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 Katharine McPhee & Elliott Yamin - Real Love (Radio Edit) - Single - Real Love Get "Real Love" radio edit!
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Forums > All about Katharine > Katharine Chat
Subject: DioGuardi Pitching "Better Off Alone" To Other Artists
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Username: groucho
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06/04/2007 2:34 PM Alert 
Well, there are great songs and great singers, and evrything inbetween. Sometimes the singer makes the song and sometimes vice versa. I love the melody of OTR but I think the words are kinda corny. But songs aren't just about the words. They're about evoking some kind of emotional response, and you have several different ways to do that--words, music, voice, the combination of all of those things. I don't know if she's got anytihng on the album that will stand the test of time. I think there are songs that could be used to enhance a moment in a movie,for instance, or serve as a kind of behind-the-credits theme song, or just turn into fun dance tracks that might hang around the clubs.

I was just listening to a compilation of various songs Katharine has done this past year other than on the CD, and if some of those arrangements had been on the CD instead of all that studio foofaraw, they'd have stood a better chance of making a lasting impression. At least in my mind they would have.l
katpedia.com - watch and listen to Idol, pre-Idol, and post-Idol McPhee performances all in one convenient location

"And everything around her is a silver pool of light... She makes you calm, she holds you captivated in her palm"
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06/05/2007 12:33 PM Alert 
Posted By groucho on 06/04/2007 2:34 PM
Well, there are great songs and great singers, and evrything inbetween. Sometimes the singer makes the song and sometimes vice versa. I love the melody of OTR but I think the words are kinda corny. But songs aren't just about the words. They're about evoking some kind of emotional response, and you have several different ways to do that--words, music, voice, the combination of all of those things. I don't know if she's got anytihng on the album that will stand the test of time. I think there are songs that could be used to enhance a moment in a movie,for instance, or serve as a kind of behind-the-credits theme song, or just turn into fun dance tracks that might hang around the clubs.

I was just listening to a compilation of various songs Katharine has done this past year other than on the CD, and if some of those arrangements had been on the CD instead of all that studio foofaraw, they'd have stood a better chance of making a lasting impression. At least in my mind they would have.l



But who makes that judgement call?  What I may like, you may not, but that doesn't mean one song is necessarily better, it just means that one is better to me.

I know for me, that there is nothing on Kat's current CD that I will embrace long term.  Not because of Kat's contribution to the CD, but, again for me, the songwriting is medocre at best.

I guess that's why I have been involved in some way with music all my life, because it is one of the few totally subjective art forms left in this world.  Nothing is right, nothing is wrong.  A person may not like a particular song, CD, or musician, but even the most hideous of recordings, by my standards, someone out there will enjoy.  I like that concept, and that is what has kept me actively involved with music for over xxxx years.
Username: groucho
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06/05/2007 4:54 PM Alert 
"that is what has kept me actively involved with music for over xxxx years."

When I first saw that I thought it said 1,000 years, because sometimes my eyes play tricks. Well, I've been around forever and I'm older than Barry Manilow. Probably Barry Gibb too.

Well sure, it's hard to make blanket statements about what's good and what isn't. Maybe there's just what's hot and what's not. When I'm watching a movie and trying to play critic, I always judge it by two standards: 1, do I think it's what I'd call a good movie by my standards, and 2, does it seem to have achieved what I think the producers/writers/directors set out to do with the movie? So that's a little less harsh than just does it stink or not. I have seen movies that the Free Press critic gave 5 out of 10, and when I saw them I couldn't believe they were so dismissive. Not everything is an Oscar winner. Some movies are made to entertain and they have enough elements of interest to do that, so it's silly to say they're not serious movies. Maybe they weren't intended to be. I've seen some that were just downright dismissed as being "action movies," which I viewed expecting nothing, and found that the movie contained action, love, friendship, comedy, character development, social commentary, and lots of things you'd never suspect from the review I read, and all nicely written, acted, and blended. ("What's your name, Son?" - Twirls gun, slips it neatly into side holster. "Murphy." Okay, I love that whole series.)

Just from a casual viewing of what's up there in the Top 40 right now, I'd say you don't have to work to convince me that musical taste is subjective.
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"And everything around her is a silver pool of light... She makes you calm, she holds you captivated in her palm"
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06/05/2007 8:52 PM Alert 
Did you know that Barry Manilow is actually older than Barry Gibb? Manilow looks remarkably good, at least in my eyes. I'm just a very slight touch younger than all of you, but very, very close.

I guess I'm a poor one to judge current day talent....you know what is my current favorite CD? The near 70 year old Ray Manzarek's latest CD "Love Her Madly" (keyboardist with the Doors). But I think you nailed it... It's not really a question of good and bad, but a question of what is hot and what is not.

That boat has passed me by a long time ago, trying to determine what is going to be hot or not. I just know what I like... and sometimes I don't know if I really know that either!!!
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06/06/2007 1:55 PM Alert 
Exactly, does anyone think Avril's Girlfriend is great? (If so, that was a rhetorical question.) But it is a hit and popular, just like the song Hey Mickey! was twenty-five years ago with more or less the same hook. Sometimes good and popular meet but not very often, I don't think really bad songs get popular often though. Usually light sounds with catchy upbeat hooks are the ones that stick.

Do I think Better Off Alone could be a radio song? That I do not no, but I don't think it matters. I enjoy it when I hear Katharine sing it and that is sufficient.
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06/06/2007 11:24 PM Alert 
I would swear I posted this earlier but I don't see it, so... I remember ages ago reading a review of Light My Fire and they said something like "their keyboardist plays like his last gig was a Black Mass," referring to Manzarek. And actually I have no idea how old either Barry is, I was just being a smartass. And I probably shouldn't ever admit this, but I even liked Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy before Bette Middler got ahold of it. Maybe that's why I like Candyman. Reminds me of BWBB. Well, I have to filter out some of the lyrics, but I enjoy most of it. No, I don't find it shocking, I just find it gross. There's a difference. And dont' even get me started on Girlfriend.
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06/07/2007 12:16 AM Alert 
Posted By groucho on 06/06/2007 11:24 PM
I would swear I posted this earlier but I don't see it, so... I remember ages ago reading a review of Light My Fire and they said something like "their keyboardist plays like his last gig was a Black Mass," referring to Manzarek. And actually I have no idea how old either Barry is, I was just being a smartass. And I probably shouldn't ever admit this, but I even liked Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy before Bette Middler got ahold of it. Maybe that's why I like Candyman. Reminds me of BWBB. Well, I have to filter out some of the lyrics, but I enjoy most of it. No, I don't find it shocking, I just find it gross. There's a difference. And dont' even get me started on Girlfriend.



I'm so old when I hear the song title "Girlfriend", I immediately think of the great 80's pop/funk track by "Pebbles", not the current "Girlfriend".

I don't happen to play organ, or keyboards much so that's probably the reason I like Manzarek.  His new release sounds like an updated version of "The End" and/or "When the Music's Over".  I've met him over the years a few times, and while he's definitely in his own universe, it's a good universe.  Pretty cool guy and I most recently saw him as part of the "21st Century Doors" (now Riders on the Storm, because of former Doors drummer John Densmore's lawsuit)  Anyway, I digress.

I still like plenty of the new music, if it's well crafted "fluff".  I also have to admit I still like Christina A; I did sound for her during one of her first gigs in my area (Genie in a bottle era) a few years ago....

Oh by the way, Barry Manilow was born in 1943 and Gibb in 1946.  Geez.  I'm starting to sound like a rock historian or something... another sign that I'm getting old!!!!