Aimee Mann

A bassist from Richmond who fronted 'Til Tuesday, then spent a decade fighting record labels for the right to make wry, literate guitar-pop records, and finally made them on her own label.

Origin: Richmond, Virginia, United States
Years active: 1978-present
Genres: pop rock, alternative rock, singer-songwriter
Labels: Epic, Imago, Geffen, SuperEgo

Boston and 'Til Tuesday

Aimee Mann was born in Richmond, Virginia, in September 1960. In 1978 she enrolled at Berklee College of Music in Boston to study bass guitar. She went on to play bass in the Boston punk band the Young Snakes, then played with Ministry. Her next band was the new wave group 'Til Tuesday, with Robert Holmes on guitar, Joey Pesce on keyboards and Michael Hausman on drums.

They won Boston's WBCN Rock & Roll Rumble in 1983 and signed to Epic Records. Their debut album, Voices Carry, came out in April 1985, and its title song, one of the first Mann wrote on her own, reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100. Its video won the MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist. The follow-up, Welcome Home (1986), brought a lower-charting single, and the third album, Everything's Different Now (1988), shaped by the end of her relationship with Jules Shear, stalled at number 124 and included a song co-written with Elvis Costello. Mann has said a new executive at Epic scuttled it at once.

Leaving Epic

'Til Tuesday ended when Mann left to start a solo career, saying she now cared more about acoustic guitar music than new wave pop. Epic would not release her from her contract for another three years, and Hausman, her former boyfriend, became her manager. She worked meanwhile with Jon Brion, a former member of the 'Til Tuesday touring band. A deal with Irving Azoff's Giant label fell through after Azoff asked for a more established producer and then changed his mind, so Mann and Brion finished the record themselves with money from her then-manager Patrick Rains.

The result, Whatever, appeared on Imago in 1993. It was well reviewed and sold 170,000 copies in the United States by 2001, short of what was hoped. Brion's work on it and its follow-up gave a template that Fiona Apple, Elliott Smith, Rufus Wainwright and Eels later used with him, according to Stereogum. Imago ran into financial trouble, and I'm with Stupid (1995) was sold to Geffen, which signed Mann in 1994. In 1994 she also toured with Squeeze, playing a set that was half hers and half theirs.

Magnolia and independence

In the late 1990s Mann became a regular at Largo, the Los Angeles club where Brion hosted weekly shows, and the owner jokingly called it Aimee Mann's clubhouse. She wrote Wise Up for Cameron Crowe's Jerry Maguire, but he dropped it from the film. Paul Thomas Anderson, who was part of the Largo crowd, then wrote Magnolia, saying he had sat down to write an adaptation of Aimee Mann songs. Its soundtrack was certified gold, and Save Me earned her an Academy Award nomination and a performance at the 72nd Oscars.

Meanwhile Geffen refused to release her next record because it had no hit single. Mann sold homemade EPs on tour, formed SuperEgo Records with Hausman, and used Magnolia royalties to buy the masters. Bachelor No. 2 came out in May 2000. It sold 25,000 copies by mail order alone and about 270,000 in all, and it showed that she could work outside the major label system.

Since

Her later albums have mostly come out on SuperEgo: Lost in Space (2002), The Forgotten Arm (2005), a concept album about two lovers on the run that won a Grammy for its packaging, a Christmas record, @#%&! Smilers (2008) and Charmer (2012). In 2014 she released an album with Ted Leo as the Both. Mental Illness (2017), which she called her saddest, slowest and most acoustic album, won the Grammy for Best Folk Album. Queens of the Summer Hotel (2021) collects songs written for a musical based on Girl, Interrupted*. She also paints, draws comics and has acted in television. On 17 May 2025 she reunited with 'Til Tuesday at the Cruel World Festival in Pasadena, their first show in 33 years.

Pitchfork's Eric Torres wrote that her songs are filled with attuned details and characters more often associated with the best short stories. Mann describes songwriting as an exercise in order. Her own best-song pick from the early records is 4th of July, and one of the first songs she wrote on her own became Voices Carry.

Records

Whatever 1993 · Imago
The solo debut: Mellotron, Optigan and 12-string guitar behind songs about Epic, exes and a Fourth of July.
Magnolia: Music from the Motion Picture 1999 · soundtrack · Reprise
Paul Thomas Anderson wrote a film around Mann's songs, and she wrote new ones for it.
Bachelor No. 2 or, the Last Remains of the Dodo 2000 · SuperEgo
The record Geffen would not release, which Mann bought back, put out herself and sold in the hundreds of thousands.
Lost in Space 2002 · SuperEgo
The fourth album, on her own label, with a cover and mini-comic by Seth.

Songs

Voices Carry 1985
The 'Til Tuesday single that reached number eight in the United States and made Mann an early MTV face.
4th of July Whatever · 1993
A song built around Fourth of July fireworks that Mann still plays live.
I've Had It Whatever · 1993
A kiss-off to Epic that Nick Hornby put among the songs that changed his life.
Mr. Harris Whatever · 1993
A song about an old man raking leaves, with diminished chords and a string arrangement.
Save Me Magnolia: Music from the Motion Picture · 1999
Written for Magnolia, nominated for an Academy Award, and the song that brought her work to a wider audience.
Wise Up Magnolia: Music from the Motion Picture · 1996
Written for Jerry Maguire and dropped from the film, it became the song the Magnolia cast sing to each other.

Jon Brion, 'Til Tuesday, Fiona Apple, Elliott Smith, Elvis Costello

Where to go next

Official

Aimee Mann official site Music, tour dates, bio and store.

Reference

Aimee Mann on Wikipedia Career overview with early life, albums and awards.
Whatever on Wikipedia Background, recording, reception and personnel for the 1993 debut.
Bachelor No. 2 on Wikipedia How the album was refused, bought back and released on SuperEgo.
Lost in Space on Wikipedia Release, tracklist and the mixed reviews.
Mental Illness on Wikipedia The 2017 Grammy-winning acoustic album.
The Forgotten Arm on Wikipedia The 2005 boxing concept album, with tracklist.
'Til Tuesday on Wikipedia The band's history, lineups and 2025 reunion.
Voices Carry album on Wikipedia The 1985 debut album, with charts and reviews.
Jon Brion on Wikipedia The producer of Mann's early solo albums.

Writing and criticism

Pitchfork review of Bachelor No. 2 A 2019 Sunday Review that places the album in the Largo scene.
The Magnolia soundtrack made sweet music A.V. Club feature on how film and songs shaped each other.

Interviews

Aimee Mann on her early solo albums A long Stereogum conversation about 'Til Tuesday, Imago, Geffen and the songs on Whatever.
Aimee Mann on the Music That Made Her Pitchfork's 5-10-15-20 conversation about the records she loved at each age.
Guardian interview with Paul Thomas Anderson The director talks about making Magnolia.

Live performance archives

Guardian review of a 2013 London show Ian Gittins on a Royal Festival Hall concert.

Sources

Aimee Mann, Wikipedia
Aimee Mann on her early solo albums, Stereogum (2018)
Aimee Mann on the Music That Made Her, Pitchfork (2020-11-24)
Aimee Mann: Bachelor No. 2 or, the Last Remains of the Dodo, Pitchfork (2019-11-17)
'Til Tuesday, Wikipedia
Jon Brion, Wikipedia
Aimee Mann official site, Aimee Mann