‘Put Your Records On’: The song that came as a shock to Corinne Bailey Rae
For Corinne Bailey Rae, it all started with ‘Put Your Records On’. Although she had spent years as the lead singer for British indie group Helen, that band broke up before being able to sign their first record contract. Bailey Rae turned her attention to a solo career, and although the single ‘Like a Star’ found success, it was ‘Put Your Records On’ that catapulted Bailey Rae to superstardom.
“It was a shock to me,” Rae told Billboard following the song’s mainstream success. “I thought it was going to be much more of an underground record because it was underproduced. I wasn’t expecting that reaction at all.”
A number two hit in the UK, ‘Put Your Records On’ laid the groundwork for Bailey Rae’s self-titled 2006 debut album to debut at number one on the UK Album Charts. A folky acoustic pop song about the freedom of music, ‘Put Your Records On’ also contained a strong message about female expressionism, specifically not straightening the traditionally curly hair that black women typically have.
“There was this idea that if you had curly hair, you were making this big statement,” Bailey Rae explained to Red magazine. “But if you have curly, afro, textured hair, that’s just how it is naturally. You’re not trying to make yourself bigger, this is just the room you take up.”
The track resonated with audiences thanks to its optimism and positive vitality. When American indie artist Ritt Momney revitalised the song with his own viral cover in 2020, Bailey Rae once again found herself extolling the healing power of music.
“I found that as a young person, music was a really amazing way to find confidence and to find self-expression,” Bailey Rae told Genius about the song’s origins. “You could always find that song that’s like, ‘That’s just me. That person knows exactly how I feel.’ Certain pop songs. I feel like I just put on music and feel like invincible and super confident and bold and let the music sort of carry you.”
Bailey Rae specifically pointed to Mariah Carey’s ‘Vision of Love’ as one of the songs that inspired her. “To me, that’s what my favourite song is doing,” she said. “It would turn me from being someone that was shy or self-conscious or uncomfortable into a feeling really sort of bold and confident while that song is on, you kind of live in the song.”
Check out ‘Put Your Records On’ down below.
