April 15, 1988: Tracy Chapman Releases Her Self-Titled Debut Album

April 15, 1988: Tracy Chapman releases her self-titled debut album. It is one of the few albums that could be called "folk music" released after the 1960s that anyone remembers.

It won 3 Grammy Awards, and in 2004, when Rolling Stone magazine made its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time," the album's biggest hit, "Fast Car," was the highest-ranking song both written and performed by a female soloist: Number 167. In 2021, their updated list promoted it to Number 71.

The mention of a fast car as a means of escape, however temporary, speaks to earlier legends like Chuck Berry, The Beach Boys and Bruce Springsteen. But the song's spare sound brings to mind the work of Joni Mitchell -- whose husband at the time, Larry Klein, played bass on "Fast Car."

In a 2010 interview, Chapman explained that the song wasn't "directly autobiographical," but rather "very generally represents the world that I saw it when I was growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, coming from a working class background."

It reached Number 6 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 list. In 1996, she topped it, hitting Number 1 with "Give Me One Reason." To me, it sounded like a sequel to "Fast Car": The protagonist survived the original song's struggle, and has a little more optimism. She has enough of what she needs, and is now able to focus on what she wants, and is giving the potential love interest the chance to live up to it, without making any promises to anyone but herself.

UPDATE: In 2023, Luke Combs recorded it, and it hit Number 1 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs. The Country Music Association awarded it Song of the Year -- and since that award, as with the Grammys' versions, goes to the writer, as opposed to Record of the Year, which goes to the performer, that made Tracy Chapman the 1st black person to win the CMA Song of the Year. In 2024, Chapman and Combs sang it together on the Grammy Awards broadcast.

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April 15, 1988 was a Friday. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-1 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Tommy John was the winning pitcher. Don Slaught hit a home run. Dave Winfield went 0-for-3 with a bases-loaded walk for an RBI. Don Mattingly went 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-5.

* The New York Mets were leading the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-0 at Shea Stadium, when the game was called due to rain. Dwight Gooden had a 2-hit shutout going.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-4 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Mike Schmidt went 1-for-5 with an RBI.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox, 3-2 at Fenway Park in Boston. Steve Buchele hit a home run in the top of the 10th inning.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Baltimore Orioles, 3-2 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Eddie Murray went 0-for-4. Cal Ripken went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-0 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Rick Sutcliffe pitched a 6-hit shutout. Barry Bonds went 0-for-4.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Houston Astros, 4-2 at the Astrodome in Houston. Paul O'Neill doubled 2 runs home in the top of the 10th inning.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres, 8-3 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Tony Gwynn went 1-for-4.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves, 3-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 11-3 at the Oakland Coliseum.

* The California Angels beat the Seattle Mariners, 5-3 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

* The game between the Detroit Tigers and the Kansas City Royals at Tiger Stadium in Detroit was called off due to cold weather. It was made up 3 days later. The Tigers won, 4-2. Frank Tanana outpitched Floyd Bannister. For the Royals, George Brett went 1-for-4.

* And the game between the Minnesota Twins and the Toronto Blue Jays at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto was called off due to the same cold snap. It wasn't made up until August 4. The Twins won, 2-1.

Football was out of season. The NHL's regular season was coming to a close, but no games were scheduled for this day. There were 10 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Washington Bullets, 106-97 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Chicago Bulls, 100-99 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 103-101 in overtime at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. Dominique Wilkins scored 36 for the Hawks.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Sacramento Kings, 116-112 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Boston Celtics, 120-109 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio. Brad Daugherty scored 44 points for the Cavs, leading all scorers on the night. This matchup is interesting because Chapman was from Cleveland, but made extra money by "busking" (singing and playing guitar) on the Boston subway while attending nearby Tufts University.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 92-91 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Houston Rockets, 132-125 at the McNichols Arena in Denver. Danny Schayes, son of former NBA star Dolph Schayes, scored 32 for the Nuggets.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Phoenix Suns, 117-114 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. Magic Johnson scored 31.

* The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Golden State Warriors, 147-113 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum. Ernest Maurice Vandeweghe III, a.k.a. Kiki Vandeweghe, son of former NBA star Ernie Vandeweghe and Miss America 1952 Collen Kay Hutchins, scored 36 for the Blazers.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Dallas Stars, 115-88 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.