Tracy Chapman--Fast Car (1988)

     I usually never know what the subject matter of my blogs will be until the morning their written. It's interesting that the artist that's spotlighted today has ties to the blog from yesterday.
     Tracy Chapman, like Harry Chapin, is an activist. Whereas Harry focused on world hunger, Tracy writes about and donates much of her time, money, and energy to human rights across the globe. She attended Tuffs University in Boston and it was there, playing in the coffee houses, that one of her classmates recommended her to his dad, who was Charles Koppelman who ran SKB publishing. Upon her graduation in 1987, he helped secure a deal with Elektra Records.
     From the first album in 1988 and the debut single from it, "Fast Car", Tracey wrote about the things she saw in the country and around the world. This song, which spotlighted generational poverty was released in April of 88', and reached number 6 on the charts. Her time in the spotlight after 1988 was spotty, except in 1995, where the single, "Give Me One Reason" reached the top 10 once again.
     She continues to release material and tour, she is especially popular on college campuses.