Leslie Ann Phillips, better known as Sam Phillips, started her musical career on the Christian pop circuit being plugged as “the Christian Cyndi Lauper.” (No, really!) What a long, strange trip it’s been. If she looks familiar, she also appeared as the mute terrorist Katya in Bruce Willis’s Die Hard With A Vengeance.
She made a career U-turn into alternative pop, and in 1994, released the seminal “Martinis and Bikinis” — something that put her into the top echelon of songwriters and earned her another Grammy nomination.
You may recognize her work from the many Phillips tunes used in the soundtracks of “Gilmore Girls,” “Bunheads,” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”
All I can tell you is, I’ve gone through four copies of “Martinis and Bikinis.” It’s still one of my very favorite albums in the whole world, not least because of the strong Beatlesque influence. (Not accidental — listen to her version of “Gimme Some Truth”, or “Strawberry Road.”)
And here’s another one of my favorite tunes, “I Need Love,” with lyrics I find myself singing almost every day:
And I need love
Not some sentimental prison
I need God
Not the political church
I need fire
To melt the frozen sea inside me
I need love.
