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 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 >> >> >> >