Shadows guitarist booted off BGT

[abstamaria]

Let's be honest; the general public are largely uneducated morons who rarely if ever go for talent, preferring looks, image, personality and similar rubbish. Cowell and others of his ilk simply pander to the lowest common denominator of such moronity, if there is such a word. (There is now.)

But, Steve, it is the general public, the great "moronity," the huge number who don't sing or play instruments, that pushed the Beatles, Eric Clapton, and all those who made it big, including our Shadows, to the heights they reached. What amazes me is that the hits through time, even through centuries, loved by the general population, are really good. They have an "ear," some discernment, this general public

It is just that their taste has changed, while ours (the old foggies that we generally are) is fixed in time, what the general public's taste was over 50 years ago.

And the public, used now to fireworks, etc., expects more from a performer on stage. Like someone applying for a Broadway musical, it isn't enough to know how to sing; one must have a unique voice, must know how to dance well, act, and look spectacular on stage. Nokie Edwards of the Ventures, playing his licks bolt upright and staring blankly at the audience, won't make it to square one today.

Just my thoughts, an no offense intended.

Andy

[Monty]

I suspect what has happened is that as corporate 'business people' have taken over TV, the music business, even sports (football etc) and they have dictated trends - what 'people WILL like', what people WILL hear' etc - and Cowell is a prime example of that development

The public in general like what they are TOLD to like, and that is particularly true re TV & Music

Does Simon Cowell go home & listen to just his 'boy bands' and 'girl bands' for his OWN entertainment...?,
somehow I rather doubt it, the whole thing is a mega cash making thing now, hence nothing really 'new' ever comes along - after a scantily clad Cher it was Madonna, then Britney Spears, then Lady Gaga, now Miley Cyrus...plus various others and we'll get another such female figure (to capture girl's cash as wannabes & the blokes cash seeing them as fantasy figures etc) - it's a corporate package thing

we had Take That (five young guys), then Westlife (five young guys), currently One Direction (Five young guys)...er notice any pattern ?

plus The Spice Girls, Girls Aloud, BeWi*ched, The Saturdays, etc....always FIVE ! (occasionally later reduced to four when a Geri/Robbie quits)

so expect MORE scantily clad females, and bunches of FIVE young guys/gals...just a new name !

while most people gradually move on, as they mature, to artists they actually find they like, thus many famous older artists music remains on catalogue as it sells steadily over time...

[Stratpicker]

The public in general like what they are TOLD to like, and that is particularly true re TV & Music

we had Take That (five young guys), then Westlife (five young guys), currently One Direction (Five young guys)...er notice any pattern ?

plus The Spice Girls, Girls Aloud, BeWi*ched, The Saturdays, etc....always FIVE ! (occasionally later reduced to four when a Geri/Robbie quits)

so expect MORE scantily clad females, and bunches of FIVE young guys/gals...just a new name !

Its called HYPE and the TV and Radio Ga-Ga Moronity are sucked into every time.

5 young guys? - how about the odds on COLLABRO winning then? When they started singing you could see the cash register symbols light up in his eyes. I don't think his pants have dried since. Ker-ching!! Cynical? Who? Me?
Cheers
Ian

[mojolomjl]

You are not being cynical Ian, you are just being truthful.

[BritBass]

we had Take That (five young guys), then Westlife (five young guys), currently One Direction (Five young guys)...er notice any pattern ?

We also had The Beatles (four young guys), then The Searchers (four young guys), and then the The Kinks (for young guys)...........I can't remember how many were in The Shadows.

There's a hint in that it's called the music business. Does anyone really think that EMI signed The Beatles so they would culturally enrich our lives rather than simply to make money?

[Monty]

four young guys indeed... tho' originally there had been FIVE in The Beatles...while in each band there were musicians who could play their own instruments in a distinctive style, which notably altered whenever group members left and strong replacements came in...

while there were TWO in the chart topping duo 'Jet Harris & Tony Meehan'

THREE in The Big Three, The Pirates, The Mindbenders, Cream, Jimi Hendrix Experience, etc

FIVE in The Rolling Stones, Animals, Hollies, Moody Blues etc

SIX in The Applejacks, The Turtles, The Beach Boys

SEVEN in The John Barry Seven...Chicago, Amen Corner, etc

EIGHT originally in The Swinging Blue Jeans...back in their 'skiffle' days !


so band formats or numbers were never 'obligatory' and those groups all played instruments creating their own very distinctive vocal and instrumental sounds

re The Beatles....EMI in fact had TURNED DOWN the group several times before 'comedy records' producer George Martin spotted their potential...and in allowing them to put out their own songs as singles 'A' sides in 1962, EMI were certainly taking an artistic gamble...

[ribiers]

... Nearly 250.000 views on Youtube... not bad at all...

[abstamaria]

When the Beatles appeared, my parents (who were in their late 50s) shook their heads and reacted pretty much like any generation did to "new music." "They had talent in our days," my mom said, I recall.

The music business is what it is, and if one wants to break through there, one has to approach it strategically. They won't change the rules for you.

Will Shadows-style music become popular again? I don't know, but I suspect it will have to be repackaged and sold in another form. With millions of talents trying to sell their talents on YouTube, I do not know what it will take to be noticed (the female guitarist on the other thread knows that problem and has addressed it squarely).

On "hits" or views on YouTube, I wonder if they were there for the talent or the humiliation. But any publicity is good, as they say, so I hope that helps. In that regard, I read the other day, with much surprise, that many views or "likes" are by "bots" - robots, virtual internet citizens with their own Facebook accounts and programmed to act like the generation they are supposed to be. There are outfits that promise one instant exposure in the Internet for a fee. Most of them employ bots. We paid a very small fee to boost a commercial page the other month, and in three days doubled the views. I wonder how many were by bots. I did say the industry evolves very rapidly in ways we old guys no longer comprehend.

I attended recently a very high level meeting of lawyers in the entertainment industry. I'm not in the field but happened to be in Los Angeles and knew some of the firms because of other work. Very instructive for me. Money is made in different ways these days it seems.

Andy

[BritBass]

four young guys indeed... tho' originally there had been FIVE in The Beatles...while in each band there were musicians who could play their own instruments in a distinctive style, which notably altered whenever group members left and strong replacements came in...

while there were TWO in the chart topping duo 'Jet Harris & Tony Meehan'

THREE in The Big Three, The Pirates, The Mindbenders, Cream, Jimi Hendrix Experience, etc

FIVE in The Rolling Stones, Animals, Hollies, Moody Blues etc

SIX in The Applejacks, The Turtles, The Beach Boys

SEVEN in The John Barry Seven...Chicago, Amen Corner, etc

EIGHT originally in The Swinging Blue Jeans...back in their 'skiffle' days !


so band formats or numbers were never 'obligatory' and those groups all played instruments creating their own very distinctive vocal and instrumental sounds

re The Beatles....EMI in fact had TURNED DOWN the group several times before 'comedy records' producer George Martin spotted their potential...and in allowing them to put out their own songs as singles 'A' sides in 1962, EMI were certainly taking an artistic gamble...

In the current 'charts' there are only a couple of groups as all the rest are solo performers so it does not seem that it is 'obligatory' to have five in a group to be successful nowadays. Many current groups also play their own instruments competently. There are still a lot of talented young musicians out there.

[Uncleboko]

The Big Three - now that's a band I would love to have seen! I saw Johnny Gustafson in The Pirates in the 1980s - https://soundcloud.com/bonzo3legs/track001

Nearest I saw to the Big Three were James Royal & the Hawks who were the excellent resident support at the Big Beat Club Harrow, with Micky King on guitar!