Tim Curry – Fearless
To celebrate his 77th birthday this past Wednesday, this week I’m going to talk about an album by the legendary Tim Curry. Did you know before he was a Hollywood icon, a young Tim Curry tried his hand at rock and roll? He did! With his 1979 album Fearless (the second of three albums he’d release), Curry decided to up his game and get into songwriting after having released a full album of cover songs. Curry teamed up with Dick Wagner to write six of the nine tracks on Fearless and every track, even the Joni Mitchell cover, oozes Curry charm with his signature style front and center. He’s not hamming it up and the music isn’t cheesy. (Well ok, “Do The Rock” is… But it works!) The sound of the album is late-stage glam rock with hints of disco and soul sprinkled throughout. Altogether it creates a sound that might not have stood out much back in 1979, but has become an interesting and enjoyable listen in 2023.
As someone who is very familiar with Tim Curry’s acting career, I couldn’t believe it when I first heard he had a music career back in the day. In hindsight it makes perfect sense (Rocky Horror, anyone?), but at the time I was shocked and quite excited to hear his music. I ended up tracking down all three of his albums and legitimately enjoy them on a regular basis. His charm really does shine through on each track and some of his covers are quite interesting (his cover of ” I Put A Spell On You” on his third album, Simplicity, is perfectly on-brand). These albums are well worth seeking out because they are more than just a curiosity; they’re fun and they rock and they deserve a spot in your collection.
