While my wife and I were driving home last night, the Spinners' "Mighty Love" came up on our XM radio (on the "Soul Town" or classic soul channel, to be precise) and for five minutes, we were in heaven.
For those who don't know the Spinners, a primer is in order: They are an amazing R&B group from just outside Detroit that has been together in one form or another for 59 years. They are one of the few groups or artists to have achieved greater stardom after leaving Motown, having split following a top 15 hit, "It's A Shame,' produced and co-written by a young Stevie Wonder.
From 1972 to 1977, the Spinners' body of work ("I'll Be Around," "How Could I Let You Get Away," "Could It Be I'm Falling In Love," "One of A Kind (Love Affair)," "Ghetto Child," "Mighty Love," "I'm Coming Home," "Love Don't Love Nobody," Then Came You," "Games People Play," and "The Rubberband Man," is as strong as any groups during that era, and ought to land them a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The point to this is that the Spinners were singers, real singers, guys who knew what to do with a lyric. Yes, Phillippe Wynne, who did most of the leads during the 70's, could go off on fabulous improvised tangents on a lot of songs, but he never had to resort to histrionics. Their music, under the direction of producer Thom Bell, was honest and subtle and brilliant.
Now, as another season of American Idol comes to a merciful end, ask yourself this: Who is the "singer" who has come through that process over the years that you can say is on a path to being enshrined in Cleveland?
And here's a follow-up: Thirty years from now, what song from an American Idol "singer" will be playing on "Soul Town," or a classic rock or "Lite 102" station of that era?
I humbly submit that while American Idol has made celebrities out of a blowsy washed-up former cheerleader, a bass player of little renown and a boorish Brit, it hasn't given us much music to remember.
1 comment:
To my knowledge, nobody's made it into the R&R Hall of Fame using a career of covering pop hits for their resume. But I think your swipes at the talent who've appeared on American Idol aren't justified.
LOTS of current R&R Hall of Fame enshrinees covered songs at the start of their careers by other artists. Elvis and the Beatles made a mint covering hits by other artists when first making it big, as the contestants on Idol are doing today. So, there's no shame or impropriety to be attached with covering songs.
Idol has featured some singers who can flat out blow. A handful of contestants have gone on to establish solid careers in the music business. None might ever make it into the R&R Hall of Fame, but enshrinement in the Hall of Fame isn't the standard to judge whether they're good singers.
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