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Straight Up, Now Tell Me
Mar. 12th, 2008 11:27 pmHot mess fierce tranny John (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
furrytxcub) asks:
You can go back in time for the sole purpose of erasing one artist/band from the whole of musical history. You only get one. Who would it be?
While there are many artists that would be great to have eliminated from the planet, I really can think of only one that I truly would want to have eliminated from history completely.
Paula Abdul.
To me, Paula Abdul marks the moment when music really went to crap in the 1980's. New Wave was officially dead when she decided to stop being a Laker Girl and start singing. Sure, there were already signs that pre-formulated pop was once again rearing it's ugly head, but when she came onto the scene, about the same time as Tiffany and Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam, you knew it was over.
The moment Paula Abdul came on the scene, the really strong woman seemed to disappear in the pop world. For the years preceding we had women like Debbie Harry, Chrissie Hynde, Joan Jett, Annie Lennox and even Madonna, who still had control of the music and image. Paula Abdul had more in common with the 60's girl groups, controlled by producers and publicists than having an act on her own.
Paula Abdul unleashed things the Mary Jane Girls, Samantha Fox, Expose, Rick Astley, Wilson Phillips and New Kids on the Block. I don't include Debbie Gibson because she at least wrote her own music. Unlike Milli Vanilli - sort of the culmination of the whole problem, I suppose. While grunge pushed out this crap for a while, it came back in the late 90's again. I guess it always re-occurs, but I think Abdul really sums up the end of one of the better music periods of my life.
This is not to say that there was not good music in the late 80's and early 90's, but you had to dig further sometimes. At the same time some of the best stuff from REM, the B-52's, the Cure and Depeche Mode was out, all groups that carried over from New Wave.
Of course now she's on American Idol, influencing yet another wave of schlock music (though I do like some of Kelly Clarkson's stuff). I'm sure if she didn't exist, there's plenty of other packaged pop girls who would take her place between Randy and Simon, but since it is her, and I already tag her with the destroyer of New Wave, then it's just adding insult to injury.
BTW: Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give you Up" was number 1, 20 years ago today.
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Should you be inclined to ask me a question, you can still do so HERE, where comments are screened.
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Otherwise, since other attendees of TBRU have been mentioning it, apparently there is a meet and greet scheduled for 11am on Saturday March 22 (Easter Eve?) in the host hotel lobby bar. I'm not sure if that means thatwooferstl wants us all to get drunk early or what.
I'm hoping that we can turn it into a big lunch gathering and surprise some unlucky restaurant with a group of 20-30 bears waiting for the lunch special. I love to see waiters when they get a big group of us!
furrytxcub) asks:You can go back in time for the sole purpose of erasing one artist/band from the whole of musical history. You only get one. Who would it be?
While there are many artists that would be great to have eliminated from the planet, I really can think of only one that I truly would want to have eliminated from history completely.
Paula Abdul.
To me, Paula Abdul marks the moment when music really went to crap in the 1980's. New Wave was officially dead when she decided to stop being a Laker Girl and start singing. Sure, there were already signs that pre-formulated pop was once again rearing it's ugly head, but when she came onto the scene, about the same time as Tiffany and Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam, you knew it was over.
The moment Paula Abdul came on the scene, the really strong woman seemed to disappear in the pop world. For the years preceding we had women like Debbie Harry, Chrissie Hynde, Joan Jett, Annie Lennox and even Madonna, who still had control of the music and image. Paula Abdul had more in common with the 60's girl groups, controlled by producers and publicists than having an act on her own.
Paula Abdul unleashed things the Mary Jane Girls, Samantha Fox, Expose, Rick Astley, Wilson Phillips and New Kids on the Block. I don't include Debbie Gibson because she at least wrote her own music. Unlike Milli Vanilli - sort of the culmination of the whole problem, I suppose. While grunge pushed out this crap for a while, it came back in the late 90's again. I guess it always re-occurs, but I think Abdul really sums up the end of one of the better music periods of my life.
This is not to say that there was not good music in the late 80's and early 90's, but you had to dig further sometimes. At the same time some of the best stuff from REM, the B-52's, the Cure and Depeche Mode was out, all groups that carried over from New Wave.
Of course now she's on American Idol, influencing yet another wave of schlock music (though I do like some of Kelly Clarkson's stuff). I'm sure if she didn't exist, there's plenty of other packaged pop girls who would take her place between Randy and Simon, but since it is her, and I already tag her with the destroyer of New Wave, then it's just adding insult to injury.
BTW: Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give you Up" was number 1, 20 years ago today.
___________________________________
Should you be inclined to ask me a question, you can still do so HERE, where comments are screened.
___________________________________
Otherwise, since other attendees of TBRU have been mentioning it, apparently there is a meet and greet scheduled for 11am on Saturday March 22 (Easter Eve?) in the host hotel lobby bar. I'm not sure if that means that
wooferstl wants us all to get drunk early or what.I'm hoping that we can turn it into a big lunch gathering and surprise some unlucky restaurant with a group of 20-30 bears waiting for the lunch special. I love to see waiters when they get a big group of us!
