"Anchorage"
Single by Michelle Shocked
from the album Short Sharp Shocked
B-side"Fogtown"
ReleasedSeptember 12, 1988 (1988-09-12)[1]
Length3:24
LabelMercury
Songwriter(s)Michelle Shocked
Producer(s)Pete Anderson[2]
Michelle Shocked singles chronology
"Anchorage"
(1988)		 "If Love Was a Train"
(1988)

"Anchorage" is the debut single of American singer-songwriter Michelle Shocked, released as the lead single from her first studio album, Short Sharp Shocked (1988), in September 1988. The song peaked at number 66 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and also charted in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, reaching the top 75 in these countries.

Lyrical content

The song is about the singer finally taking time out to write to an old friend who has moved from Texas to Anchorage, Alaska, and her friend's reply. In her reply, her friend realizes she might have become a housewife "anchored down in Anchorage" but still dreaming about her childhood in Texas with her good friend Michelle, who went on to an exciting life as a musician and a "skateboard punk rocker in New York".[3] She tells the singer that her husband Leroy says "send a picture", "hello", and "keep on rocking".[3]

Much of the song's lyrics were taken directly from a letter from JoAnn Kelli Bingham, a Comanche Indian and recently married friend who had recently moved to geographically remote Alaska. Her husband is Leroy Bingham, a Blackfeet Indian who worked for Cook Inlet Tribal Council.

Track listings

US and Australian 7-inch single[4]

A. "Anchorage" – 3:21
B. "Anchorage" (live) – 4:14

UK 10-inch and CD single[5][6]

  1. "Anchorage"
  2. "Fogtown"
  3. "Penny Evans" (live at Glastonbury)
  4. "Re-Modelling the Pentagon" (live at Glastonbury)

UK 7-inch single[7]

A. "Anchorage"
B. "Fogtown"

UK 12-inch single[8]

A1. "Anchorage"
A2. "Strawberry Jam" (live at Glastonbury)
B1. "Fogtown" (from Texas Campfire L.P.)
B2. "Fogtown"

Charts

Weekly chart performance for "Anchorage"
Chart (1988–1989) Peak
position
Australia (Australian Music Report)[9] 51
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[10] 70
UK Singles (OCC)[11] 60
US Billboard Hot 100[12] 66
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[13] 42
US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard)[14] 16

References

  1. ↑ "New Singles". Music Week. September 10, 1988. p. 31.
  2. ↑ Strong, Martin Charles. The Great Indie Discography. 2003. Canongate Publishing ISBN 9781841953359
  3. 1 2 Lyrics and chords at michelleshocked.com
  4. ↑ Anchorage (US & Australian 7-inch single vinyl disc). Michelle Shocked. Mercury Records. 1988. 870 611-7.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  5. ↑ Anchorage (UK 10-inch single vinyl disc). Michelle Shocked. Cooking Vinyl, London Records. 1988. LONT 193.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  6. ↑ Anchorage (UK CD single liner notes). Michelle Shocked. Cooking Vinyl, London Records. 1988. LONCD 193.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  7. ↑ Anchorage (UK 7-inch single vinyl disc). Michelle Shocked. Cooking Vinyl, London Records. 1988. LON 193.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  8. ↑ Anchorage (UK 12-inch single vinyl disc). Michelle Shocked. Cooking Vinyl, London Records. 1988. LONX 193.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  9. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992: 23 years of hit singles & albums from the top 100 charts. St Ives, N.S.W, Australia: Australian Chart Book. p. 273. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  10. ↑ "RPM 100 Singles". RPM. Vol. 49, no. 14. February 4, 1989. p. 6.
  11. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
  12. ↑ "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. January 14, 1989. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
  13. ↑ "Hot Adult Contemporary". Billboard. Vol. 101, no. 3. January 21, 1989. p. 18.
  14. ↑ "Alternative Airplay". Billboard. September 17, 1988. Retrieved August 13, 2023.
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