor SR. Now, she’s back on track and ready to perform at a radio show Wednesday at Hartford’s Meadows Music Centre.
"This is the other side of Willa Ford,” said Ford, referring to her bout with depression. "It has nothing to do with my music, except for the fact that when you listen to this (new) record, there’s some deep places that I was in and you can hear it through my voice. You can’t tell from meeting me, you can’t tell from knowing me, you can’t tell from being around me.
"I looked in the mirror and I was like, ‘There are two ways I can go now. There’s the way I need to go, that God would want me to go. And there’s the way that basically would just numb everything,’ź” she added. "I chose the better path. This is not something that you want the public necessarily to know. My goal in telling people this is getting the other 20-year-old chicks that are going through this in college to get help rather than turn to drugs and alcohol or suicide.”
Born Amanda Lee Williford on Jan. 22, 1981, Ford grew up in Ruskin, Fla., a country town outside Tampa. Mother Donna helped her husband, Ralph, work on the family’s fruit and vegetable farm. The family also includes Ford’s half-brother, Marcus, and half-sisters Heather and Aleece, all now in their early 30s.
"It was all tomatoes and strawberries, peppers and stuff,” Ford said of the farm. "I’m probably the only chick in the music business, as far as I know, who can work a forklift and a tractor. I’m talking the old-school tractors — no air conditioning. I can do all that kind of stuff. I just learned from my father, growing up. I was so interested. I was like, ‘What does this do?’ź”
Ford began training as an opera singer when she was 8. Three years later, she joined a performing arts troupe called Entertainment Revue and later joined FLA, an all-girl quartet. Ford got into urban music by Jodeci, Shai and The Fugees. A gifted student at East Bay High School, she had a 4.25 GPA.
Going under her nickname, Mandy, she signed with MCA Records in 1999. After changing her stage name to Mandah, she opened for the Backstreet Boys.
But MCA wanted to clean up Ford’s image to make her more wholesome, like Britney Spears was at the time. Ford, who writes her own lyrics and melodies, wasn’t having it.
While her forthcoming album, “Sexysexobsessive,” takes her music in an industrial rock direction, singer-songwriter Willa Ford said she isn’t shying away from pop music. “Pop music has always been there,” she said. “U2 was pop. I mean, pop is just popular music. Why is everybody trying to get away from being pop?” Ford, who plays Wednesday in Hartford, added, “I’m pop music. I’m proud of it. We sell a lot of records. That’s what the game’s about.”
Instead, as Willa Ford, she released the steamy, titillating video for "I Wanna Be Bad” — after Lava bought out her MCA contract. Spears and Christina Aguilera followed Ford’s lead several months later, releasing risque videos for "I’m a Slave 4 U” and "Dirrty,” respectively.
By this time, Ford had made her mark with "I Wanna Be Bad,” which reached the top 10 on the Top 40 Mainstream, Hot 100 Singles and Hot Dance Music Singles charts. The song’s video was a top 10 regular on MTV’s "Total Request Live.” And the CD single sold more than 268,000 copies.
Meanwhile, Ford’s full-length debut, "Willa Was Here” — released in July 2001 — sold more than 152,000 copies.
"For a first album, I think it did pretty damn well,” Ford said. "I like the idea of being able to grow and get bigger rather than, boom, and see ya.
"There are these huge Britney Spears to overshadow and take all those blows (in the press) and there was me, creeping, creeping, creeping. And when she’s blown out, I creep my way to the top. I’m a sneaker. I don’t need to overexpose. I don’t need to make Barbie dolls. There’s time for everything — everything in due time.”
As she made arousing videos for subsequent singles "Did Ya’ Understand That” and "Santa Baby (Gimme Gimme Gimme),” Ford remained business savvy. When pop stars followed her lead into the less PG-realm, she took it as a compliment.
But most of all, Ford recorded hundreds of songs — including roughly 200 for her sophomore album alone. Most pop singers don’t have more than a handful of extra tracks from their album sessions. Ford’s productivity is, again, a testament to her drive and work ethic.
She also writes songs that are deeper and often darker than those of most pop divas. The bout with depression Ford had in late 2001 after going through an abusive relationship — among other experiences — seem to fuel her songwriting.
Without a doubt, Ford’s good looks alone earned her spots on magazine covers for Stuff and soon FHM. She’ll also be featured, though not nude, in a music edition of Hustler.
But Ford’s new album, which she originally wanted to call "Porn Poetry,” will help her fan base continue to grow. With live instruments on every song, the album addresses the world’s obsession with sex on title cut "Sexysexobsessive.” And the song "Into My Bed” speaks out about women being used for sex through prostitution, on prom night and in other situations.
"The album is a total venture into my mind,” said Ford, who has four dogs and recently bought a house on a lake in Valrico, Fla. "It took 2 years to make. It took the long time it took because I was going through a lot personally and, instead of just rushing through things, when I went through them I wrote about them.
"I dealt with the problems and I dealt with my feelings right off the bat with the record,” she added. "I even went through some old past things that I hadn’t dealt with and I went through those on the record. Yet it’s a fun, crazy, mood-swinging album. It’s like a big mood-swing from start to finish.”
The News-Times: Entertainment (http://www.newstimes.com/cgi-bin/dbs.cgi?db=news&view_records=1&id=58009)
~*~Destiny~*~
While her forthcoming album, “Sexysexobsessive,” takes her music in an industrial rock direction, singer-songwriter Willa Ford said she isn’t shying away from pop music. “Pop music has always been there,” she said. “U2 was pop. I mean, pop is just popular music. Why is everybody trying to get away from being pop?” Ford, who plays Wednesday in Hartford, added, “I’m pop music. I’m proud of it. We sell a lot of records. That’s what the game’s about.”
By David Friedman
NEWS-TIMES MUSIC WRITER
Willa Ford has a new album, “Sexysexobsessive,” due out in early 2004.
More than two years after her debut album caught fire with the hot single "I Wanna Be Bad,” Willa Ford is looking great and full of energy as she trades verses with rapper Lady May on her brand new single and video, "A Toast To Men,” a sorority anthem that says, "(Heck with) the men, let’s drink to us.”
But while the music is infectious and Ford is clearly having a ball taunting males with her sexy body, the video clip is a far cry from where the pop singer was as recently as 6 months ago. For several months starting in November 2002, Ford was chronically fatigued from a variety of factors, including her own tireless work ethic.
Battling with her label to include more rock elements in her music wore on her, as did the poor diet that often comes with extensive touring. An abusive relationship and another where a guy cheated on her didn’t help matters.
Ford, who was diagnosed with depression, discussed her experiences candidly in a Nov. 10 interview at Lava Records’ New York City office. These days, the singer — whose latest album, "Sexysexobsessive,” is due out in early 2004 — takes an anti-depressant called Effexor SR. Now, she’s back on track and ready to perform at a radio show Wednesday at Hartford’s Meadows Music Centre.
"This is the other side of Willa Ford,” said Ford, referring to her bout with depression. "It has nothing to do with my music, except for the fact that when you listen to this (new) record, there’s some deep places that I was in and you can hear it through my voice. You can’t tell from meeting me, you can’t tell from knowing me, you can’t tell from being around me.
"I looked in the mirror and I was like, ‘There are two ways I can go now. There’s the way I need to go, that God would want me to go. And there’s the way that basically would just numb everything,’ź” she added. "I chose the better path. This is not something that you want the public necessarily to know. My goal in telling people this is getting the other 20-year-old chicks that are going through this in college to get help rather than turn to drugs and alcohol or suicide.”
Born Amanda Lee Williford on Jan. 22, 1981, Ford grew up in Ruskin, Fla., a country town outside Tampa. Mother Donna helped her husband, Ralph, work on the family’s fruit and vegetable farm. The family also includes Ford’s half-brother, Marcus, and half-sisters Heather and Aleece, all now in their early 30s.
"It was all tomatoes and strawberries, peppers and stuff,” Ford said of the farm. "I’m probably the only chick in the music business, as far as I know, who can work a forklift and a tractor. I’m talking the old-school tractors — no air conditioning. I can do all that kind of stuff. I just learned from my father, growing up. I was so interested. I was like, ‘What does this do?’ź”
Ford began training as an opera singer when she was 8. Three years later, she joined a performing arts troupe called Entertainment Revue and later joined FLA, an all-girl quartet. Ford got into urban music by Jodeci, Shai and The Fugees. A gifted student at East Bay High School, she had a 4.25 GPA.
Going under her nickname, Mandy, she signed with MCA Records in 1999. After changing her stage name to Mandah, she opened for the Backstreet Boys.
But MCA wanted to clean up Ford’s image to make her more wholesome, like Britney Spears was at the time. Ford, who writes her own lyrics and melodies, wasn’t having it.
While her forthcoming album, “Sexysexobsessive,” takes her music in an industrial rock direction, singer-songwriter Willa Ford said she isn’t shying away from pop music. “Pop music has always been there,” she said. “U2 was pop. I mean, pop is just popular music. Why is everybody trying to get away from being pop?” Ford, who plays Wednesday in Hartford, added, “I’m pop music. I’m proud of it. We sell a lot of records. That’s what the game’s about.”
Instead, as Willa Ford, she released the steamy, titillating video for "I Wanna Be Bad” — after Lava bought out her MCA contract. Spears and Christina Aguilera followed Ford’s lead several months later, releasing risque videos for "I’m a Slave 4 U” and "Dirrty,” respectively.
By this time, Ford had made her mark with "I Wanna Be Bad,” which reached the top 10 on the Top 40 Mainstream, Hot 100 Singles and Hot Dance Music Singles charts. The song’s video was a top 10 regular on MTV’s "Total Request Live.” And the CD single sold more than 268,000 copies.
Meanwhile, Ford’s full-length debut, "Willa Was Here” — released in July 2001 — sold more than 152,000 copies.
"For a first album, I think it did pretty damn well,” Ford said. "I like the idea of being able to grow and get bigger rather than, boom, and see ya.
"There are these huge Britney Spears to overshadow and take all those blows (in the press) and there was me, creeping, creeping, creeping. And when she’s blown out, I creep my way to the top. I’m a sneaker. I don’t need to overexpose. I don’t need to make Barbie dolls. There’s time for everything — everything in due time.”
As she made arousing videos for subsequent singles "Did Ya’ Understand That” and "Santa Baby (Gimme Gimme Gimme),” Ford remained business savvy. When pop stars followed her lead into the less PG-realm, she took it as a compliment.
But most of all, Ford recorded hundreds of songs — including roughly 200 for her sophomore album alone. Most pop singers don’t have more than a handful of extra tracks from their album sessions. Ford’s productivity is, again, a testament to her drive and work ethic.
She also writes songs that are deeper and often darker than those of most pop divas. The bout with depression Ford had in late 2001 after going through an abusive relationship — among other experiences — seem to fuel her songwriting.
Without a doubt, Ford’s good looks alone earned her spots on magazine covers for Stuff and soon FHM. She’ll also be featured, though not nude, in a music edition of Hustler.
But Ford’s new album, which she originally wanted to call "Porn Poetry,” will help her fan base continue to grow. With live instruments on every song, the album addresses the world’s obsession with sex on title cut "Sexysexobsessive.” And the song "Into My Bed” speaks out about women being used for sex through prostitution, on prom night and in other situations.
"The album is a total venture into my mind,” said Ford, who has four dogs and recently bought a house on a lake in Valrico, Fla. "It took 2 years to make. It took the long time it took because I was going through a lot personally and, instead of just rushing through things, when I went through them I wrote about them.
"I dealt with the problems and I dealt with my feelings right off the bat with the record,” she added. "I even went through some old past things that I hadn’t dealt with and I went through those on the record. Yet it’s a fun, crazy, mood-swinging album. It’s like a big mood-swing from start to finish.”
The News-Times: Entertainment (http://www.newstimes.com/cgi-bin/dbs.cgi?db=news&view_records=1&id=58009)
~*~Destiny~*~