Great to have you back, Brenda. Your analysis of Ms. Keys' success is right on the money. Mr. Clive Davis knows how to pick 'em (for success, anyway). I really wanted to love Alicia Keys' music (god is she cute), but like others on the list, found it kind of bland. Cute + bland=megabucks I guess. Witness Britney, n'sync, etc... RR
Brenda wrote: > On 7 Dec 2001, at 11:34, Michael Yarbrough wrote: > > > Seriously, I mention the demo/psychographic info not > > to rag on them, but just because they're not exactly > > who you'd *expect* to go for Alicia, but they love > > her. I'm fascinated by the obvious question: why? > > > > Her rendition of the Donny Hathaway song was pretty > > good, and that is one of the things specifically > > mentioned by my officemates. In fact, there were a > > lot of surprisingly good performances on that show. > > It's the first time I've *ever* liked Faith Hill. > > > > Bob's question and mine is not so much why is Alicia > > as popular as the Belly Button Brigade, but why is she > > so much more successful than the Erykahs or Jill > > Scotts who ply similar trades with much more depth and > > unique charisma. > > I think Alicia's popularity stems from not only the fact that she is very > attractive (and thus "marketable") but also that she is the marquis act for > Clive Davis' label J Records. After being tossed out of Arista under the guise > of being too old (having passed BMG's draconian age limit for members of the > executive suite), Clive was intent on proving that he was really sacked for > being too successful and thus too powerful. (BTW - Arista has been a shell of > its former self since the reigns were given to L.A. Reid.) > > Clive is arguably one of the most powerful record executives when it comes to > media manipulation (probably only second to Tommy Mottola). He has the press > in his pocket. (Witness Whitney Houston's embarrassing and public drug abuse > descent which even the mainstream media started covering after Clive's > departure. Her problem started long before she married Bobby Brown but Clive > kept the wolves at bay for years.) And he has pulled out all the stops for > Alicia. Success breeds success for new artists and he made sure that her album > charted high the first week. She's had all the right magazine covers and > television performances. It's been years since an independent label has pulled > off something like this. Clive is proving that he can not only have success > with immense talents like Whitney & Aretha but also with mediocre talent like > Alicia. > > Alicia's appearance on Oprah undoubtedly helped her with the soccer mom set, > although she sounded like she was at a high school talent contest to me - > nervous vocal cracks and all. (India Arie was on the same show and did only a > little better. Jill Scott, however! Quite simply, she rocked the house.) I > thought Alicia's performance of the Donny Hathaway tune was rife with pitch > problems and not fitting the genius legacy of the man, let alone the fairly > high calibur of performances that evening. (If you want a treat, hear Kenny > Lattimore or Donny's daughter Lalah perform it.) > > If you want the real goods on "new soul" check out the new album from Alicia's > label mate Angie Stone. > > Brenda > > Finally returning from a long absence driven by work - something quite welcomed > given the slow year I was having. You guys sure have been busy lately! I've > still got another 700 posts to read to catch up. > > I'll write more later, particularly answering some of the things addressed to > me specifically and to report on seeing Ryan Adams at the Troubadour (smile!) > and Shelby Lynne at the House of Blues (high as a kite - her not me!). > > n.p. - Eagle Eye Cherry - Promises Made (Does anyone else think that this > sounds alot like a Cat Steven's tune?)
