Journalism / The Slow and Horrible Degradation of British Popular Music (Analysis)
Britain. The home of the world's best popular music. Home of the Beatles, who defined the genre of easy listening and accesible pop. The home of Queen, who broke borders within radio with their groundbreaking song structures and promotional clips. The home of musical giants such as Cliff Richard, Elton John, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones- if one could name any of the most favoured bands or musicians, chances are that those bands or musicians call Britain home.
But of course, most of this world-class music happened in the 60s, 70s and 80s. They were times when society genuinely cared about the quality of music, not the way it was presented. But soon the 1990s dawned upon us, and with that, the outward appearance of the artist became essential to their popularity. This was influenced by the powerful boom of American culture in that period, whose success of beautiful artist after beautiful artist worked for them with flying colours. With the obvious power of America on other nations, whether Anglophonic or otherwise, around the world, it was inevitable that the concept of the 'beautiful artist' had a major influence on those selfsame nations. Of course, sex selling music was not a new concept (Samantha Fox anyone?), but it just so happened in the previous decades that teen idols were either a genuine talent (think Elvis Presley, with a voice and moves that aped a black artist and a real penchant for pushing the limits of pop music) or were just lucky and only had a short shelf life before fading into obscurity. (Anyone remember Jack Wild? No?)
However, in this day and age, the life of the American celebrity is just as part of modern Western culture as the omnipresent fear of terrorism. In fact, the life of the celebrity plays such a big part in modern culture that record companies insist on finding celebrities for the public to like, and not musicians.
Musicians and celebrities- there is a difference.
Musicians almost always spend a lifetime on perfecting their craft, whether it be singing, playing an instrument or writing songs. They are dedicated to making the music they would want to listen to themselves, and want to share it with the public so they can listen to it likewise. This was the case of the decades where the public liked to listen to real music- performed with real instruments, and usually performed with gusto and real emotion. They were also written by the performers themselves- there was no pretence about working with the industry's biggest songwriters because the public simply did not care.
Celebrities, however, are different. Often feeling that their lazy musical efforts deserve public praise, they spend their colossal gaps between studio albums gallivanting around wealthy cities, feeling the need to attend every single party that is being held at that present moment. The female performers find it necessary to be able to 'sing' in tune, dance, act, and walk around half naked in a public show of borderline narcissism. The so-called 'rock' bands feel that they have to use the same chord progression for every song, making their music bland and generic (hello Kings of Leon...). The male performers are often ridiculed for being homosexuals, and this is often the catalyst for their subsequent fame. This is a phenomenon which has largely taken place in the noughties and beyond, much to the dismay of many a music guru who thought this period would encourage the growth and maturity that late 90s pop music desperately needed.
Unfortunately, the influence of the American pop industry is influencing Britain in the worst possible way. This has come with such pop bands such as Westlife, Sugababes and Atomic Kitten, but the 'best' (read: worst) example I present to you now is a young Kent-born lass who recently hit number one with a song which has been described as 'eclectic, fresh and very girly in a positive way' (thebeatreview.blogspot.com). The song is 'Mama Do (Uh Oh Uh Oh)', the performer is the now-ubiquitous Pixie Lott.
See, the song 'Mama Do' is really nothing special- the beat and melody of the song could have been ripped from the songbook of Duffy or Amy Winehouse- but it's not groundbreaking. My first impression of the song was England on a dank and damp winter's day- it doesn't encompass the 'fun' that so many of the song's fans say it has. The lyrics deal with the juvenile theme of sneaking out at night for a clandestine 'ooooh-errr-my-parents-don't-know' affair- but they are not handled well. My friends who are not even poets could write better lyrics than that. Pixie's voice is also quite boring- at times she sounds like a rusty cattle gate. But couple both song and voice with a performer who wears too much makeup, who has bleached blonde hair and who possesses the body of a teenage model, and suddenly the song is " ZOMG SSOO UH-MAYYY-ZIIIING!!111!11".
Also, it is obvious that Pixie is quite aware of how "UHHH-MAYYYYY-ZIIIING" she is and comes across in interviews as a bit of a tosspot. She also posted a video on YouTube on how to do the 'Pixie handclap' (oohhh-errrr, it's named after her!), thus hinting at the general public that she's not in it for the music. If she were, she would not spend her time teaching the public how to do the 'Pixie Handclap' or gallivant around wealthy cities attending more parties than she needs to, always either wearing "ZOMG LYK SSSOOOOO EXPNSIV" clothes or parading half naked (see above).
What adds to Pixie's 'speshul snowflake' status is that she is incapable of expressing herself without a world-class songwriter (read: hitmaker). Back in the day, musicians never enlisted the help of an established song aide to perfect their songs. They wrote all the music themselves, with only a few notable exceptions. This is usually an American pop custom, but with the wake of Pixie Lott, it looks like the virus is rapidly spreading to Britain and contaminating all of the creative waters there.
Moreover, Pixie's newfound popularity seems to have inspired imitation artists such as Alesha Dixon, Little Boots, La Roux (they were supposedly inspired by 80s music but the singer cannot sing for peanuts-- artists in the 80s sang better than that) and other such up and coming new 'talents'. The overuse of synthesisers in pop music, as well as the rising potency of British rappers such as Dizzee Rascal (bad cockney accent set to bad synth-pop- you get the picture) also gives humanity a reason why real music lovers should be losing faith in humanity.
Britain. What was once a formidable pop power is now succumbing to the ever-present Americans and promoting mediocrity among the masses, just like Doctor Who post-1996. It is a sad thing, considering the mindset of young people these days is set almost entirely by the media. Let us hope that in the future, Britain realises her mistake and gets back to what it does best-- pushing the limits in meaty, beaty, big and bouncy pop without the use of synthesisers, or most importantly, sex.
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Ok, well I will try to remember you are under 18 so the majority of your comments are based on the media and the internet.
Firstly I think you need to change the title as your rant is aimed at anyone who happens to be pretty and young as opposed to British music overall. Although I do agree with you regarding Pixie Lott you actually appear to be mis-informed. You may actually find that Pixie was once interested in her music as she has been auditioning for labels for the past few years.
Firstly the Sugagbabes have been around for the past 10 years and you will actually find that from their very first album they have been writing their own songs and been very involved with the creation of their music. Fell free to check that.
I’ll think you will find Pixie hasn’t inspired the people you reference. Alesha Dixon was in a band called Mis-teeq long before Pixie Lott was bleaching her hair. And to compare Little Boots and La Roux to Pixie is like comparing Football and Rugby. They are completely different.
As for Dizzie Rascal, I find it highly amusing you call his accent a ‘bad cockney accent’. Dizzee grew up in North London and whether on songs or in interview his accent is the same. Can I ask, have you ever been to London? That is how he speaks. I don’t see how you can comment on someones music just because you don’t like their accent!
As a journalism piece your facts are flawed – see Aleasha Dixon comment – and you don’t vary your examples enough for it be seen as anything other that a childish tantrum.
All the while you are ignoring lots of other bands like Artic Monkeys for example who completely contradict all you write. Maybe you need to stop looking on Utube and the like and actually come to London and go to some gigs to see the originality of music that still exists. Only then would you be able to write a relevent, truthful piece.
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