FriendBurst Blog

Whether you think of it as an Art form or just a business, Music has apparently always had its’ clones…perhaps to YOU, all those ol’ Black male Blues singers sound the same…sometimes they do to ME too…The Big bands (ask yer grandparents) ? They all sounded the same to me…When Elvis went into the  Army (1958) the Record labels (and there were LOTS back then, now there’s only two or three mega-corporations) scrambled to find their own Elvis…When the Beatles made it big (1964), same thing; remember the Beau Brummels?…In MY opinion the next big clone-burst was when Madonna became a force to be reckoned with (mid 80s)–remember Stacy Q ? And didja ever hear a Bangles HIT RECORD where Susanah Hoffs DIDN’T sing the lead vocal? A HAZY SHADE OF WINTER being the possible exception…I believe Madonna started out wanting to be a dancer, but there’s (with few exceptions) hardly any big bucks in that, so suddenly she was a singer–like Toni Basil and Paula Abdul–both dancer/choreographers; at least Basil didn’t have a clothespin on HER nose…so now were in the Gaga Era…I feel sorry for Katy Perry–she seems to be desperately trying to hold onto her youth when she’s nearly 30–OMG!!! and I won’t even bother discussing Pink…as for Justin Beiber, I’ve got some research to do before I quote a certain book I like (SUITS ME, I recommend it)–but I think the medical/scientific community has established that there are way more than just two genders, the line between “male” and “female” having been blurred a LONG time ago, be it psychologically, emotionally and/or physiologically…forgive me, I digress…This is not about what’s “good” or “bad”…it’s not even about what you like or what I like…this is mostly about me not getting enough sleep, but the “cloning” idea has merit to me, in fact I think it’s obviously one of the things that has turned an Art form into a Business…

as for Bob Dylan, perhaps he should join Roger Daltry and Paul McCartney on the growing list of “Singers who have lost their Golden Throat.” And of course some people will say that Dylan never COULD sing, but I disagree…and if Arcade Fire is the current standard, give me LIVE AT LEEDS by the WHO…there is a difference to me between that which is noisy and that which is just noise…there it’s Official; I’m an old geezer–and fuckin’ proud of it…Now I’m gonna crank up some electric Neil Young; gotta play it loud otherwise I can barely hear it…