Toni Childs

Toni Childs (born October 29, 1957) is an American-born, Australian singer-songwriter.

Childs was born in Orange, California, and lived in Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Nevada during her childhood.

In 1972, she saw Pink Floyd in concert and decided to pursue a career as a singer-songwriter.

In 1979, Childs performed several live shows with the band Berlin whilst their singer, Terri Nunn, was unavailable.

Her first band of note, Toni and the Movers, included Jack Sherman (later to become a member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Micki Steele (later a member of the Bangles).

The Los Angeles-based band performed and toured for two years but did not release an album.

In the summer of 1981, after The Movers had disbanded, Childs performed various improvised sets of music at Madame Wong's West and the Madam Wong's clubs in Los Angeles under the name Nadia Kapiche with musicians including Steve Schiff (guitar), Micki Steele (bass), Mark Buchholtz (keyboards/sax), Richard Larsen (keyboards/sax), and drummer Stan Getts.

Demo (recording) sessions were also done in Hollywood with most of this band, with Ed Warnecke on drums.

Childs was still searching for her niche.

She has said, "I didn't know who I was, and I realized I was trying to grab the brass ring like everybody else. I wanted to become a better songwriter and I knew I just didn't know enough to be signed. That's when I went to Island Music publishing, and asked them to sign me and send me to England."

In 1981, she signed a song publishing deal with Island Music which financed her move to London.

There she lived in an empty office of a local recording studio, sweeping floors and dusting consoles in exchange for rent and recording experience.

While in London, Childs played with various musicians in various band configurations: David Rhodes (who had worked with Peter Gabriel), Mike Cotzi (Shriekback), Martin Swaine (The Waterboys, World Party), Steve Creese (World Party), and Duncan Kilburn (The Psychedelic Furs).

During her stay in the vitally global music scene of early-80s London, the seeds of world music were planted, later to be heard on Childs's first album.

In 1983, Childs provided backing vocals on Scottish band the Europeans' track "A.E.I.O.U".

Band member Steve Hogarth later returned the favor by doing the same on Childs's debut album Union.

In 1985, after returning to Los Angeles, Childs was signed to A&M Records and soon began to work with songwriter/producer/musician David Ricketts (of David + David) on the soundtrack for the film Echo Park, also providing backing vocals for David + David's album Boomtown, including on the minor hit single, "Ain't So Easy".

Raised in a household dominated by her parents' religious values, Childs stated in a 1988 article for Time magazine that she and her three brothers "were not allowed to listen to pop music or rock or even go to the movies. There was a lot I missed out on."

At the age of 15, Childs ran away from home and became a blues musician.

In 1988, Childs's debut album Union was released.

Recorded in London, Paris and Swaziland, the album was an infusion of rock/pop and world music with its strong African percussion.

In a 1988 article that praised Childs's originality and the craftsmanship of Union, Time magazine said, "if she can get an album like Union from a single relationship, the music she makes from the rest of her life should really be extraordinary".

Music videos were produced for the songs "Don't Walk Away", "Stop Your Fussin'", and "Walk And Talk Like Angels".

These were made available on the VHS "Toni Childs: The Videos".

The song "Dreamer" was included in the soundtrack to the film "Moonlight and Valentino" soundtrack.

The single "Stop Your Fussin'" was a major single hit in various countries, including South Africa where it was named the seventh-biggest-selling single of 1989.

As with all of her albums, Childs wrote or co-wrote all the tracks for Union.

She embarked on a relationship with her Union collaborator David Ricketts, living and working together, and the songs on Union have much to do with their relationship.

In 1989, Childs recorded a cover version of Jimmy Cliff's "Many Rivers to Cross" as part of the soundtrack for the film Lost Angels.

In 1990, Childs recorded vocals for the song "I've Not Forgotten You" for the Jonathan Elias album Requiem for the America: Songs from the Lost World.

Child’s second album House of Hope yielded huge success in Australia and New Zealand with "I've Got to Go Now".

According to Soundscan, House of Hope had sold 500,000 units in the U.S. since its release in 1991.

The title track was featured on the "Thelma & Louise" soundtrack, and instrumental excerpts from "Heaven's Gate" have been used in American television shows.

The album covered some rather dark ground—such as domestic abuse in "I've Got to Go Now", world troubles in "House of Hope", incest and sexual abuse in the harrowing "Daddy's Song", addiction in "Where's the Light" and "Put This Fire Out", and death in "Heaven's Gate", "Dead Are Dancing", and "Three Days".

Of the album, Childs stated she believed that "when we have the courage to share our darkest parts and our purest nature with each other we are evolution in action. We are creating our own 'House of Hope'".

The album garnered considerable critical acclaim, and though it peaked at #63 in the U.S., it was certified gold in 1995 by the Record Industry Association of America (RIAA) for having shipped 500,000 units (the album had shipped 180,000 copies between 1991 and 2006, 1991 being when SoundScan began tracking sales).

It also enjoyed two weeks at #1 in New Zealand and was certified platinum there.

In Australia, the album was certified double platinum, for shipments exceeding 140,000 copies.

Later that year, Childs was nominated for two Grammy Awards – Best New Artist and Best Rock Vocal Performance (female).

Her first national tour was opening for Bob Dylan.