31 Mar: Duffy to be at ECLECTIC PICNICK, Ireland

Duffy is to make an appearance at Ireland's Electric Picnic this summer.

Duffy is set to play the Main Stage on Saturday 30th August at 6.30pm.

Click here to visit Electric Picnic's website for more details and to get your tickets now.

31 Mar: Duffy in teen ‘kill plot’ horror

The Sun has picked up on The Mail's story from yesterday...... Pasted in below:

Duffy in teen ‘kill plot’ horror

SOUL star DUFFY was taken into police protection as a teen after a plot to kill her stepdad, it was revealed yesterday.

The Mercy singer, 23, was put in a safe house when cops rumbled plans to murder her mum’s hubby Philip Smith.

Ex-wife Dawn Watson offered a man £3,000 to kill Philip.

Watson and her new husband were jailed for 3½ years in 1998.

The Welsh chart-topper – real name Aimee Duffy – said: “I was terrified.

"I felt so ill."

Duffy has just finished filming the video for her new single Warwick Avenue, left, from her chart-topping No.1 album Rockferry.
[End article]

NME also reported on it.

O well, at least The Sun published another piccie from the Warwick Avenue video Duffy is making at the moment! (Click it for a larger image.)

31 Mar: Rolling Stone Feature and Mercy Performance!

No idea when it appeared (it is dated at April 3rd at the moment but that is obviously wrong), but I found this Rolling Stone feature today here.

Below you can watch a video of Duffy performing Mercy in a random shoot in Rolling Stone Offices.

You can download the MP3 of this Rolling Stone performance by visiting this link, and scrolling down a little to Bad_Girl_Lament's post.

Meanwhile, the Rolling Stone article is pasted below.

Artists to Watch: Seven Acts Who Are Defining Rock, Soul and Hip-Hop in 2008

Foals, Leona Lewis, Chester French, Duffy, Playradioplay!, Wale and Does It Offend You, Yeah?

DUFFY

Retro British soul belter channels Dusty Springfield, in sound and vision

Living in a small Welsh town where a trip to the nearest record shop requires two bus rides doesn't bode well for one's musical education. "I didn't know Aretha Franklin existed until I was almost nineteen!" says Duffy, 23, who came across "Respect" while recording her debut album.

Her producer, ex-Suede guitarist Bernard Butler, stocked her iPod with tunes by the likes of Franklin, Al Green, Otis Redding and Dusty Springfield. "He'd do this teasing thing where he'd only give me one or two songs from each act," says Duffy, who studied the music during the six-hour commute from Butler's London studio to her home in the coastal village of Nefyn. "I'd have to go out and buy the rest myself."

The homework paid off: Duffy (she shed her first name, Aimee, six years ago) is racking up comparisons to vintage R&B icons — and not just for her peroxide bouffant and Sixties-glam-girl wardrobe. Rockferry (out May 13th) nods toward classic Stax and Motown with finger-snapping shuffles, gossamer strings and, of course, Duffy's prematurely rich and husky voice — which, ironically, didn't earn her a place in the school choir. "I gave up many of my lunch hours to audition," she laments. "I obviously wasn't adequate for the job."

Her songwriting chops, which she honed during after-school shifts at the local garage, came easier. "All day I'd be pumping gas and dying for a cigarette, but I couldn't smoke because I'd set the place on fire," she says. "It was really boring, but it was a good time for me, sitting there writing."

Teenage ennui, however, pushed Duffy to escape Wales. At sixteen, she embarked on a six-week soul-searching mission to Switzerland (she picked the country at random). "I wanted to be extreme, so I packed my bags and went," she says. By the time Duffy returned to attend college, she had a cache of songs written abroad, but she was nearly broke.

Considering welfare, Duffy was scouted by Waw Ffactor, Wales' American Idol-style competition. Snagging the runner-up spot, she soon found herself working as an unsatisfied backup singer. "I was just a voice — there wasn't room for me artistically," she says. "I was at the point of retiring with that hunger.

Quitting became a nonoption when one of Duffy's demos landed on the desk of veteran music exec Jeannette Lee, who signed on as Duffy's manager and sent her into the studio with Butler. From there, Duffy says, "I cut away all the bullshit and started writing."

Four years later, Duffy emerged with her debut LP, which is already a smash in Britain. The lead single, "Mercy" — marked by a "Chain of Fools"-reminiscent vamp and insistent girl-group "yeah yeahs" — spent four weeks on top of the U.K. singles chart. Duffy was in a car in Paris when she heard it on the radio for the first time. "The driver started beeping the horn and doing swerves down the street," she recalls. "I could've passed out."

Unlike fellow U.K. soul bird Amy Winehouse, Duffy says her tales of love gone bad are not based on real-life heartache. "I don't think I've ever been in love," admits Duffy, who sings about boarding a midnight train to the riverside town of Rock Ferry (near Liverpool) with "a bag of songs and a heavy heart" on the title track. She penned the song after glimpsing the city from a train window. "I've never even been there," she adds, "it's embarrassing."
[End of article]

So like I said there is a vid that you can watch at this link,of Duffy doing an exclusive performance of Mercy at the Rolling Stone offices. I recommend you close the background page (the Rolling stone article page) when viewing since the ads sap one's power somewhat and the video doesn't always play properly...

31 Mar: Rockferry RECORD LP released on Vinyl!

Yes the day has finally come. Rockferry album is now available on vinyl in the UK. Buy here.

31 Mar: Duffy Still No.1 UK Album Charts

Duffy's album Rockferry is still No.1 in the Uk Album charts for the fourth week. Her single 'Mercy' has now dropped to No.3.

See the BBC news article here.

30 Mar: Duffy Filming Warwick Avenue Video!

We know from interviews that Duffy's next single to be realeased will be Warwick Avenue. The above photo is from the shooting of the video. As the News of the World points out, it is rather Banksy.....

Despite comments about how sexy she looks (on the NOTW website) The Mirror wasn't impressed by Duffy's look! (Article pasted below)

Duffy stars in a video socker

30/03/2008

Duffy was filming the video for her new single Warwick Avenue in London yesterday.

So I'm guessing that's why the super-talented songstress, 23, wore such ridiculous knee-high socks and an old granny's house coat.

She completed the unflattering look by chain-smoking between takes.

Let's hope she gets it together before her summer festival tour, which starts with Glastonbury in June.

30 Mar: Duffy to perform at ROLLING STONE concert, Milan, ITALY

The below text is translated from this Italian article.

Duffy to Rolling Stone in Milan Sunday, June 8
MILAN (28/03/2008) - The British singer will perform Duffy, in the date of its Italian tour, Sunday, June 8 at Rolling Stone in Milan.

Tickets will be on sale from the first Ticketone circuit in April, from Tuesday 8 in pre usual.

For Duffy success came thanks to the single "Mercy", while on April 4 released album "Rockferry". The cost of a ticket is 20 euros.

30 Mar: Voice from heaven, family from hell ... The dangerous world that singer Duffy left behind

THE BELOW ARTICLE IS FROM TODAY'S DAILY MAIL.

Riding high: But Duffy hasn't come from nowhere, as her promoters would have us believe

Voice from heaven, family from hell ... The dangerous world that singer Duffy left behind

By CLAUDIA JOSEPH and SIMON TRUMP (Daily Mail,Last updated at 23:00pm on 29th March 2008)

The soulful voice with its breathtaking range and husky promise of passion is instantly familiar.

Add the Motown-style arrangement and lyrics about tortured love, and this year's biggest-selling artist could easily be mistaken for the legendary Dusty Springfield.

But the No 1 hit song Mercy comes from the lips of Duffy, a 23-year-old former shop worker from Wales.

In a matter of months, she has eclipsed Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen to become Britain's most popular solo female star.

Her debut album, Rockferry, has been at the top of the charts for the past month, while the single Mercy, based on her relationship with music producer Mark Durston, was No 1 for five weeks.

Duffy has already performed three times on the hugely influential TV show Later. . . With Jools Holland and she will be one of the headline acts at this summer's V Festival.

Duffy's music manages to appeal both to the internet generation - she has 21,753 friends on social networking site MySpace - and older people who grew up listening to Motown and soul music from the Sixties.

In doing so, she has placed herself at the front of an astonishing wave of talented young British singers who have taken black American music, made it their own - and become international stars in the process.

From Amy Winehouse to Adele, Joss Stone and Leona Lewis - who last week became the first British female solo artist to reach No 1 in America since Kim Wilde in 1987 - one of the secrets of these artists' success is how much their music sounds like the divas of the Sixties and Seventies.

"One thing that unites all of these girls today is the inspiration of earlier styles of black American music," says veteran radio DJ Paul Gambaccini.

"It's a phenomenon that dates back to the Sixties and The Beatles and Rolling Stones."

So far this year, Duffy is in a league of her own. Although she has yet to break America, she is outselling Leona Lewis in the British album and download charts.

But despite her cool image and artless manner, Duffy has not exploded on to the scene from nowhere, as her handlers would have us believe.

And while she may not have been overtly manufactured, she has been carefully groomed for stardom by the co-founder of the record label Rough Trade and the public relations company that looks after Madonna, Elton John and James Blunt.

Both have ruthlessly protected her image, dropping her first name Aimee - to distance her from the more notorious Amy Winehouse - and glossing over previous appearances on a reality TV series.

They have even ordered Aimee's friends and family not to speak publicly about her.

Now The Mail on Sunday has uncovered the real story of Duffy's background.

It's an extraordinary tale encompassing infidelity, a custody battle and a bizarre murder plot.

But what is even more surprising is how fate seems to have decreed that everything in Duffy's life - from her troubled family to her powerful voice - should echo the lives of so many of her peers and the stars who inspired them.

Aimee Ann Duffy was born on June 23, 1984, and grew up in the tiny coastal village of Nefyn, North Wales - population 2,550.

Welsh was her first language - she barely spoke a word of English.

Her mother Joyce, who worked in a factory, had married at 19 to Allan Evans, a young storeman who lived in the nearby town of Colwyn Bay.

But within a few years their relationship disintegrated.

Joyce moved back to Nefyn to work as a hotel waitress and soon caught the eye of the hotel's interim manager, John Duffy.

They married in March 1977 and settled down to domestic life in the village.

"People tell me she was a bit of heartbreaker," Duffy has said of her mother.

"Great figure, really good dresser, always wore pearls. A dolly bird."

This striking image of her mother, echoing stars such as Dusty Springfield and Diana Ross, clearly stayed with Duffy, who would later sport a beehive hairdo and miniskirt of her own.

Within three years, Joyce and John had a daughter Kelly, now 28. Aimee and her twin sister Katy were born four years later.

Duffy says Nefyn was an idyllic place to grow up: "It was amazing. It was safe, friendly - you could stay out all hours, playing on the beach.

"The only downside is that I didn't grow up very worldly."

She wanted to be a singer from an early age.

By the age of seven she had been kicked out of her school choir for being "too rough around the edges", so she contented herself with honing her talents in a less salubrious setting - the school lavatories.

"My voice was too big. I didn't fit into a team of vocals and there was nowhere else I could practise singing," she says.

But with no record collection of her own, and with the nearest record shop a bus ride away, her early interest in music was inspired by her father's videotape of Sixties TV show Ready Steady Go!

"I remember the first time I saw Mick Jagger, I thought, 'He's cool.'

"The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Walker Brothers, Sandie Shaw and Millie singing My Boy Lollipop - I thought it was the sexiest, most exciting thing ever, and I played the tape again and again until it disintegrated."

Joss Stone and Amy Winehouse were also heavily influenced by their parents' taste in music from the Sixties. Joss, from Devon, shared the isolated background that allowed the youngsters to ignore the latest pop-music trends.

However in 1993, Duffy's idyll was shattered by the breakdown of her parents' marriage.

"Because they ran a pub, my mum and dad would do alternate shifts," she recalled.

"We rarely saw them together but we had a great relationship with them both.

"The pub was really a smoky, working men's club with leather seats and a snooker table, but I felt proud my parents ran it.

"They tried to separate when I was six but I cried so much that they stayed together.

"That was very cruel of me, really, but my mum is a lovely woman and she didn't want to hurt us.

"They finally separated when I was nine. As kids, we weren't really aware of the emotional side of it but I guess there was quite an upheaval.

"I'm not someone who takes the scars with me. It happened and I've learned how to live with it.

"Of course, it was a big thing in the town at the time - everybody talking about it - but I think my mum did the right thing in leaving. I remember my dad being very upset."

It was an awful time for Duffy, but those experiences helped to shape her music, just as troubled lives helped shape the work of some of the great black American singing stars.

It is unclear when Joyce rekindled her relationship with former childhood sweetheart Philip Smith.

They had known each other in their youth but Joyce's mother had disapproved of their friendship and Philip later left the area.

Now an agricultural merchant, he had moved back to the nearby village of Morfa Nefyn from his home in Letterstone, Pembrokeshire, to renovate his father's bungalow.

His 18-year marriage to a former waitress, Dawn, was on the rocks amid allegations of infidelity on both sides.

Joyce was smitten. Within a month of Philip's acrimonious divorce in September 1994, she had moved with her three children to Letterstone, an English-speaking area, which proved something of a culture shock for Duffy, with her limited knowledge of the language.

After a bitter battle, Philip was eventually given custody of his own four children in June 1995.

Philip and Joyce married at Haverfordwest register office in April 1996, setting up home with their combined family of seven children.

Duffy was only 12, but her favourite singers were Ella Fitzgerald and Etta James, and she was already modelling her singing style on their distinctive sound.

However, within a year the family's peace had been shattered.

They were given police protection and bundled into a safe house after Dawn offered £3,000 to a man called Robert Rees to kill Philip.

Duffy's mother gave evidence in court for the prosecution.

During the trial in 1998 at Cardiff Crown Court, Philip claimed that Dawn concocted the murder plot after receiving a demand from the Child Support Agency to provide maintenance for their children.

Dawn had been given a piece of land as part of the couple's divorce settlement, but when she later decided to sell it for more than £30,000, Philip wanted the children to be awarded some of the profits.

The court heard that Dawn asked Rees: "Do you fancy doing a job for me? I want you to kill Phil.

"I've got a new Mercedes and it's really cool. But he's trying to muck everything up and take it all away from me.

"I want you to shoot him."

Rees went straight to the police, who arrested Dawn and her new husband, Marc Watson.

Dawn was eventually convicted of soliciting to murder and sentenced to three and a half years in June 1998.

Watson, an organic chemist whom she married in October 1994, was cleared of the charge.

Alcoholic Dawn died in 2002, 18 months after she was released from jail, when she choked on a roast pork dinner. She was 45.

"Dawn had agreed to pay about £3,000 to a local man, Robert Rees, to shoot me dead," Philip, now a 54-year-old director of Pembrokeshire Paints and Coatings, said at the time.

"She had told him to 'just blow his head off'. But thankfully, he went straight to the police.

"We were taken to a safe house under police guard for the rest of the night until the police arrested Dawn and her husband.

"I felt so ill. I was in shock. I couldn't absorb the news and I was very frightened.

"Deep down I was terrified that Dawn might have hired someone else to finish off the job.

"Even when we were in the safe house I didn't sleep a wink - I jumped at every noise and I longed for daylight."

It was against this traumatic backdrop that Duffy did her GCSEs.

After she left school, she returned to Nefyn, where she helped her father John at the social club he manages.

She still hankered after a career as a singer - and now she had the perfect environment to hone her skills.

She spent hours singing on a karaoke machine, making tapes and posting them to record companies in the hope she would be discovered.

In the tradition of Motown stars, she formed a series of bands and worked for virtually nothing as she learned her trade.

She had also inherited her mother's talent for attracting men.

"I was such a terror," Duffy admitted. "When you're young and you're female and you have a band, you have like five boyfriends in that band.

"But I'd have about five bands going on, and each band wouldn't know about the other.

"I knew none of them would work out but I would keep them on the go for enjoyment's sake."

She later went to college in Dolgellau, North Wales, where she studied for her A-levels, met long-term boyfriend Mark Durston and was elected president of the students' union.

Her close friend Heidi Williams, 24, who works in a local Spar shop, witnessed her burgeoning career and the toll it would take on Duffy's relationship with Durston.

"Aimee used to spend all her spare time sat at a big wooden table in the kitchen writing her songs, then she would perform them for us in the evening," she said.

"she put her heart and soul into her music and the result was awesome.

"Mark was Aimee's first love and the inspiration for so many of her songs. She was completely in love with the guy and believed they'd always be together.

"But by the time Aimee was in her early 20s, things were starting to happen for her and she had to put more and more of her energy into launching her career, and I think they perhaps started to grow apart.

"But they're still friends and I think they're still in touch."

When she was 19, Duffy auditioned for Wawffactor, the Welsh version of X Factor, but was narrowly beaten by winner Lisa Pedrig.

Leona Lewis, who is now her arch-rival, found fame with the English version of the hit TV show.

Duffy went on to study at Chester University, singing hits from the Sixties and Seventies at the local jazz and blues club Alexander's in her spare time.

She left university in the middle of the course after a tutor advised her to pursue her music dream.

She returned to Nefyn and was working in a ladies' clothing store in Pwllheli when she got her lucky break after a chance meeting with two former musicians.

They introduced her to Jeanette Lee and Geoff Travis, founder of Rough Trade Records, a label whose acts include The Strokes and Arcade Fire.

In turn, Jeanette introduced Duffy to Suede's ex-guitar player Bernard Butler.

It was a partnership very similar to that of Amy Winehouse and Mark Ronson - she provided the lyrics and big voice, he the chords and arrangement skills.

The result was Rockferry, the song after which her album is named.

The album's fusion of soul and R&B was a massive hit - particularly with younger fans who thought Duffy, along with Amy, Joss and the others, had found a new source of inspiration for great music.

Some fans even assumed Duffy must be black and from the American Deep South.

But to music insiders, the trend of white British singers adopting the styles of black American music is nothing new.

Even some of the most successful British bands started out in the belief that imitation was the sincerest form of flattery.

The most famous examples are The Beatles and the Rolling Stones, who were heavily influenced by the early rhythm and blues of black musicians such as Chuck Berry.

And they were not alone. Paul Gambaccini points out: "David Bowie did an R&B tour and the riff from his song Fame is straight out of James Brown.

"And Bryan Ferry looked back in a similar way with These Foolish Things, even as far as the jazz era."

But one mystery remains: why is the revival of traditional soul being led by a gang of young British girls?

Gambaccini believes it is partly due to the fact that the American radio scene is far more fragmented than than it is in Britain.

"It has become more defined since the deregulation of radio, which started in the early years of the Reagan administration," he says.

"In the Sixties, the most that a channel owner had was eight stations, but now a couple of owners have more than 100 and in the early years of this Bush administration Clear Channel Radio had 1,400."

This has resulted in many radio stations playing specific genres rather than a wide range of music styles.

In other words, young people in America don't get to hear as many of the classic hits as their British counterparts.

There is, however, a somewhat more cynical way of looking at Duffy's success.

Peter Robinson, editor of music website popjustice.com, said: "The songs are great and she has a brilliant voice but in terms of marketing, Duffy's had a very good job done on her.

"She has been put together with certain producers and songwriters to create a certain sound and had pictures taken of her that reinforce the sound.

"She has the same public relations people as Madonna and we hear all about how she's from Wales, but we don't hear about how she was on the Welsh version of X Factor and how she's been in development for the past three or four years.

"Amy Winehouse has had a massive success with her album Back To Black. When one artist is successful at something in particular, all record labels - sometimes even the same one that has the original artist - want to cash in.

"And if two million people love a particular album, they'll also want to hear something similar. It's what helps build genres."

Record promoter Allan James, who helped launch Kim Wilde's career, says: "It all started with Norah Jones, whose debut album was released in 2003. It just took off and made the record companies reassess their views of jazz and blues.

"Instead of thinking it was all in the past, they started producing records and developing artists that had crossover appeal.

"So along came Jamie Cullum and Michael Buble and a whole host of female artists such as Joss Stone, Katie Melua, Amy Winehouse, Adele and now Duffy.

"Much of what they do harks back to something from the past, which some of the older record buyers may remember as children.

"These female artists are making sophisticated pop music and, rather than being manufactured, they are being developed as acts.

"They all have talent but time and money is being spent on them. For instance, Adele and Duffy both signed record contracts well before their albums were released."

While Leona Lewis celebrates her remarkable success in America, it seems only a matter of time before Duffy attempts to make a similar breakthrough.

And when she does, the white girl from Wales will give the Americans an inspiring lesson on their black musical heritage.

Duffy with Kylie at Later with Jools Holland performance:


Soul sisters: Duffy, performing on TV last month, and Dusty Springfield pictured in 1965:


Major talent: Duffy's debut album Rockferry has topped the charts for the past month.


Murder plot: Dawn Watson, above, was jailed over her plan to hire a hitman to kill Duffy's stepfather Philip Smith, below

28 May: The Sun article...

Duffy never said she was glamorous - she in fact said in a recent interview that she doesn't care if her fans see her looking scruffy.... So here goes. The Sun's offering is below.

It's a Duff life for Welsh singer

IT’S a glamorous life being a pop star. Just check out DUFFY having a fag and a cuppa in Cardiff at the weekend.

The Welsh warbler likes to shun the luxuries her fame brings and is going to rough it with the rest of the festival goers at Glasto.

She said: “They have booked a posh hotel for me. But out of principle, I’m only going to go there to wash my lady bits.”

29 Mar: Mercy - all the Remixes. What do you think?

There is Dunproofin's (thankful mix) remix of Mercy... and now a couple more have cropped up.

Below is a vid and the sound is MERCY 2008 [Mashup Mix Duffy vs Orbital]... Hmmm not sure what I think about this, but at least there are a couple of nice photos.

There is also another remix about - it is the gareth wyn remix (mp3 download here).

And in case you missed it, here is Dunproofin's thankful mix again (but with a different vid created by Damynine

EDIT: Yet another has cropped up. Below is a remix by JayMeister19.

28 Mar: VH1's "You Oughta Know" - Duffy

Check out pics and details on VH1's You Oughta Know

28 Mar: DUFFY TAKING OVER NORWAY!

Here is a 30 second ad from Norway!

27 Mar: "Mercy is a Song about Sex" Daily Star Article

This appeared today in the Daily Star.

I'M DUFFY, NOT DUSTY

DUFFY has revealed the secret behind her phenomenal chart success – sexual frustration.

Despite having a No 1 album and single under her belt, the Welsh belter isn’t so lucky in love, something reflected in her all-conquering hit Mercy.

Duffy, 23, whose first name is Aimee, said: “I have needs that music can’t meet. Mercy is a song about sex… I’m blushing. I wanted something that was really liberating, and it helped me at that point vent some ­frustration.”

She is currently wooing America with her vintage soul sound, but she’s sick of constantly being called the new Dusty Springfield.

She said: “I only got around to owning the Dusty Springfield box-set about a year ago.

“I just don’t relate to it. I don’t see how there’s a thread.”

In fact the girl from Gwynedd is more inspired by 70s rock and grew up listening to pop chameleon David Bowie, 61.

Duffy confessed: “It’s obviously an amazing honour to be compared to some of those really great artists, but the singers I’m obsessed with are David Bowie and Scott Walker.

“They’re the artists that have inspired me and made me alive.

“They almost make me cry with passion.”

But it’s not just veteran acts that float Duffy’s boat. As long as it has soul, the blonde dynamo will give anything a blast.

She added: “Soul is in all aspects of music now from Richard Hawley to Arcade Fire, and Bat For Lashes, and even The Strokes.

“I think soul music plays such a massive part in defining music from all the great performers out there. I would just call myself a singer.”

Aimee has been looking for her big break since she was a teenager, but she’s relieved success took a long time coming.

The gal, who cut her teeth in a number of folk bands, said: “I wanted to have some involvement in music.

“At about the age of 18 I thought: ‘I don’t know what I’m looking for,’ and then I retired from it all.

“I was hungry and I was confused.

“I was young and naive. Everyone wanted something from me that I just wasn’t willing to give.”

Fortunately Aimee found the right people and the rest, as they say, is history.

Just don’t call her Dusty.
[END ARTICLE]

27 Mar: Swiss Article about Duffy

Here is an article by Swiss newspaper '24 heures'. The text is below.

Au jeu de la nouvelle Amy, c'est Duffy la meilleure
Après Amy Winehouse, héritière toute désignée des 60's, voici que la Couronne d'Angleterre s'enorgueillit d'un nouveau joyau venu de Nefyn. Faites place à la nouvelle Dusty Springfield!

En marketing, et en anglais dans le texte, on appellerait cela le second mover advantage, soit le bénéfice de celui qui prend la décision en deuxième position, laissant le premier défricher le marché et installer le produit. Dans le cas présent, c'est Amy Winehouse qui a fait office de machette en élaguant la jungle de la nouvelle pop/soul anglaise.

Vu la taille du couloir, d'autres entreprises se sont intéressées au marché: deux «firmes» se sont détachées, la Londonienne Adele et la Galloise Duffy. Première à suivre le mouvement, Adele a frappé fort avec son album 19. Puis Mercy, le premier single de Duffy, est apparu sur les ondes, telle une bombe au plutonium lourd. Ambiance 50's, tempo de northernsoul et orgue Hammond pour cinq semaines en tête du hit-parade anglais. Fission des noyaux auditifs, réaction en chaîne, déflagration et boom. Les Britanniques sont soufflés par la voix corrosive de cette blondinette de 23 ans au regard mutin et aux lèvres pulpeuses. Au Pays de Galles, son premier mini-album en gaélique, Aimée Duffy, sorti en 2004, caracole en tête des ventes. Amusant pour une jeune fille qui a passé quelque temps en Suisse sur un projet qui n'a jamais vu le jour...
L'opposé d'Amy

L'étiquette «new Amy» qui pendouillait de manière quelque peu lâche au col de son manteau en tweed est tranchée d'un bon coup de ciseaux. Pas de publicité mensongère, Duffy a de la dynamite dans les cordes vocales. Mais quand l'organe d'Amy Winehouse se fait noir et terriblement 60's, celui de Duffy se pare d'une tonalité plus haute, irisé de quelques pointes nasillardes délicieuses. Cela dit, résumer Duffy au seul titre Mercy serait faire injure au talent de la Galloise et à la richesse de l'album Rockferry. En partie produit par l'ex-guitariste de Suede, Bernard Butler, Rockferry explore des contrées diverses et variées. Tandis qu'Amy Winehouse se lovait dans les arrangements R&B-soul à la Motown, Duffy préfère écarter les carcans. Pas question de s'enfermer dans un style. Pour Aimée Anne Duffy, la musique se fait plurielle. Derrière l'imparable Mercy, les neuf autres pistes de Rockferry font voyager l'oreille entre soul 60's (Delayed Devotion), pop aux pointes trip-hop (Rockferry) et ballades jazzy aux accents gospel (Hanging On Too Long).

Rivale désignée d'Amy Winehouse, Duffy semble être le parfait contraire de la choucroutée aux yeux de biche. Douce, calme, posée, la Galloise de 24 ans a peu de chances de faire la une du Daily Mirror ou du Sun pour des frasques alcoolisées ou opiacées. Charmante, toute parfaite, la voix de Nefyn entretient superbement les différences qu'elle possède avec Amy Winehouse. Portée aux nues en quelques semaines seulement, Duffy a désormais un nouveau statut, celui de star.

27 Mar: Duffy conquering France?

Maybe you saw my earlier post about Duffy being on French TV. Here are some French articles.

http://www.discordance.fr/Duffy-Rockferry.html?decoupe_recherche=duffy

http://www.dontmiss.fr/n5444-1/duffy-mercy-tube-a-venir.html

http://www.unweb.fr/musique/duffy-lalbum-rockferry.html

http://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2008/03/12/la-soul-british-enivrante-de-duffy_1021480_3246.html

http://musique.ados.fr/news/duffy-la-nouvelle-star-soul_article7233.html

27 Mar: NEW US VIDEO OF MERCY!!!!!!!

Here it is!

27 Mar: US info found on blog.....

Found this US info on this blog. Key info: NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno has already confirmed Duffy for an April 28th appearance, one day after she performs at the Coachella Festival in the desert.

Promotion Time! - Duffy

Once again, promotion! More coming..

Duffy Charms NYC at US Nightclub Premiere After SXSW Conference Showcase

"Mercy" Hits 5th Week at #1 in UK, Biggest UK Single of 2008 - Video Debuts Wednesday, March 26 on MTV.com and Vh1.com 10 am ET & all day on MTV Hits. Single of the week on iTunes

Rockferry Debut Album Ships Near-Platinum in UK, Enters National Chart at #1 - US Release Set for May 13th on Mercury Records - Same Day: Regis & Kelly and Conan O'Brien Tv Appearances

Duffy returns to U.S. in April: Coachella Festival (April 27th); Tonight Show (April 28th)


(March 25, 2008 - New York, NY) After a whirlwind weekend at the SXSW Music & Film Conference in Austin, Texas, young Welsh singer Duffy made her official U.S. nightclub premiere at New York's Hiro Ballroom on St. Patrick's Day - absolutely nailing every song from her debut album ROCKFERRY, which shipped near-platinum in the UK (only) one week before. Climaxing the set was "Mercy," now in its 5th week at #1 on the UK and Ireland national charts.

The attention being paid to Duffy on both sides of the Atlantic in 2008 is nothing short of phenomenal. In the U.S., where ROCKFERRY arrives in stores May 13th on the newly re-launched Mercury label, MTV and VH1 have also thrown their support behind Duffy with MTV naming her their latest "Discover & Download" artist, and VH1 adding Duffy to their "You Oughta Know" roster. NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno has already confirmed Duffy for an April 28th appearance, one day after she performs at the Coachella Festival in the desert. In New York on the album release day, May 13th, Duffy is set for morning and evening spots on ABC's Live with Regis & Kelly and NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien, respectively.

UK sales and airplay stats for "Mercy" are mind-boggling: #1 on the BBC's Radio 1 and Radio 2, with an audience of 91 million, easily the biggest weekly audience of any record in the UK so far this year. In addition to the UK and Ireland, "Mercy" is Top 5 in Denmark, Sweden, Holland, and Greece; and Top 10 on the United World Chart and in Switzerland and Norway.

U.S. airplay is catching up quickly, with "Mercy" bulleting its way inside the Top 40 across-the-board at the influential Hot AC, Alternative and Triple-A formats this week. The video for "Mercy", Directed by Adria Petty (Regina Spektor & Kings of Leon), goes up on MTV.com and VH1.com at 10:00 a.m EST, Wednesday morning, March 26th, as well as all day on MTV Hits and mtvU the same day. The VH1 Top 20 Countdown premiere takes place on March 29th.

Early critical reactions have been unanimous, starting with Rolling Stone's "Artists To Watch" recommendation. More:

"'Mercy' - This single from the latest British retro-soul sensation has got us tapping our toes to its groovy riffs and 'Stand by Me'-style bass line." (Entertainment Weekly)
" 'Mercy'- already top of the pops across Europe - has the punch to conquer the globe."- Billboard.
"Duffy: Female Otis Redding anyone?... Seek out a track called 'Warwick Avenue.' Have someone on standby with a mop because you'll melt down to a puddle on the floor." - Los Angeles Times.

Guileless and beguiling, and blessed with effortless Motown and Stax chops, 23-year old Duffy has blown away London's hype-driven music machinery like a gust of fresh air. She was born and raised in the tiny Welsh village of Nefyn (population 2,550 at last census), a place so remote that the nearest record store was a bus ride away and only stocked the Top 40. Isolated, her muse was immaculately conceived and soulfully nurtured. Opting out of college, she worked as a waitress, sang in a bar, and cobbled out some demo recordings, some of which found their way to Jeanette Lee, noted founder and partner of the Rough Trade record label and manage ment company. She encouraged Duffy to write her own material, put her in the studio with like-minded co-writers/producers, and signed her to A&M/Polydor UK and Mercury Records in the U.S.

26 Mar: DUFFY to be on COVER of CLASH MAGAZINE (May 08 Issue)

This mag is out in the UK on April 3rd so don't miss it!

25 Mar: MTV, VH1 GO ALL OUT FOR DUFFY

For those of you are registered with Hits Daily Double then here is the link to this article... but trust me you don't want to register LOL so I pasted the article in below.

MTV, VH1 GO ALL OUT FOR DUFFY
Networks’ Unprecedented Collaboration Aims to Bust U.K. Singer Wide Open March 25, 2008 MTV and VH1 are joining forces for Duffy. Credit the former's Amy Doyle and the latter's Rick Krim for spotting a winner when they see one. The two networks are pulling out the stops for the May 13 U.S. album launch of the U.K. singer’s Rockferry on David Massey’s resurrected Mercury label through L.A. Reid’s IDJ. The video for the single “Mercy” will make its debut exclusively on VH1.com, VH1Soul.com and MTV.com tomorrow (3/26), starting at 10 a.m. ET. MTV Hits and mtvU will also premiere the video throughout the day. “Mercy” will then debut on VH1’s Top 20 Video Countdown, Saturday (3/29). In addition, fans visiting VH1.com or MTV.com can access news and interviews, music, photos and the video for “Mercy.” Beginning in April, Duffy will be named an MTV “Discover & Download” artist and a VH1 “You Oughta Know” artist. Recent artists at “Discover & Download” include Tokio Hotel, Leona Lewis, All Time Low and We the Kings. The VH1 “You Oughta Know” franchise has helped break artists such as James Blunt, Amy Winehouse, The Fray, KT Tunstall and Corinne Bailey Rae and has proven to have an impact on their record sales. Current YOK artists include Leona Lewis, Ingrid Michaelson and Sara Bareilles. Duffy will also have a focused role in two inaugural VH1 on-air promo campaigns. “On The Road With” is VH1’s new sponsored promo campaign that focuses on one artist on tour. Running from April 14 to June 22, VH1 will roll out three separate 30-second vignettes that take viewers behind-the-scenes with Duffy to reveal life on the road. Throughout the month of May, Duffy will take part in VH1’s “Listen & Discuss” campaign, designed to engage the audience with a designated artist through a multi-faceted blitz of on-air interstitials and promos. The final promo campaign will begin in June where Duffy will be featured in the “Celebreality Spin” promo. 30-second and 20-second promos featuring her album artwork and a fully chyroned video will appear once an hour inside all Celebreality programming throughout the week. The 23-year old Duffy was born and raised in the tiny Welsh village of Nefyn, with a sound that has been compared to vintage Stax and Motown. She was signed by Jeanette Lee, noted founder and partner of the Rough Trade record label and management company, who encouraged Duffy to write her own material, put her in the studio with like-minded co-writers/producers, and signed her to A&M/Polydor UK. She was inked here in the States to Massey’s Mercury label. Rockferry was recorded in England with ex-Suede guitarist turned record producer Bernard Butler, Jimmy Hogarth and Steve Booker. Butler called Duffy “someone who acts and sings utterly unselfconsciously and from the heart, a most rare and magical thing.”

“She's someone who acts and sings utterly unselfconsciously and from the heart, a most rare and magical thing.” -producer Bernard Butler on Duffy

24 Mar: Dunproofin's Mercy (thankful mix) Remix

Dunproofin has remixed Duffy's Mercy. He says 'This remix is just an attempt to get something a little more in a club style on the track ....'.
Some of you may have already found it and heard about, but today I heard back from him and he has allowed me to offer it as an MP3 download:

• Download Mercy (Dunproofin's Thankful Mix)

Watch the video of the remix below. (Vid recut by MisterDgr)

23 Mar: Robbie & Duffy Duet?

This article appear today in The People:

23 March 2008

DUFF CHEER

By Alice Walker, Emma Donnan & Katie Hind

Robbie Williams has taken a shine to singer DUFFY and is hoping to duet with her.

We hear the ex-TAKE THAT star, 34, has written a song for the Welsh beauty, 23, and wants to team up for a joint song. Both would be recorded in LA and a source said: "She's really flattered."

Duffy's single Mercy is set to be knocked off No.1 tonight after a five-week reign.

But if the Robbie songs go ahead, it won't be long before she's back in the top spot.

23 Mar: DID U MISS THE MTV INTERVIEW?

I did. Just found it now! Better late than never.....
Duffy talks about lots of things including music,love and her background, the making of the Mercy videoand being compared to Dusty Springfield.



Also featured on the MTV Duffy exclusive is a biog page, a gallery of "Rockferry" type images (some pics below) and a page where you can listen to the entire Rockferry album in full. Nice.

23 Mar: Swiss article about Duffy.

This article appeared in Swiss-German newspaper Sonntagszeitung today.

Eine Amy Winehouse, nur ohne Drogen

Die walisische Sängerin Duffy nimmt die Charts im Sturm

Von Michael Tschernek

Diese Grübchen! Wer zurzeit durch London spaziert, hat viele Gelegenheiten Duffys süsse Grübchen zu studieren. Die hübsche Waliserin blickt von allen Plakatwänden. «Als ich ein Kind war, sagte meine Mutter, man könne darin Kartoffeln verstecken», erzählt die 23-jährige Sängerin. Duffy ist die Popsensation des Frühlings 2008.

Ihr Debütalbum «Rockferry» ist in Grossbritannien auf Platz eins der Charts eingestiegen, ihre Single «Mercy» führt die Single-Hitliste seit geraumer Zeit an. Duffys Retro-Songs zwischen Soul, Gospel, Jazz und Pop schallen aus jedem zweiten Londoner Ladenlokal. «Baby, baby, baby, spend your time on me» - Duffys Stimme, die an Dusty Springfield erinnert, überquillt vor Emotionen und Dramatik. Man geht fast auf die Knie.

Erste Erfolge mit walisischen Songs sind ihr heute peinlich

Die Schweizer Plattenfirma hat die Veröffentlichung nun sogar um drei Wochen vorgezogen. So viel versprechend ist der Hype um die blonde Sängerin, deren Aufstieg an Amy Winehouse erinnert. Wobei man sich Duffy als Amy minus deren skandalträchtige Aura vorstellen muss. Drogen findet sie nämlich uncool. «Cool ist für mich etwas anderes. Zudem brauche ich nur ein Glas Wein zu trinken und schon verliere ich die Übersicht: Welchen Tag haben wir denn heute?»

Duffy, die mit vollem Namen Aimee Anne Duffy heisst, stammt aus Nefyn, einer kleinen Gemeinde an der Küste von Nordwales. Der Ort gehört zu dem Teil von Wales, in dem noch überwiegend Walisisch gesprochen wird. Englisch ist eine Fremdsprache. «Nach der Scheidung meiner Eltern zog meine Mutter mit mir und meinen Geschwistern nach Fishguard in Pembrokeshire, der südwestlichsten Grafschaft von Wales», erzählt Duffy, «dort wird der ganze Unterricht auf Englisch abgehalten. Das war eine gewaltige Umstellung für mich.»

Fünf Jahre später zog sie zurück zu ihrem Vater nach Nefyn, trat in walisischen Clubs und im walisischen Fernsehen auf und veröffentlichte eine Platte mit walisischen Songs. Diese Veröffentlichungen werden in ihrer offiziellen Biografie geflissentlich unterschlagen. «Ich habe mehrere Leichen im Keller», gesteht Duffy. «Ich war noch auf der Suche nach meinem Weg und habe diese Sachen auch nicht geliebt.»

Dabei war sie zumindest mit den walisischen Songs sehr erfolgreich. «Ich hatte Glück und wurde von vielen Leuten unterstützt. Aber bei den Soulnummern, die ich heute singe, passt die walisische Sprache nicht so gut. Soul ist sanft und funktioniert einfach besser mit englischen Texten.»

Natürlicher als andere Heldinnen dieser Tage

Schliesslich wird Jeanette Lee, eine der Miteigentümerinnen der legendären britischen Plattenfirma Rough Trade, auf Duffy aufmerksam. Lee übernimmt Duffys Management, räumt der Entwicklung der Künstlerin aber viel Zeit ein und schirmt sie von der Presse ab. «Ich lebte allein in einem kleinen Cottage in Wales. In dieser Zeit habe ich viel Musik gehört und viele grosse Soul- und Gospelsängerinnen wie Millie Jackson, Bettye Swann und Candi Staton erst entdeckt», erzählt Duffy.

Erst vor anderthalb Jahren zog sie nach London. Und schon geht der Hype los. Neben den vielen britischen Sängerinnen, die seit geraumer Zeit die UK-Charts beherrschen - Amy Winehouse, KT Tunstall, Lily Allen, Kate Nash, Amy Macdonald und Adele - überzeugt Duffy vor allem durch ihre natürliche Ausstrahlung. Da erweist sich ihre Kindheit im abgeschiedenen Wales als grosser Vorteil. Ebenso wie ihre Grübchen.

23 Mar: Superb Duffy photos

Some fab photos - looks likes some kind of photo shoot....