It's Friday, Friday. You know you love it. And apparently the world agrees. 13-year-old Rebecca Black has come out of absolutely nowhere to become the biggest YouTube sensation of the moment, demonstrating the power of social media. She's already got more hits than Lady Gaga's latest song.
I can't decide if I love this or hate it. The inane lyrics ("gotta have my bowl, gotta have cereal"), the cheesy video production values, the overuse of Auto-Tune (for "singers" who can't sing in pitch), the earnest performance, and even the way Black sings the words "Friday."
Sure, it's grating and annoying, but it's also goofy and winning. It's easy to hate and hard to hate, all at the same time. To quote Black, it's fun, fun, fun, fun. Sociologically, you can go in a million directions with this. It certainly demonstrates the democratic use of the Internet, the power of social media (the song went viral in less than a week), the sexualization of young girls, the media's ongoing fascination with youth culture, cyberbullying, the infectious thrill of corny-yet-awesome pop music, the explosion of the prosumer, and the fact that industry manufactured stars like Beyonce may not be offering what people really want. Opinions are decidedly mixed, but you have to admit, this is a darn catchy song. Play it once, you'll probably play it again -- whether you want to or not.
Like all viral videos, "Friday" immediately spawned a host of parodies, covers, tributes, and other hilarious responses. This one is particularly great.
And if you hate that, there's always the super slowed-down version that sounds like some art-rock madness cooked up by Radiohead.
Or the chipmunk, fast version. Aw yeah!
Showing posts with label music video. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music video. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
Females Rock!
Because each music genre has its unique characteristics that make it easy for people to distinguish between the different types of music, rock music is no exception. When someone talks about rock music, the image of famous rock male singers instantly comes to our minds. The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Nirvana, Bon Jovi, Linkin Park, etc., all of them are famous cultural objects of rock music that have a huge fanbase culture globally. Although rock music is associated mostly with male artists, a lot of female rock singers were able to print their names on the pages of music history throughout the years. You think it’s too easy to read but too hard to believe? Let’s have an example to elaborate the validity of this point.
Who doesn’t know or love the song “I Love Rock ‘N Roll” by Arrows? You may say “No one” because you’ve listened to it a zillion times, but think about this question again. Was it this version you really liked or another one—Say, the one by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts? You may choose the original song, but you’re a one in a million people who may not choose the same as your choice. Demonstrating points with numbers and statistics always maintain the validity of a point. Jett’s cover of the song was a number-one single on U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles for seven weeks. However, the original version has never been a hit on any chart.
The original version by "Arrows":
The cover version, performed by "Joan Jett & the Blackhearts":
Many sociologists and music experts said that people liked Jett’s version more because she was the first female rock singer to sing a song written and sung by an all-male rock band. Furthermore, Jett was a member of the first and famous all-girl rock band The Runaways in mid-70s, where she was only 16 years old. Having people knew all that about her, she literally drew the attention of the mass media and created a new subculture: The subculture of female rockers.
"The Runaways" performing "Cherry Bomb" in Japan, 1977:
A few examples on some of the famous contemporary female rock singers are Hayley Williams (The lead vocalist of the alternative rock band Paramore), Avril Lavigne, Pink, Orianthi, Ashlee Simpson, Amy Lee (the lead vocalist of the alternative & grunge rock band Evanescence), etc.
Above: Paramore
Who doesn’t know or love the song “I Love Rock ‘N Roll” by Arrows? You may say “No one” because you’ve listened to it a zillion times, but think about this question again. Was it this version you really liked or another one—Say, the one by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts? You may choose the original song, but you’re a one in a million people who may not choose the same as your choice. Demonstrating points with numbers and statistics always maintain the validity of a point. Jett’s cover of the song was a number-one single on U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles for seven weeks. However, the original version has never been a hit on any chart.
The original version by "Arrows":
The cover version, performed by "Joan Jett & the Blackhearts":
Many sociologists and music experts said that people liked Jett’s version more because she was the first female rock singer to sing a song written and sung by an all-male rock band. Furthermore, Jett was a member of the first and famous all-girl rock band The Runaways in mid-70s, where she was only 16 years old. Having people knew all that about her, she literally drew the attention of the mass media and created a new subculture: The subculture of female rockers.
"The Runaways" performing "Cherry Bomb" in Japan, 1977:
A few examples on some of the famous contemporary female rock singers are Hayley Williams (The lead vocalist of the alternative rock band Paramore), Avril Lavigne, Pink, Orianthi, Ashlee Simpson, Amy Lee (the lead vocalist of the alternative & grunge rock band Evanescence), etc.
Above: Paramore
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