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I think that a more appropriate title for this post would be “Whatever happened to talent?” This is something that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. There have been so many good musical acts that have come, made it big, then disappeared. I’m not talking about the one hit wonders either. I’m talking about groups or individuals that have had multiple hit singles just all of a sudden disappearing. It’s understandable if they have one good song and the rest of their CD is crap but if it’s a good album? I don’t get it.
I think you really hit it, Zuke, when you said “Somewhere along the lines, a person was put in charge of finding the
next big thing that everyone would be groomed to love and bring them
into the spotlight. This worked for a time, and we found new artists
and loved them. But then it kept growing, and growing, and growing
until we were expected to love them before we’d even heard what they
are capable of. If we don’t love them immediately, they are thrown by
the wayside.” How true, and sad, that is…
For the record, reading this post made me feel very old. Most of this music came out when I was in high school. Now, kids just play their noise too loud. STAY OFF MY LAWN! …stupid kids…
When my Grandfather was young he was told that music from people like Benny Goodman was talentless noise. Grandpa then told my father that Elvis Presley was a no talent hack who “wouldn’t last a month”. Dad lectured my oldest brother that comedians like George Carlin and Eddi Murphy were just crass comedians and not in the same league as their predecesors. In my life I’ve heard about the decline of popular culture because of the likes of Marylin Manson, Eminem, and others. Part of getting old is thinking that what the children listen to, watch, play, what ever is less than what you had in your youth
The idea of a behind the scenes Oz deciding what’s cool or not is also not a new concept. Check out the scene in the Beatles 1964 film A Hard Days Night. In the movie there is a scene where one of them, I think George, wanders into the office of a spin doctor who is wondering if they are the next thing. He then checks his calender and sees that the next fad change isn’t scheduled for another few weeks.
For decades American Bandstand told kids what was cool, in England they have Top of the Pops. And several others that have been the near single voice of what is good in pop culture. Many have had moderate success to only drop off the map latter (I’m looking at you Allanis Morrisette and Hootie & The Blowfish). Oprah can make or break any movie, book, or T.V. show with a simple opinion. As much as we’d like to think pop culture has never really been in the control of the artists, but is run by their real bosses.
So many of the really good artists had to actually work to gain their popularity. By the time bands like REM, Chili Peppers, BNL, Bosstones, RBF, Dave Mathews, and Blues Traveler really made it big, they had already been around for some time. Now it seems more like “make it big immediately or we have no use for you”. It’s a shame since a lot of good artists have better albums later on, and not their first one.
A good example is Tal Bachman: His first album gained him loads of awards from a single that I grew to hate with how often it played (“She’s so high”). In his contract with Columbia records, it was stated that he would release records exclusively under their name in the USA for x amount of years. But after the buzz around his single died down, Columbia told him that they weren’t interested in his sound anymore and didn’t think they could get any more hits out of him. They refused to publish any more of his music, but since he was still in contract with them, he couldn’t go anywhere else either. It was 7 years before he could put another album out in the USA, and by then most people had forgotten him.
Ha ha…so I totally have the The Ting Ting’s albumn…love it! I don’t like it for the lyrics I like the beats and that they are just two people. And no I don’t like it because I heard it so much that I grew to like it…I heard “Shut up and Let me Go” once and told Wyatt to get me that albumn. For the record Wyatt doesn’t really like them…so maybe it’s just a guy thing. Anyway I don’t think everything out is crap but I am very selective with what I like and if I like it I buy it. Often I love a band and then they dissapear off the radio because they weren’t popular enough…boo to that. And just for the record my two favorite band are BNL and Cake…so you know I just don’t have weird taste. :)
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zohner: The sad thing is that every time a new post goes u
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Zuke: The problem I think you're trying to address is th
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matt davidson: well your not really correct and you need to check
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Dr Squishy: I was a little bummed out that I didn't see this t
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Zuke: For the sake of fairness, I should point out that
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Well Zuke, it’s official. You have now become the old guy who says “things were getter in my day”. It’s an important moment in any grown ups life.
LOL@Squishy…
I think that a more appropriate title for this post would be “Whatever happened to talent?” This is something that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. There have been so many good musical acts that have come, made it big, then disappeared. I’m not talking about the one hit wonders either. I’m talking about groups or individuals that have had multiple hit singles just all of a sudden disappearing. It’s understandable if they have one good song and the rest of their CD is crap but if it’s a good album? I don’t get it.
I think you really hit it, Zuke, when you said “Somewhere along the lines, a person was put in charge of finding the
next big thing that everyone would be groomed to love and bring them
into the spotlight. This worked for a time, and we found new artists
and loved them. But then it kept growing, and growing, and growing
until we were expected to love them before we’d even heard what they
are capable of. If we don’t love them immediately, they are thrown by
the wayside.” How true, and sad, that is…
For the record, reading this post made me feel very old. Most of this music came out when I was in high school. Now, kids just play their noise too loud. STAY OFF MY LAWN! …stupid kids…
When my Grandfather was young he was told that music from people like Benny Goodman was talentless noise. Grandpa then told my father that Elvis Presley was a no talent hack who “wouldn’t last a month”. Dad lectured my oldest brother that comedians like George Carlin and Eddi Murphy were just crass comedians and not in the same league as their predecesors. In my life I’ve heard about the decline of popular culture because of the likes of Marylin Manson, Eminem, and others. Part of getting old is thinking that what the children listen to, watch, play, what ever is less than what you had in your youth
The idea of a behind the scenes Oz deciding what’s cool or not is also not a new concept. Check out the scene in the Beatles 1964 film A Hard Days Night. In the movie there is a scene where one of them, I think George, wanders into the office of a spin doctor who is wondering if they are the next thing. He then checks his calender and sees that the next fad change isn’t scheduled for another few weeks.
For decades American Bandstand told kids what was cool, in England they have Top of the Pops. And several others that have been the near single voice of what is good in pop culture. Many have had moderate success to only drop off the map latter (I’m looking at you Allanis Morrisette and Hootie & The Blowfish). Oprah can make or break any movie, book, or T.V. show with a simple opinion. As much as we’d like to think pop culture has never really been in the control of the artists, but is run by their real bosses.
So many of the really good artists had to actually work to gain their popularity. By the time bands like REM, Chili Peppers, BNL, Bosstones, RBF, Dave Mathews, and Blues Traveler really made it big, they had already been around for some time. Now it seems more like “make it big immediately or we have no use for you”. It’s a shame since a lot of good artists have better albums later on, and not their first one.
A good example is Tal Bachman: His first album gained him loads of awards from a single that I grew to hate with how often it played (“She’s so high”). In his contract with Columbia records, it was stated that he would release records exclusively under their name in the USA for x amount of years. But after the buzz around his single died down, Columbia told him that they weren’t interested in his sound anymore and didn’t think they could get any more hits out of him. They refused to publish any more of his music, but since he was still in contract with them, he couldn’t go anywhere else either. It was 7 years before he could put another album out in the USA, and by then most people had forgotten him.
Ha ha…so I totally have the The Ting Ting’s albumn…love it! I don’t like it for the lyrics I like the beats and that they are just two people. And no I don’t like it because I heard it so much that I grew to like it…I heard “Shut up and Let me Go” once and told Wyatt to get me that albumn. For the record Wyatt doesn’t really like them…so maybe it’s just a guy thing. Anyway I don’t think everything out is crap but I am very selective with what I like and if I like it I buy it. Often I love a band and then they dissapear off the radio because they weren’t popular enough…boo to that. And just for the record my two favorite band are BNL and Cake…so you know I just don’t have weird taste. :)
Mmmmmm…. Cake….