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Taylor Swift I just don't get it

KeninDC said:
My daughter loves her (8-years old). Miss Swift writes her own songs and was not "manufactured" like the Monkees or, say, the Sex Pistols. Is she country? No. Is her voice better than Lou Reed's, Bob Dylan's, or the cat from "Yes"? Yes. Pure pop music. Bubblegum - like Tommy James and the Shondells (for you old cats).

Her version of "Photograph" w/ Def Leppard shows her having some good clean fun:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gh6WKvQaCK4

I'm all for letting this cute young lady have her fun. Just don't call it country.

Ken
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He's right; them's fightin' words. Not Lou Reed or Bob Dylan who, love them though we may, admittedly have some rough singing voices. "The cat from Yes", on the other hand, has a fine singing voice. Maybe a little higher pitched than you prefer, and those hippy ideals are somewhat dated, but the man can sing.

I think the change in country music was inevitable, because of the change in country folks. I blame that change on cable and satellite tv and the internet. Once upon a time country folks were separated by geography and their attitudes, standards and morals changed at a slower pace than city folks. Those changes have undeniably accelerated. The apples are falling farther from the tree with each successive generation. I knew something was up about fifteen years ago when I noticed young rednecks cruising in their pick-em-up trucks listening to rap full blast. A mere five years previous to that the good old boys would die before they'd listen to "ethnic" music. This would have been 1984, before the cable company had spread beyond the main population centers of my area.

I watched the link to the rap thing, it was pretty funny. I watched the Def Leppard one too, and didn't find it painful at all.
 
fotno said:
Earlier someone used McDonald's hamburgers as an illustration, mentioning that just because they were the most popular didn't mean they were by extension the best. The same is true of mass-marketed music. The key here is that music IS mass-marketed. No matter how good a band or singer is, it means nothing if they're not brought to the attention of the public. I don't blame the public for choosing the only thing they're offered, I blame the music business for choosing the same old thing over and over again, then marketing it like it's the only thing out there.
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It's like the movie industry. They rehash the same old movies over and over. Then some auteur breaks free from the mold and makes something ground breaking and it makes money. Then the movie industry makes that movie over and over again until the next auteur comes along.

Also with movies the reason the explosion movies are so prevalent is that teenagers are the biggest movie going audience so what's put out is geared towards them. I'm sure the same thing is true in the music industry. All genres are geared towards what teen will buy.

Chad
 
krf1 said:
This is a very interesting thread! I agree with several posters about how the times we live in impact our musical tastes. My 15 year old daughter loves Taylor Swift, but she would not be caught dead listening to "country music". I asked her why -1) she is a nice girl; 2) she is not a "trashy" girl; 3) she writes lyrics that connect.

It seems to me that the way people (kids especially) currently listen to music (via online sites, TV, movies, etc.) often makes them more open to whatever sounds good. Examples - I was vinyl shopping; my daughter was along. She got all excited over some old Billie Holliday records. Reason? One of her songs was on a movie soundtrack (Twilight maybe?) Example 2 - she is on a Frank Sinatra kick! She says she just likes his voice - nothing fancy, he just sings! I asked where this came from - she said she was tired of "imitators" like Michael Buble, and likes the real thing. I said, if you like Sinatra, check this out - gave her a Harry Connick big band CD. It is on her iPod now.

So, I don't complain about anything that is playing in our house, as long as it keeps our family "in the music!" :music:
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:sigh:Man, I wish my sister were that receptive to music outside of popular radio, and recommended by her friends. The only music she likes of mine is Rammstein (one of her friends recommended it) and maybe Rodrigo Y Gabriela. Everything else is totally unacceptable. I was threatend with death for playing "trout mask replica" on a car trip. Zappa doesn't go over well either. None of my jazz albums are liked (who could hate the stylings of Stan Kenton!), I don't know...maybe one day.Probably when the thought of a real stereo comes to mind...I am tired of hearing an ipos "cube" all day.

ChadHahn said:
It's like the movie industry. They rehash the same old movies over and over. Then some auteur breaks free from the mold and makes something ground breaking and it makes money. Then the movie industry makes that movie over and over again until the next auteur comes along.

Also with movies the reason the explosion movies are so prevalent is that teenagers are the biggest movie going audience so what's put out is geared towards them. I'm sure the same thing is true in the music industry. All genres are geared towards what teen will buy.

Chad
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what most teens will buy :rolleyes:.

I will admit, I am somewhat lucky to be shy, as it helped me avoid trying to appeal to trends. Instead, I went almost the exact opposite of many, with a couple exceptions (falling into metallica, etc.). Being in tech. college now, I can safely say that High-schoolers (at 19 I am a "teen"-ager in theory) as a generalization are sheepish, or more exactly, lemmings...Not to offend, but a majority get into every fad and the like because its popular. I was a pariah in study hall because I used a 1964 GE radio in the morning, instead of an ipod, When I did bring in an ipod (my dads), everyone commented on it.

I think its safe to say, no-one seems to have an issue with(as stated), the 19year old starlet writing songs and having fun, rather, I think that she was used as an example, and acted as a catalyst for a different topic. It seems everone agrees that the industry is going the wrong way, and is nothing like it was long ago...but there are examples out there of good things begining to happen. Granted, most of the progress is on independant labels, but it counts for something. Consider the re-birth of vinyl...as an actual viable format, rather than novelty. There are examples, And I can only hope they are followed and supported.
 
Four years from now, she will be wadded up like I piece of paper and tossed in the trashcan. That's what new country has become.
 
jimfet said:
Four years from now, she will be wadded up like I piece of paper and tossed in the trashcan. That's what new country has become.
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That's pretty much the fate of anybody who decides to pursue a music career with a major label. They don't develop artists anymore, they use them until the next fad comes along. Except that I think they're finding that they're running out of fads.
 
JohnVF said:
That's pretty much the fate of anybody who decides to pursue a music career with a major label. They don't develop artists anymore, they use them until the next fad comes along. Except that I think they're finding that they're running out of fads.
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Kinda seems any more that a real artist (talent or not) is going with the indie labels, or even marketing their selves, and the ones that are in it for the fame and not the art are going with the labels. It's really a shame that the big labels got greedy.. I think had they kept perusing the art and talent, in the long run they could have made more money.

Any more it seems the fast buck and short sightedness of that has ruined so many qualities in life.. not just the music world..
 
kneeOhFight said:
..her "performances" all seem very forced and synthetic....
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I don't follow her, or generally that music style, but from what I've seen and heard, this is about summarizes it for me too.

Don't mean to harsh her deal because she's clearly a hot item right now, so I guess more power to her if that's what sells.
 
I watched the show the other night. Overall I like (don't love) the songs I have heard her sing although calling it country is a stretch imho just like most of the "new country". I think they should call it "country pop".

The songs on the radio sound pretty good but I thought she sounded pretty bad singing live. Some people just can't do it. She probably has good stage presence but the gal from Sugarland blew her out of the water. Maybe give her another ten years and she might sound as good. I doubt it but you never know if she is still around. She's getting way too much attention from that stupid Kanya incident.
 
kneeOhFight said:
semi good looking girl, probably a sweet kid.....
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Friend of mine is the motorcoach driver for Brad Paisley and mentioned a tour they were on with Taylor Swift. On camera and in public she's as sweet as can be... off camera a totally different person. Demanding, bossy, snotty, and conceited. Paisley is a GREAT guy and takes all of his "team" fishing and out for fun all the time. He threw a last show party for everyone including Swift's entourage and when she found out, she told them all to leave. If she didn't tell them it was ok to party it wasn't because they were on her payroll. :sigh:
 
subwoofwoof said:
Friend of mine is the motorcoach driver for Brad Paisley and mentioned a tour they were on with Taylor Swift. On camera and in public she's as sweet as can be... off camera a totally different person. Demanding, bossy, snotty, and conceited. Paisley is a GREAT guy and takes all of his "team" fishing and out for fun all the time. He threw a last show party for everyone including Swift's entourage and when she found out, she told them all to leave. If she didn't tell them it was ok to party it wasn't because they were on her payroll. :sigh:
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:lmao:

so much for that notion...not knowing her, I was extending her the benefit of the doubt..this syndrome is what drove me away from the music/entertainment industry....I've no tolerance for such deluded,self indulgent fools
 
for those posters here that refer to her as a song writer may I quote a lyric from one of her songs> " she wears short shorts I wear T shirts" song writer ya
 
...if ya dare wear short shorts, Nair for short short....

Sorry.. damn.. I hated that jingle, and that last post put it in my head :(

Hope I didn't just show my age.. LOL...
 
I don't really know anything about Taylor Swift. One young female artist I really dig is Joss Stone. She's not much older, very talented and puts out some really funky tunes.
I first heard her on a Les Paul tribute album and was blown away when I found out she was like 17 years old.
 
The Royal Teens wrote "Short Shorts" (1958). Essentially a rock-a-billy band cashing in on a pop trend.

The guitarist, Al Kooper, ended up working with Bob Dylan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-KaSNAEgvQ

Arguably, Nashville has always stuck to money-making formulas. The stories of the "long hairs" such as Gram Parsons and the Byrds recording in Nashville (Sweetheart of the Rodeo) are legendary. While they were looked at as outsiders, many of the local session guys enjoyed being able to stretch out a bit from the typical Nashville formula at the time. For me, the Byrds and Gram Parsons (Flying Burrito Brothers) opened up the Bakersfield sound (Buck Owens) to a whole 'nother generation. Witness the Stones' forays into country (Dead Flowers).

Remember that Patsy Cline was quite the crossover star and her heavily-orchestrated arrangements were intended to expand her appeal. Ditto with Kitty Wells, Ray Price, etc. BTW - Kitty and Patsy on US DECCA mono LPs are amazing.

My love of so-called "true" country came by way of pop music.

Ken
 
Yea but look how many people LOVED Amy Winehouse!!!!!! I listened to ahalf dozen of her songs checked out her Tattoo's and ready the stories of her F'ed up life and sorry I just didn't get it.

There will always be fmous popular singers that some people don't get or that only a few people like. Heck on theis forum you can find dozens of people who will tell you they don't get Pink Floyd and their music sucks. Or that DSOTM is a boring album.

So it's all about taste and preferances.
 
Others here have hit upon Taylor's secret: she writes stuff that 8-15 year old girls can "relate" to. Plus...she's cute w/cool clothes. Therefore someone they aspire to be like. That demo downloads like mad as well...gotta keep those iPods stuffed. CHR radio "adopted" her because she was hot stuff with their big demographic...8-15 year old girls. Guys? She's borderline hot...so they'll covertly lust after her while telling their girlfriends that she's cool.

As far as diva-like behavior? You betcha.
 
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