Beyonc'eBeing visually appealing has always been a plus factor for people in the music business. But that is even more so the case today, especially for female artists.
Think about it. When powerhouse singers like Roberta Flack, Dionne Warwick, Sarah Vaughan, Gladys Knight, Ella Fitzgerald, Mavis Staples, Dinah Washington, Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, Tina Turner, Betty Carter and Mary Wells, among many others, arrived on the scene, their ascension to fame was based on their skills, not their looks. (Not that any of them look bad.)
But today, there is physical beauty almost everywhere you look. Talented ladies such as Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, Rihanna, Kelly Rowland, Keyshia Cole, Ashanti, Christina Aguilera, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Ciara, Nona Gaye, Toni Braxton and newcomer Leona Lewis are feasts for the eyes as well as the ears. (I also believe that plus-size Jill Scott is very pretty, and Mary J. Blige sure looks better these days.)
Part of the reason for greater emphasis on looks (“pretty people”) is that record companies want people in videos who have visual appeal because it helps promote the product.
Of course, there is a certain amount of superficiality in all this, but it is reality.
On a lighter note, fortunately, no one is concerned about what columnists and other journalists look like!
SADLY, iTunes, online music piracy, file sharing, etc., along with competition from superstores like Wal-Mart, are badly hurting independent music stores. Last year, 190 of these indie stores went out of business in the United States, and 1,500 have closed their doors since 2003, including the giant Tower Records.
New star Leona Lewis was working at Pizza Hut right before winning an “American Idol”-type reality TV talent show in England and being discovered by “Idol” judge Simon Cowell. She says she appreciates the comparisons to great singers like Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, etc., but states firmly, “No one is ‘the next’ anyone.”
Sometimes while searching here and there for pictures, I run across some very unusual ones. Such as the two used here, including Gladys Knight as a child singer and Diana Ross with so much over-the-top “freedom hair” that it seems she provided inspiration for Erykah Badu.
THE E-MAIL box is always one of my favorite places to visit (even though keeping up with responding to them all is a challenge). For example, I just received one from Kelli Lynn pertaining to Mariah Carey.
“I got the new Mariah Carey CD (“E=MC2”) the other day and I really like it,” she wrote. “I don’t consider myself to be a big fan of hers. I wouldn’t pay to see her perform. But she is talented and her music is bouncy and infectious. One thing I do not like is when she slips into ear-piercing higher octave ranges. It’s more disconcerting than enjoyable. I guess she just does it ‘because she can.’”
Alicia Keys said something strange recently. She claimed that the term “gangsta rap” was created by certain forces in the dominant culture “as a ploy to convince Black people to kill each other.”
Huh?
But after receiving a lot of flak, Keys took a shot at damage control, saying, “My comments were in no way trying to suggest that the government is responsible for creating this genre of rap music. The point I was trying to make was that the term has been over-sloganized by some of the media, causing reactions that are not positive.
“Many of the ‘gangsta rap’ lyrics articulate the problems of the artists’ experiences. I think a lot of us, including our leaders, could be doing more to address these problems, including drugs, gang violence, crime and other related social issues.”
Correction: In last week’s edition there was a story about actress/singer Telma Hopkins. It stated that she had been a member of a 1960s female vocal group (also from Detroit) called the Debonaires, who some people remember for their recording “How’s Your New Love Treating You?” Well, Hopkins was not in that group. Her partner in Tony Orlando & Dawn, Joyce Vincent (now Joyce Vincent Wilson) was. The Debonaires consisted of Diane Hogan (lead singer), Elsie Baker, Dorothy Garland and Joyce Vincent.
Special thanks to Tony Gray for providing the information.
ONE OF my favorite entertainers is Mario Lopez. Repeatedly, he has shown that he has impressive skills as an actor, TV show host, dancer, and now he is in the Broadway show “A Chorus Line.”
(As great as Emmitt Smith and his partner were on “Dancing With the Stars,” I believe that Lopez and his partner should have won, rather than placing second.)
Also, Lopez has a likable personality and doesn’t have nude body hang-ups, as proven by his shower scene on the TV series “Nip/Tuck.”
I enjoy renting obscure movies as much as well-known ones, but the other day I rented a film called “How Did It Feel?” It is hard to believe that a skilled, accomplished, respected actor such as Blair Underwood would star in such a terrible movie. I know actors want to work consistently, that it is tougher for Black actors, and that bills have to be paid, but still, there’s no excuse for accepting second and third class film projects.
BETCHA DIDN’T KNOW…That there was a time when Black performers could work in Las Vegas, but not stay at the hotels, eat in the restaurants, gamble in the casinos, etc. Sammy Davis began adamantly refusing to perform anyplace that practiced racism. Eventually the bans were lifted.
MEMORIES: “Secret Lovers” (Atlantic Starr), “Black Byrd” (Donald Bryrd), “Rumors” (Timex Social Club), “Call Me” (Skyy), “I Just Love the Man” (the Jones Girls), “Personality” (Lloyd Price), “Girlfriend” (Pebbles), “Close the Door” (Teddy Pendergrass), “To Sir With Love” (Lulu), “It’s All in the Game” (Tommy Edwards).
BLESSINGS to Jasmine DuBois, Stephen Singleton, Ken Coleman, Don Davis, Jerry McCants, Esther Gordy Edwards, Larry Gabriel, Katherine Russell, Deborah McIntosh, William Staiger, Robert McTyre and Ortheia Barnes-Kennerly.
WORDS OF THE WEEK, from Thomas Edison: “If we all did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves.”
Let the music play!
(Steve Holsey can be reached at Svh517@aol.com and P.O. Box 02843, Detroit, MI 48202.)
