So, we’re back to the grindstone on dealing with the country pop issue. For those of you just tuning in, you can check out the first half of this topic here. Now, we left off going into the historical context of the 1990s in the country scene.
Now the 1990s, country blew up with pop music. Now this, for the Gen-Xer that I am, is when a lot people think of the country pop explosion. It doesn’t take long to come up with performers like Shania Twain, Faith Hill, Garth Brooks. The list of names that you could create would be rediculously long. As the decade changed and the dot com bubble grew, so did the sound, but the pop country was a tremendous dominate sound.
This was a time, especially in the late 1990s, that rock was “dying” and rap and hip hop were on the rise. In some respects, the country pop sound served as the anti-hip hop movement. (On a side note, I can remember some instance of hearing rap and then the pop country coming from the same car. That’s just weird.)
So, this brings us to the current decade. Thanks to American Idol, the country pop sound was re-introduced to millions of “voters” as winners like Carrie Underwood and others with the sound competed. (Now I also think that statement could have been made blaming American Idol as well.) It would seem easy to say that Simon Cowell and company brought it back and made country pop vogue again, but the reality is this decade has been filled with what? That’s right, “evolving” country pop artist.
Now I do think that the artist of this decade have done more to blur the lines between pop and country. Just look at folks like Cheryl Crow and The Wreckers. Even Kid Rock has been dancing where country, pop, and rock all meet. Even Disney has embrased this sound with Miley Cyrus peddling the newly packaged Disney country pop to tweens.
Probably the best way to think about this country pop sound is that is a specific sub-genre. Over time, this niche has grown and changed, and is now a big influence in the current country scene. It has influenced even some of the most traditional acts, with people trying to reach out to broader audiences. Remember, from a record producers perspective, crossover success is some of the best kind of success. You getting more money from lots of different people.
It will be interesting to see over the next ten years how pop and country will continue to blend. Or will there be a divorce, and traditional, honky tonk sound will become all the rage? It’s the whole no more choclate in my peanut butter, no more peanut butter in my choclate thought. My guess is that the mass appeal is there for both sets of listeners, pop and country. Each listener likes to think of themselves as more musically diverse because they don’t just listen to there “primary” genre, but instead also like to pop/country.
So, to come back to the original thesis: As annoying as this new sound is, it is nothing new. There have been lots of Country Pop incarnation over the past several decades, and most likely, it will continue into the future. Thanks for the topic, Katie. I don’t really talk a lot about country music, but hey, might as well. Thanks for humoring me as I write about country music. Oh, and for those of you who clicked on the Shania Twain link, it was a pretty good video wasn’t it?
Earlier this month I was suffering from writers block, and asked for some suggestions from readers. I got about three different suggestions, and this is my “treatment” of the first topic. As you can tell from the title this is about the Pop Country crossover. More specifically, the questions are “Has modern-day country music become too ‘pop’ to be called country, or is this just the latest (and natural?) evolution of country music?”
So, the question is whether or not country has become “too pop” or is this new sound more of a modern change of the sound. Let me start by saying that I had to do some research on this. It was interesting to see what the research turned up.
My thesis is this: As annoying as this new sound is, it is nothing new. There have been lots of Country Pop incarnation over the past several decades.
When you think about the first sound of Country Pop, the original sound would have come in the 1960s and come in the form of the Nashville Sound. Now for those of you keeping score at home, the Nashville Sound, in the 1950s, was more of a honky tonk sound. Not exactly what you would call pop, but, like all music, it evolved. In the 1960s, the Nashville Sound changed into the Countrypolitan. Artist in this time period would be folks like Tammy Wynette, Lynn Anderson, Charley Pride, and (surprisingly) Marie Osmond.
Marie Osmond, as I’m sure we all remember, recorded Paper Roses in 1973. Now, what would be so important of that song? Well, I’m glad you asked. That song was a huge hit in both the country scene and the pop charts. These are folks like Glen Campbell, John Denver, and Anne Murray. Just simply taking that John Denver into account. His was a sound that is easily recognizable, loved by many crossover fans, and sounded different from many of the more traditional acts at the time.
Just think, I haven’t even mentioned Kenny Rogers, and think about the tons of crossover hits he had. In many respects, Rogers served as the pivotal swing man from the 1970s to 1980s. In many instances he changed the pop sound and had songs that millions of crossover fans loved.
The amazing thing is that the music didn’t stop evovling there. By the time the 1980s rolled around there were tons of this country pop sound. Acts that lots of people will start to recognize. One of the biggest being Alabama. They had lots of early hits in the decades, and there were tons of songs that tore up both charts.
Now, considering how long this is, and I’ve only gotten through the 1980s, I’m going to stop and hold off on the next half until tomorrow. Now, have no fret dear reader, I already have it written, I just wanted to create some drama. So until next time…
On a chance to bring a little more normalcy to my life, I’m going back to posting on a subject that I love to talk about: music. So, what’s tonight’s topic I hear you ask? Is it some random band? Could it be a new type of instrument that’s been discovered? Could it be Satan? (Wait, that’s a whole other blog post.)
Today, I would like to talk about your angry song. What’s an angry song, you ask? Don’t act like you don’t know it in your heart of hearts. It’s your go to song when your made at someone or the world. For different people it, it’s different things. It could be various genres, instruments, etc. In the end, it is the musical representation of your fury.
My, I have a couple of “angry songs”, but my every time song is from the genre of Emo. Specifically, the song is I’m Not Okay by My Chemical Romance. That’s right, I said it. The song rocks, and when I’m angry that’s my anthem. There something about it, perhaps its the emotional lyrics, the lyrical melodies, the driving guitar parts, I just love it. I’ve also included the video to watch as well. Check it out, it’s just as good as the song.
However, my angry music does not stop just there. Recently, I equiped my wife’s iPod with an Pissed Off music list. (This blog and its writer to do not expressly support Apple or iPods, but for the right deal I would. That and it’s a superior product.) For the purposes of the post, Pissed Off Music and Angry Song are interchangeable.
Now, you can disagree with this list, but for the most part there are angry songs. They tap into the inner anger and help to let it out. Don’t know a song, than go ahead and click on it’s name to take you to the video.
So, dear reader, I ask you, what is your angry song? And, even better, what is your angry playlist? Go ahead and share your answers in the comment sections.
Even as I sit here writing this, I am sitting in a hospital emergency room. What’s that you say, I’ve got your interest. I figured that I would. At any rate, things in my house got a little crazy today.
Now, for the most part, my family and I had a pretty good day, but it just got a little weird. I was driving home after picking up a script from a doctor when my phone rang. I saw my wife’s number on the caller ID and just answered. To my surprise, on the other end of the phone was someone working at a local business. They told me that something had happened to my wife and that an ambulance was there.
As you can imagine, my mind was racing on all of the possibilities, and being worried about her and the kids (who were with her at the time). I then talked to the paramedics, and made a couple of quick decisions. Then started the phone calls.
Lots of calls to friends and family, things to arrange, that kind of stuff. Sometimes the good news about finding out about major things in the car, by yourself, is that you have your own personal breakdown time. It was my time to lose it, and when I got to the business I was pulled back together.
When I finally got to see my wife, there was a moment of relief for both of us. This kind of experience is one of the more frightening of my life. I rode with my wife in the ambulance to the hospital. Nothing quite like coming to a hospital on a busy night. We’ve had lots of experiences here that I’ll have to write about another time.
As of right now, it looks like everything is going to be alright, and we might even get to go home tonight. It would be great to get her home, so she could sleep in her own bed. There’s something about being in a hospital, that no matter how great it is, it’s just not home. Not to mention we both want to see our kids as soon as possible.
Luckily for my wife and I, we have some fantastic friends who did everything from take the kids and are spending the night with them at our house to bringing us some important personal effects to the hospital to moving my car to the hospital. Needless to say, we needed a lot of help, and there were some really great people that came together to move mountains.
Still not completely sure, why I’m sharing this, but it just seems like the right thing. So, dear reader, take some extra time and hug your loved ones tonight. Sometimes just taking that little bit more time to say that you love them can make all the difference in the world.
Today, I had one of the more interesting experience of my time as a parent. My wife mentioned about two weeks ago that we should take our kids to a community fishing event for children. Much like I normally do, I heard her say, said it sounded like a good idea, and never really followed up with it. Fortunately for me, she’s very persistent.
So, she reminded me of it earlier this week, and we began getting the kids excited about it. You have to remember that trying to get two four-year-olds (by the way, if I’ve never said it before, I have twins) excited about picking up worms, putting them on a hook, throwing it in the water, and waiting is not necessarily an easy sell. Actually, I make it out to be worse than it is, with my kids it’s pretty much as easy as saying “who wants to go fishing?”
Well, we set about this adventure and went to Mud Island. It was amazing to see the number of kids around the “Gulf of Mexico” fishing. On a side note, for those of you not from Memphis, follow the link above to find out more about Mud Island and why there would be a “Gulf of Mexico.”
Now the proud father that I am, I was not going to let my kids go without catching a fish. So, at 10:00 a.m. began the joy of fishing, we had two hours and were told to catch as many as we could. It was a lot of fun and exciting, but after a while, the troops began to fad. But, have no fear, this is a happy story.
My son and I continued on and kept fishing, even after my wife and daughter had given up. We kept going, and after an hour and a half of nothing, we struck fishy gold. That’s right, my son reeled in a monster of a fish. I can proudly say that all I did was hold the rod to make sure it wouldn’t go flying into the water. He pulled that beast of a fish out of the water, and it was easily as long as his arm. (I remind you that he is four, and I am telling the truth.) Needless to say, I was a pretty proud moment in our house.
So, how did we celebrate? How else, other than playing in the scale model of the Mississippi River!
So, I was reading through April 24 – May 1 issue of Entertainment Weekly. (Yeah that’s right, I’ve got a subscription! You wanna fight about it…) It was while I was doing my “executive” reading that I ran across on of the modern signs of the apocalypse. What horribleness could this be coming from Entertainment Weekly? Does it have anything to do with Paris Hilton? Has Moby put out another album? (By the way, the answer is no, because this is the movie edition.)
The answer to the latter two questions is no. In fact, my shock and dismay came in the form of an inset table. Now, I know what your thinking, “how could the apocalypse be fortold from a table in a weekly entertainment magazine?” Well, the answer is simple. It came in the box office listings for the top 20 movies of the year.
Now, I should start by saying that I expect those number to change from week to week. Obviously with new movies being released, it’s hard for an “older” movie to maintain the top spot. Hey, that’s just the nature of the business. No, my shock came from the column all the way to the right: Gross to Date.
I was just glancing through the movies, and there were two contrasting movies that struck me. Here’s what smacked me right in the face:
Fast & Furious, Weeks Released: 2, Gross to Date: $116.5
Watchmen, Weeks Released: 6, Gross to Date: $106.4
These figures come from Entertainment Weekly (1044/1045), page 90. Don’t believe me in this terribleness, than check this out. Big ups to The Numbers for having the gross to date information on their site.
So, there it is, proof that people just don’t go to movies that you have to think about. The thought of having to process a movie as you watch, think about character motivation, watch subplots unfold must just scare the crap out of some people. The Fast & Furiousis a movie with no thought involved. It’s the equivalent of pre-chewed food.
For the record, I saw both movies in the theater, and different ways I enjoyed them both. (Hey, in today’s world of bootlegs, it’s important to say it.) However, Watchmen is the better of the two, by far. It pains me that more people didn’t embrace it. Although, I shouldn’t be surprised, audiences did the same thing with V for Vendetta.
So, I was driving home from a late night at work, listening to music, when I ran across one of my favorite guilty pleasures. What could that be you ask? Why nothing other than early to mid 90’s pop music. There’s nothing better than “jamming out” to some Ace of Base.
I can’t explain it. Perhaps it was something when I was in high school. Maybe I’m just reaching back to missing Abba on the first run. Who knows? It certainly wasn’t for their massive musical influence. Still, I love the music. It’s my own guilty pleasure. I know that for all practical purposes that I should dispise this music, but it’s like my siren, calling me to crappy music. I’m helpless, all I can do it follow it to musical numbness.
Of course, the list doesn’t stop there. There is a particular movie that whenever it is on television, I have to stop and watch it. The movie: The Replacements. Now, this is not some high master piece, or a great example of what the art of cinema should be. Nope, this is just a football. Not even the best, and perhaps not even a good one. Still, I drop everything for it. What can I say, it just makes me happy.
Even yet, I have a guilty pleasure when it comes to beer. For me, they are Miller High Life (the Champagne of Beer!) and Busch Light. Now, if you notice, the Beast is not on this list because they are guilty pleasures. Not guilty tortures. (By no means does this blog endorse these two products, and remember to enjoy them responsibily. How’s that for a PSA?)
So, there are guilty pleasure that all of us have. I know that I’m not the only one. For those of you brave enough, what are your guilty pleasures? What is it that you know that you shouldn’t like, but you just do? Go on, be brave, own it.
Alright, dear reader, if you hadn’t figured it out already, I took last night off, and I didn’t answer my own question. So, tonight is the night that I unveil my answer to the theme song to my life.
Before I answer it, I should say that this was not an easy process. It seems like you should just be able to rattle a song off and say, “yep, that’s it.” In reality, if you take music seriously, it’s so much more challenging. I’ve been listening to a whole lot of music over the past 48 hours trying to figure it out.
One of my early thoughts had been the Billy Joel song, The Ballad of Billy the Kid. You may not know that song, there was another song off of that album that really overshadowed it. By the way, the album was Piano Man. The song is a great story about always being on the run, never settling down, and the writers understanding of the situation. However, that’s just not me.
I also thought about the Foo Fighters My Hero. There something about relating to an ordinary hero trying to overcome. Not to mention, it’s a great song. Still, it wasn’t the right one. So, the winner is:
What’s that I hear you say: “I’ve never heard of that song?” “It doesn’t have any words!” “Jazz, really?” The answers to this are as follows: you should have (it’s a great song from Kind of Blue), I know, and really, really.
The song feels like it captures a feeling of conflict and resolution, ups and downs. It has significant parts being played by numerous instruments. It just captures the feelings of everyday life. If you haven’t heard the song (or album) check it out.
Now, dear reader, my question again is: What is the theme song to your life?
First, let me say that I am fast at work researching the suggested topics from my writer’s block post. Thanks to everyone for the suggestions, and to my wife for reminding me that every now and again I need to follow up on some of my questions. On a side note, my wife is reading reading this thing. So, I got that going for me, which is nice. Now, onto the agenda at hand.
Speaking of my wife, so told me a story the other day about a student of her’s. Specifically, the student was wear an iPod every where they went. It was a constant companion to everything they did. My wife, the clever woman they she is asked the student what the experience must be like. (Doesn’t seem that ever, yet). She figured that it must be like living in a movie and having a sound track to every part of your life. To this, the student just laughed, because they don’t really stop and think about things like that.
Of course, this took our conversation in a different direction, and got a little more specific. Being the movie/pop culture guy that I am, I immediately thought about the scene in I’m Gonna Git You Sucka. That’s when the next question was posed:
What song would the theme song to your life?
There are some really cheesy, easy answer that people can give. Like what you ask? Well, songs like I Will Survive and other songs like that. I really want you to give me some thought to this. It’s really not an easy question. I mean we can’t all be like Gary Shandling. (How’s that for an old reference?)
Alright, dear reader, think about what your what the theme song to your life would be. Leave it in the comments section. Personally, I’m still milling over mine. I’ll post it up tomorrow.
As I have said several time over, I love movies. I absolutely love great films that transport you to another land that let you see from a characters perspective. I also love the movies that are just bad and the fact the they revel in the awfulness. So, what does it all mean?
Well, I’ve got a movie that falls into the latter category. More importantly, I am talking about the Expendables. What’s that, you haven’t heard of this film. How about I tell you about the cast?
Jason Stathom
Mickey Rourke
Sylvester Stallone
Arnold Schwarzenegger
(Stone Cold) Steve Austin
Jet Li
Dolph Lundgren
Eric Roberts
There’s lots more on the cast list, but it’s just exciting.
Stone Cold and Eric Roberts get caught in the action.
The story seems really important to share. Basically, they are winding these actors up as mercenaries and let them loose on some random dictatorship in South America. Now it may be just me, but I’m excited about the level awesomeness (badness) this move could have. If these actors are let to play to their typical “character” parts, this movie will be fantastic.
I mean really, who wouldn’t want to see that movie. I charge you to find a red blooded American male who wouldn’t want to see this movie. I can’t stress to you how awesome the badness will be. This is going to be one of those movie experiences were you feel transported to being 15 years old, and you just want to see things get blown.
So, these are my thoughts, but what about you, dear reader. What’s your take on the Expendables?
Fortunately for me, she’s very persistent.
Now the proud father that I am, I was not going to let my kids go without catching a fish. So, at 10:00 a.m. began the joy of fishing, we had two hours and were told to catch as many as we could. It was a lot of fun and exciting, but after a while, the troops began to fad. But, have no fear, this is a happy story.
RSS - Posts
