So did anybody catch Amy Winehouse on Letterman the other night?
I tuned in to find out what all the fuss was about, despite the fact that when I hear a phrase like "the latest young Brit neo-soul diva" my eyes tend to glaze over. Turned out she was way interesting, although not exactly in the way I expected.
First of all, yeah, she can sing. And she has It, if you know what I mean. And her 21st century Ronettes shtick is quite smart -- in her tattoed, beehived glory, she's everything that the real Ronnie Spector implied but couldn't quite come out and say.
What took me aback, however, is that she's actually a throwback to a different tradition -- the whole Brit putting-on-the-style thing. In fact, when all is said and done, she reminded me less of a Sixties girl group babe and more of an early 70s glam rock star -- specifically, the pre-moonlight and roses Bryan Ferry, circa "These Foolish Things."
Which is to say she's trying to have her camp and eat it too.
P.S. Found a fun YouTube clip of her and Paul Weller dueting on "I Heard It Through the Grapevine." Someday when I've mastered the tech stuff here I'll post it, as it sort of proves the point.
For, you, baby. --NYM
I didn't realize I could edit steve's posts, but now I can help him plug in all kinds of stuff.
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3 comments:
I'd never heard of her till four days ago-since then I've see her name all over the place. Let me tell you, the gays love her! (boys and girls)
My first though on seeing her videos was Dusty Springfield meets...someone.
But I think you're spot on with the glam connection.
I had never heard of her until I saw her on the Letterman show, and I found her so fascinating I almost forgot to listen to the song :) Same thing happened watching the vid here...
She's definately someone to watch though.. and I loved her backup singer/dancers.
Agreed about the glam connection, but by trying to out-manner the mannerists she just ends up tugging at her top, to my eyes, metaphorically speaking. She can sing, yes, but even her vocals are so mannered that the song disappears. That's not the case with Ferry at his best, or with Bowie, though to be fair a lot of folks thought that about Bowie at the time--I remember a choice SR remark from someone about "an electric eel expiring on a rotisserie."
I guess this is all another way of saying that I just don't think anything much is at stake in her performance, which is probably why it leaves me cold.
Coda: her modification of "make me blue" into "make me blow" is either the height of mannerism or a clumsy attempt at clever gender puns. Either way, I say it's spinach. But I'm glad to see the YouTube clip; now I know a little more of what the hype is about, or not.
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