The artist puts his/her brush to canvass and expresses himself instantly stroke by stroke. That’s a better scenario than say Elvis or Sinatra who had to wait for someone to write them a song and then interpret what the songwriter was trying to say. Which isn’t as pure, is it? It’s like trying to regurgitate something clever you once heard someone say and put your own slant on it but it’s not yours. That’s why my favourite moment in popular music was when The Beatles and The Beach Boys started writing their own songs. It cut out the middlemen and took it back to the musician. I mean no one else was going to write Heroin for Lou Reed were they? Or Wuthering Heights for Kate Bush. That’s because all great expression is unique to that particular person or band. And following this tidal wave where bands started writing their own material, the masses were buying some of the best music ever captured in droves. For the first time the most popular music was some of the most acclaimed too. It was a golden period. And slowly what we learnt was forgotten and to put a final nail in the coffin along came Simon Cowell with his toilet brush hair….X factor has successfully managed to reverse the best advancement in popular music…Now the most popular music is the least acclaimed music and ‘pop stars’ are happily singing karaoke on other people’s songs. It’s nothing to do with expression and all to do self promotion (and making money on the phone lines). We is back where it all started fifty years ago. The good news is folks, the revolution will happen all over again!
Rocky
