Sixpence None the Richer (1997)
Sixpence None the Richer is the self-titled third studio album by the Christian alternative rock band Sixpence None the Richer. It was originally released on November 22, 1997 by Squint Entertainment, with distribution by Word Entertainment. The album was produced by Steve Taylor.
After releasing their first two albums and an EP on the R.E.X. label, the label itself folded and filed for bankruptcy, but refused to release Sixpence from its contract.
During their downtime in 1996, lead singer Leigh Bingham married drummer Mark Nash of PFR, Tess Wiley left Sixpence to lend her vocals to the dream pop/rock band Velour 100 and later released some solo albums and bassist J.J. Plasencio left to join Plumb, but he was also involved, playing bass guitar and co-wrote a song on this album.
Taylor rescued the band and signed them as their debut act on his fledgling multi-media label Squint Entertainment. Their self-titled third album opened with a three-track trilogy ("We Have Forgotten," "Anything" and "The Waiting Room") all dealing with their record label conflicts and come off as both bitter and vulnerable. CCM Magazine would call this trilogy "the quietest indictment of the music industry ever to be burned into a compact disc." The first single, "Love," did well on Christian Rock and Christian CHR radio. It was written during their personal and creative crises when they were stuck on their R.E.X. contract when it collapsed. The lyrics draw from First Corinthians ("Love is patience, it is kindness") and spiritual metaphors of rebirth ("You must be the seed... search for the union of death and rebirth"). But it was their second single, "Kiss Me," that would put Sixpence on both the Christian and mainstream radio map.
Although "Kiss Me" had a slow start, it started gaining attention when it was released as a single to mainstream radio stations on August 12, 1998 and started charting a couple of months later in November. Propelled by its prominent features in the 1999 iconic teen movie She's All That and in the television series Dawson's Creek, "Kiss Me" achieved global success reaching the Top 5 worldwide including peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in May 1999 and topping the charts in Canada and Australia. Sixpence were reluctant to include the song on Sixpence None the Richer, until their producer Taylor persuaded them to reconsider. "Kiss Me" was Gold certified in March 1999, even before it reached its No. 2 peak a couple of months later. The single since been certified Double Platinum in August 2023 and year later in July 2024, it was Triple Platinum selling over 3 million copies. It is also their most-streamed song on Spotify with over 1.4 billion streams (Christian Hard Rock act Skillet are the only act to have over a 1 billion streams in the Christian music genre for their 2009 hit "Monster"). Because "Kiss Me" was release by a Christian act, the song itself is not considered a Christian song. Not since "Baby Baby" by Amy Grant has this song seen this much mainstream attention.
To follow-up "Kiss Me," Sixpence released a cover of the English rock band The La's "There She Goes." The story of this song follows as the band were being interviewed on Santa Monica, California radio station KCRW's long-running alternative music show, Morning Becomes Eclectic. During that interview, the band performed an acoustic set that included a cover of "There She Goes." The show's host, Nic Harcourt, was impressed, identifying the song as originally recorded by the La's and calling it a "genius song." This radio appearance was made available to fans on CD-R by the band's label, Squint. This led to the recording of a studio version of the song, which was added to 1998 editions of the 1997 Sixpence None the Richer album and released as a single in July 1999. "There She Goes" was an even bigger hit and was a Top 40 hit on the Hot 100 climbing to No. 32 in November 1999 and in August 2023 it was Gold certified. "I Can't Catch You" was also released as a single to Christian radio and garnered some airplay.
The band made television appearances on morning talk shows, late night talk shows like The Tonight Show and MTV.
Sixpence made it first appearance on both the Billboard 200 and the Top Christian Albums charts as their third album peaked at No. 89 and No. 1, respectively in 1999. Their album was Gold certified in 1999 and then Platinum in 2000 by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album cover won a Dove Award for Recorded Music Packaging awarded to Beth Lee, Janice Booker, D.L. Taylor, Ben Pearson and Gina R. Brinkley in 1998. In 1999, the band earned their first Grammy nomination for Best Rock Gospel Album and a year later were nominated for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for "Kiss Me." Sixpence won Group of the Year in 2000 at the 31st GMA Dove Awards.
CCM Magazine named this album the 19th greatest album in Christian music in 2001 in their book The 100 Greatest Albums in Christian Music. In 2024, Sixpence reissued their third album on two LPs and containing four bonus tracks including acoustic versions of "Kiss Me" and "There She Goes," the Leigh Nash solo "The Tide" credited with the band and their B-Side "Sad But True." Sixpence also went on tour that year to celebrate the album's 25th anniversary.
Track listing on the 2024 reissue with bonus tracks
All songs written by Matt Slocum, except where noted.
1. We Have Forgotten -5:08
2. Anything -4:45
3. The Waiting Room (Matt Slocum, Chris Donahue) -5:15
4. Kiss Me -3:29
5. Easy to Ignore (Leigh Nash) -3:53
6. Puedo Escribir (based on a poem by Pablo Neruda) (music by Matt Slocum,
Dale Baker and J.J. Plasencio) -3:46
7. I Can't Catch You -4:13
8. The Lines of My Earth -4:27
9. Sister, Mother -3:06
10. I Won't Stay Long (Sam Ashworth) -2:16
11. Love -3:57
12. Moving On (Matt Slocum, Chris Donahue) -3:57
13. There She Goes (Lee Mavers) -2:45
14. The Tide (credited as Leigh Nash and Sixpence None the Richer) (Leigh Nash,
Matt Slocum, Ruby Amanfu, Sam Ashworth) -3:33
15. Sad But True -4:01
16. Kiss Me (acoustic) -3:14
17. There She Goes (acoustic) -2:46
Personnel
Sixpence None the Richer:
Leigh Nash -vocals
Matt Slocum -guitars, cello, string arrangments, Wulitzer electric piano on tracks
3 and 10
Dale Baker -drums, percussion
additional musicians:
J.J. Plasencio -bass guitar (tracks 1 -7, 9 -11), upright bass on track 8
Chris Donahue -bass guitar on track 12
Justin Cary -bass guitar on track 13
Sean Kelly -guitar on track 13
Phil Madeira -Hammond B3 organ (tracks 2, 4 and 9)
John Mark Painter -Mellotron on track 2, bells on track 3, accordion on track 4,
oud on track 7, muted trumpet on track 8, hurdy-gurdy on tracks 8 and 11
Tom Howard -acoustic piano on track 8
Al Perkins -pedal steel guitar on tracks 5 and 8
Mark Nash -cymbals and hi-hat on track 11
David Davidson -violin on track 5
Peter Hyrka -violin on tracks 1 and 11
string section on tracks 2, 3, 6, 11 and 12:
Kristin Wilkinson -viola
Antoine Sliverman -first violin
David Davidson -second violin
Production credits
Steve Taylor -producer (tracks 1 -13, 15 -17)
Matt Slocum and Sam Ashworth -producers (track 14)
RIAA certifications
Sixpence None the Richer album
Gold certified in 1999.
Platinum certified in 2000.
"Kiss Me" single Gold certified in 1999, Platinum 3x in 2024.
"There She Goes" single Gold certified in 2023.
Accolades
Dove Award -Group of the Year
Radio singles
1997 -1998 "Love" -#16 Christian CHR
1998 -1999 "Kiss Me" -#2 Billboard Hot 100, -#2 Billboard AC, -#1 Billboard Pop
Airplay, -#2 Billboard Adult Pop Airplay, -#2 Billboard Radio Songs, -#17 Billboard
Adult Alternative Airplay
1999 "There She Goes" -#32 Billboard Hot 100, -#19 Billboard AC, -#13 Billboard Pop
Airplay, -#7 Billboard Adult Pop Airplay, -#23 Billboard Radio Songs
Previous release: Tickets for a Prayer Wheel (EP) (1995)
Next release: Divine Discontent (2002)
Watch the Paris version of "Kiss Me" here:
Watch the official version of "Kiss Me" here:
Watch the music video of "There She Goes" here:
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