The first video, you may have seen and it may, or may not, have triggered the same surprised reaction as it did for me. The second video I am fairly certain you have not seen, which is something I intend to remedy.
GAGA
So, I thought she was just another campy pop steamroller who'd light up the scene for a spell and, before we knew it, would see her music gone, resting peacefully in the hokey over played concert arena in the sky. But in my most recent archeological YouTube dig I brushed off a not so ancient video of Lady Gaga exhibiting some very real musical chops. She covers 'Viva La Vida' by Coldplay. She rearranges the composition and has some fun with the lyrics on the spot.
Last night, at a dance choreography meeting for my new music video gig, I found out that Lady Gaga was singed first by her label not as a performer, but as a songwriter. When the label couldn't find anyone capable of singing her tracks, they gave her a shot at singing them herself. It begs the question, how talented is the girl? At any rate, she's definitely a lot more talented than the radio stations, ripe male teens humping their Dells and TMZ's give her credit for.
GOULD
So, that was the Afterer, and this is the After. I would say this is the Before, but it's not. Simply because, as you will hear the great Canadian concert pianist explain, he does create new material, he interprets the classics by Mozart and Bach, but, like Lady Gaga, drastically changes the arrangment and, in Gould's words "...turns performance into composition."
If you are not familiar with Glenn Gould, familiarize yourself. He is one of the most exciting, successful and progressive pianists of our time... and he's a Canuck too boot. His off the wall interpretations, abnormally low piano chair, constant humming heard on almost every one of his albums and, not least, his wickedly idiosyncratic and peculiar demeanor make him one cool and talented dude.
In closing, next time you look at a pop star shaking her ass in front of 100,000 people singing about riding a boy's disco stick, take a second to contemplate the possible depth of that character. Their dreams, plans, talents and other things that fly under the radar of larger-than-life pop music. And, if you fail to see the connection between Gould and Gaga, crawl in a dark moldy hole somewhere and never come out, for you lack even the rudiments of progression and open-mindedness.
Bring it.
writing under the influence,
jeffc
I can certainly agree on the point that there is more to a pop idol that the sex used to sell them, and I can definitely agree that certain decisions - ruthless ones - have to be made on the journey to getting an audience and THEN getting recognized for a talent that was always there. It's a choice some people make in their career. I'm not judging and I'm not saying it's right, or it's wrong. It's business.
I think that something needs to be said for the fact that Gould was rearranging Mozart while Gaga was rearranging Coldplay. By association, you have equated Mozart to Coldplay, and it can definitely be said the latter does not hold a candle against the former, and I doubt that Gaga could do as delightful a job with Mozart as Gould did, since she clearly butchered Coldplay's song in that clip. How talented is Gaga? Well, she can play the piano, and was hired as a songwriter... but Avril writes her own music too. My counter-point is that you can ask that question of anybody.
I see the point you're making, but I disagree. While Gould turns performance into composition, Gaga simply just does a bad cover. It would be interesting to see her attempt a genuine re-arranging of a classical song.