There will always be "Boy Bands" as there have been for as long as I can recall. Of course, now they are somewhat manufactured at some record label chop shop these days, but I don't see them ever going away.
When I was a kid there were two groups that I remember clearly, but they were both made of family and the occasional sister (on the down low). Yes, one was the Jackson 5 and the other was the Osmonds. Both eventually fell apart most likely because the youngest son seemed to be the most adored. It was very sad... for the other brothers. I always thought a "Wrastlin' Grudge Match" between the Non-Donny Osmonds and the Non-Michael Jacksons would have turned out to be AWESOME. I'd have paid good money for that!
After a while, I think the labels opted to steer clear of family bands and just put together a bunch of androgynous waif boys with bad attitudes! And then Donny Walberg sacrificed his career to save his brother Mark.
Anyway, there will always be boy bands.
My child is in love with One Direction. That is wonderful for her to have such an interest in music. I think music is a very important aspect of any child's expression and creative being. You have to start somewhere... why not start with a boy band?
Honestly I must say that that one song of theirs where they say "You don't know you're beautiful... and that's what makes you beautiful" is really true and actually deep. Seriously, I once told a girlfriend "You are SOOOO beautiful" and her response was "I know... you get used to hearing that." I should have run right then and there.... I did not... aaaaaaand a different story...
Anyway, so these guys probably had no idea what they were singing when they belted out those lines that I am going to assume somebody else wrote for them, but that's not their fault. It's a touching song. Besides, my kid loves it and it's not an angry song. So in my book, it's not bad!
Then yesterday she was walking around the house singing another song by "1D" (I'm so damn hip).
"One way or another,
I'm gonna find you
I'm gonna gitcha gitcha gitcha..."
And so on....
"Honey, where'd you hear that? I love that song!"
"Oh it's the new One Direction song."
Then I actually got a little upset and I don't know if I did something wrong or right afterwards, but I like to think I did right.
See, I am, in essence, a boy, and growing up I had boy role models in music (like Kiss, Twisted Sister, Motley Crue, Boy George, Metallica, Rachmaninoff, The Beatles....). I also managed to perform a lot of music growing up and feel that the emotions I was able to express in song greatly helped me avoid going insane in my teens.
I want my daughter to be able to express herself creatively. Also, I want her have girl role models. And I do NOT want them to be MODELS!!! So, I turned on the TV and went to You Tube to show her something.
It's not One Direction's fault (again) that they are covering a song from my youth. They've done nothing wrong. But, I wanted my daughter to see the original artist. I needed her to know...
"Baby, look at this!" And on our screen was the Blondie music video for One Way or Another.
The child froze.
"Who is that... why is she singing this song?" There was Deborah Harry singing 1Ds song!
Sure, she's heard women sing and yes some of them are acceptable role models, but if they aren't Lady Gag or Niki Minotaur or that Justine Beaver girl, they're either in their underwear trying to look all super modely or they're Adelle or Taylor Swift breaking up with someone....
I needed my child to see someone just rocking out, from my day. I needed her to know how much I enjoyed these artists as well and looked up to them (unless we're talking Samantha Fox or Lita Ford; I didn't look up to them as much as I looked AT them).
So we watched several Blondie videos and we saw Fab 5 Freddy. At some point in our lives we must all see Fab 5 Freddy. And then we moved on to the Missing Persons. HOLY COW!
Okay, I loved the Missing Persons even though they were really a product of 80's synth-pop, make up and hairspray, but they had some rocking music! I thank Joe's Garage for getting them together!
So, then we went on to watch several videos over and over. My child LOVED seeing these bands made up of men, but fronted by a woman who could rock!!!
Of course, in all of this, it all really broke down to me sharing a generation gap with my child. Nothing has really changed in the music industry. Music will always be one of the most influential forms of expression in my life. And for most kids, I think it is a very significant outlet when coming of any age and creating a sense of self. I'm just happy to share it with my child.
Sadly though, I think musicians may be running out of original ideas. When a boy band has to cover a Deborah Harry song, well, it's just sad.
And on that note, I think I'll go listen to two of my favorite boy bands and two of their greatest original hits. You know like Twisted Sister's "Leader of the Pack" and Kiss's "And Then She Kissed Me! Granted, it's a shame some girl bands covered those two songs some twenty years before those guys could release them!
No comments:
Post a Comment