Haunted: A Retrospective of Poe
Click below on the streaming service of your choice to listen to the playlist as your read along.
The late 1990s was a mixed period for modern rock. As grunge died out, giving way to its successors, nu-metal in the US and Britpop in the UK, and as rock lost ground to resurgent pop and ascendent hip hop as the leading genres, modern rock artists returned to their historic norms in the niches of the music world. As always in modern rock, experimentation and the mixing of sounds drove musical styles into new realms. A consummate artist of that period was American, Anne Decatur Danielewski, known by her stage name, Poe.
A still from Poe’s performance on the Conan O’Brien show in 1996
Anne’s father was Tad Danielewski, a Polish film director who had survived WWII and emigrated to the US in 1948. He directed several films in the 1960s, and in 1964 married his second wife, Priscilla Decatur, with whom he had Anne and her brother, Mark Danielewski. The family lived around the world in lieu of Tad’s career, finally settling in Iowa just as Anne hit her teens. Her parents divorced when she was sixteen and Anne returned to her birthplace of New York, eventually completing high school and then attending Princeton University.
Musically inclined, Anne drew from multiple genres and started making music using the emerging electronics of the 1990s, leveraging samplers and sequencers to assemble her music. Connected to the Detroit music scene, she gained an indie contract via demos with blues label, Modern Records, a sub of major, Atlantic Records. Her decision to record under the name ‘Poe’ is rumored to relate to the poet, Edgar Allan Poe, and a related Halloween costume.
Poe’s debut LP, Hello, was released in October 1995 and ranks as one of the best modern rock LPs of the decade. Mixing R&B, jazz, hip hop, and rock, you could dance and thrash to the album, or chill and vibe out on its many moods. It was easily one of the most played CDs in my collection during that time.
The “Angry Johnny” single
Leading off with the title track, its dub beats and Poe’s echoey vocals created an easy-going, catchy rhythm to grab onto. The second track, the LP’s second single, “Trigger Happy Jack (Drive By a Go-Go),” was a song that mixed subtle moments with an abrupt chorus of caustic attitude and the memorable line, “Can’t talk to a psycho like a normal human being.” “Angry Johnny” was the lead single and brought plenty of attention to Poe among alternative radio. The album also included beautiful, subtle ballads such as the closing track, “Fly Away.”
The variety of the album meant that Hello was never going to break through to mainstream success, especially given the waning trends of rock at the time, but Poe nonetheless built a strong following and was considered part of a wave of leading women rockers such as Alanis Morrisette and Liz Phair.
After having a song included on the soundtrack for Great Expectations, and issuing a charity single with Gwen Stefani, “Rise and Shine,” for an HIV positive child, Poe released her second album, Haunted, in 2000. It was themed on her brother Mark’s debut novel, House of Leaves. The siblings did a tour of the bookstore chain, Borders, to promote the book and album together.
Haunted was not nearly as strong as her first LP. The edginess of her debut was lost to a more straightforward, blues/jazz approach built on pop structures, and featuring multiple short interludes and spoken word bits (a little Kate Bush, in those respects). There were still solid tunes to lean into, such as the single, “Hey Pretty,” but overall, the album lacked the intrigue and personality of Hello. I eagerly bought the CD but didn’t listen to it nearly as much.
What happened next was a mix of legal intrigue and mystery. As efforts to promote Haunted proceeded and “Wild” was being prepped for distribution as a single, Atlantic Records underwent a restructuring as part of the merger between its parent company, Time Warner, and early internet giant, America Online (AOL). With a focus on finances, Atlantic jettisoned the Modern Records label, and with it, Poe. So, despite her success and riding a wave of interest in the new album, the singer found herself bound to a contract with a defunct label. Worse, Modern made an agreement to not promote or release its music for two years in exchange for a payout, leaving Poe hamstrung. The situation was exacerbated further when she had financial and legal problems with her new management, hired to help deal with the label issues. The result was legal problems that restricted her ability to release music for the next ten years as her masters were passed around among various labels and legal interests and she awaited the results of a lawsuit, which Poe eventually won.
Poe on the red carpet for the film, X2: X-Men United (2003), for which the Conjure One song, “Center of the Sun,” with Poe on vocals, was featured.
During the years of her legal battles, Poe released music under the name, Jane (which I can’t locate), to avoid her legal conflicts. She appeared as a performer in the film, Gossip, and has done voice work, and recently has worked with Conjure One on that artist’s music. Otherwise, aside from a one-minute track of sample-drive music in 2012 and some live performances of new songs (one titled, “Not Jane”), Poe has not commercially released any more music under her name. She created a website, repoezessed.com, but it only allows to sign-up for updates. While rumours abound, it’s not clear if or when we’ll hear music from her again. Let’s hope we do.
The Playlist - song\album (year)
“Hello” \ Hello (1995)
“Trigger Happy Jack (Drive By a Go-Go)” \ Hello (1995)
“That Day” \ Hello (1995)
“Angry Johnny” \ Hello (1995)
“Dolphin” \ Hello (1995)
“Fly Away” \ Hello (1995)
“Today” \ Great Expectations Soundtrack (1998)
“Rise and Shine” \ non-album charity single (1998) – YouTube only
“Control” \ Haunted (2000)
“Walk the Walk” \ Haunted (2000)
“Hey Pretty” \ Haunted (2000)
“Center of the Sun” \ Conjure One \ Conjure One featuring Poe (2002)
“Not Jane” \ fan filmed live performance (2014)– YouTube only
