Thoughts on last night's American Idol

[bassjones]

Music "business" does not lend itself to that.

Music "passion" does.

They are not the same monster anymore.

Occasionally these worlds collide and something great comes from it.

I'm fully aware of this... sadly... longing for Toto IV, Steely Dan Aja, etc...

When talent sold, originality sold, creativity sold. I'm fully aware that in the 70's musicians were griping about BTO and KISS getting all the attention and King Crimson, et. al. being ignored, but at least they had a chance.

[Silencio]

Funny, back when they were making hits, everybody said Toto and Steely Dan were purveyors of passionless Muzak.

[=^-..-^=]

My recent review of Taylor Hicks' CD in Whatzup:
(Hope there's no copyright infringement here, or Doug will have to cut my pay in half.):

Talent-wise, winning "American Idol" was probably the worst thing that could have happened to Taylor Hicks. Oddly, for a show everyone I know claims to despise, "Idol" gets very high ratings; so we are all apparently despising it all the way up to the top. Last year Hicks auditioned on this bubble gum fest with his serious, soulful vocal chops, and suddenly even the serious musicians I know were rooting for him to make it all the way to the finale. This middle-aged rockiní writer even went so far as to phone in a couple votes for him. (I know ñ I already cut another corner off my Man Card.)

As the old saying goes, be careful what you ask for, for you might actually get it. Misanthropic judge Simon Cowell didnít want Hicks from the start, saying something to the effect of, ìI seriously donít see you making it all the way to the end of this competition.î In "Idol" speak, this translated roughly as, ìOh God, please, please, please donít win this contest. My people canít even rent a clue as to how to market you to the masses!î

Okay, Simon, making the first Taylor Hicks album listenable is a no-brainer, even for me. Record it live at 2 a.m. in some broken-down backwater blues bar in Mississippi. Instrumentation? Youíll need an old blind guy making love to a wailing Strat, someone walkiní and thumpiní on a chewed-up P-Bass, an old four-piece drum kit with dented heads, maybe a toothless old veteran beating the Hammond B-3 through a Leslie cab and, of course, Hicks on a stool, belting out vocals in between harmonica licks. In a perfect world, that would be Taylorís nationwide debut, and weíd have a CD for the ages.

Reality check: this is that plastic juggernaut known as "American Idol" weíre talking about here, and, in the words of Samuel Goldwin, ìI know of no formula for success, but I know a formula for sure failure, and that is to try to please everybody.î

In making Christmas-ready release candy for the masses, the "Idol" machine has failed to provide sustenance for anyone. Hicks poses for obligatory pretty-boy pop photos for his CD sleeve in the kitsch-ridden ramshackle that he should have recorded ñ holding a Les Paul that he fails to strum anywhere on his album. From the marching-band style drumming and way-too-big horns on the first track, "The Runaround," we know that the "Idol" legion of doom got it wrong ñ big time. Directly lifting the trademark Rhodes riff from Ray Charlesí "What I Say" on "Heaven Knows," the song sounds more like posturing than an homage.

Despite poor handling, Hicksí throaty vocal chops absolutely shine through and manage to make the mediocre song choices enjoyable. Halfway through the album the hit-single-hungry glitz onslaught lets up, and Hicks is left to do what he will with what his handlers wrongfully perceive as ìfiller.î Track six, the grooving "Give Me Tonight," signals that his Soul Patrol is not some vigilante group bent on seeking and destroying all vestiges of coolness. "Just to Feel That Way" is a shuffling ballad that works, even though it shouldnít. But where we finally hear the real Taylor Hicks is on "Soul Thing," the self-authored song borrowed from his much better indie release, Under the Radar. Even Hicks knows how to handle his material better than Simonís evil minions.

Someday, the plastic "American Idol" monster will have chewed Hicks up and spat him out. It is then that we will finally get the CD he is capable of, as opposed to this helping of Taylor Lite. Until then, Taylor Hicks is a sure sign that the real Taylor Hicks is alive and well in the belly of that beast somewhere, singing his soulful heart out. Weíll be waiting.

[bassjones]

You could probably insert any past winner and change the song names and that review would hold up.

Here's what my musician ears hear, and what really happened.

Kellie - exactly she gave us
Reuben - Luther Vandross/James Ingram - what we got - R. Kelly on a bad day
Fantasia - Arethaesque funky R&B - what we got - Christina-lite, w/o the full on production qualities
Carrie - pretty much what we got - a pretty good country album, really
Taylor - Michael McDonald/Ray Charles/Dr. John - what we got - what Keith said

I think Melinda's got a better voice than any of them, by far, and I look forward to a killer Gospel record from her. Although, I bet they put out a crappy AC/R&B album instead, with synth strings/synth horns/programmed drums and keyboard bass.

[bassjones]

Funny, back when they were making hits, everybody said Toto and Steely Dan were purveyors of passionless Muzak.

Really? I'm not that old so I don't remember I do know, most of my musician friends who are in their early 40's and up are big Steely Dan fans and dug Toto quite a bit too.

[WBOB]

Oooh the end of the world was when Tom Johnston was
replaced with Michael McDonald.. the end of the Doobie
world as it was back then.

[Oliver's Army]

'What a fool believes' is still a killer tune.

Not *worse* with MM, just different.

He killed an era, not the band

[WBOB]

'What a fool believes' is still a killer tune.

Not *worse* with MM, just different.

He killed an era, not the band

From biker band to a more soulful feel.

TITTS (also covered extremely well by Hicks)

[Silencio]

Yes, really, bassjones. I am that old, the world's most serious Steely Dan fan since '73, and I still love Toto (you should hear Tambu if you haven't); like you, most musicians I know enjoy those records. Not only were they appreciated by players, but Aja and Toto IV also sold a zillion copies each. (I was working at Karma Records when Aja dropped, and we had to defend the place with BB guns to keep it in stock... and if whomever stole my original Aja promo button off my gig bag in the basement at Columbia Street West is reading this, I swear you're gonna burn for it.)

But when those records came out, wannabe hipsters reviled them as yuppie fluff, the kind of jingle-y music played by white-bread dopes who didn't have the courage to face up to post-punk no-wave.

So I was amused that you held them up as an example of "the good stuff" vs. "the bad stuff" produced by has-been hacks.

Just goes to show once again that fashion is stupid.

[Oliver's Army]

Steely Dan
Ambrosia
Toto
Micheal McDonald
Boz Scaggs
et.al.

The precusors to Smooth Jazz.

I love this stuff.

[Oliver's Army]

I am always surprised (guilty of it myself) how easily a misunderstood or disliked music is so quickly labelled as SUCK.

Can you not appreciate the production value, or talent, or dedication to the craft?

Country music sucks. Pop country sucks worse.

But damn if they dont have slick productions and brilliant image packaging.

[Silencio]

Ollie, that's a viewpoint that few ever develop. It's been my experience that you have to actually get engaged in the work of making recorded music before you do.

When I was in my 20s and Pyromania came out, I walked around like most of my guitar-slinging peers proclaiming that Def Leppard sucked right out loud. I still don't really enjoy the Def Ones, don't own a copy of that album, and probably wouldn't listen to it on the radio (unless the song was "Armageddon It," maybe). But you have to respect the amount of time and talent, the dedication to a vision and the skill it took to make that record. I didn't get that until I'd been working hard for while to make music with a professional-grade sheen on it.

Anybody who has made even one album that sold more than a couple thousand copies has something to be proud of, I think. The fashionistas can cram it.

Your own joy in exploring your craft is what counts, and nobody on the outside of your process can judge the quality of your soul. They can say they don't like it, but they can't say you didn't make that music out of love.

Oh, and you can't judge the motives or skill of anybody you haven't worked with. That's why I can't even take a wild guess as to the state of Clive Davis's hackiness.

And I can't get me enough Ambrosia. Great playing, singing, writing, production, with energy and conviction. What's not to love? I guess maybe if all you knew was the singles, you might think they were kind of sappy.

[bassjones]

I am always surprised (guilty of it myself) how easily a misunderstood or disliked music is so quickly labelled as SUCK.

Can you not appreciate the production value, or talent, or dedication to the craft?

Country music sucks. Pop country sucks worse.

But damn if they dont have slick productions and brilliant image packaging.

I appreciate a lot of stuff I don't really like very well. My problem is with the stuff where that's not such dedication to the craft. Do it quick, do it cheap, get it out fast, sell a gazillion copies of an album full of songs that no one will remember in 10 years and start all over again with the next barely post-pubescent teenage girl w/ a boob job.

I appreciate well-done pop and country even though I wouldn't listen to much of it. I strongly dislike poorly done anything - jazz, classical, movies, anything. I love all the early work that Clive did. Brilliant. Lately, he's become well, uninspiring. It's like those cheezy oil paintings some guy's selling out of a van, or a color by numbers painting compared to a Monet. Clives been coloring by numbers for a while.

[Oliver's Army]

I can safely say that there was not *ONE* album that sold a gazillion copies that was done cheap, easy or fast.

Even the sloppiest lo-fi recording (by a major label intending to sell said gazillion copies) has craploads of time, effort and machinery to make it sound lo-fi.

[WBOB]

I can safely say that there was not *ONE* album that sold a gazillion copies that was done cheap, easy or fast.

Even the sloppiest lo-fi recording (by a major label intending to sell said gazillion copies) has craploads of time, effort and machinery to make it sound lo-fi.

Louie Louie ?
My Generation?

(don't know the albums)
Don't know the sales figures, but I'm thinkin these
were down with little care, while most all of the
others in this the time period I would agree.