I was thinking about the difference between that music that I grew up with (I wasn't a HUGE fan of the mall-star stuff, I liked hair metal more...but that's a whole other post) and the music of today. How different are Tiffany and Taylor Swift? Is there a big disparity between The Jonas Brothers and New Kids on the Block? Who are we of a different generation to say that the music that the kids listen today is just fluff and bs??
I hate to actually say this out loud, but Debbie (now known as "Deborah") had some talent. Granted, she wasn't a great singer but that girl wrote everything that she sang. She started off writing and recording in her parents' garage and ended up bee-bopping in malls across the country. I don't know about anyone else, but I was an aspiring singer at the tender age of 12 and I couldn't imagine being that famous, having all of those people looking at me as I sang. She was pretty cool in my eyes. She sang about the angst that all of us felt, but not in an overly sexual way....never did she elude to anything more than kissing and hugging. That would have been WRONG. Now Tiffany, on the other hand, didn't write her own stuff so right there that's a point against her. So she was 16 or 17; there are plenty of musicians that start earlier than that (Debbie, for example). But for what she lacked in song-writing talent, she made up for with the pipes - she did have a good voice and there was the dance that she did - who could forget it? The sway back and forth, with the big side-step. Oh yeah, everyone tried to replicate that (in fact, I think both she and Debbie did it, so I'm not sure who the originator was). She also did the mall tour and everyone wanted to dress like her and dance like her and sing like her. She brought back some classics, including one of the Beatles' hits "I Saw (Him) Standing There"; she made them live in the present day again which was not an easy feat in the days of big hair and spandex. I grew up knowing who the Beatles were, but it wasn't until she sang one of their songs that I actually cared about what else they sang.
Now looking at some contemporary comparisons - Taylor Swift, for one, is what we now consider to be a cross-over artist. She started off in Country and is now a pop star, although her music really is Country-based and much of it has that "sound" or "twang" to it. Coincidentally, Tiffany also started off doing Country music but never gained a lot of popularity doing it. Taylor Swift has a broad appeal; she writes about the stuff that happens to you the first day you walk into high school, and everyone can relate to that. Whether it happened to you this past September or it happened 10 Septembers ago, you still get it. She writes about heartache and love in an innocent fashion that makes the teenagers cry and the adults go "yeah, it's cheesy, but I get it". I'll admit that her song about Romeo and Juliet made me shed a tear or two the first time I heard it because it took me back to that unrequited love that I wanted to have that moment with that she describes when she sings "he knelt to the ground and held out a ring". She has that squeaky-clean image, just like Debbie and Tiffany did back in the '80s, and she writes songs that appeal to the masses of teenagers of the world, just like Debbie and Tiffany did when they were dancing their way through our hearts while we ate cookies at the food court. Top that appeal off with a great fashion sense (let's be honest, that girl can wear a dress on the red carpet like nobody's business), a really popular and attractive boyfriend (even though she and Taylor Lautner won't admit that they're a couple) and being very attractive herself, she was destined to be a star.
The Jonas Brothers, or the Jo Bros as I've heard them referred to as, have the teen aged girls screaming and crying from a mere mention of their names. It's incredible to me that three boys can incite SUCH amazing responses from such a large number of girls across the entire world. But then I think back to a little group called New Kids on the Block, and I am transported back to my friend Beth's bedroom that was adorned with Jordan Knight posters. Although all grown up now, back in the day, NKOTB garnered the same type of response and notoriety that the Jo Bros have. They sang straight to the heart of every girl out there on the other side of the stereo speakers. Both groups are made up of boys that have good looks, clean images, and they just want a girl to love them for who they are. I was in the minority growing up - I was never under the spell of NKOTB and I might not understand the Jonas Brothers, but I will say this - the mega machine that is both is something that can't be stopped. Sure, New Kids had their day in the sun and it ended for them, but not before they had world-wide fame, had sold millions of dollars worth of records and merchandise, and had become a household name. Those same girls that were crying at their shows are the same girls who grew up and are now spending their grown-up money on tickets so they can cry at their shows today. They might not have Top 20 hits any more like the Jo Bros, but they can still sell out a venue and star in some (presumably) steamy dreams. And when you compare the two groups on a musical talent level, the Jo Bros beat the New Kids hands down. The Brothers write their own music and play their own instruments. I think that once I saw one of the New Kids pick up a guitar....I think....I might be thinking of Backstreet Boys, though. Any way, in that regard, it's hard to compare the two when clearly one has much more overall musical talent than the other.
So really, is the music of this new millenium all that different from the music of the '80s? Take away the big hair and acid wash jeans. Take a look at some of the lyrics of the teeny-bopper music of the '80s and compare it to the tween music of today. I think there is a lot more similarity there than anyone wants to admit.
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