Amy Winehouse

[Alan Eardley]

I take it you have never been to an Amy Winehouse concert? I'm not sure you can 'separate her personal life from her music' when she falls about on stage, is incoherent in song and speech and doesn't finish her set, as happened at a concert in the UK recently. I understand that it has happened before. A complete waste of money - I, for one, won't be a fan anymore.


Alan

Amy Winehouse is probably the most exciting and talented force in pop music right now. I simply cannot get enough of her album. She has brought an edginess, relevancy, and an entire new life to the Motown sound. This is no easy feat. I am amazed at her range.

I could care less about her personal life and I separate that entirely from her music. Most celebrity stories and incidents are generated by PR firms to seduce a gullible public. I have a friend who works for a PR firm in LA. You would be amazed how almost nothing you know about a celebrity is true; their backgrounds, the little stories they tell on ET, the chance sightings, all of it is entirely manufactured.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

Is it possible to separate an artist's personal life entirely from their art?

Doesnt th audience feedback encourage or guide an artist or at least the way the PR firms spin a personality?
Look at Christina Aquillera's 180 change from the negative response on her 'DIRTY' image.

A fantastic academic question.

Yes, you can and I'll tell you why. I have no idea what is going on in the world of entertainment on a personal level of these artists. I don't watch the nightly entertainment shows, and I don't go to pop concerts, I also don't listen to the radio. I'm not saying this is good or bad; it's just how I live.

My information about pop music and whatnot comes from the incidental mentions I do get, what is reported on NPR, which I listen to religiously, and from my favorite publication in the world: The Sunday NY Times.

I was exposed to Amy Winehouse by Cheryl. She had heard the song on the radio. I went to iTunes and downloaded the entire album and made my judgment based on what I heard. Does her personal life affect it? Not for me.

If I were to based my listening on these sorts of arbitrary notions, could I listen to Screamin' Jay Hawkins? Barbara Streisand? The Dixie Chicks? Ted Nugent? Even Shostakovitch, Wagner, and Mozart??? How about Paganinni? You can take stands on all sorts of artists.

I still love Woody Allen movies and I'll still celebrate the unmitigated talent of Amy Winehouse.

I will admit this; her life certainly colors her music and I wish her no malice. I would hate to see another Jim Morrison or that fellow with the Dalmation from Sublime!

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Not only can you, i believe you really must separate the artist from the art. Thusly one can enjoy art produced by anyone, providing it's good (subjective), without worrying about peripherals like someone's politics (i was pretty much hounded on that one - support the artistic abilities of a anti-semite/Fascist! how dare you!) - see a very long thread from a while back re: the art of Louis-Ferdinand Destouches - or apparent* drug addictions. There is an apparently popular school of thought in this Flounge of ours that those with obnoxious views/politics/personal lives are incapable of artistic merit. I do not subscribe to this view.

Amy Winehouse i can take or leave. Not great, not terrible. Middling . . . middling.

bk

* I am unconvinced that the current spate of "drug addict" or "alcoholic" pop musicians is anything more than hype. Don't believe the hype!, as the prophet Chuck D. once spake. It's all (or a lot) marketing.

 

[MrBern]

At the NYC Halloween Parade, I saw a few different women dressed up like AmyWinehouse. Faux tatooes, piled high hair & acting drunk & outrageous.

It was pretty funny. BUT.

We all have sympathy for pain, but should we tolerate a public meltdown.
Its obviously not PR hype if she's blowing concerts.

Keith Richards has become something of a joke because of his persona. He was one of the preeminent substance abusing musicians of the 20th century.
But he never cancelled a tour or messed up a performance. He lived for the stage performance.

I'd also like to point out that just this year, TomCruise was basically fired from Paramount for his eccentric interviews & statements to th press. He was often petty & condescending & even abusive.
The studio realized that even bad publicity can drive away a potential audience.

Woody Allen does make some brilliant films. But in light of his personal life, its a bit awkward to view his depictions of asians & underage women.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

Woody Allen does make some brilliant films. But in light of his personal life, its a bit awkward to view his depictions of asians & underage women.

"Manhattan" has never quite been the same has it?

 

[MrBern]

"Manhattan" has never quite been the same has it?

Sadly....

BTW, I just wanted to note that Winehouse's In-laws had urged for a boycott of her music to halt her decline. Her father believes this would do no good. All involved seem to be concerned about a suicide.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6966640.stm

 

[Alan Eardley]

If anyone bought a CD of her music and it kept 'cutting out', falling out of the CD player and only played a half of the tracks expected I think they would be entitled to expect their money back. Well, that's what many of her live concerts are like. I just happen to believe in live music, professionalism and value for money, all things that Ms. Winehouse is apparently incapable of delivering. Thousands of young people have saved pocket money to attend her concerts in the UK and been disappointed. That sucks.

Just my opinion.

Alan

 

[dr greg]

a joke

OK the CD sounds good you say, so did the chipmunks to a lot of people...the point being: that's a STUDIO effort, live performance being something else again, and what indicates your true worth.
I'm a professional musician and although never having been a "star" I've earned a living of sorts from it for the last 25 years or so, but I can tell you, that I'd never work again round here if I put on a show like the ones I've seen her stumbling through on youtube, what a joke, unprofessionalism is unprofessionalism whoever does it, and is unforgivable, there are plenty of talented hardworking singers out there who are not getting a break because of jumped-up crap like this. She's living her image, let's not forget, and who cares where it leads her unless it's out of the way to make room for someone who wants to work at their craft.

 

[Shearer]

OK the CD sounds good you say, so did the chipmunks to a lot of people...the point being: that's a STUDIO effort...

I'm glad dr greg brought this up. If anyone's interested, the fabulous band that backed up Amy Winehouse on Back to Black is Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings

 

[Alan Eardley]

I'm pretty sure you wouldn't work again if you insulted the audience with the sort of language that Ms. Winehouse used at her (failed) concert in Birmingham last Wednesday. At least the people who bought tickets for her concert in Manchester the night before got their money back when she pulled out of that gig.

Over the years I've attended concerts involving people like Keith Moon, Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix and Peter Green (all of whom had a certain reputation for ingestion) but they were all capable of putting on a great live performance while 'under the influence'.

In my book, if you can't 'gig', for whatever reason, you shouldn't be in the business.

Alan

OK the CD sounds good you say, so did the chipmunks to a lot of people...the point being: that's a STUDIO effort, live performance being something else again, and what indicates your true worth.
I'm a professional musician and although never having been a "star" I've earned a living of sorts from it for the last 25 years or so, but I can tell you, that I'd never work again round here if I put on a show like the ones I've seen her stumbling through on youtube, what a joke, unprofessionalism is unprofessionalism whoever does it, and is unforgivable, there are plenty of talented hardworking singers out there who are not getting a break because of jumped-up crap like this. She's living her image, let's not forget, and who cares where it leads her unless it's out of the way to make room for someone who wants to work at their craft.

 

[Edward]

* I am unconvinced that the current spate of "drug addict" or "alcoholic" pop musicians is anything more than hype. Don't believe the hype!, as the prophet Chuck D. once spake. It's all (or a lot) marketing.

I'd have to agree with you on that. If some of them - especially Doherty - were donig anything like the quantity of drugs that are calimed in the press, they really shouldn't be alive by now. I've never had any first hand experience of the narcotics world, but I do gather that the stuff that is available now is much deadlier than it was back in the day: one of the reasons Keef is still alive is that at least when he was on the skag he had access to the better, purer stuff than is apparently available now.

 

[nulty]

I love Amy's stuf. She's a throwback in the best sense of the style. Sadly the using can be a hazard of the creative process and bad mentoring. There's no point in going down the list of artists that have gone by the bottle or the needle. So though much of the use and public image might be hype it's a clever game the PR suits have done with her image.

There is a u tube vid out there where she does "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" with Paul Weller..She is barely coherant and seems ready to fall over while Paul just keeps hanging in with her...someone should keep her from going on like that..

 

[Edward]

"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs every day.

And there's also a bad side."

Hunter S. Thompson

On the one hand, I do think anyone who gets into substance abuse of whatever kind - legal or illegal - these days for the most part has only themselves to blame as they cannot be ignorant of the dangers. On the other, however, it does bug me how the management / labels often seem to prefer to exploit the hype caused by this sort of thing rather than to step in and try to help the artist who is, after all, paying their way. Still, this is the same industry that pays lip service to artist's interests when people are illegally downloading, but behind the scenes is busy screwing the artists over harder than anyone.

 

[nulty]

Substance Use has it's place in normative behavior. Society though has boundary issues. There are strong and influential attitudes that don't respect boundaries and these influences exponentially reach out into all aspects of behavior. So children learn how to just self indulge to unbelievable degrees. Use becomes a behavior instead of an activity and becomes abuse. You can know the dangers but not realize it will happen to you.

If you use the same drug as your hero you will become like your hero. Drugs make think you are going to get some chunk if information for free, rather than getting it through experience and living your life..

A corporate entity is designed to perpetuate and grow market share. People commodities either as employee or agent. The artistic process, as it were, is a means to an end for a record company. If they can pimp an image to sell records they will do it as long as it sells. Who knows how long it will be before Amy crashes. They will suck her for as much as they can get.

 

[dr greg]

in the trenches

"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs every day.

And there's also a bad side."

Hunter S. Thompson

QUOTE]

THat's not quite right, he was talking about the TV business, and it's become a bit of a catch-all quote. The point is valid though.

 

[MrBern]

Heres a sad littl article on SlyStone's unfortunate current state. And how it impact's the fans & live performances.

ARTICLE:For $103.35, You Take What You Can Get

"He is 64 now, and his best songs — exuberant and sometimes unsettling funk hits and experiments from the late 1960s and early ’70s — haven’t aged a day, though the same can’t quite be said of the guy who sang them. He hasn’t released an album of new material in nearly a quarter-century, and his occasional live shows have sometimes made fans wish they were even more occasional. "

“Is the show starting?” Then: “Hold up, hold up.” Then, seemingly to an assistant: “I don’t want to fall.”

' during “Sing a Simple Song,” he excused himself, saying he had to urinate. His band killed time until he returned for “Family Affair,” ending it with an excuse: “There’s two shows tonight, and sometimes you gotta get off the stage.” '

 

[Badluck Brody]

A new ring tone???

I wonder how hard it would be to use "Beat it" fiasco for a ring tone????

That would be hot[huh]

 

[MrBern]

cant get her shirt together

Well, she made the cover of the Post today
Shirtless & barefoot

Full story

 

[Feraud]

What a wreck.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

That's what you're supposed to think.

By the way, it was not freezing on sunday in London. Even at 5am.

bk