I just watched Muholland for the first time somewhat recently, and needless to say, I didn't get it. But I LOVED Wild at Heart, and lo and behold, I have the physical copy ready watch! (It is very weird, though!).
Yes, I agree with Andy Myatt -- Amy cannot be relegated to the 'one-hit-wonder' dustbin. She was a singular, generational talent with few peers. If you can't recognize that fact after hearing just a few phrases of her singing, then that's your deficiency and you shouldn't be casting aspersions. I would also offer that she sold millions of albums (or downloads, if we must) in the U.K. and the U.S., since that seems to be the metric by which you judge an artist's worth. Like Billie Holiday and other true talent luminaries, she was given to the usual drug/alcohol excesses and trusted the wrong people. When I told my musician friend that I had heard this new singer, Amy Winehouse, he did his own listening. He replied saying "Gary, she is 'Jaco' good!" meaning she was in the league of the very best -- a reference to Jaco Pastorius, the astonishing musical genius who completely changed the way the bass guitar is played. Check him out if you haven't heard of him. Those who were captivated and tantalized by Amy's singing know of what I am bloviating here. Her legacy is intact and doesn't need me to run to its defense, but I just couldn't let your slight go uncontested. I do, however, enjoy your many other posts, so I won't cast you into the dustbin.
Winehouse partisans get very mad about this label, but I don’t consider “one hit wonder” to be an aspersion or a dismissal. It’s merely a description of general audience familiarity with her works, which is why marketing a movie about her by focusing on her songs was foolish.
I will confess that I too had never heard of Robbie Williams, but I'm an older person and newer music is not my forte. (That's my car.) I have seen the trailer many times at the theater and each time my opinion was, 'this looks like a bog standard story of someone clawing to celebrity, falling and then redeeming themselves, only it's got the gimmick that the leads looks like a monkey for reasons.' aside from the gimmick nothing looked novel or interesting, that's why I didn't go.
I’m a middling millennial and I only know of Williams because I have listened on and off to the UK’s Empire Magazine Podcast over the years where they reference him as if the people of the most important Anglo county should be aware of a star of their adorable tiny island’s pop scene.
I am embarrassingly well informed about the group that Robbie Williams was once part of, though mostly in the years after it revived itself spectacularly (and more respectably) as a 4-piece without him, then briefly with all the original 5, and finally as a 3-piece.
From the time I started looking into them, I couldn't stand Robbie, and it was mainly because he's such a preener, always with a "look at me, I'm great" expression and posture, even in the "better" version of him. In a video from the 1990s, the five are asked what they'd be doing if they hadn't been chosen for a manufactured pop group. Four gave modestly realistic answers, while Robbie said "I would still be a celebrity - either a footballer or a pop star."
In those years, it apparently rankled him that he, the youngest and least disciplined member of the group, was not THE star but had to be subordinate to a more mature person (Gary Barlow) who'd been single-mindedly preparing himself for a musical career. Barlow admits that he was himself becoming arrogant, but nothing justifies the vindicative nastiness that Robbie inflicted on him for many years when Gary was floundering while Robbie was soaring into superstardom.
There's also a revealing story about the origins of the song "Angels,' which revived Robbie's solo career when it was faltering. The song started as someone else's, and then the two worked it over and made a demo - and then Robbie took the demo and ghosted the original author, had Guy Chambers work on it some more, and released it without crediting the person who gave him the core of the song. IMO, Robbie is still lying about it.
Incidentally, he was not actually married to Nicole Appleton. To his credit, he appears to have a solid family life now,
lol Amy Winehouse a “one-hit wonder.” Do your homework. She was a generational talent & Back to Black is a landmark albumin even if your musical taste is too limited to understand this.
"Despite the not-getting I kept trying; I’m about due for another Mulholland Drive rewatch."
Actually, Mulholland is one of David Lynch's (RIP) very few pictures where he gives you all the clues you need to solve the mystery literally right in the very opening moments of the film (i.e., the "jitterbug contest" and the shots of the elderly couple immediately prior to the credits).
“Amy Winehouse, who died on Saturday, had a strong history on Billboard U.S. charts despite releasing just two albums — the Grammy-winning “Back to Black” and her 2003 debut, “Frank” — during her career.
“Back to Black” reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in March 2008, almost a year after it debuted, spending 78 total weeks on the chart. It’s sold 2.3 million to-date, according to Nielsen SoundScan.”
When I was in France in the 90s, their news magazines would regularly do a "The State of America" annual-ish issue. And they'd always interview Lou Reed. Even back then he was past his sell-by date, but they loved them some Lou Reed
I have found Billboard hits rarely more indicative than that of snapshot in time of the purchasing (or downloading) habits of fairly small slice of the public.
If I marketed a Lou Reed movie to people by playing a bunch of Lou Reed songs in a trailer as if they were Queen megahits I would, in fact, be a bozo, yes.
I would pick Waiting for the Man, Sweet Jane, Walk on the Wild Side and maybe Heroin and market it as a gritty NYC street culture/music time capsule about an important music icon (don't forget Velvet Underground too!) who battled his own inner demons. I would also show clips of Warhol, Nico, Iggy Pop etc as part of the previews. It would probably do as well as Queer did (similar target audience), depending if it gets cast as well as that one did). I would definitely see it. But then I also saw the Velvet Underground documentary and loved the Jim Carroll movie Basketball Diaries with Leo.
Or do it more highbrow and use the song Perfect Days and include clips of the 'Unholy Trinity' of him, Iggy and David Bowie and still throw in clips of Nico and add Patti Smith.
Actually- it shouldn't be a movie. A mini series would be more interesting and be able to capture more of his life, music, collaborations and artwork.
Ok, I wish I had the money to make that.
I went to see Better Man cause I have a movie pass and it got good reviews and I was curious about Robbie Williams. It was better than I thought it would be and the surreal aspect worked. And I enjoyed the ending at Royal Albert Hall (?) and that he loved his dad no matter what and sang with him. That was emotional.
If I were hired to direct or do the soundtrack of a Lou Reed biopic, you know I gotta think I would likely use some Lou Reed songs. Which songs would depend on pairing them with the images/plot on film
I just watched Muholland for the first time somewhat recently, and needless to say, I didn't get it. But I LOVED Wild at Heart, and lo and behold, I have the physical copy ready watch! (It is very weird, though!).
Yes, I agree with Andy Myatt -- Amy cannot be relegated to the 'one-hit-wonder' dustbin. She was a singular, generational talent with few peers. If you can't recognize that fact after hearing just a few phrases of her singing, then that's your deficiency and you shouldn't be casting aspersions. I would also offer that she sold millions of albums (or downloads, if we must) in the U.K. and the U.S., since that seems to be the metric by which you judge an artist's worth. Like Billie Holiday and other true talent luminaries, she was given to the usual drug/alcohol excesses and trusted the wrong people. When I told my musician friend that I had heard this new singer, Amy Winehouse, he did his own listening. He replied saying "Gary, she is 'Jaco' good!" meaning she was in the league of the very best -- a reference to Jaco Pastorius, the astonishing musical genius who completely changed the way the bass guitar is played. Check him out if you haven't heard of him. Those who were captivated and tantalized by Amy's singing know of what I am bloviating here. Her legacy is intact and doesn't need me to run to its defense, but I just couldn't let your slight go uncontested. I do, however, enjoy your many other posts, so I won't cast you into the dustbin.
Winehouse partisans get very mad about this label, but I don’t consider “one hit wonder” to be an aspersion or a dismissal. It’s merely a description of general audience familiarity with her works, which is why marketing a movie about her by focusing on her songs was foolish.
Does this mean Heat 2 is gonna be Heat 2: Dirtbag CinemaTM?
I will confess that I too had never heard of Robbie Williams, but I'm an older person and newer music is not my forte. (That's my car.) I have seen the trailer many times at the theater and each time my opinion was, 'this looks like a bog standard story of someone clawing to celebrity, falling and then redeeming themselves, only it's got the gimmick that the leads looks like a monkey for reasons.' aside from the gimmick nothing looked novel or interesting, that's why I didn't go.
I’m a middling millennial and I only know of Williams because I have listened on and off to the UK’s Empire Magazine Podcast over the years where they reference him as if the people of the most important Anglo county should be aware of a star of their adorable tiny island’s pop scene.
I am embarrassingly well informed about the group that Robbie Williams was once part of, though mostly in the years after it revived itself spectacularly (and more respectably) as a 4-piece without him, then briefly with all the original 5, and finally as a 3-piece.
From the time I started looking into them, I couldn't stand Robbie, and it was mainly because he's such a preener, always with a "look at me, I'm great" expression and posture, even in the "better" version of him. In a video from the 1990s, the five are asked what they'd be doing if they hadn't been chosen for a manufactured pop group. Four gave modestly realistic answers, while Robbie said "I would still be a celebrity - either a footballer or a pop star."
In those years, it apparently rankled him that he, the youngest and least disciplined member of the group, was not THE star but had to be subordinate to a more mature person (Gary Barlow) who'd been single-mindedly preparing himself for a musical career. Barlow admits that he was himself becoming arrogant, but nothing justifies the vindicative nastiness that Robbie inflicted on him for many years when Gary was floundering while Robbie was soaring into superstardom.
There's also a revealing story about the origins of the song "Angels,' which revived Robbie's solo career when it was faltering. The song started as someone else's, and then the two worked it over and made a demo - and then Robbie took the demo and ghosted the original author, had Guy Chambers work on it some more, and released it without crediting the person who gave him the core of the song. IMO, Robbie is still lying about it.
Incidentally, he was not actually married to Nicole Appleton. To his credit, he appears to have a solid family life now,
lol Amy Winehouse a “one-hit wonder.” Do your homework. She was a generational talent & Back to Black is a landmark albumin even if your musical taste is too limited to understand this.
"Despite the not-getting I kept trying; I’m about due for another Mulholland Drive rewatch."
Actually, Mulholland is one of David Lynch's (RIP) very few pictures where he gives you all the clues you need to solve the mystery literally right in the very opening moments of the film (i.e., the "jitterbug contest" and the shots of the elderly couple immediately prior to the credits).
“Back to Black” her second album won the Grammy for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
“Frank” her first album went triple platinum.
Unfortunately she passed away without making another studio album.
Agree to disagree on what constitutes a one-hit wonder.
Billboard disagrees with Sonny Bunch.
7/23/2011
“Amy Winehouse, who died on Saturday, had a strong history on Billboard U.S. charts despite releasing just two albums — the Grammy-winning “Back to Black” and her 2003 debut, “Frank” — during her career.
“Back to Black” reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in March 2008, almost a year after it debuted, spending 78 total weeks on the chart. It’s sold 2.3 million to-date, according to Nielsen SoundScan.”
Zero number one songs. One top ten song. Three songs that charted at all. https://www.billboard.com/artist/amy-winehouse/chart-history/hsi/
"a movie about a one-hit wonder"
You bozo.
She was, objectively, a one-hit wonder in the United States. To *U.S. Audiences* she was a one-hit wonder.
Objectively, Jimi Hendrix and Lou Reed are one-hit wonders. But you'd be a bozo to refer to them as such.
When I was in France in the 90s, their news magazines would regularly do a "The State of America" annual-ish issue. And they'd always interview Lou Reed. Even back then he was past his sell-by date, but they loved them some Lou Reed
This sounds about right, yeah.
Shouldn’t the argument center around the quality of the movie not whether or not the artist was/wasn’t a one-hit wonder???
I have found it is rarely useful to use quality as an explanation as to why a movie does well with audiences on opening weekend.
I have found Billboard hits rarely more indicative than that of snapshot in time of the purchasing (or downloading) habits of fairly small slice of the public.
If I marketed a Lou Reed movie to people by playing a bunch of Lou Reed songs in a trailer as if they were Queen megahits I would, in fact, be a bozo, yes.
Whose songs would you play in the trailer of this hypothetical Lou Reed movie?
I wouldn’t play any because I wouldn’t use my money to make one. Which would YOU pick.
I would pick Waiting for the Man, Sweet Jane, Walk on the Wild Side and maybe Heroin and market it as a gritty NYC street culture/music time capsule about an important music icon (don't forget Velvet Underground too!) who battled his own inner demons. I would also show clips of Warhol, Nico, Iggy Pop etc as part of the previews. It would probably do as well as Queer did (similar target audience), depending if it gets cast as well as that one did). I would definitely see it. But then I also saw the Velvet Underground documentary and loved the Jim Carroll movie Basketball Diaries with Leo.
Or do it more highbrow and use the song Perfect Days and include clips of the 'Unholy Trinity' of him, Iggy and David Bowie and still throw in clips of Nico and add Patti Smith.
Actually- it shouldn't be a movie. A mini series would be more interesting and be able to capture more of his life, music, collaborations and artwork.
Ok, I wish I had the money to make that.
I went to see Better Man cause I have a movie pass and it got good reviews and I was curious about Robbie Williams. It was better than I thought it would be and the surreal aspect worked. And I enjoyed the ending at Royal Albert Hall (?) and that he loved his dad no matter what and sang with him. That was emotional.
If I were hired to direct or do the soundtrack of a Lou Reed biopic, you know I gotta think I would likely use some Lou Reed songs. Which songs would depend on pairing them with the images/plot on film