Back in the early 80s, Irma Kostroski was on track to be one of the biggest pop stars on the planet. Back then she was known by her real name, Tracey Ullman.
Ullman will return as Irma for the new (and final) season of Curb Your Enthusiasm on February 4.
In 1983 and 1984, Tracey released two albums and had five Top 40 hits in the UK as well as one Top 10 hit in the USA.
That American hit was ‘They Don’t Know’, written by Kirsty MacColl (which had a video featuring a cameo from Paul McCartney). The song reached no 2 in the UK and no 8 in the USA. In Australia it peaked at no 56.
Tracey’s first hit was the cover of ‘Breakaway’ in 1983. The song was originally recorded by Irma Thomas in 1964. I assume Tracey’s ‘Curb’ character name ‘Irma’ is a homage to Irma Thomas, who gave her her first hit. ‘Breakaway’ reached no 4 in the UK and registered at no 70 in the USA.
Tracey’s third hit ‘Move Over Darling’ was the cover of a Doris Day song. The video features a cameo from Hank B. Marvin of The Shadows.
Those three hits were included on Tracey’s debut album ‘You Broke My Heart in 17 Places’. The album reached no 14 in the UK and no 34 in the USA.
More hits followed in 1984. First was Tracey’s cover The Madness hit ‘My Girl’, retitled ‘My Guy’. Madness bass player Mark Bedford plays on Tracey’s version. British politician Neil Kinnock who, at the time, was the Head of the UK Labour Party plays a cameo in his video.
‘Sunglasses’, a 1965 hit by Skeeter Davis, written by John D. Loudermilk, was her final hit. The video for this one featured Adrian Edmondson, Vyvyan from The Young Ones and husband of Jennifer Saunders.
‘My Girl’ and ‘Sunglasses’ went on Tracey’s second (and final) album ‘You Caught Me Out’.
In 1985 Tracey and her husband Allan McKeown created The Tracy Ullman Show with producer James L Brooks (later of The Simpsons). The Simpsons was created for The Tracy Ullman Show as a series of “bumpers” before and after commercial breaks before it was spun off into its own series.
The final Season of Curb Your Enthusiam starts this weekend (February 4).
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