LENGTH: 180 words
SECTION: Picks & Pans: Song
HEADLINE: Spotlight On... Aimee Mann
BYLINE: Joseph V. Tirella
SPOTLIGHT ON...AIMEE MANN
Just two years ago, singer-songwriter Aimee Mann was so frustrated with
the music biz, she nearly called it quits. And who could blame her? After
recording three albums for as many labels--the first company wasn't interested,
the second went bankrupt and the third rejected her songs altogether--Mann,
39, had simply had it. "I would have done anything else--I really didn't
care," she says. "I just didn't want to be a musician."
Enter film director Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights). After hearing
a tape of Mann's album-in-progress--the just released Bachelor No. 2--he
was inspired to write Magnolia, his critically acclaimed 1999 movie. Anderson
featured her songs on the Magnolia soundtrack, and suddenly Mann was hot
again. Major record companies came knocking. But the singer, who started
her own label, SuperEgo, last year, wasn't interested. "It was too
little, too late," she says. Now touring with musician husband Michael
Penn, 41 (brother of Sean), Mann has recaptured her passion for music-making.
"It's fun again," says Mann, "because it has nothing to do
with all those business people."
PHOTO (COLOR): The happily married Mann is enjoying her Bachelor days.