I had one of those ‘whoa’ moments today when I picked up my morning paper and read that Whitney Houston had died.
I can’t say that it saddened me, or even shocked me — poor Whitney had been on a terrible downward path for years now. But when a megastar passes, even one whose best days were far behind them, it still comes as a bit of a surprise.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that Whitney Houston was one of the most influential singers of her generation. And, sad to say, that is not necessarily a good thing.
Houston has to take the blame for creating the genre of Overwrought Female Ballads, a style of music that dominated and polluted the airwaves for years. For it was Houston (or perhaps we should be blaming Clive Davis, the ubber-manager who discovered her) who was the first popular singer to belt out every song at maximum volume, stretching out every note to the point of torture. It was Houston’s colossal success that ushered in Maria Carey, Christina Aguilera, and approximately 27,492 American Idol contestants. Yes, Whitney Houston has a lot to answer for.
There are few songs that set my teeth on edge like I Will Always Love You, Houston’s monstrous, inescapable hit. With all due respect to Miss Houston, I HATE that song, or more accurately, I hate the Whitney Houston version. The song was written and originally performed by Dolly Parton, and her version (believe it or not) is subdued and quite touching. Houston amped it up and sucked the emotion out of it.
Houston was one of the most successful recording artists, male or female, in history. Yes, she sold millions upon millions of albums (my guess is that 97 per cent were sold to women, the remaining 3 per cent to gay guys or guys buying albums for their girlfriends), but her songs were the worst kind of pop pap. Compare the songs of Houston to those of Amy Winehouse, another gifted female singer who died this year. There was artistry and emotion in Winehouse’s songs; Houston’s work was all commercial artifice. Looking at the list of her huge hits — Saving All My Love For You, How Will I Know, The Greatest Love of All, Didn’t We Almost Have It All — is almost depressing. Why depressing? Because I know these songs! I don’t know why or how, but I know them all, and they are all pretty awful.
Am I being cruel? No, just honest.
I know a lot of people will disagree, and maybe question why anyone would write something negative about someone who isn’t even in the ground yet, but I’m not actually criticizing her. I take exception to her music, which was clearly the product of a cynical team of music writers and producers who cranked out middle-brow ballads that sold millions.
Her decline, from humble beginnings to megastar to object of derision on Saturday Night Live to early death, is a classic sad showbiz story. I feel badly for someone who had so much talent but squandered it all on dreadful music.
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Kerry Lauerman
Joan Walsh
Salon.com
Comments
you forgot to mention she was a world class hottie, starting out in modelling before music I believe [or almost same time]... & for that I can forgive some of the other crimes :p
You asked the question…so…my opinion is, YES, you are.
You may think you are being “just honest”, but it is possible to be “just honest” and to be cruel also.
If, for instance, you were to meet a truly ugly individual, you might say to that person, “You are ugly”…and you would be “just honest.” But you would be cruel also.
I suspect being a huge star has pitfalls those of us who have never achieved that status can never fully appreciate. Many fail to deal adequately with their fame and achievements.
So be it.
I’ve not “walked in their moccasins” so to speak, so unless I decide it is worthwhile to be “cruel”…I should just keep my negative thoughts about their failings to myself--and instead deal with my own.
Or state them publicly and allow others to react as they will.
I have nothing but compassion for her.
The next time you consider honesty sans cruelty, review a few of your rejection notices. I don't like Shakespeare but I risk my head under a guillotine and questions of my judgment if I say so publicly. That's probably better reserved for private company.
You either showed a lot of chutzpah or a lot of insensitivity with your piece. Only you know for sure and that's okay by me. Thank you.
Furthermore, most of what you assert here is opinion-based. You didn't like her style, musically speaking. I agree with you on that to some extent. While I happened to love her vocal stylings, the color and range of her voice, I often wished she'd been given better music. I also agree that Dolly's version of "I will always love you" was actually more affecting than Houston's. With some songs, less is more. But those are minor quibbles compared to the size of her talent. In her prime, she could have sang the phone book and most of us, okay not you, would have been moved.
As for lying being called "kind" and honesty called "cruel", all I got to say is that is a severely warped point of view. It's like handing a junkie another hit of heroin rather than hurt his feelings to tell him he does wrong. Whitney was servile like that too.
She is someone's mother, someone's daughter - no point in re-trashing her life. We all know and so do they.
I always like Dolly's version of I Will Always Love You better -
but the most electrifying anthem in sports is still Whitney's Star Spangled Banner at Super Bowl XXV here in Tampa just tne days after the start of the first Gulf War.
Hear it on Youtube.
I'll remember her for that.
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I also think she had only a large voice that was not particularly (even?) pretty, which she never learned to use with any nuance, had little (I'd say no) artistry and chose horrendous material. (And I say that a classical singer who adores good popular music and musicians.)