FMS-Blog : The Wildly Whimsical, Mostly Musical WebLog
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Robbie's Staffordshire
Well, as the title of this blog suggests, I'm going to be making a trip to the Midlands of England tomorrow for a couple of days. Indeed, my sister lives in Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire so I'll be heading off there for a couple of days of relaxation and maybe the odd beverage or two.
So, I thought I'd write an entry today on the music scene in her neck of the woods.. the only problem seems to be that there doesn't really appear to be a music scene anywhere near Stoke-on-Trent!!! I even resorted to checking Wikipedia to see if any famous composers or performers were born or lived in Staffordshire, ya' know.. within the last millennium or so, and much to my dismay I find that the only two I know of are Slash (the guitarist from 80's rock band Guns 'n' Roses) and Robbie Williams, ex-member of boy-band Take That and massively over-rated pop singer. Mmmm...
So, what do we say about these two? Well, as I remember, guitar player Saul Hudson (known to his friends as Slash) played lead for both Guns 'n' Roses and for Velvet Revolver, and I believe his playing was also captured on a couple of Michael Jackson's records, including Black and White from the Dangerous album. I don't suppose that resume is so bad for a bloke brought up a spit away from the river Trent, although in a sense he shouldn't even be counted because he was actually born in Hampshire.
That just leaves Robbie Williams: well, to be fair, the guy has brought out one or two pop classics such as Angels and Let Me Entertain You, to say nothing of his contribution to numerous Take That hits back in the early 1990's. Personally, I prefer the ballads that he's brought out over the last few years because I feel that being able to pull these off is where the strengths lie in his voice. But the problem with Robbie is that he seems to think he's much more talented than he actually is. For example, the claim is that the majority of his hits were penned by Robbie's very own hand, with no mention whatsoever for the efforts put in by a clearly very talented team of composers and producers. But, afterall, they're just working in the background for the record label so noone will be interested to know what they had to offer to these recordings! Also, Robbie's crooner image I find nothing if not totally cringeworthy : he did a famous televised recording of rat-pack numbers at the Royal Albert Hall, and released the massive Sinatra hit Something Stupid (the female vocal for this single was contributed by Nicole Kidman) all in a vain attempt to be considered cooler-than-cool. Personally, I can't bear to watch or listen to it. Please, Robbie - you've got the voice for a last-dance floor-filler, so stick to that, pick up you cheque and give us a break from your immense ego!!
So, I thought I'd write an entry today on the music scene in her neck of the woods.. the only problem seems to be that there doesn't really appear to be a music scene anywhere near Stoke-on-Trent!!! I even resorted to checking Wikipedia to see if any famous composers or performers were born or lived in Staffordshire, ya' know.. within the last millennium or so, and much to my dismay I find that the only two I know of are Slash (the guitarist from 80's rock band Guns 'n' Roses) and Robbie Williams, ex-member of boy-band Take That and massively over-rated pop singer. Mmmm...
So, what do we say about these two? Well, as I remember, guitar player Saul Hudson (known to his friends as Slash) played lead for both Guns 'n' Roses and for Velvet Revolver, and I believe his playing was also captured on a couple of Michael Jackson's records, including Black and White from the Dangerous album. I don't suppose that resume is so bad for a bloke brought up a spit away from the river Trent, although in a sense he shouldn't even be counted because he was actually born in Hampshire.
That just leaves Robbie Williams: well, to be fair, the guy has brought out one or two pop classics such as Angels and Let Me Entertain You, to say nothing of his contribution to numerous Take That hits back in the early 1990's. Personally, I prefer the ballads that he's brought out over the last few years because I feel that being able to pull these off is where the strengths lie in his voice. But the problem with Robbie is that he seems to think he's much more talented than he actually is. For example, the claim is that the majority of his hits were penned by Robbie's very own hand, with no mention whatsoever for the efforts put in by a clearly very talented team of composers and producers. But, afterall, they're just working in the background for the record label so noone will be interested to know what they had to offer to these recordings! Also, Robbie's crooner image I find nothing if not totally cringeworthy : he did a famous televised recording of rat-pack numbers at the Royal Albert Hall, and released the massive Sinatra hit Something Stupid (the female vocal for this single was contributed by Nicole Kidman) all in a vain attempt to be considered cooler-than-cool. Personally, I can't bear to watch or listen to it. Please, Robbie - you've got the voice for a last-dance floor-filler, so stick to that, pick up you cheque and give us a break from your immense ego!!
