The same day Michael Jackson died, there was another celebrity death. When all is said and done that particular 7 day period seemed to be a very black week for the show business community, but anyway I digress. The second death to which I refer is that of Farrah Fawcett. A legend in her own right and, whom I’d class as one of the strongest women in show. She died at the age of 62 from cancer and her death was pretty much overshadowed by the death the same day of Michael Jackson. A friend put it best when she described how Farrah’s 15 minutes of ‘fame’ in her posthumous state probably lasted about 3 minutes before it was overshadowed by MJ. The focus was on the unusual and sudden circumstances of his death, and she was buried quietly a week before MJ with her closest friends and family while MJ was surrounded by the circus. Again, she was way too young to die in the world we live in today.
The events of that week got me thinking. In a world where the entertainment industry seems to be all about the quick buck you just don’t get legends any more. Before too long most people will not know what an icon or legend truly is. We are leaving the era of the icon. Those names that will go down in history as pioneers, as artists who “out-ran“ their professional rivals and we’ll be left with nothing but a succession of pan flashes. The most obvious example of this is the whole Pop Idol phenomenon. I just find it a sorry state of affairs in entertainment today. Of course popularity is a good thing but I also think longevity should be as important. To use an accounting analogy, people know that investments are more rewarding long term and the returns they can reap surely far outweigh the returns you make off that current favourite.
The “what’s HOT, what’s NOT” mentality can be nothing but bad for the entertainment world. In my little world music is a big part of my life. The artists I prefer have been around for a long time, have always been a part of my world, and have honed their art to it’s finest point. I would be distraught if the artists I love had been dumped in short shrift if their first couple of albums completely tanked. This is the attitude we seem to have these days. It’s an annual event now in most countries to find the next money spinner, and this is why I hate Pop Idol. There are so many fantastically talented unknown artists out there who don't get a look in, despite having the chops to become legends, because they're not 'marketable' to the majority of the fickle music buying public (read: teens and fashion victims). They may not be pretty enough, or make the kind of music the industry tells the music buying public they should like.
By the same token, very few ‘Pop Idols’ have really stayed the course to any great degree, especially in this country. The art has become less about the art and more about the almighty dollar. It smacks of making as much money as possible in the shortest period of time and see what happens next. The first winner of the UK edition of Pop Idol (Gareth Gates) hasn’t had much attention paid to him for the last couple of years. Last I heard he had married, lost his stutter and attempted a comeback. Little has been heard from him since. The first winners of Pop Stars (Hearsay) broke up several years ago (although second year winners Girls Aloud do still seem to be pulling them in but I understand they are about to go an hiatus to see how they succeed doing their own thing)
I miss the days when bands and artists used to actually play instruments, when they could actually sing, when there wasn’t a different artist at number 1 every week and when getting the Christmas number one with some cheesy number wasn’t as important as creating something that would last and stand the test of time. When music was about music not marketing, and when you got a shot if you had talent that extended beyond your rack. I had the pleasure of watching a band called Heaven's Basement when I saw Bon Jovi last year who put me in mind of Aerosmith and no doubt have the potential to be a successful band. They were fantastic and are currently trying to get some attention around Europe. No doubt the experience they got from opening from Bon Jovi that night will get them some well deserved and needed attention, but are they likely to get the same promotion as the likes of Leona Lewis or any number of other manufactured bands that come out of Pop Idol and it's ilk?? Probably not because the music industry doesn’t seem to think that their sort of music is popular enough right now ....
Horribly enough I've been thinking it long before now with the publishing of an article some 9 months ago describing how the acts who had been around forever were gradually shuffling off this mortal coil. The death of MJ,amongst many, has made me realise that my old favourites, the classic rock stars aren't going to be around forever -- how I really need to get my quota in as much as possible. It's part of the reason I invested in an Alice Cooper ticket a couple of months ago. He, as well as many of my favourite artists, are getting on in years. 10, 20, 30 years from now I don't want to be thinking "if only" the way I am over Michael Jackson.
Rant over .... incidentally, you can find Heaven’s Basement (who actually play their own instruments) on Myspace at http://www.myspace.com/heavensbasementofficial
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