Today's column made me laugh.
I didn't do more than chuckle as she made her way through the obligatory homage to the generation gap and the differences in the music. But when she held up Stevie Nicks as the example of the older generation's music being "better" I just laughed out loud...
In my view, Stevie Nicks has a vocal range of about a half an octave. Don't get me wrong, though... as an old fart, I've grown to like various Fleetwood Mac tunes more and more. But Stevie Nicks was never anything more than a pretty face...
Way back when, in those salad days of mine, when I first saw a film of Fleetwood Mac, all I saw was a hot looking babe fronting a band... the music was merely the scenery behind this highly desired sex object on the screen. Nothing has changed in the music business, and Taylor Swift now occupies that place where performers like Stevie Nicks once stood.
Pairing those two off at the Grammy Awards was, essentially, spot on.
She also posted some lyrics from The Who, and compared them to some lyrics to a Taylor Swift song... But there it is again. Roger Daltry? Once upon a time, Roger could do a fantastic, ear-piercing scream (as in "Won't Get Fooled Again").
But it wasn't the music that made the girls in the audience go wild.
I mean, even Frank Sinatra was a sex object during his heyday.
Heh... even Rudy Vallee!
7 comments:
Last week, I was watching "Great Performances from the Met" on PBS, and it was a documentary called "The Audition", which profiled young opera singers (under 30) who were in a prestigious contest that would help them get jobs at the Metropolitan Opera (and other operas nationwide).
The singers in the documentary didn't just have a lot of talent, but many of them had been training for years. There was some discussion about looks (e.g., a larger woman who can sing really well should lose some pounds to get ahead in the modern opera world), but the one really good-looking guy also sang REALLY well and wasn't stuck up, as far as I could tell.
Maybe it's just the opera fan in me, but the singers in that documentary were much better role models than anyone the Grammys have on offer -- people who work hard at their craft for limited financial gain (the prize for the competitionwas $15,000, which isn't much compared with, say, American Idol).
Jeff,
A vocal range is an objective fact, not a subjective matter. Stevie Nicks is a contralto, with a vocal range of two octaves and a minor third, by most reckonings. Taylor Swift is somewhere in the Mezzo Alto/Mezzo Soprano range, can sing in three octaves.
Signed,
That Music Guy
You would definitely be the guy to ask this, then, Victor... Do you think the big-time pop music business is more interested in investing in performers for their musical talent, or for their sexual attractiveness?
And, do you think that maybe (as Dianne might be prone to thinking... and, I suppose, me too) that they constantly lower the bar on the former?
I won't speak for Dianne (although I suggest you go back and read the column for irony, as I suspect her tongue is firmly in her cheek in a few places there) but honestly? Yes, a lot of contemporary performers are invested in because of their attractiveness. Of COURSE they are. But a lot of them are ALSO skilled musicians -- moving away from Ms. Nicks or Ms. Swift, look at Alicia Keys, who is an amazing singer (and, since we're pointedly being technical, has a whopping FIVE octave vocal range) and a skilled pianist. Some of her songs are poppy, sure, (although I'll admit I get a little choked up on "Empire State of Mind Part II") and it doesn't hurt that she's gorgeous, but the fact is, she's damn talented, too.
I think a lot of the problem these days is that people don't have even basic arts appreciation skills these days. Everything's what they "like" or "don't like," when even the simplest pop song can be a marvel on a technical level. When you recognize what people are achieving, you appreciate everything a little more.
Small correction: Keys "only" has three octaves. I was confused for a moment.
I wonder how many octaves I have left...
I never had more than 2 octaves...
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