Thirty years ago, in the summer of 1988, Toni Childs released her debut album, Union. A native of California, Childs spent much of the nineteen-eighties on the fringes of the music scene in London. She cultivated several creative relationships there, showing up in the background of songs here and there. When she moved back to the U.S. for a bit in the mid-eighties, she also connected with David Ricketts, who was one-half of the band David & David. She contributed backup vocals on the duo’s album, Boomtown, and when they split shortly thereafter, Ricketts committed to pitching in on Union. He’s a credited co-producer and co-writer of several tracks, but the material is unmistakably an expression of Childs’s attentive wanderings, especially in the world music influences that settle in like an infused flavor.

On the single “Don’t Walk Away,” little time is wasted before putting the powerhouse vocals of Childs on display. After a little surge of music, Childs busts in with a truncated version of the song’s chorus, and it’s all throaty authority. This will be no dainty singer-songwriter ingenue, but a true belter. At times, it seems the song simply isn’t going to be able to container. Maybe no song really could.

“Don’t Walk Away” found a modest place in the Billboard Hot 100, but she never edged into the main U.S. chart again. I often think of Childs as someone who flared and faded into obscurity, but she just opted for a productive change of home base. Evidently, she was huge in Australia, notching several Top 40 singles and selling a slew of albums. Her 1996 “best of” collection was the country’s fifth biggest selling release of that year. A diagnosis of Graves’ disease one year later understandably slowed her productivity, but she’s still actively engaged in developing new music and connected theatrical experiences.

Listen or download —> Toni Childs, “Don’t Walk Away”

(Disclaimer: Like most of the A&M releases from the stretch of the late-eighties and early-nineties when they committed to having a high number of idiosyncratic, college-radio-ready artists in their stable, I believe Union to to be out of print, at least as a physical object that can be acquired from your favorite local, independently owned record store in a manner that compensate both the proprietor of said shop and the original artist. This song is being shared in this manner in this space with that understanding, but also with the strong recommendation to head out and engage in commerce that actively helps music artists. The track is shared as a catalyst, not a replacement. Although I fully believe my actions qualify as fair use, I do know the rules. I will gladly and promptly remove this file from my little corner of the digital world if asked to do so by any individual or entity with due authority to make such a request.)