It was decided long ago that just about everyone hates Hanson and the Spice Girls. But why? Has anyone considered their audience? It's obviously not the financially savvy adolescents the music business sells to the heaviest or to whom MTV is directed. It's boys and girls younger than that, the majority of them prepubescent girls. The Hanson boys have been preteen heartthrobs, and I remember girls as young as 6 singing the Spice Girls songs over and over again. Evidently, the Spice Girls are still selling big-- Emma (Baby) told Gear magazine that despite wonderful sales, MTV won't play their videos anymore. The last Spice Girls special was on Nickelodeon, which is an MTV subsidiary, but the network is considered to be for a younger audience. It's not so much annoying as it is amusing to watch very young girls trying to sing these hoochies' songs from memory, especially the ones laced with a heavy dose of sexuality. But again, I say their audience is very young. It's been said they were not ashamed to sell out, which the adolescent market is taught to abhor as more artists refuse to compromise their creative integrity. But I wouldn't be surprised to find the Spice Girl's overly catchy pop tunes very similar to the nursery rhymes of their audience's much younger peers. I suspect Hanson suffered a similar fate as The New Kids On The Block did. Their fad passed quickly, especially as their audience became teenagers and then bought into the MTV philosophy. I'm sure there are other reasons, but wouldn't you say any band that can't consistently fetch a teen audience or older gets dragged to the chopping block? Yes, pop does better when the economy is strong, but it also puts money in the hands of preteens who will buy it, no?8 responses total.
Younger, more innocent kids are exposed to unpretentious crap and love it. As they get into their teens, they try to show how sophisticated and world-weary they've become by listening to pretentious crap. In any case, it's practically all crap. The state of the economy has nothing to do with it.
<lol> I think it's because the songs they sing are images of what those children think love and life will be about. They're looking forward to their first kiss, first love, first trip to the mall sans parents. Once they experience everything and get their hopes dashed, they learn to appreciate the cynical music we all love. ;-) Hanson has a song called "Where's the Love?" and it annoys me because a ten-year old has no idea what it is like to fall and love and lose them, unless you are talking about the girl who saves you a seat on the bus. Plus, they're ugly...blecch. Even when I was 11 or 12, pre-pubescent boys didn't attract me. The Spice Girls have an edge on pre-teen/early teen girls because they promote "Girl Power" and have a sassy, "cool", vibrant style. They also have five (now four) different images that show girls they can be different things and still "cool". Sporty, Baby, Posh, and Scary (who is black) all represent the basic stereotypes some girls see in school. You always have the late bloomer, the athlete, the minority, and the chick from the "in" crowd. I hate both bands because they drive me up the wall and remind me of the obnoxious, gum-chewing, flat-chested, oh-how-I-wish-our-parents-wouldn't-pick-us-up-so-those-boys-would think-we-could-drive, hair-twirling, Slurpee-sucking girls at the mall.
Yes, the whole "Girl Power" thing is critical to the Spice Girls' success. I have no problem with it. I suppose you could call Alanis Morissette "The dark side of Girl Power," although I'm told her latest CD is a bit less angry. Frankly, I am often surprised at what kinds of music my two kids (12 & 14) find attractive. Edgy old Beatles songs -- specifically, "Come Together" and "I Am The Walrus" -- are recent favorites of theirs, thanks to the George Martin CD featuring Robin Williams and Jim Carrey, respectively, singing those numbers. And what on earth is with swing music? The Beatles I can see; but Glen Miller?!
Swing music is fun and easy to dance to. It has a high attraction with the younger, as well as the older crowds. They started bringing it back into clubs, new artists started recording new swing material, and classes are offered in many communities. I wish the kids would learn the reasons *why* swing was so big in the first place, but I have no objection to the recent popularity among the younger generations. I grew up listening to Benny Goodman and many others, and I'm happy it's making a comeback.
Heh. The Lindy Hopper movement, which never forgot about swing seems to have gotten ahold of the younger crowd. I heard a boom box in downtown Ann Arbor the other day, and was just about knocked over to hear swing coming out of it. The kid who was playing it wasn't too willing to talk to me, but said "it sounded good" so I left it at that. I guess I'm not surprised to hear that the Spice Girls have been pushed down to Nickelodeon. In the age of hyper awareness of demographics, it only makes sense to put a group's shows at the level there it fits the best. It must be demoralizing to the performers, however.
My heart bleeds for them, truely.
I was thinking the same thing. Nothing that puts a few more million in your checking account can be *very* demoralizing.
Swing isn't exactly all new. Before lindy hopping made a comeback, the jitterbug was a hot part of '50s rock nostalgia. Although there weren't as many artists styling music for it in the '80s, there were some notable hits. Wham's "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" was obviously written by George Michael with jitterbug in mind, and other rock acts such as Adam Ant and the Stray Cats crafted tunes with that music in mind. The Stray Cats in particular were all about '50s rock. As the 1990s seems to recycle trends but picks different elements from approximately the same time period, swing seems to be a fairly good choice. re #1: Musicologists would agree and disagree. My point was yes, that is very true, but the overall tone of music tends to rise and fall somewhat with the economy. But perhaps that's just a moot point.
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