Jill Sobule
Encyclopedia
Jill Sobule is an American
singer-songwriter
best known for the 1995 single "I Kissed a Girl", and "Supermodel" from the soundtrack
of the 1995 film Clueless. Her folk-inflected compositions alternate between ironic, story-driven character studies and emotive ballads, a duality reminiscent of such 1970s American songwriters as Warren Zevon
, Harry Nilsson
, Loudon Wainwright III
, Harry Chapin
, and Randy Newman
. Autobiographical elements, including Sobule's Jewish heritage and her adolescent battles with anorexia
and depression
, frequently occur in Sobule's writing. An appreciable percentage of her work is also dedicated to detailed accounts of both her own fictional female creations and such troubled but celebrated women as Joey Heatherton
and Mary Kay Letourneau
, whose stories are usually used to make ironic comments about fame and celebrity. In 2009 she released an album funded entirely by fan donations.
, and a greatest hits
compilation album. Sobule's output also includes original songs available only via the Internet, a cover of Robert Earl Keen
's Christmas novelty track "Merry Christmas from the Family," and a version of the late Warren Zevon
's "Don't Let Us Get Sick" included on both Sobule's acoustic album and on a posthumous Zevon tribute record
. Though Sobule remains more of an underground artist, playing for fans across the United States in smaller, more personal settings, her albums are frequently critically acclaimed and her music industry supporters include Todd Rundgren
, Tom Morello
, Steve Earle
, Richard Barone
, and Eagles member Don Henley
.
Sobule's debut album Things Here Are Different
was released in 1990. Though produced by pop legend Todd Rundgren
, the album failed to sell. During this period a follow-up record was produced by British New Wave rocker Joe Jackson
(for whom she opened during 1991) but Sobule was dropped from her label and the second record was never released. It was five years before Sobule landed another recording contract.
Her 1995 album Jill Sobule
established Sobule as part of a short-lived but fruitful mid-90s movement of female singer-songwriters that included such artists as Lisa Loeb
, Juliana Hatfield
and Alanis Morissette
. The album contains Sobule's best-known composition "I Kissed a Girl", a story-song about a lesbian flirtation between two suburban girlfriends which became an unlikely radio success thanks in part to a comedic music video
featuring beefcake male model Fabio. "Supermodel" (sample lyric: "I didn't eat yesterday... and I'm not gonna eat today... and I'm not gonna eat tomorrow... 'Cause I'm gonna be a supermodel") managed to both send up and celebrate American teenage lifestyles, and became well known after its inclusion in 1995's hit teen comedy film Clueless.
The Jill Sobule album seemed to establish Sobule's commercial prospects, but her third album slowed that momentum while setting what has so far been the musical and production patterns for the rest of her career. 1997's Happy Town featured Sobule's most elaborate pop productions to date and contains songs about an eclectic range of topics including reactionary Christianity ("Soldiers of Christ"), the negative impact of anti-depressant medication on the libido ("Happy Town") and what is either the only track ever recorded that uses Anne Frank's enforced Nazi-era hibernation as the metaphor for a love song or the only song about Anne Frank that couches her life and death in the terms of a tussle over loyalty between two lovers ("Attic"). Though embraced by record reviewers from publications as diverse as the Advocate
and Entertainment Weekly
, Happy Town sold poorly, simultaneously solidifying Sobule's critical reputation while stalling her commercial momentum.
The 2000 record Pink Pearl
may be Sobule's most characteristic set. Anchored by the female character studies "Lucy at the Gym" (about an anorexic exercise addict), "Claire" (about an aging lesbian aviator succumbing to Alzheimer's disease
) and "Mary Kay" about Mary Kay Letourneau
, the notorious real-life schoolteacher who became impregnated and imprisoned as the result of an affair with a 13-year-old male student, whom she married when he reached the age of consent. Pink Pearl
also contains some of Sobule's most directly confessional songwriting, especially the atheist's prayer "Somewhere in New Mexico" and the insomniac's lullaby "Rock Me To Sleep". Henley contributed a promotional quotation to the ad campaign for the album and selected Sobule to open for him during his solo tour that year.
In 2004, Sobule self-released an independent album of demo-quality acoustic tracks entitled The Folk Years 2003–2003. In addition to some of her rarer compositions and several tracks that would later receive fuller arrangements on Sobule's next major-label release, Sobule performed offbeat cover versions of such standards as the old Doris Day theme song "Que Sera Sera" and "Sunrise/Sunset" from the Broadway musical Fiddler on the Roof
.
2004's more elaborately recorded Underdog Victorious
was one of the last albums distributed by legendary personal manager and media entrepreneur Danny Goldberg's now-defunct Artemis Records. The album is a representative selection that alternates between self-portraiture and ironic story songs. Here Sobule comments on her own unconventional show business career (the bittersweet "Freshman") as well as the tragicomic arc of go-go dancing
60s icon Joey Heatherton
("Joey") alongside whimsical autobiographical songs ("Cinnamon Park" and "Strawberry Gloss") and more politicized tracks dealing with issues related to adolescent homosexuality ("Underdog Victorious" and the humorous "Under the Disco Ball") and even sexual slavery ("Tel Aviv," sung in the voice of a girl forced into prostitution after going overseas for a waitressing job "in the Promised Land"). Sobule's niche as one of the more empathetic satirists working in popular song is encapsulated by her "tribute" to Heatherton, which gets a lot of comedic mileage out of the garish shallowness of Heatherton's story but with a chorus that finds Sobule singing "All she ever wanted was your love and affection/Isn't that the same thing that we all want?" before ending with the words "You can sleep at my house if you want to, Joey."
The liquidation of Artemis Records led Sobule to extend her experiments with online music distribution and to relocate from New York City
to Los Angeles
, where she has continued to write and perform prolifically and to compose original music for television, including for the popular Nickelodeon
series Unfabulous
.
In mid-January 2008, Sobule launched a website, jillsnextrecord.com, which sought to raise $75,000 through fan donations in order to produce, manufacture, distribute and promote an upcoming studio album. In exchange for their donations, Sobule offered her patrons an assortment of gifts with values commensurate with the amount of the donation. These gifts ranged from a free download of the album upon its release ($10) to the opportunity to attend a recording session and sing on the record ($10,000). On March 8, 2008, 53 days after the public launch of the site, Sobule reached her target through donations from over 500 people in 44 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and eleven foreign countries. The subsequent album, California Years
, was released on April 14, 2009 on Sobule's own label, Pinko Records. Produced by Don Was, it is a song cycle reflecting Sobule's personal and professional experiences after relocating from New York to Los Angeles, and containing humorous and poignant observations about the people, geography and popular culture of the West.
Sobule uses both satire and personal experience to sing about a range of issues, including sexuality, depression, war, abandonment, and greed. According to her website bio, a central preoccupation of her work is the classic one: "Love found, love lost, love wished for and love taken away." Many of her songs incorporate humor into their narrative. She often creates detailed character sketches, especially of women.
Generally, her songs are unconventionally folk
-like, using lounge
music percussion flourishes and retro horn charts not usually found in tracks recorded by mainstream artists. Occasionally her arrangements intentionally mimic works by other performers, most noticeably on "Rainy Day Parade" from 2000's Pink Pearl
, which quotes TV's The Mary Tyler Moore Show
theme to lend ironic triumphalism to a song about a woman going back on anti-depressant medication, and "Cinnamon Park" from the 2004 album Underdog Victorious
, which paraphrases portions of the 1972 single "Saturday in the Park
" by the band Chicago
. Her rhythmic sensibility at times recalls cocktail music deity Esquivel
, and her harmony parts can resemble the Beatles
on some of her more elaborate album tracks – possibly a partial legacy of her early recording efforts with Nazz founder and avowed Beatlemaniac Todd Rundgren
.
.
In the late 90s, Sobule toured with Richard Barone
as "The Richard & Jill Show." Together they wrote "Bitter" from Happy Town, "Rock Me To Sleep" from Pink Pearl, "Big Shoes" from I Never Learned to Swim, and "Waiting For The Train" from Barone's
Clouds Over Eden album. They also appeared together in the underground film Next Year In Jerusalem, which features another of their compositions, "Everybody's Queer." The pair continue to collaborate, including on a new song, "Odd Girl Out" for Barone's
new album, Glow (Bar/None Records
, 2010).
Their songs have been used on The West Wing. Felicity, Dawson's Creek
, South of Nowhere
and other television shows.
In 2000, Sobule joined Lloyd Cole
's short-lived band The Negatives.
In 2004, she played one of the five leads in the film Mind The Gap
with six of her songs featured on the soundtrack.
In 2005, Sobule contributed music to Unfabulous
, a popular Nickelodeon
TV series about a 13-year-old aspiring songwriter, including a title song performed by Sobule under the program's opening credits. Four Sobule compositions or co-compositions appear on the series star's debut album, Unfabulous and More: Emma Roberts
: a Roberts cover version of "Mexican Wrestler" from Sobule's album Pink Pearl; "Punch Rocker" and "94 Weeks (Metal Mouth Freak)," both written by Sobule for Roberts' character to "compose" on the program; and "New Shoes," a track co-written by Sobule with Unfabulous series creator Sue Rose.
In 2006, Sobule met Julia Sweeney
, the actress, writer and comedienne, and started performing the "Jill and Julia Show", a compilation of songs and stories. They performed at the James Randi Educational Foundation
meeting in Las Vegas
on January 19, 2007, as well as at regular showings for the Groundlings Theater in Los Angeles.
Also in 2006, Sobule created a theme song for blogger Ariana Huffington's self-help book On Becoming Fearless. The tune was briefly featured on Huffington's popular aggregated weblog The Huffington Post
in a music video featuring vocals by both Sobule and Huffington.
In 2007, Sobule teamed up with John Doe
to produce and record a cover of Neil Young
's "Down By The River" for the American Laundromat Records
benefit CD Cinnamon Girl – Women Artists Cover Neil Young For Charity. Other contributing artists included Lori McKenna, Tanya Donelly, Josie Cotton, Kristin Hersh, Britta Phillips, and The Watsons Twins.
Also in 2007, Sobule's song San Francisco became the first single released by producer Don Was
as part of his Wasmopolitan Cavalcade of Recorded Music, an advertiser-sponsored means for the recording and distribution of new music, part of the multimedia website mydamnchannel.com. The pair also collaborated on a 16 minute concert video entitled "Jill Sobule's Dance Party," distributed for free in two parts on both mydamnchannel.com and YouTube
.
In May 2008, Sobule released a CD of music from Prozak and the Platypus, a multi-media collaboration of Sobule, playwright Elise Thoron, and graphic artist KellyAnne Hanrahan. The play, written by Thoron (book, lyrics) and Sobule (music) and illustrated in a graphic novella by Hanrahan, tells the story of a fierce young woman, Sara (a musician) and her father Arvin, a neuroscientist, who relocates his family from Los Angeles to Brisbane, Australia to study REM sleep in the platypus
, a unique species native to Australia. Shattered by her mother's recent suicide and unhappy with the side-effects of her own treatment for depression, Sara renames herself "Prozak," rages through her songwriting, and rebels. Meanwhile, in her father's lab, Sara finds an unexpected confidant in her father's current lab subject, a jaunty platypus who speaks to her and calls himself "Frankie." In the piece, according to its website, "Music club and science lab become testing grounds in which angry teen and scientist father pit aboriginal mythology against modern neuroscience research. The dreams of a platypus prove to be the link between the two."
Sobule was a frequent guest on National Public Radio's The Bryant Park Project. Her contributions took the form of musical essays offering commentary on contemporary issues, including record-financing in the music industry, the 2007 Writers Guild strike, and the popularity of tarty, uncreative Halloween costumes.
Sobule toured twice with the late Warren Zevon
, with whom she shares a penchant for sardonic storytelling. The two artists frequently accompanied one another during each other's sets, and Zevon was known on multiple occasions to take the lead vocal on Sobule's "I Kissed a Girl". Sobule has said that part of their bond came from the fact that she, like Zevon, was best known for a single fluke hit (Zevon's being "Werewolves of London
").
In recent public statements, Sobule has expressed interest in compiling a live album, in addition to shifting her musical distribution toward an online-only model, based on quickly produced, "EP" length works.
In 2009 and 2010, Sobule performed with Julia Sweeney in a revue called "Jill and Julia". Sobule and Sweeney originally met at a TED (conference)
and performed together at TED in 2008. They brought the show on the road
in 2009 and 2010, performing in New York and Denver among other locations. The show is an autobiographical mix of music, stories and commentary.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
best known for the 1995 single "I Kissed a Girl", and "Supermodel" from the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
of the 1995 film Clueless. Her folk-inflected compositions alternate between ironic, story-driven character studies and emotive ballads, a duality reminiscent of such 1970s American songwriters as Warren Zevon
Warren Zevon
Warren William Zevon was an American rock singer-songwriter and musician noted for including his sometimes sardonic opinions of life in his musical lyrics, composing songs that were sometimes humorous and often had political or historical themes.Zevon's work has often been praised by well-known...
, Harry Nilsson
Harry Nilsson
Harry Edward Nilsson III was an American singer-songwriter who achieved the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. On all but his earliest recordings he is credited as Nilsson...
, Loudon Wainwright III
Loudon Wainwright III
Loudon Snowden Wainwright III is a Grammy Award-winning American songwriter, folk singer, humorist, and actor. He is the father of musicians Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright and Lucy Wainwright Roche, brother of Sloan Wainwright, and the former husband of the late folk singer Kate McGarrigle.To...
, Harry Chapin
Harry Chapin
Harry Forster Chapin was an American singer-songwriter best known in particular for his folk rock songs including "Taxi", "W*O*L*D", and the number-one hit "Cat's in the Cradle". Chapin was also a dedicated humanitarian who fought to end world hunger; he was a key player in the creation of the...
, and Randy Newman
Randy Newman
Randall Stuart "Randy" Newman is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is known for his mordant pop songs and for film scores....
. Autobiographical elements, including Sobule's Jewish heritage and her adolescent battles with anorexia
Anorexia nervosa
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by refusal to maintain a healthy body weight and an obsessive fear of gaining weight. Although commonly called "anorexia", that term on its own denotes any symptomatic loss of appetite and is not strictly accurate...
and depression
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
, frequently occur in Sobule's writing. An appreciable percentage of her work is also dedicated to detailed accounts of both her own fictional female creations and such troubled but celebrated women as Joey Heatherton
Joey Heatherton
Joey Heatherton is an American actress, dancer, and singer.-Early life:Christened Davenie Johanna Heatherton and nicknamed "Joey," she was raised in Rockville Centre, New York, a suburb of New York City. There she attended St. Agnes Cathedral School, a Catholic grade and high school...
and Mary Kay Letourneau
Mary Kay Letourneau
Mary Kay Fualaau , formerly known as Mary Kay Letourneau, is an American schoolteacher who was imprisoned from 1997 to 2004 for having sexual intercourse with her 13-year-old student, Vili Fualaau. She gave birth to two of Fualaau's children while incarcerated...
, whose stories are usually used to make ironic comments about fame and celebrity. In 2009 she released an album funded entirely by fan donations.
History and studio recordings
To date Sobule has released seven studio albums of original songs, three EPsExtended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, and a greatest hits
Greatest hits
A greatest hits album is a music compilation album of successful, previously released songs by a particular artist or band...
compilation album. Sobule's output also includes original songs available only via the Internet, a cover of Robert Earl Keen
Robert Earl Keen
Robert Earl Keen, Junior is an American Texas Country singer-songwriter. He is popular with fans of traditional country music, folk music, college radio, and alt-country. Keen currently resides in Kerrville, Texas and maintains a ranch in Medina, Texas.-Early life:Growing up in Houston, Texas,...
's Christmas novelty track "Merry Christmas from the Family," and a version of the late Warren Zevon
Warren Zevon
Warren William Zevon was an American rock singer-songwriter and musician noted for including his sometimes sardonic opinions of life in his musical lyrics, composing songs that were sometimes humorous and often had political or historical themes.Zevon's work has often been praised by well-known...
's "Don't Let Us Get Sick" included on both Sobule's acoustic album and on a posthumous Zevon tribute record
Enjoy Every Sandwich: Songs of Warren Zevon
Enjoy Every Sandwich: The Songs of Warren Zevon is a tribute album released in 2004 to the late Warren Zevon by many famous musicians. It includes two unreleased Zevon songs: "The Wind," sung by actor Billy Bob Thornton; and "Studebaker," sung by Warren's son Jordan Zevon.The album's title comes...
. Though Sobule remains more of an underground artist, playing for fans across the United States in smaller, more personal settings, her albums are frequently critically acclaimed and her music industry supporters include Todd Rundgren
Todd Rundgren
Todd Harry Rundgren is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and record producer. Hailed in the early stage of his career as a new pop-wunderkind, supported by the certified gold solo double LP Something/Anything? in 1972, Todd Rundgren's career has produced a diverse range of recordings...
, Tom Morello
Tom Morello
Thomas Baptiste "Tom" Morello is a Grammy Award-winning American guitarist best known for his tenure with the bands Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, his acoustic solo act The Nightwatchman, and his newest group, Street Sweeper Social Club...
, Steve Earle
Steve Earle
Stephen Fain "Steve" Earle is an American singer-songwriter known for his rock and Texas Country as well as his political views. He is also a producer, author, a political activist, and an actor, and has written and directed a play....
, Richard Barone
Richard Barone
Richard Barone is a rock musician born in Tampa, Florida who gained attention as frontman for The Bongos. He works as a songwriter, arranger, author, director, and producer, releases albums as a solo artist, tours, and has created major concert events at Carnegie Hall, Hollywood Bowl and New York's...
, and Eagles member Don Henley
Don Henley
Donald Hugh "Don" Henley is an American singer, songwriter and drummer, best known as a founding member of the Eagles before launching a successful solo career. Henley was the drummer and lead vocalist for the Eagles from 1971–1980, when the band broke up...
.
Sobule's debut album Things Here Are Different
Things Here Are Different
Things Here Are Different is the first album by American singer/songwriter Jill Sobule, released in 1990. . It contained the singles "Living Color" and "Too Cool to Fall in Love."-Track listing:...
was released in 1990. Though produced by pop legend Todd Rundgren
Todd Rundgren
Todd Harry Rundgren is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and record producer. Hailed in the early stage of his career as a new pop-wunderkind, supported by the certified gold solo double LP Something/Anything? in 1972, Todd Rundgren's career has produced a diverse range of recordings...
, the album failed to sell. During this period a follow-up record was produced by British New Wave rocker Joe Jackson
Joe Jackson (musician)
Joe Jackson is an English musician and singer-songwriter now living in Berlin, whose five Grammy Award nominations span from 1979 to 2001...
(for whom she opened during 1991) but Sobule was dropped from her label and the second record was never released. It was five years before Sobule landed another recording contract.
Her 1995 album Jill Sobule
Jill Sobule (album)
Jill Sobule is the second album by American singer/songwriter Jill Sobule, released in 1995. . The disc contained the singles "Good Person Inside", "Supermodel", and "I Kissed a Girl."-Track listing:...
established Sobule as part of a short-lived but fruitful mid-90s movement of female singer-songwriters that included such artists as Lisa Loeb
Lisa Loeb
Lisa Anne Loeb is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She launched her career in 1994 with the song, "Stay ". She was the first artist to have a number one single in the United States while not signed to a recording contract.Loeb's efforts now include music, film, television, voice-over...
, Juliana Hatfield
Juliana Hatfield
Juliana Hatfield , is an American guitarist/singer-songwriter and author from the Boston area, formerly of the indie rock bands Blake Babies and Some Girls. She currently lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts....
and Alanis Morissette
Alanis Morissette
Alanis Nadine Morissette is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and actress. She has won 16 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards, was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and also shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination...
. The album contains Sobule's best-known composition "I Kissed a Girl", a story-song about a lesbian flirtation between two suburban girlfriends which became an unlikely radio success thanks in part to a comedic music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
featuring beefcake male model Fabio. "Supermodel" (sample lyric: "I didn't eat yesterday... and I'm not gonna eat today... and I'm not gonna eat tomorrow... 'Cause I'm gonna be a supermodel") managed to both send up and celebrate American teenage lifestyles, and became well known after its inclusion in 1995's hit teen comedy film Clueless.
The Jill Sobule album seemed to establish Sobule's commercial prospects, but her third album slowed that momentum while setting what has so far been the musical and production patterns for the rest of her career. 1997's Happy Town featured Sobule's most elaborate pop productions to date and contains songs about an eclectic range of topics including reactionary Christianity ("Soldiers of Christ"), the negative impact of anti-depressant medication on the libido ("Happy Town") and what is either the only track ever recorded that uses Anne Frank's enforced Nazi-era hibernation as the metaphor for a love song or the only song about Anne Frank that couches her life and death in the terms of a tussle over loyalty between two lovers ("Attic"). Though embraced by record reviewers from publications as diverse as the Advocate
The Advocate
The Advocate is an American LGBT-interest magazine, printed monthly and available by subscription. The Advocate brand also includes a web site. Both magazine and web site have an editorial focus on news, politics, opinion, and arts and entertainment of interest to LGBT people...
and Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
, Happy Town sold poorly, simultaneously solidifying Sobule's critical reputation while stalling her commercial momentum.
The 2000 record Pink Pearl
Pink Pearl
Pink Pearl is the fourth album by American singer/songwriter Jill Sobule, released in 2000. .The record, whose name is both a model of pencil eraser by Eberhard Faber and a slang term for the clitoris, contains the singles "One of These Days" and "Rainy Day Parade".The album includes the satirical...
may be Sobule's most characteristic set. Anchored by the female character studies "Lucy at the Gym" (about an anorexic exercise addict), "Claire" (about an aging lesbian aviator succumbing to Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
) and "Mary Kay" about Mary Kay Letourneau
Mary Kay Letourneau
Mary Kay Fualaau , formerly known as Mary Kay Letourneau, is an American schoolteacher who was imprisoned from 1997 to 2004 for having sexual intercourse with her 13-year-old student, Vili Fualaau. She gave birth to two of Fualaau's children while incarcerated...
, the notorious real-life schoolteacher who became impregnated and imprisoned as the result of an affair with a 13-year-old male student, whom she married when he reached the age of consent. Pink Pearl
Pink Pearl
Pink Pearl is the fourth album by American singer/songwriter Jill Sobule, released in 2000. .The record, whose name is both a model of pencil eraser by Eberhard Faber and a slang term for the clitoris, contains the singles "One of These Days" and "Rainy Day Parade".The album includes the satirical...
also contains some of Sobule's most directly confessional songwriting, especially the atheist's prayer "Somewhere in New Mexico" and the insomniac's lullaby "Rock Me To Sleep". Henley contributed a promotional quotation to the ad campaign for the album and selected Sobule to open for him during his solo tour that year.
In 2004, Sobule self-released an independent album of demo-quality acoustic tracks entitled The Folk Years 2003–2003. In addition to some of her rarer compositions and several tracks that would later receive fuller arrangements on Sobule's next major-label release, Sobule performed offbeat cover versions of such standards as the old Doris Day theme song "Que Sera Sera" and "Sunrise/Sunset" from the Broadway musical Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters by Sholem Aleichem...
.
2004's more elaborately recorded Underdog Victorious
Underdog Victorious
Underdog Victorious is the sixth studio album by American singer/songwriter Jill Sobule, released in 2004. . Her first record in four years contains the single "Cinnamon Park" .The CD contains a hidden track, "I Saw a Cop.""Nothing Natural" appeared on an episode of the...
was one of the last albums distributed by legendary personal manager and media entrepreneur Danny Goldberg's now-defunct Artemis Records. The album is a representative selection that alternates between self-portraiture and ironic story songs. Here Sobule comments on her own unconventional show business career (the bittersweet "Freshman") as well as the tragicomic arc of go-go dancing
Go-Go dancing
Go-go dancers are dancers who are employed to entertain crowds at a discotheque. Go-go dancing originated in the early 1960s when women at the Peppermint Lounge in New York City began to get up on tables and dance the twist...
60s icon Joey Heatherton
Joey Heatherton
Joey Heatherton is an American actress, dancer, and singer.-Early life:Christened Davenie Johanna Heatherton and nicknamed "Joey," she was raised in Rockville Centre, New York, a suburb of New York City. There she attended St. Agnes Cathedral School, a Catholic grade and high school...
("Joey") alongside whimsical autobiographical songs ("Cinnamon Park" and "Strawberry Gloss") and more politicized tracks dealing with issues related to adolescent homosexuality ("Underdog Victorious" and the humorous "Under the Disco Ball") and even sexual slavery ("Tel Aviv," sung in the voice of a girl forced into prostitution after going overseas for a waitressing job "in the Promised Land"). Sobule's niche as one of the more empathetic satirists working in popular song is encapsulated by her "tribute" to Heatherton, which gets a lot of comedic mileage out of the garish shallowness of Heatherton's story but with a chorus that finds Sobule singing "All she ever wanted was your love and affection/Isn't that the same thing that we all want?" before ending with the words "You can sleep at my house if you want to, Joey."
The liquidation of Artemis Records led Sobule to extend her experiments with online music distribution and to relocate from New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, where she has continued to write and perform prolifically and to compose original music for television, including for the popular Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
series Unfabulous
Unfabulous
Unfabulous is an American children's television series that aired on Nickelodeon The series is about an "unfabulous" junior high school student, played by Emma Roberts...
.
In mid-January 2008, Sobule launched a website, jillsnextrecord.com, which sought to raise $75,000 through fan donations in order to produce, manufacture, distribute and promote an upcoming studio album. In exchange for their donations, Sobule offered her patrons an assortment of gifts with values commensurate with the amount of the donation. These gifts ranged from a free download of the album upon its release ($10) to the opportunity to attend a recording session and sing on the record ($10,000). On March 8, 2008, 53 days after the public launch of the site, Sobule reached her target through donations from over 500 people in 44 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and eleven foreign countries. The subsequent album, California Years
California Years
California Years is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Jill Sobule, released on April 14, 2009 on Sobule's own label, Pinko Records...
, was released on April 14, 2009 on Sobule's own label, Pinko Records. Produced by Don Was, it is a song cycle reflecting Sobule's personal and professional experiences after relocating from New York to Los Angeles, and containing humorous and poignant observations about the people, geography and popular culture of the West.
Music
Generally, her songs are unconventionally folk
American folk music
American folk music is a musical term that encompasses numerous genres, many of which are known as traditional music or roots music. Roots music is a broad category of music including bluegrass, country music, gospel, old time music, jug bands, Appalachian folk, blues, Cajun and Native American...
-like, using lounge
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
music percussion flourishes and retro horn charts not usually found in tracks recorded by mainstream artists. Occasionally her arrangements intentionally mimic works by other performers, most noticeably on "Rainy Day Parade" from 2000's Pink Pearl
Pink Pearl
Pink Pearl is the fourth album by American singer/songwriter Jill Sobule, released in 2000. .The record, whose name is both a model of pencil eraser by Eberhard Faber and a slang term for the clitoris, contains the singles "One of These Days" and "Rainy Day Parade".The album includes the satirical...
, which quotes TV's The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns that aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977...
theme to lend ironic triumphalism to a song about a woman going back on anti-depressant medication, and "Cinnamon Park" from the 2004 album Underdog Victorious
Underdog Victorious
Underdog Victorious is the sixth studio album by American singer/songwriter Jill Sobule, released in 2004. . Her first record in four years contains the single "Cinnamon Park" .The CD contains a hidden track, "I Saw a Cop.""Nothing Natural" appeared on an episode of the...
, which paraphrases portions of the 1972 single "Saturday in the Park
Saturday in the Park (song)
"Saturday in the Park" is a song written by Robert Lamm and recorded by the group Chicago for their 1972 album Chicago V, with Lamm on piano and lead vocals and Peter Cetera on bass and backing vocals. The single version hit #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band's highest-charting single...
" by the band Chicago
Chicago (band)
Chicago is an American rock band formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. The self-described "rock and roll band with horns" began as a politically charged, sometimes experimental, rock band and later moved to a predominantly softer sound, becoming famous for producing a number of hit ballads. They had...
. Her rhythmic sensibility at times recalls cocktail music deity Esquivel
Juan García Esquivel
Juan García Esquivel often simply known as Esquivel!, was a Mexican band leader, pianist, and composer for television and films. He is recognized today as one of the foremost exponents of a sophisticated style of largely instrumental music that combines elements of lounge music and jazz with Latin...
, and her harmony parts can resemble the Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
on some of her more elaborate album tracks – possibly a partial legacy of her early recording efforts with Nazz founder and avowed Beatlemaniac Todd Rundgren
Todd Rundgren
Todd Harry Rundgren is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and record producer. Hailed in the early stage of his career as a new pop-wunderkind, supported by the certified gold solo double LP Something/Anything? in 1972, Todd Rundgren's career has produced a diverse range of recordings...
.
Collaborations
Sobule is a prolific collaborator, writing and performing both with other musicians and with artists from nonmusical disciplines, including blogger Ariana Huffington, television producer Sue Rose and comedienne Julia SweeneyJulia Sweeney
Julia Anne Sweeney is an American actress, comedian and author best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and for her autobiographical solo shows.-Personal life:...
.
Richard Barone
Richard Barone is a rock musician born in Tampa, Florida who gained attention as frontman for The Bongos. He works as a songwriter, arranger, author, director, and producer, releases albums as a solo artist, tours, and has created major concert events at Carnegie Hall, Hollywood Bowl and New York's...
as "The Richard & Jill Show." Together they wrote "Bitter" from Happy Town, "Rock Me To Sleep" from Pink Pearl, "Big Shoes" from I Never Learned to Swim, and "Waiting For The Train" from Barone's
Richard Barone
Richard Barone is a rock musician born in Tampa, Florida who gained attention as frontman for The Bongos. He works as a songwriter, arranger, author, director, and producer, releases albums as a solo artist, tours, and has created major concert events at Carnegie Hall, Hollywood Bowl and New York's...
Clouds Over Eden album. They also appeared together in the underground film Next Year In Jerusalem, which features another of their compositions, "Everybody's Queer." The pair continue to collaborate, including on a new song, "Odd Girl Out" for Barone's
Richard Barone
Richard Barone is a rock musician born in Tampa, Florida who gained attention as frontman for The Bongos. He works as a songwriter, arranger, author, director, and producer, releases albums as a solo artist, tours, and has created major concert events at Carnegie Hall, Hollywood Bowl and New York's...
new album, Glow (Bar/None Records
Bar/None Records
Bar/None Records is an independent record label based in Hoboken, New Jersey.-Early history:Tom Prendergast started Bar/None in early 1986. Having previously worked in pirate radio and booked and promoted bands in his native Ireland, Prendergast moved to Hoboken in 1982 and started Pier Platters...
, 2010).
Their songs have been used on The West Wing. Felicity, Dawson's Creek
Dawson's Creek
Dawson's Creek is an American teen drama television series which debuted on January 20, 1998, on The WB Television Network and was produced by Sony Pictures Television. The show is set in the fictional seaside town of Capeside, Massachusetts, and in Boston, Massachusetts, during the later seasons...
, South of Nowhere
South of Nowhere
South of Nowhere is an American teen drama television series created by Thomas W. Lynch. Aimed primarily at teenagers, it first aired on November 4, 2005 and was one of six original series on The N. The second half of the third and final season aired October 10, 2008 and the final episode aired on...
and other television shows.
In 2000, Sobule joined Lloyd Cole
Lloyd Cole
Lloyd Cole is an English singer and songwriter, known for his role as lead singer of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions from 1984 to 1989, and for his subsequent solo work.-Early life:...
's short-lived band The Negatives.
In 2004, she played one of the five leads in the film Mind The Gap
Mind The Gap (2004 film)
Mind The Gap is a multi-story 2004 film written & directed by Eric Schaeffer.The film moves back and forth between five separate stories that touch on each other by the end of the film....
with six of her songs featured on the soundtrack.
In 2005, Sobule contributed music to Unfabulous
Unfabulous
Unfabulous is an American children's television series that aired on Nickelodeon The series is about an "unfabulous" junior high school student, played by Emma Roberts...
, a popular Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
TV series about a 13-year-old aspiring songwriter, including a title song performed by Sobule under the program's opening credits. Four Sobule compositions or co-compositions appear on the series star's debut album, Unfabulous and More: Emma Roberts
Unfabulous and More: Emma Roberts
Unfabulous and More is the soundtrack for the TV series Unfabulous. It also serves as Emma Roberts's debut album, released on September 27, 2005....
: a Roberts cover version of "Mexican Wrestler" from Sobule's album Pink Pearl; "Punch Rocker" and "94 Weeks (Metal Mouth Freak)," both written by Sobule for Roberts' character to "compose" on the program; and "New Shoes," a track co-written by Sobule with Unfabulous series creator Sue Rose.
In 2006, Sobule met Julia Sweeney
Julia Sweeney
Julia Anne Sweeney is an American actress, comedian and author best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and for her autobiographical solo shows.-Personal life:...
, the actress, writer and comedienne, and started performing the "Jill and Julia Show", a compilation of songs and stories. They performed at the James Randi Educational Foundation
James Randi Educational Foundation
The James Randi Educational Foundation is a non-profit organization founded in 1996 by magician and skeptic James Randi. The JREF's mission includes educating the public and the media on the dangers of accepting unproven claims, and to support research into paranormal claims in controlled...
meeting in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
on January 19, 2007, as well as at regular showings for the Groundlings Theater in Los Angeles.
Also in 2006, Sobule created a theme song for blogger Ariana Huffington's self-help book On Becoming Fearless. The tune was briefly featured on Huffington's popular aggregated weblog The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...
in a music video featuring vocals by both Sobule and Huffington.
In 2007, Sobule teamed up with John Doe
John Doe (musician)
John Doe is an American singer, songwriter, actor, poet and bass player. Doe founded the much-praised L.A. punk band X, of which he is still an active member. His musical performances and compositions span the rock, country and folk music genres...
to produce and record a cover of Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
's "Down By The River" for the American Laundromat Records
American Laundromat Records
American Laundromat Records is an indie label based in Mystic, CT.The label has produced several tribute albums, including Dig For Fire - a tribute to PIXIES, Cinnamon Girl - Women Artists Cover Neil Young, and High School Reunion - A Tribute to Those Great 80's Films...
benefit CD Cinnamon Girl – Women Artists Cover Neil Young For Charity. Other contributing artists included Lori McKenna, Tanya Donelly, Josie Cotton, Kristin Hersh, Britta Phillips, and The Watsons Twins.
Also in 2007, Sobule's song San Francisco became the first single released by producer Don Was
Don Was
Don Was is an American musician, bassist and record producer.-Life and career:Was was born in Detroit, Michigan. He graduated from Oak Park High School in the Detroit suburb of Oak Park, then attended the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor but dropped out after the first year...
as part of his Wasmopolitan Cavalcade of Recorded Music, an advertiser-sponsored means for the recording and distribution of new music, part of the multimedia website mydamnchannel.com. The pair also collaborated on a 16 minute concert video entitled "Jill Sobule's Dance Party," distributed for free in two parts on both mydamnchannel.com and YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
.
In May 2008, Sobule released a CD of music from Prozak and the Platypus, a multi-media collaboration of Sobule, playwright Elise Thoron, and graphic artist KellyAnne Hanrahan. The play, written by Thoron (book, lyrics) and Sobule (music) and illustrated in a graphic novella by Hanrahan, tells the story of a fierce young woman, Sara (a musician) and her father Arvin, a neuroscientist, who relocates his family from Los Angeles to Brisbane, Australia to study REM sleep in the platypus
Platypus
The platypus is a semi-aquatic mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. Together with the four species of echidna, it is one of the five extant species of monotremes, the only mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young...
, a unique species native to Australia. Shattered by her mother's recent suicide and unhappy with the side-effects of her own treatment for depression, Sara renames herself "Prozak," rages through her songwriting, and rebels. Meanwhile, in her father's lab, Sara finds an unexpected confidant in her father's current lab subject, a jaunty platypus who speaks to her and calls himself "Frankie." In the piece, according to its website, "Music club and science lab become testing grounds in which angry teen and scientist father pit aboriginal mythology against modern neuroscience research. The dreams of a platypus prove to be the link between the two."
Sobule was a frequent guest on National Public Radio's The Bryant Park Project. Her contributions took the form of musical essays offering commentary on contemporary issues, including record-financing in the music industry, the 2007 Writers Guild strike, and the popularity of tarty, uncreative Halloween costumes.
Sobule toured twice with the late Warren Zevon
Warren Zevon
Warren William Zevon was an American rock singer-songwriter and musician noted for including his sometimes sardonic opinions of life in his musical lyrics, composing songs that were sometimes humorous and often had political or historical themes.Zevon's work has often been praised by well-known...
, with whom she shares a penchant for sardonic storytelling. The two artists frequently accompanied one another during each other's sets, and Zevon was known on multiple occasions to take the lead vocal on Sobule's "I Kissed a Girl". Sobule has said that part of their bond came from the fact that she, like Zevon, was best known for a single fluke hit (Zevon's being "Werewolves of London
Werewolves of London
"Werewolves of London" is a rock song composed by LeRoy Marinell, Waddy Wachtel, and Warren Zevon and performed by Zevon. Included on Zevon's 1978 album Excitable Boy, it featured accompaniment by bassist John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac.The single was released by Asylum as...
").
In recent public statements, Sobule has expressed interest in compiling a live album, in addition to shifting her musical distribution toward an online-only model, based on quickly produced, "EP" length works.
In 2009 and 2010, Sobule performed with Julia Sweeney in a revue called "Jill and Julia". Sobule and Sweeney originally met at a TED (conference)
TED (conference)
TED is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate "ideas worth spreading"....
and performed together at TED in 2008. They brought the show on the road
in 2009 and 2010, performing in New York and Denver among other locations. The show is an autobiographical mix of music, stories and commentary.
Studio albums
- Things Here Are DifferentThings Here Are DifferentThings Here Are Different is the first album by American singer/songwriter Jill Sobule, released in 1990. . It contained the singles "Living Color" and "Too Cool to Fall in Love."-Track listing:...
(19901990 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1990.-Events:*January 21 – MTV's Unplugged premieres on cable television with British band Squeeze...
) - Jill SobuleJill Sobule (album)Jill Sobule is the second album by American singer/songwriter Jill Sobule, released in 1995. . The disc contained the singles "Good Person Inside", "Supermodel", and "I Kissed a Girl."-Track listing:...
(19951995 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1995.- January–February :*January 18 – Jerry Garcia crashes his rented BMW into a guard rail near Mill Valley, California, USA, but is not injured in the accident....
) - Happy Town (19971997 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1997.-January:*January 9 – David Bowie performs his 50th Birthday Bash concert at Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA with guests Frank Black, The Foo Fighters, Sonic Youth, Robert Smith of The Cure, Lou Reed, and Billy...
) - Pink PearlPink PearlPink Pearl is the fourth album by American singer/songwriter Jill Sobule, released in 2000. .The record, whose name is both a model of pencil eraser by Eberhard Faber and a slang term for the clitoris, contains the singles "One of These Days" and "Rainy Day Parade".The album includes the satirical...
(20002000 in musicSee also:* 2000 in music Record labels established in 2000-Events:*January – Gary Glitter is released from jail, two months before his sentence for sexual offences ends.*January 1**John Tavener is knighted in the New Year's Honours List....
) - The Folk Years 2003–2003 (20042004 in musicSee also:* 2004 in music Record labels established in 2004-January:*January 1**The Vienna New Year's Concert is conducted by Riccardo Muti.**Kurt Nilsen wins World Idol....
) (Independent Release) - Underdog VictoriousUnderdog VictoriousUnderdog Victorious is the sixth studio album by American singer/songwriter Jill Sobule, released in 2004. . Her first record in four years contains the single "Cinnamon Park" .The CD contains a hidden track, "I Saw a Cop.""Nothing Natural" appeared on an episode of the...
(20042004 in musicSee also:* 2004 in music Record labels established in 2004-January:*January 1**The Vienna New Year's Concert is conducted by Riccardo Muti.**Kurt Nilsen wins World Idol....
) - Jill Sobule Sings Prozak and the Platypus (20082008 in music2008 was a huge year in music history with the emergence of pop superstars Lady Gaga and Katy Perry into the mainstream. Also, this is the year that is widely agreed upon by critics as the start of the fall of hip hop from the mainstream and the rise of Synthpop into the mainstream due to acts such...
) - California YearsCalifornia YearsCalifornia Years is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Jill Sobule, released on April 14, 2009 on Sobule's own label, Pinko Records...
(20092009 in musicThe following is a list of notable events and releases in 2009 in music. Susan Boyle's album I Dreamed a Dream became the biggest selling album in the world for 2009, selling 8.3 million copies in five weeks; more than any other artist's in the whole year...
) - A Day At The PassA Day at the PassA Day at the Pass finally captures an ongoing collaboration between Jill Sobule & John Doe. It was funded entirely by their fans & with an all-star band, recorded live at The Pass studio on one fine day in Los Angeles....
(2011)
Compilations
- I Never Learned to Swim: Jill Sobule 1990–2000 (20012001 in musicSee also:* 2001 in music Record labels established in 2001-Events:*January 1**Comeback of Guns N' Roses in House of Blues**Hum disbands.*January 17 – Bass player Jason Newsted leaves Metallica after 14 years with the band....
) (Best of Compilation)
EPs
- It's the Thought That CountsIt's the Thought That CountsIt's the Thought That Counts is an EP by Jill Sobule, released independently in 2001 and reissued in 2005.-Track listing :# "Christmas Time Is Here" # "Merry Christmas from the Family"...
[EP] (20002000 in musicSee also:* 2000 in music Record labels established in 2000-Events:*January – Gary Glitter is released from jail, two months before his sentence for sexual offences ends.*January 1**John Tavener is knighted in the New Year's Honours List....
) (Independent Release) - Be Mine... PleaseBe Mine... PleaseBe Mine... Please is an independent EP by Jill Sobule, released in 2000.-Track listing:#"October in Paris"#"Good Night My Love, Good Night"#"Smoke Dreams"#"Lucky in Love"#"Don't Fuck with Me"#"Que Sera, Sera "...
[EP] (20012001 in musicSee also:* 2001 in music Record labels established in 2001-Events:*January 1**Comeback of Guns N' Roses in House of Blues**Hum disbands.*January 17 – Bass player Jason Newsted leaves Metallica after 14 years with the band....
) (Independent Release) - It's the Thought That Counts (Re-issue) [EP] (20052005 in music-Events:*During the year 2005, 12 rock music albums scored number 1 in the USA. This was the first time even ten albums have scored number 1 since 1996.-January:...
) (Independent Release)
Singles
- 1990: "Too Cool to Fall in Love"
- 1990: "Living Color"
- 1995: "I Kissed a Girl"
- 1996: "Good Person Inside" (Radio Version)
- 1996: "Supermodel" (Radio Remix)
- 1997: "Bitter" (PG-13 Edit)
- 1997: "When My Ship Comes In" (Edit)
- 2000: "One of These Days" (Radio Version)
- 2000: "Rainy Day Parade"
- 2001: "Stoned Soul Picnic"
- 2004: "Cinnamon Park" (PG Edit)
- 2007: "San Francisco"
Soundtrack appearances
- 1995: "Supermodel" from Clueless
- 1996: "Where Do I Begin" from The Truth About Cats & DogsThe Truth About Cats & DogsThe Truth About Cats & Dogs is a 1996 American romantic comedy film, starring Janeane Garofalo, Uma Thurman, Ben Chaplin, and Jamie Foxx. It was directed by Michael Lehmann and written by Audrey Wells...
- 1996: "Truth Is You Lied" from Grace of My HeartGrace of My HeartGrace of My Heart is a 1996 film written and directed by Allison Anders, set in the pop music world, starting off in New York's Brill Building early 1960s era, weaving through the California Sound of the mid '60s and culminating with the adult-contemporary scene of the early 1970s.The plot follows...
- 1996: "The Secretive Life" from Harriet the SpyHarriet the Spy (film)Harriet the Spy is a 1996 comedy-drama and mystery film adaptation of the 1964 novel of the same name by Louise Fitzhugh, and starring Michelle Trachtenberg as the title character....
- 1999: "Rainy Day Parade" from Mystery MenMystery MenMystery Men is a 1999 comedy film based on a Dark Horse comic book series feature in Flaming Carrot Comics by Bob Burden, directed by TV commercial director Kinka Usher. It stars William H. Macy, Ben Stiller, and Hank Azaria as a trio of lesser superheroes with fairly unimpressive superpowers who...
- 2003: "Tel Aviv," "Nothing Natural," "Bitter," "Somewhere in New Mexico," "Freshman," and "Vrbana Bridge" from Mind the GapMind The Gap (2004 film)Mind The Gap is a multi-story 2004 film written & directed by Eric Schaeffer.The film moves back and forth between five separate stories that touch on each other by the end of the film....
- 2005: "Love Is Never Equal" from Jenny McCarthy's Dirty LoveDirty LoveDirty Love is a 2005 comedy written by and starring Jenny McCarthy and directed by John Mallory Asher. At the time of filming McCarthy and Asher were married, they divorced the month the film went into wide release...
Various artist compilations
- 1992: "Too Cool to Fall in Love" from An Elpee's Worth of Productions
- 1995: "The Jig Is Up" from Grooves: Volume 8
- 1995: "Good Person Inside" and "The Man in the Boat" from Spew
- 1995: "Merry Christmas from the Family" from You Sleigh Me
- 1997: "Stoned Soul Picnic" from Time and Love: The Music of Laura NyroLaura NyroLaura Nyro was an American songwriter, singer, and pianist. She achieved considerable critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums Eli and the Thirteenth Confession and New York Tendaberry, and had commercial success with artists such as Barbra Streisand and The 5th...
- 1997: "I Will Survive" from In Their Own Words and from Hard Rock Live
- 1998: "Saddest Day of the Year" from A Christmas to Remember
- 1999: "Just a Little Lovin'" from Forever Dusty
- 1999: "Sunrise, Sunset" from Knitting on the Roof
- 2000: "Rainy Day Parade" from New Talent Spotlight Volume 2
- 2000: "I Kissed a Girl" from K-TEL Pop Alternative
- 2004: "Don't Let Us Get Sick" from Enjoy Every Sandwich: The Songs of Warren ZevonWarren ZevonWarren William Zevon was an American rock singer-songwriter and musician noted for including his sometimes sardonic opinions of life in his musical lyrics, composing songs that were sometimes humorous and often had political or historical themes.Zevon's work has often been praised by well-known...
- 2007: "Down by the RiverDown by the River"Down by the River" is a song composed by Neil Young. It was first released on his 1969 album with Crazy Horse, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere. Young explained the context of story when introducing it in New Orleans on September 27, 1984. It depicts a man who catches his woman cheating on him,...
" with John DoeJohn Doe (musician)John Doe is an American singer, songwriter, actor, poet and bass player. Doe founded the much-praised L.A. punk band X, of which he is still an active member. His musical performances and compositions span the rock, country and folk music genres...
from Cinnamon Girl – Women Artists Cover Neil YoungNeil YoungNeil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
For Charity
B-sides
- 1995: Queen of Spades (from the Supermodel single)
- 1997: Loveless Motel (from the Bitter single, later included on album Pink PearlPink PearlPink Pearl is the fourth album by American singer/songwriter Jill Sobule, released in 2000. .The record, whose name is both a model of pencil eraser by Eberhard Faber and a slang term for the clitoris, contains the singles "One of These Days" and "Rainy Day Parade".The album includes the satirical...
) - 2000: Lucy at the Gym (from the When My Ship Comes In single, later included on album Pink PearlPink PearlPink Pearl is the fourth album by American singer/songwriter Jill Sobule, released in 2000. .The record, whose name is both a model of pencil eraser by Eberhard Faber and a slang term for the clitoris, contains the singles "One of These Days" and "Rainy Day Parade".The album includes the satirical...
) - 2004: Almost Fell (Bonus track on the Borders edition of Underdog VictoriousUnderdog VictoriousUnderdog Victorious is the sixth studio album by American singer/songwriter Jill Sobule, released in 2004. . Her first record in four years contains the single "Cinnamon Park" .The CD contains a hidden track, "I Saw a Cop.""Nothing Natural" appeared on an episode of the...
)
Unreleased
- 2000: "Youthful Indiscretions"
- 2003: "Nothing I Can Do" (from the off-Broadway production Prozak and the Platypus)
- 2004: "Perry St." (from the Underdog Victorious sessions)
- 2004: "Let's Get Back Together" (from the Underdog Victorious sessions)
- 2004: "Mickey and Me" (from the Underdog Victorious sessions)
- 2004: "Western Skies"
- 2004: "Blue America"
- 2006: "Manhattan in January"
- 2006: "The End of Love"
- 2007: "Odd Girl Out" (with Richard BaroneRichard BaroneRichard Barone is a rock musician born in Tampa, Florida who gained attention as frontman for The Bongos. He works as a songwriter, arranger, author, director, and producer, releases albums as a solo artist, tours, and has created major concert events at Carnegie Hall, Hollywood Bowl and New York's...
) - 2007: "Letting Go of God" (from the Julia Sweeney stage show Letting Go of God)
- 2007: "Slutty Halloween"
- 2007: "We Are the Writers" (on the 2007 Writers Strike)
- ????: "Billy's Thing"
- ????: "Small Things"
- ????: "Mom"
- ????: "My Life Uncovered"
- ????: "The Rapture"
- ????: "Red Purse"
- ????: "Texas"
- ????: "Money Shot"
- ????: "Everybody's Queer" (with Richard BaroneRichard BaroneRichard Barone is a rock musician born in Tampa, Florida who gained attention as frontman for The Bongos. He works as a songwriter, arranger, author, director, and producer, releases albums as a solo artist, tours, and has created major concert events at Carnegie Hall, Hollywood Bowl and New York's...
) - ????: "Don't Fuck with Me"
- ????: "The Most Miserable Girl in the World"
- ????: "Ritalin Kid"
- ????: "Agony Cafe"
- ????: "Hearts and Minds"
Other
- Clouds Over Eden (1994) – Richard BaroneRichard BaroneRichard Barone is a rock musician born in Tampa, Florida who gained attention as frontman for The Bongos. He works as a songwriter, arranger, author, director, and producer, releases albums as a solo artist, tours, and has created major concert events at Carnegie Hall, Hollywood Bowl and New York's...
- The Negatives (2000) – Lloyd ColeLloyd ColeLloyd Cole is an English singer and songwriter, known for his role as lead singer of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions from 1984 to 1989, and for his subsequent solo work.-Early life:...
and The Negatives - Unfabulous – TV show soundtrack
- So Jill – Tribute song written & performed by Jane WiedlinJane WiedlinJane Marie Genevieve Wiedlin is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and actress. She is best known as the rhythm guitarist of the all-female New Wave band The Go-Go's.-Early life:...
, Lloyd ColeLloyd ColeLloyd Cole is an English singer and songwriter, known for his role as lead singer of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions from 1984 to 1989, and for his subsequent solo work.-Early life:...
& Charlotte CaffeyCharlotte CaffeyCharlotte Irene Caffey is an American rock and roll guitarist and songwriter, best known for her work in the Go-Go's in the 1980s, including writing "We Got the Beat."...
External links
- Official Site
- Jill's Next Record (website soliciting fan donations to fund production, release and promotion of Sobule's 2009 album)
- Jill Sobule's Blog on The Huffington PostThe Huffington PostThe Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...
- Jill Sobule's Blog on Yahoo! MusicYahoo! MusicYahoo! Music, owned by Yahoo!, is the provider of a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming...
- Video Interview with Jill with theDigitalLifestyle.tv
- March 2008 Interview
- Prozak and the Platypus site
- Audio interview with Erin McKeown and Jill Sobule on Well-Rounded Radio, 2009