Talent
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Always remember, Operation Valkyrie was an act of sedition.
Warning: I post things that interest me. Read and comment at your own discretion. -
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But, returning to the topic at hand...
I'm reminded of some or the backup singers on Peter Gabriel's tours. Whatever happened to them?
It reminds me of some second, or perhaps third-tier actors. You know, the guys that you see in a show and think, "Hey, who's that guy? I could swear I saw him in..."
There's dozens, if not hundreds, of these people whom you've never really heard of, but make a reasonably good living slogging through a really tough business. The work isn't the most rewarding, but it's consistent, and that's what matters. One movie every two years, or three appearances on a TV series probably pays the bills.
I couldn't deal with the inconsistency and instability.
But, some people can.
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What's odd isn't really that talented people slog away for years without becoming stars - that happens in every profession on earth.
What's odd is that people worship a small subset of them who do become huge. Why on earth is the ability to sing a song relatively well, enough to make somebody a huge star?
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Billy Holiday, Marilyn Munro, Amy Winehouse.
Cab Calloway, Dean Martin, Michael Buble.Singing is expressing energy (&/ sex), and we tend to want it.
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Billy Holiday, Marilyn Munro, Amy Winehouse.
Cab Calloway, Dean Martin, Michael Buble.Singing is expressing energy (&/ sex), and we tend to want it.
Yes, they're good singers. A couple of them are outstanding. I could name a number who aren't nearly as good and are more popular. I wasn't really pondering the popularity of Amy Winehouse.
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@doctor-phibes said in Talent:
What's odd is that people worship a small subset of them who do become huge.
Hero worship is baked into our evolutionary history. It's a very old quirk that we continue to have. Gotta direct it at something, so this century it's movie stars, singers and otherwise famous people.
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I suppose Kanye West is better than Joseph Stalin, even though Stalin could probably carry a tune better.
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As far as I can tell, children are the biggest arbiters of who becomes a pop star. Then when those children grow up, they keep those their chosen pop stars relevant by paying a couple hundred dollars to watch their geriatric concerts.
There's some cool sociology (to the extent that that could ever be considered cool) behind that phenomenon. Music and movies you grow up with do come to define you at the biological level. Has a lot to do with adolescent development and what your body's doing when you start to get your own ideas about what you like. Music and movies really damn matter when you're a certain age, and the most fanatical demographic directs the market.
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Interesting documentary I saw on an airplane (where I saw most of my stuff LOL) regarding back up singers.
QUOTE
20 Feet from Stardom is a 2013 American documentary film directed by documentary filmmaker Morgan Neville[3] and was produced by Gil Friesen, a music industry executive whose curiosity to know more about the lives of background singers inspired the making of the film.The film follows the behind-the-scenes experiences of backup singers and stars Darlene Love, Judith Hill, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer, Tata Vega, and Jo Lawry, among many others. On March 2, 2014, it won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 86th Academy Awards.
Lisa Fischer said of backup singing: "I reject the notion that the job you excel at is somehow not enough to aspire to, that there has to be something more. I love supporting other artists." She added: "Some people will do anything to be famous. I just wanted to sing."
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@doctor-phibes said in Talent:
Billy Holiday, Marilyn Munro, Amy Winehouse.
Cab Calloway, Dean Martin, Michael Buble.Singing is expressing energy (&/ sex), and we tend to want it.
Yes, they're good singers. A couple of them are outstanding. I could name a number who aren't nearly as good and are more popular. I wasn't really pondering the popularity of Amy Winehouse.
I was thinking she had a singing energy rather than sex appeal, but yes she was talented.
You'll remember Motorhead? I wondered about Heavy Metal until seeing them in concert. No musical tunes you can whistle, lead singer of dubious timbre, and I didn't fancy any of them, yet their energy made me want to go buy the album.
My parents just shook their heads -
@doctor-phibes said in Talent:
Billy Holiday, Marilyn Munro, Amy Winehouse.
Cab Calloway, Dean Martin, Michael Buble.Singing is expressing energy (&/ sex), and we tend to want it.
Yes, they're good singers. A couple of them are outstanding. I could name a number who aren't nearly as good and are more popular. I wasn't really pondering the popularity of Amy Winehouse.
I was thinking she had a singing energy rather than sex appeal, but yes she was talented.
You'll remember Motorhead? I wondered about Heavy Metal until seeing them in concert. No musical tunes you can whistle, lead singer of dubious timbre, and I didn't fancy any of them, yet their energy made me want to go buy the album.
My parents just shook their headsIn Preston where I grew up, there was this dodgy little cafe attached to the Guild Hall shopping center that sold awful sausages and equally disgusting coffee. We were in there one time, and there was this huge great smelly-looking bloke in front of us, buying a pork-pie. Back then, we used to call heavy-metal fans 'Knebs' (after Knebworth), so this Kneb turned around to pay, and it was Lemmy. How we laughed.
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@doctor-phibes
He ended up living in the US didn't he? Looked quite trim when he interviewed Billy Joel at his motorbike shop. -
I think he did - this was back in the 80's. He was very entertaining. He died a few years back.
Imagine getting kicked out of Hawkwind for taking too many drugs
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@doctor-phibes said in Talent:
What's odd isn't really that talented people slog away for years without becoming stars - that happens in every profession on earth.
What's odd is that people worship a small subset of them who do become huge. Why on earth is the ability to sing a song relatively well, enough to make somebody a huge star?
I am reminded of a convo I had in Nashville. The talent between the stars and also rans is often indistinguishable, the key variable is getting to be liked by the right people.
I also agree with Aqua’s comment.
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