Friday, July 29, 2005
Paula Abdul
When the Thursday night conversation turns to music, I tend to have a bit less to say than others. At that point in the evening, my role is primarily to reference 80s and 90s acts that make BB and Forrest cringe. Last night I admitted to owning a dance mix album of Paula Abdul's 'Forever Your Girl' when I was in college.
BB immediately grabbed his chest in panic as his heart seemed to stop at the mention of lil' miss Laker Girl and Forrest had a good laugh. We had been discussing the effect that large record labels have on pop culture by using payola (aka bribes) to get DJs to play a crappy artists music. I felt that while cheesy and predictable, artist like Abdul have a place in the musical world and that if their labels want to spend money to market their product, then so be it - it's called free enterprise and that particular right is just as much a part of Americana as free expression.
I'm sure Forrest (and Clearing) will comment to clarify his position, but it was suggested that this type of marketing by saturation appeals to the "lowest" common denominator and brings down the quality of music as a creative industry. My problem with this perspective is that because music is an artistic expression, it is incongruous to qualitatively evaluate music across a group of individuals. if music had a productive output that measured quanitatively (like say, agricultural methods) variations could be measured against each other with a common standard
My (admittedly) limited perspective of what is well vs. poorly done is shaped by my own experiences and tastes. Qualities that I might find draw me to one artist, might demonstrate the worst in music to someone else. Even the most atonal caterwauling of some South American tribe are very well received back home. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it seems a bit elitist to suggest that the styles appreciated by one group (the larger in this case) are of less value than another smaller group.
For example, I used to listen to a lot of Dave Weckl's solo recordings. Dave is acknowledged to be one of the top drummers in the world and is a sought after studio musician in Jazz, fusion, and symphonic circles. When I listen to Weckl, I hear the precision of his 'sextuplet paradiddles' (drummer geek-speak) and the way he blends 5/8 and 2/4 and 9/8 time signatures without losing a beat or the listener. Any non-drummer that I ever played Weckl for (regardless of there level of musical training or tastes) thought it was busy and got very boring very quick - every drummer just listened in awe.
Appreciation what the artist is trying to accomplish has a lot to do with evaluating music. If it's a boom-chick Merle Haggard song - meant to be played in juke boxes and pick up trucks, there's not much use in blending a contra tenor's vocals with the bass line. If the desired effect is something that makes you want to jump around like a basketball cheerleader, Paula got it done.
Maybe I'll post about Garth Brooks next. :-)
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10 comments:
He's a cold hearted snake.. look into his eyes, uh oh he's been telling lies. I remember hearing this song over and over when I rode the school bus.
She's my lady luck, I'm her wild card man. Together we're working on a real hot hand. We're two of a kind work on a full house!
Love ya babe....cool post. Hope I caught the right jist since I'm running on low sleep here, but if I got it right then, I agree each person is entitled to their own tastes and each artists appeals to people for various reasons. So if good marketers want to encourage the masses to like a pretty face then--kudos to the marketers who achieve their goal!
I like South American nasal whining music. It is just obscure enough that I can find a peaceful place from the taste debates. I know that no one else will like it. Kinda' like when I would eat the cold beans with tomato sauce in the MRE rations in the Army. No one like it, so there was plenty to go around. Always gave me gas, sometimes other soldiers would hold me down and forcibly take the bean package out of my fists, because they were sick of smelling me. So - here comes a comment fermented with plenty of beans and musical notes.... I am tired of music videos that are all shaking butts, monotone rhymes stolen from jump rope girls and overpriced automobiles sitting in the background. I am also tired of white guy bands who think that because their little world is cruel that they have a license to scowl as if they have invented dispair and irony (have some freakin' fun already and quit paintin' yourself into the cool corner...) Just because you've discovered a band that sounds like robots pissing into a bucket does not mean you have reached a higher level of acoustical intellect. Also, I like old country like Merle because it was plain-old I don't give a freak music. New country sounds like the New Kids on the Block took auctioneering lessons. I might add that I am not allowed to listen to Merle with other people because of some kinda class warfare thing or something... I also love heavy metal - if you must sing with anger - do it like you mean it... go on and wear that blouse and lycra zebra-print trouser and scream like you don't give a freak! Don't bother me if you express anger with pouty lips that forgot how to smile and sissy-man musical pee-pee contests that distract you from your pizza delivery job (and if you're into anarchy - don't forget that some square-headed capitalist invented your freakin' spraypaint can that you hide under your twin-bed.) Also, not to leave any stone unturned - I'm nearly sick of worship music. Most of it is becoming personality driven love songs that are more similar to french-kissing the spotlight in some big moga-church auditorium than a search for communion. This is like pouty-lip music with a glazed-over smile. This music seems very introverted. (Kudos to everyone who finds God in music outside of the vein!) Well now. I apologize for my lack of paragraphs, but a true rant should have none. Also, many of the bands that many of us listen to do not fall into the above category, so no slings or arrows were intentional on my part. I've been wounded and suffer silently with a little quivering lip in many a musical wrestling match - never with the usual Thursday night crowd - and have found myself with a true lack of understanding at many concerts and worship services. The funny thing is that I'm going to play some worship music for a service in about 5 hours. I think that worship music can be found in the cicadas on a hot night.
T,
"She's my lady luck, I'm her wild card man."
That sounds like what Corey Clarke said was the case.
Wow, country lyrics, rants, and music nazis. Too hot for me to handle. I'm not sure if I followed all the threads. Am I allowed to like a certain kind of music and not like another?
did all of that just spew from my belly? Sorry for doing it all over your dashboard!
Darwin, I could not have said it better. I have always enjoyed your quirky tastes in world music.
Before the demonizing begins, dash got off the topic of what we were talking about and turned it into an issue of tastes.
The coversation was about how crappy artist with little to no talent will have hits on the radio due to a big company bribing dj's at radio stations to saturate the marke with this crap.
The conversation was not about one style of music being superior to another style. Thank goodness, because I listen to a buttload of styles. Yes, there is good pop, good metal, good country, good electronica, good whatever. It is a shame that a lot of hit will not be heard by the masses, because the kids like Hillary Duff.
Here is the story that started it all:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,163537,00.html
Yeah, I also think their are too few owners of radio stations. Half in K.C. are owned by one company, and the other half by another. I do like the Planet (97.3) They are starting to base their playlist on recommendations from their listeners via the internet. Niche markets! So far here we listen to classical. There is no classical in KC except on 1640AM!
Forrest,
My whole point was that evaluative statements like "crappy artists" are invalid and based on perception.
I agree that it's a shame more people don't seek out new music experiences; but if they like hillary duff - good for them!
As I also mentioned in the post, if Hillary's marketing company can increase her sales without breaking the law .... it's their job - not an eveil conspiricy to reduce the quality of music in the culture.
Clearing,
Should I allow your guilty pleasures out of the closet?
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