jbuck@epicen.UUCP (Joe Buck) (08/04/85)
Since this is turning into a music discussion, followups to this message will go to net.music only. > From: mfs@mhuxr.UUCP (SIMON) > Date: 31 Jul 85 23:19:19 GMT > > First I should lay my prejudices on the line and say that I think Madonna's > music is pure trash ... Agreed. > Madonna fans have made much of her independence. Well, most of what I have read > (the TIME articles, mostly; I can't take PEOPLE and its ilk) about her > states or implies that the is just the visible part of a massive PR > campaign and that she has little to do with creating her songs and deciding > what they will sound like. That has been the case for many female > singers and bands (remember the Go-Gos?) and more than a few males, > but why suddenly trot these claims of independence? Please! While the Go-Go's were not one of my favorite bands, they were hardly the creation of the American music industry. In fact, they had to go to England to record a single with Stiff Records, a small punk/new wave label (Devo had to take the same route). After seeing how popular that single was on the college radios and new wave clubs ("We Got the Beat"), an American record company signed them. They played their own instruments and wrote their own songs (neither of which Madonna does). They were for real. Madonna isn't. A previous poster complained that Tina Turner also uses her sexuality, and I as well as other people had said good things about her and bad things about Madonna. I'm not some prude that turns purple because Madonna's act might arouse someone's prurient interest. I just don't like her act and am a little bothered by her young female admirers. My true favorite is Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders. But if video had been big a couple of years earlier than it was, I don't know; maybe the Pretenders would have had trouble getting a major record contract. Life is rough for female rock musicians these days that don't have MTV bodies (though I find Chrissie Hynde sexy -- mainly for her voice and the personality she projects on her records -- MTV executives probably don't). -- Joe Buck | Entropic Processing, Inc. UUCP: {ucbvax,ihnp4}!dual!epicen!jbuck | 10011 N. Foothill Blvd. ARPA: dual!epicen!jbuck@BERKELEY.ARPA | Cupertino, CA 95014
mfs@mhuxr.UUCP (SIMON) (08/07/85)
> > Me > Joe Buck > > .... [Madonna] is just the visible part of a massive PR > > campaign and that she has little to do with creating her songs and deciding > > what they will sound like. That has been the case for many female > > singers and bands (remember the Go-Gos?) and more than a few males, > > but why suddenly trot these claims of independence? > > Please! While the Go-Go's were not one of my favorite bands, they were > hardly the creation of the American music industry... > ... They played their own instruments > and wrote their own songs (neither of which Madonna does). They were for > real. Madonna isn't. > OK, so they could hold the instruments without hurting themselves. The music was still complete fluff, and the record executives, and presumably the critics who praised them to the skies, knew it. They also had to know that people would wise up to the fact it was fluff and forget the Go-Gos. All of which applies to Madonna,except that she is worse because she can't even write her sub-moronic words herself. > A previous poster complained that Tina Turner also uses her sexuality, > and I as well as other people had said good things about her and bad > things about Madonna. The big difference is that Tina Turner is ALSO a hell of a singer, which is really the whole point. What she looks like, or her behavior in performance has little to do with it. If you don't believe me, try listening to Alberta Hunter singing "My Handy Man Ain't Handy No More" (AMTRAK BLUES, Columbia 1979). She was about 87 years old then and certainly not the greatest looker or body in the world, yet projects more sexuality than Madonna ever will, just through the voice. As Billy Crystal did not put it, "It's better to sound good than to look good, and Alberta sounded just Mahvelous" Marcel Simon