Back From the Brink

As I said in the last posting, I'm gonna go solo for awhile (although Sherry will be pitching in as well...),erstwhile my compadres are off doing their respective things....

The topic...back from the brink of unpopularity.

Charlie Tee's comments:
It's hard to categorize the Rolling Stones here because they haven't actually gone out of vogue, or out of people's conscientiousness.
There are alot of people in the music industry who seem to be here one day and gone the next, and I've often wondered how or why that is.
I enjoy loads of different kinds of music, and I'm puzzled as to how we choose the people that we've chosen to be our favorites.
How did Elvis get this popular ? How did the Moonwalk propel Michael Jackson so far in the industry? How come Dizzy Gillespie wasn't a superstar, or other people in jazz for that matter.
I don't believe in my heart that just because we're Black (African American) that we can't or couldn't, in some cases, achieve mainstream popularity.
I felt so saddened when the great singer Luther Vandross died, but he seems to be one of those people who are back from the brink of death. I'm hearing his music all over the airwaves these days...it's either a blessing or a strange curse.

Sherry's comments:
I'm not sure what brings people back into popularity or what it is that makes them fade for a time and then, resurface bigger than ever. Some people I think come back because of nostalgia. People want to relive their youth and music is a big part of most of our coming of age. some people never really go away but newer and different acts come to the fore. Some, like Tina Turner come back bigger and stronger.some people grab our attentions with the newness of it or a fresh sound put to old standards. some, took standards but because the audience they were geared toward had never experienced them, they made it big using classic sounds albeit new to their fans. a few that come to mind are the stones and the beatles, both groups were influenced by black artists yet put their stamp on it and offered it to a different audience. they at least, had the honesty to give credit were credit was most certainly due. elvis, well, even his manager and mentor admitted that he was looking for a white boy that could sing like a black man and found Elvis. Elvis wasn't exactly welcomed with opened arms by the white adults as most know, but he drove the little girls crazy and still drives middle aged ones into fits today PLUS the nostalgia kicks in. tho I must admit, I never really cared for him EXCEPT for one love song that makes me think warm and fuzzy thoughts!I do not know why most jazz greats are mostly only recognized and given their due by other musicians. perhaps it is because jazz is complex. It has patterns to it that force one to almost think about the music as a mathematical equation.me, I love all sorts of music, but I'm a big, blues fan. I'm so happy that there's been a resurgence in it. It makes it much easier to find to buy and the blues festivals are bringing some great acts to more and more cities. there is even a station here in pittsburgh, WYEP, that plays blues all Saturday night.sad , truly sad, that so very many supremely talented musicians not only struggled to just eke out a living only because they were black but had to endure humiliation and then, bite their collective tongues as their talent was stolen and their contributions ignored. they watched as the theft of their passion made the thieves rich. i think one of the factors in fame is fate, timing, luck, call it what you will. That is something beyond anyone's control, but as anyone that is in the arts comes to realize, you had better be in it for the love of it, the NEED of it, because few achieve fame, few even make a good living at it, but if it is your passion then it is truly a gift to yourself and if there are those you come across that refuse the gift you offer because of prejudices, then they are the pooer for it and are to be pitied even as they anger you. singers, musicians, painters, actors, dancers and even odd little poets like me, we do it cuse (to paraphrase the lyrics of an old song) "it's in us and it's gotta come out!" It's an honest question that Charlie's posed, but it's one with many answers. I'll bet every one of you reading right now can come up with a few of your own.

Charlie added...
I think that obviously there are many in music that never recieved the ovations and accollades that they deserved, but to sum up the "resurgence" of some of the forerunners of music, the unsung heroes, so to speak, one would have to realize that if it is out there in the universe, at some point it has to surface. What is in the dark eventually comes to the light...so as with popularity.
Also, there are a great deal of other factors that come into play with popularity. How the person involved deals with people around them, plus adding their God given talent, plus having people believe in them, and talking them up, contributes to making someone popular, and oftenttimes the person(s) involved don't take time to make themselves accessible to their fans, thereby cutting off a key resource. A simple thank you to the crowd that cheers you on is more helpful than signing a hundred autographs.