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"Hicks answers "Favourite New Kid" question"

"Someone actually asked me once 'who is your favourite New Kid'?"..."THE FIRST ONE THAT DIES!! That's the poster that's goin up on Willy's Wall... And I hope it's Donnie too, that scruffy little rebel. I hope he gets that one chin hair he's been trying to grow for three years stuck in the wheel of his shooter and his head pops off like a ~@£%ing champagne cork! POP!! That would crack me up for days! Just spurting blood like a ~@£%ing geyser, 'splurt', 'splurt'... yeah, and his parents are there, his Mum sees it, they have to watch with their eyelids held open like Malcolm in Clockwork Orange..."

And to my left, we have Britney Spears, Nsync, Backstreet Boys, Shakira, Westlife, Boyzone, Robbie Williams, Gareth Gates blah blah blah blah.
And to my right we have struggling bands that just very well write the soundtrack to a moment of your life or capture a piece of history.
The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Radiohead, Manic Street Preachers, The Temptations.
All gone now.

Instead we have disposable karaeoke singers in 15min fame grabbing slots.
Music used to matter and music used to give passion and life, a soundtrack to your life.
Instead, now, it provides background noise for shopping.
*slow applause*
Well done tasteless moron public for buying this rubbish. Well done to the "it's only a song" and "kids like it" people.
It's not "kids just like it" that worries and and should worry you, the fact that you are not teaching your kids about musical history means it's fading. My next door neighbour, a 8yr old kid, had never heard of Michael Jackson, The Beatles or Tina Turner.
But he loved The Cheeky Girls and Scooter.

But why am I bothering to get worked up,it's only music right?

I can understand why people don't like all the pop stuff, but at the same time I personally don't find it that big a deal.

I hated New Kids, I hate Westlife & co, Girls Aloud (and the boy version, whatever their name is). But then I've never liked The Beatles, The Who, The Rolling Stones or Elvis, and I don't like the Manics, Oasis etc. Yes, I've listened - I've got friends who love them and play them a lot, but it's never done anything for me.

I've got a lot of albums in my collection that would no doubt have some of you laughing at me from now until forever, but I also know I've got albums that some of you love.

I've got Pop, Rap, Hip-Hop, R&B, Soul, Reggae, Hard Rock, Soft Rock, ballads, love songs, Electronica, 80's pop compilations, 80's dance compilations, and everything from club dance to Hard House and Trance.

The thing is, you can't help what you like - and you buy what you like. So if someone makes a catchy tune that people want to buy, why are they stupid for buying it?

As I see it, there are two reasons to create music:

1. You want to make music that entertains people, whether that be for your own gain, or simply because you want to bring pleasure to the masses.

2. You want to make music that makes *you* happy, means something to you, tells a story, is based on events in your life, comes from the soul... etc.


I'd suspect that anyone producing music for the second reason wouldn't much care if others like it or not, and would play for themselves, friends and family. If they got a break and more people could hear their music, fair enough.

Personally, I don't have a problem with either reason. If someone wants to produce catchy songs to get rich, then fine - I wish I could do it! But if it entertains me and makes me want to buy it, I will - no-one's forcing me to.

By the same token, if someone wants to write a song that is deeply personal to them, and I like it, I'll buy that too. But whatever the reason behind the song, I won't be labelled an idiot for buying something I like.

I do understand that the way the record industry works means that I may never get to hear those personal songs because the singer isn't pretty enough etc., and yes that does annoy me. But I don't blame the 'pretty' ones who are in the charts for that. Despite what I read on here, a lot of them CAN actually sing very well indeed. Blame the record industry.

I like a lot of pop music for the same reason I like dance music - I generally enjoy a beat that makes me feel good, makes me tap my feet without realising it, etc.

Deep and meaningful songs are alright on the rare occasions that I'm in the mood for them, but otherwise they can be extremely depressing. I don't want to listen to a few brainless t*rds from 'up north' strumming on guitars and wailing on about how grim life is and how much it rains in Manchester or whatever. There's enough bad news in the world, and I have enough of my own problems. I want energetic music that's going to lift my spirits and make me feel happier, not drown me under someone else's hardships.

There's a lot of musical snobbery bandied about on here, about people who don't play any instruments or write their own songs. Personally, I don't care. There are many singers universally considered 'great' who've never played an instrument of written a song in their life, so I don't see why the pop people should singled out.

Why is - for example - Will Young any different to Pavarotti? At least Will has written some of his own songs, he can play the piano, and he has a hell of a voice; Pavarotti also has a great voice, but he just stands there belting out lyrics that someone wrote a few decades ago. As do 'greats' like Shirley Bassey. Alanis writes her own songs, and plays at least three instruments, yet she's still viewed by many as one of the evil pop puppets - why is that?

There are a lot of musically-inclined people on here who are in bands, and my next comment isn't directed at anyone in particular (least of all Goatboy, whose music I've heard a little of and liked) - it's just a general statement.

"It's not fair - my music's better than that, and they're raking it in, while I can't get a break!" Most people are proud of what they do, and it's not always easy to admit to jealousy. Maybe - just maybe - some of the music you produce isn't as good as you think. And maybe - just maybe - these 'popstars' are better than you choose to give them credit for. Can you be ABSOLUTELY sure that some of your comments aren't just the green-eyed monster rearing its ugly head? Because sometimes, that's how it comes across.

Ant wrote:

> Mine, to be honest. :D Me and my mate spent the past hour laughing at
> a guy because one siad of his hair was thicker than the other.

That was me....

:c(

Dammit, I pushed post again too early!

I was reading the lyrics to a few songs the other day when the song 'Took it away' by 'A' popped up...

Never actually understood what the song was about until I read what they had said!

It's all about how our record industry sucks..

phi11ip wrote:
> Ant wrote:
> I've managed to come out
>
> Ah there we go!

phi11ip, your sense of humour is the equivalent of...


Mine, to be honest. :D Me and my mate spent the past hour laughing at a guy because one siad of his hair was thicker than the other.

Ant wrote:
> I've managed to come out of childhood okay, thank God.

I really can't see why I find that funny...

There must be a reason somewhere...

Ant wrote:
> I've managed to come out

Ah there we go!

I've managed to come out of childhood okay, thank God. Whilst most of my mates like the So Solid Cru, other garage crap, Eminem and other rap crap and all that R and B and Hip Hop crap, I am into stuff like Counting Crows, Nirvana, Feeder, the Manics, Del Amitri etc.

What most annoys me though are the TV channels, and pop music. Pop angers me, because most of it's so damn happy. Well it's no surprise really, most pop artists get paid millions and are 'beautiful', if you know what I mean. Good-looking, at least in most people's eyes.

I know my music taste isn't gonna be the same as everyone else's, but pop music reeeeaaaalllllyyyy annoys me, and I don't see the attraction of it. The Popstars Rivals made a complete farce of the Christmas no.1 (not that it was really that special anyway), but most people who bought the singles probably didn't even like them!

And why buy singles? If you're gonna buy music, at least get albums! :D

Bwah.

I always get annoyed that I was too young to appreciate Radiohead and Manics at their peak and that I just caught them at the end of their career... well maybe not Radiohead but I don't see another Ok Computer on the cards.

I was brought with my dad's music... usually Pink Flyod, The Who, Queen, Led Zep which was cool.

Never got interested in music until I turned 15, 2 years ago. Just never heard anything I liked till I borrowed some albums off a mate.

They'll always be 'proper' bands, they might just become a little more of a minority and cult following.

Mr Snuggly wrote:
> I fear we're raising a generation of children who will never
> understand how important music can be - people like John Lennon, Jimi
> Hendrix and Kurt Cobain will prbably never be seen again.

No no no no no no no.

I was raised under the Spice Girls, and I've turned out good. And so have all of my friends.

Remember - Pink Floyd, Led Zep etc had hardly any hit singles or anything. There has always been crap in the charts, and there always will be - you just can't remember half of it.

Mr Snuggly wrote:
> I fear we're raising a generation of children who will never
> understand how important music can be - people like John Lennon, Jimi
> Hendrix and Kurt Cobain will probably never be seen again.

Obviously because they're dead, but you know what I mean.

I fear we're raising a generation of children who will never understand how important music can be - people like John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain will prbably never be seen again.

It's a sad fact of life, but music is now predominantly about money and not music.