Ms. Merchant was born in upstate New York, At sixteen, she thought she might want to work in the special education field; at eighteen, she hooked up with a band called Still Life. They would rename themselves 10,000 Maniacs.
10,000 Maniacs were one of the first bands to signify the term "college rock," and played a pivotal role in establishing alternative radio in the 1980s. They broke up right as they were having their commercial breakthrough; a cover of Patti Smith's "Because The Night" landed them in the top ten on the pop charts.
Natalie, as the band's main songwriter and lead singer, yearned for further expression, and went solo. The evocative, hazy greatness of her debut single, Carnival, introduced the kind of artist she would be: nuanced, introspective, always genuine.
Followup singles Wonder and Jealousy were full of such genuine mirth they made easy targets for parody, but both went top twenty.
Natalie's followup to her debut, Tigerlily, was a concept album called Ophelia. It didn't do the business of the first record, but it did add another long lasting hit to her repertoire - the aforementioned Kind and Generous.
Didn't "Baby, Baby" lose Female Video to Janet's "Love Will Never Do"?
If I can actually get around to doing this part, Lauryn would be a strong contender for my 11 (though I would've loved seeing "Lost Ones" or even "To Zion" there, or even "If I Ruled the World"... even though it's a Nas track).
Oh, and happy to see Natalie Imbruglia on this. "Torn" will get high marks for me (if I do this), but my favorite material of hers came from White Lillies Island.