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From | CarolineGoodbye <carolinegoodbye99@gmail.com> |
Subject | Re: Duffy |
Date | Mon, 23 Feb 2009 12:27:07 -0800 |
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You know, I retract that.
I feel lame for writing that. Everyone knows they retouch photos. Whatever.
I'm nothing to look at. Duffy's a cute girl and she can sing.
Who cares what she looks like is all I'm sayin'.
On Mon, Feb 23, 2009 at 12:04 PM, CarolineGoodbye <
carolinegoodbye99@gmail.com> wrote:
> Oh god. Yeah, they make her look like a "young Bardot" in photos, but in
> real life, I'm afraid she's just a normal person. Normal BRITISH person at
> that. Freckled, short, messed up teeth, just like the rest of us dolts. I
> wish heavily retouched images of women (or men) wouldn't influence people's
> opinions of pop stars, especially people who claim to be purveyors of fine
> music.
>
>
> On Mon, Feb 23, 2009 at 11:21 AM, John L. Micek <jlmicek@verizon.net>wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> I would say Duffy's talent could fit in Dusty's pinky fingernail. No
>>> comparison there whatsoever, other than to say the former is perhaps trying
>>> to capture something that came naturally to the latter. Is Duffy better
>>> than her contemporaries? Say...Fergie? Definitely. Lilly Allen? I think
>>> so. Amy Winehouse? If Winehouse doesn't kill herself, she could rule the
>>> roost.
>>>
>>
>> It probably is more appropriate to place Duffy in the broader context of
>> her contemporaries -- Winehouse and Adele. Fergie's not an apt comparison --
>> she belongs in the pop firmament with Gwen Stefani and Christina Aguilera
>> and that ilk. And, to my way of thinking, Lily Allen may not be an apt
>> comparison either, since she and Kate Nash seem to belong to what I'll call
>> a more 'confessional' school of songwriting. So she has to be judged among
>> the practitioners of the new Northern Soul.
>>
>> I'll preface my remarks by noting that I put "Rockferry" in my top 20 of
>> last year's records, along with Nash's "Made of Bricks." I love Duffy's
>> voice, and do find it reminsicent of Dusty Springfield's. But to try to draw
>> direct analogues between the two of them is foolhardy. You can't put an
>> acknowledged legend beside a young vocalist with one album to her credit. It
>> does both of them a disservice and puts a tremendous burden on the younger
>> artist that she can never hope to live up to.
>>
>> Of the three, Adele is probably the most naturally talented vocalist, and
>> I love "Chasing Pavements," though I found the rest of the record a little
>> lugubrious. I also enjoyed "Back to Black," but sometimes I wonder if Mark
>> Ronson won't someday outclever himself with his production style. Certainly
>> that record wouldn't have been the document it was without the presence of
>> the Dap-Kings, who classed the proceedings up measurably.
>>
>> In interviews and performances, I've found Duffy the most personally
>> enagaging. She's bright, funny and friendly, and that has gone a long way
>> toward winning my affections. The fact that she looks like a young Bardot
>> doesn't hurt much either -- to be blunt. But that's not the sole yardstick
>> I'm using to measure her with. For my money, when it comes down to songs,
>> "Mercy," and "Warwick Avenue," were two of the catchiest nu-soul tunes I
>> heard last year.
>>
>> I'm not sure how personally committed Duffy is to continuing to record in
>> this style. In interviews, she can be evasive and non-committal about the
>> whole business, leaving open the suggestion that the record was largely
>> shaped by Bernard Butler's personal whims and a legion of A&R men. I'll be
>> curious to see where she goes once she has a few more records under her
>> belt. She and Adele both seem like they have tremendous promise. As much as
>> I appreciate Winehouse's talent, I fear her demons have probably overtaken
>> her.
>>
>> John Micek
>>
>>
>>
>
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