Undercover has been asking the question 'Has the 21st Century delivered any real superacts"? The 20th Century fed us consistently from Elvis Presley though to Coldplay. Is Coldplay the last superact? So far, out list of potential stars includes Linkin Park, The Killers, John Mayer, Jack Johnson and Alicia Keys. Here are more of your comments.
I am glad that you have actually displayed your readers feedback. I was initially thinking that it was just a rhetorical question! I have read the readers comments that you have published. The problem is that the named acts are not exactly "superstars", especially worldwide ones that will be remembered for years to come but hey thats what was said about the Stooges, New York Dolls, Sex Pistols, Radio Birdman & MC5. When they started they were hated but are now considered legends. Taking this assumption into consideration I would like to nominate Wolfmother, Arctic Monkeys, Amy Winehouse, Audioslave, The Veronicas and Missy Higgins.From Mark Ayoub
I would like to say your article does have merit. However, I believe by 2010 Linkin Park and The Killers would fall into this decades super group category. There are various subjective ways to measure what defines a super act. The reason I consider linkin park and the killers as a super group is because their shows world wide sell out very quickly, and they are playing in front of large audiences, not small pub shows. These 2 bands have pulling power world wide and are now at a level where the only time slot they could play a major festival is as a headliner.
In the past 12 months these 2 bands have gained a bigger fan base. I have no doubt their next albums will result in a record tour for both bands in terms of size of venues played and quckness in their shows being sold out.
Would these bands be big if it was the 70's, 80's or 90's? That's a hard question to answer. But they are 2 of the biggest bands of this time, so in 20-30 years from now they will certainly be in the history books.
From David Hemmings
1) Record labels basically need artists to arrive fully formed - there's no opportunity to develop because of the harsh economic realities of the industry. Queen, Bon Jovi, RHCP and many on your list were very smalltime until their third or fourth record. There aren't many artists that get that far now on a major label, even those who are moderately successful on their first album. Songwriters don't usually get great until they've been at it for ten years - now labels need great looking, young, and brilliant stars who have a massive hit first time out. Then they overhype it until the backlash starts. Then they drop the artist when the second album doesn't do the same numbers. It's all natural from a commercial point of view, but counter-artistic. And let's not forget, media folks like you - if 50 Cent does 10 million on the first album, then 3 million the next time, the press LOVE to gloat in his apparent 'failure'. When something is successful, people react against it.
2) Music, for the most part, plays a less important role in people's lives. It seems to me that kids don't gather around the stereo to 'absorb' a new record - the music is in the background while they surf the net, play games, whatever. There's so many more ways to be entertained. Geez, take me back to 1968 with two or three TV channels, AM radio and not much else. Buying Sgt Peppers would be the equivalent of seeing Lord Of The Rings.
3) Most importantly, because music is sooooo easy to get for free, kids don't place the same value on it. I know plenty of people who just dump the entire contents of their Ipod onto anyone who asks. 'Oh, you want 2000 songs - here you go!'. Two minutes later, done. When I was 13, I was busted by the cops stealing a tape from Myer, and I got YEARS of hell from mum about it! Now, kids routinely 'steal' hundreds of albums a year, with zero consequences. So why would they be excited when the new Thirsty Merc record comes out. They can get it for free any time, if they could be bothered. And when they get it, they might play it, if they can be bothered.
Stuart Stuart, Chartsong Productions
Hey. Your article got me thinking and maybe it's true, and I think you got a point when you say one can nominate one artist or another, but the whole idea of a Superstar is that there is a consensus; I mean, no one in the sixties argued about the Beatles or the Stones, whether they liked them or not.
What I think (and I'll try to be brief) is that this whole internet mp3 thing has also affected that; in the old times, big magazines and record companies promoted big artist and created a sense that there was nothing else around, now we have blogs and myspace and all that, so maybe there are not a lot of REALLY big acts like Coldplay, but we also have a world where a bunch of lovable freaks like Animal Collective, Spoon or Sigur Ros can actually have a record on the charts. It's kinda, we don't have many "out of time", "underrated" acts like The Velvet Underground in the sixties, but we also don't have hyper overrated acts like The Doors, to just name one. Good or bad, don't ask me.
Gabriel Villarroel
G'day Paul,
One conspicuous absence from the acts mentioned is the Third Man himself, Jack White. Although The White Stripes did release their debut in the 1990s, it is short-sighted to exclude people from being superstars of one decade simply because they released albums in the decade previous, especially seeing as some of the people you cited as being confined to one decade began earlier (Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, etc.).
The White Stripes have achieved impressive worldwide sales without artistic compromise. The band has created an aesthetic and a mythology that was thought lost due to fracturing demographics and the Internet destroying the mystique around musicians. Who wants to know they're normal people! Jack White has shared the stage with Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones. In addition, he has achieved top 10 albums in the US and the UK with his side-project The Saboteurs. He has even written a song especially for a Coke ad - rock and bloody roll. Importantly, he has the respect of artists and fans alike.
The music world has changed forever, and we may not see a band capture the imagination of the entire world again, for good or bad. But if you're looking for a 21st century musical superstar, look no further than Jack White.
Peace,
DK.
P.S. In the end, we don't need superstars, just good music, and as you know there is always plenty around if you take the time to look.
From Daniel Kahn
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