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Sex and Pop Music

post #1 of 20
5/2/03 at 4:48pm
Thread Starter 
I'm showing my age here, but I long for the days when music artists were judged only by their musical talents and not by how hot their bodies were or how scantily dressed they are on stage. Now it seems that the first requirement for being a music star is beauty. If you have the perfect body and only a so-so voice they can enhance your performance in the studio and make you into a star. I guess this all stems from the popularity of music videos and the need by many to ogle the performers like PlayBoy Bunnies and Chippendale Dancers. Where would talented people of the past like Mama Cass, Janis Joplin, etc. be in today's music market if they were just starting out? I always thought the world of Jewel because she didn't cave to the need to sex up her act.....until now. I saw her on the Today show this morning hyping her new CD and guess what? She's changed her image and is also doing the Christina Aguillera dirty dancing thing in her new music video. It made me sad. She said it was a "Parody" of some of the other artists who feel the need to sex things up, but she still is doing the scantily dressed, dirty dancing thing. I guess that's the only way to make a buck in the music business these days. Sigh.
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post #2 of 20
5/2/03 at 8:27pm
I agree and I think it's sad. What are the little girls of today learning from the Britney's and Christina's of popmusic? How to dress like a slut? That's one of the things that has really impressed me with American Idol this year - none of the remaining contestants have that image. They aren't sexy (no offense to Clay, but I don't see him that way at all either), they are being judged for their TALENT.
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post #3 of 20
5/2/03 at 9:00pm
I remember when bands were really bands -- when each member of the group could actually play an instrument live on stage! It was about talent and sound, and if they were cute, it was an added bonus.
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post #4 of 20
5/3/03 at 7:21am
Forget the bouncing bimbos - give me George Strait in a tight pair of Wranglers, any day!
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post #5 of 20
5/3/03 at 9:22am
Thread Starter 
I watch American Idol too. The winner of the first contest, Kelly Clarkson, is really talented and deserved to win. Her voice is exceptional. However, I don't like what her new management has done for her. Instead of focusing on that beautiful voice they are featuring her in simplistic songs and are making her DANCE with a group of dancers. They're trying to push her into that Brittany mold!!

And yes, Mama Cass is not a body image that people would long for but the point is that talented people with beautiful voices should be given a shot to record on the merits of their talents, not their looks. "Lap Dances" should NOT be the standard for the industry and neither should physical beauty. Do you think Bette Midler and Barbara Streisand would have recording contracts if they were just starting out today?
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post #6 of 20
5/3/03 at 2:02pm
As is life.
Which one of us is going to change all this?
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post #7 of 20
5/3/03 at 2:16pm
Thread Starter 
Um..........Tybalt? When did Keith Richards become a star??? Back in the 60's when the focus was music. How many pop stars make it today unless they are physically gorgeous. Look at the boy bands, the Latin males and especially the lady solo artists. In my opinion, music was at its best when we judged it totally by the way it sounded over the radio and not how the artists looked on music videos.
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post #8 of 20
5/4/03 at 1:49pm
Unfortunetly, it's not about talent anymore. Sad, really. Unlike most people my age, I don't listen to the radio and I don't watch a lot of MTV. I've seen too many little girls on the schoolbus singing the lyrics to "SuperSexWorld" and wearing mini skirts than I care to see.

When I have children, they're going to hate me. "Here kids, you can listen to some Hanson and some Elton John..."
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post #9 of 20
5/4/03 at 4:30pm
One day, when Mark was about 11, I came home and found him listening to (gasp) Harry Belafonte. He LIKED it!
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post #10 of 20
5/4/03 at 4:35pm
I started really listening to music in the early 80's, so I was there when music videos first became popular. But, from what I remember, sex wasn't thrown in your face in those first years. OK, some videos and songs were sexier than others-"Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran and "Photograph" by Def Leppard come to mind. Or how about "I Want Your Sex" by George Michaels? There was a great uproar, and he had to put a disclaimer in about how it was about monogamous sex.

But looking at those videos in comparison to what's on today-it's no contest. I can't watch Britney's videos. Besides the fact that I think her music stinks, I don't like adolescent pornos. I like a group or musician because they can sing and play, not because they're hot or sexy.

That's why I've gotten more into Celtic rock recently. As long as it's not popular, they performers are going to be doing what they love to do and not what is demanded of them by the record industry. One of my favorite groups was recently named to the "100 best bands not signed by a major label" list. You know what, I hope they never are.
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post #11 of 20
5/5/03 at 9:19am
There are some incredible artists out there like Alicia Keys and Nora Jones who don't play on their sex appeal. They are both beautiful women, but don't flaunt it. However, I guess they are few and hard to find.
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post #12 of 20
5/5/03 at 2:04pm
Thread Starter 
Nora -

Two good examples of talented, current female artists! Thank you. I guess I really started this thread because of Jewel. I hate what her publicists are getting her to do to sell records now. She rarely even plays her guitar any more. =( It's not sexy to be behind a guitar, I guess. Anyway, I hope Alicia and Nora stay strong and sell lots of records on the merits of their musical talents.
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post #13 of 20
5/5/03 at 10:31pm
I'm 13 and I'm a HUGE Elvis fan I have Records , CD's & Tapes & Videos & Books on him ( Shame on me ..LOL ) and I really like Queen & The Beegees and Prince and stuff like that

I used to like Britt & Cristina when they did Pop songs but now they are not really idols to me , I also think Blue & Elton John did a good remake of "Sorry seems to be.."

Just my 2c ...
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post #14 of 20
5/6/03 at 5:05am
I never seem to like the real "sexy" singers. I am a big fan of Bare Naked Ladies (really not sexy), Great Big Sea, Chantel Kravicik (sp), Aaron Neville, KD Lang, Aselin Debison (great Canadian 14 year old)and Josh Grobin. What these groups/people have going for them is an amazing voice. Have you noticed that Charlotte Church is even sexing up her image?
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post #15 of 20
5/11/03 at 2:01pm
That's why I listen to musicians like Sting and U2. They are still musicians. I was lucky enough to see them in concert, Sting has an amazing voice live, as does Bono.

I really don't like a lot of pop music. It's too generic for my taste. I like music that means something. Oh, I forgot to mention Creed, they seem like a real band, too. And I think Tori Amos and Dido are immensely talented.
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post #16 of 20
5/13/03 at 5:39am
Some of the best music is made by the "unpretty"'s...

Chris Whitley

John Hiatt (and he's OLD, too! *gasp*)

Ani DiFranco

The Subdudes

John Wesley Harding

Ah, hell...the list is endless...
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post #17 of 20
6/12/03 at 10:52pm
There's no such thing as good or bad music.

Music is music.
Just like art is art.

I think it's a phaze.
There's only so long people will tolerate mediocre music, disguised and marketed in a sensational manner.
There are only so many scantilly clad chicks we'll all see before we're sick and tired.
I think in a way it's a good thing that there are SO many of those videos on tv.
Hopefully the kids watching them now will in a few years get sick of them and start lookig for better more meaningful music.

Meaningful. That's a word i hardly ever hear in relation to music anymore....

Although i do think, having said that, there should be a more socially responsible attitude adopted by recording companies.
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post #18 of 20
6/14/03 at 10:49pm
I remember when Three Dog Night was one of the biggest bands in the world, and going to see them. I also remember camping out for 24 hours for Linda Ronstadt tickets (WAY before the internet and credit card payments for tickets.) And while their videos might be very sexual, I also think Shakira and Pink are very talented. They both write their own music, which in both cases is quite excellent (in my opinion.) I watch CNN, but listen to their music, along with Madonna, Led Zepplin, Heart (who I've seen 12 times), Bob Seiger (who I've also seen), among many others.

I saw a Christina Agulera (spelling?) video recently. She seems to have passes her tramp phase and this was dramatic, artistic, and beautifully done. I hope she continues to create such visual art.

George
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post #19 of 20
7/7/03 at 6:27pm
There's no such thing as good or bad music.

Music is music.
Just like art is art.

Agreed
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post #20 of 20
7/9/03 at 6:06pm
There is a difference between being fit and looking like you work in a cat-house (forgive the pun!) You can be beautiful and fit without exposing and selling your body to sell CD's. If that is the only way they can sell their music then that in itself attests to their talent (or lack of).

And we wonder why our kids are oversexed and we have babies having babies??
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