I think all of us toiling together in college radio had our favorite obscure performers, those who didn’t burn up any charts, including those our our own station, but whose every new release filled us with excitement. Often, these weren’t necessarily even performers who we felt had created masterpieces previously, but who instead always seemed to have the chance to create a absolutely fantastic album lurking within them. My whole time as a student DJ at 90FM, I was dead certain that Sam Phillips had an absolutely fantastic album lurking within her. The fact that it technically came out after I graduated didn’t make me wrong.

There are especially well-listened music fans who will tout the excellence of either of the first two albums recorded by Sam Phillips after she stopped making Christian rock records under her given name of Leslie Phillips. Both 1989’s The Indescribable Wow and 1991’s Cruel Inventions are filled with quietly spectacular pop songs, but I don’t know that I ever landed on them as flat-out great records, worthy of being held up against the musical pinnacles of their respective years. But I was completely blown away when Martinis and Bikinis arrived in 1994. The oblique pop craftsmanship that had been the hallmark of her previous albums was fully in place, but the whole album gelled in a different way. There was a fierceness, a vivaciousness to the work. It’s not that the earlier efforts were easy listening in any way, but the new album truly got under the skin.

All the sterling qualities of the album are exemplified by “Baby I Can’t Please You,” which was, I do believe, one of the singles released. The murmured, piercing vocals of Phillips are about as far away from a riot grrrl yowl as she could get, but her strength was undeniable. The song is a lament and a dismissal all at once, a state of the union of a doomed relationship. And it was catchy as hell, burrowing into the brain and taking up permanent residence. It wasn’t a hit–the existence of a “best of” album doesn’t change the fact that Phillips never had a hit–but it damn well should’ve been.

Sam Phillips, “Baby, I Can’t Please You”

(Disclaimer: It looks to me like the bulk of Sam Phillips’ catalog, especially those efforts with Virgin Records, are out of print. They can be gotten digitally, but there appears to be no way to stride into your favorite local, independently-owned record store and purchase of copy of Martinis and Bikinis that will provide due compensation to both the artist and the proprietor of said shop. And buying it from an online retailer that specializes in slinging MP3s probably won’t put any money in Sam’s pocket either. Sure, that last assertion is mere supposition, but I’m willing to stand by it. Regardless, this file is thrown out there to big wide interweb under the belief that there’s no good way to exchange American dollars to acquire it legally and see that every who deserves to get paid gets paid. I could be wrong, and, under the overly stringent copyright laws that have prevailed in recent years, it might not matter whether I’m wrong or right. Regardless, if someone who has due authority to request or demand its removal requests or demands its removal, I will remove it in full and prompt compliance with the request or demand.)