The public wants what the public gets

Q.� Are shows like Pop Idol good for pop music < xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

A.� That's not really a simple question, but if you are looking at pop in its purist terms�- as music, then the answer is no. If you want to look at pop as a branch of entertainment, then the answer is yes.

�

Q.� Can you elaborate a little

A.� Certainly. The selection of the winner in Pop Idol has been pitched as a competition, but it began to take on elements of a drama, and at times, a soap opera. What is certain is that by the end, the watching nation had firmly decided on the winner, and they all rushed out to buy his first single. Cue hyperbole about a 'million seller'�- world at his feet, new Elvis, blah blah, but the reality could turn out to be a little different. It was the same with Hear'Say, shifting five-hundred-and-fifty thousand of their debut, about a year ago, and they are running out of steam very fast indeed.

�

Q.� That sounds a bit harsh!

A.� Not at all�- what it is, is a detached and unemotional analysis of what has taken place here, so let's look at the facts, and leave the emotion out of it.

�

If Will Young had released Evergreen with no publicity and no pre-creation of his ready-made audience, it would have sunk without trace, as do 99% of singles issued in any one week. Westlife, from who's album the song is taken, passed on releasing it as one of their singles, citing its weakness against other options, and when a band in the business of Number Ones like Westlife say no, they probably know what they are talking about, or at least their management know for them.

�

Q.� Don't Westlife and Will share management

A.� They do�- Simon Callow and co. by spooky coincidence. As Mr Callow has stated publicly many times, his aim is to sell records and make money. No problem there, except the feeling that he could deal in property or stocks and shares and be just as professional, and keen to turn a buck. The fact is, music, and creativity have very little to do with it. This is 'pop by numbers'�- take the kit-form approach, build a pop star, make some money, throw him away. It's the disposable approach that fits in with mobile phones, faceless dance tracks, and a pop scene that voraciously devours its stars and wants new ones on a daily basis.

�

Q.� How do you mean - the kit-form approach

A.� Well, who is the hottest writer at the moment Ex chart star Cathy Dennis is right up there at the sharp end�- she co-wrote Kylie's Can't Get You Out Of My Head, and she's written the other track on Will's double A side single (a quaint and outmoded idea in the CD age, but never mind) Anything Is Possible. So, sure-fire hit song, coupled with bland and safe sure-fire hit song, coupled with everyone's favourite disadvantaged cute looking boy whom you know so well he might as well have moved in, mix them all together and presto! A million seller.

Q.� So what’s wrong with that

A.� Nothing really�- what would be wrong is if the song didn't shift a million copies!�People were queuing up waiting for shops to open, and buying five or six copies. Is the song that good It doesn't matter, it was never about the song, or Will, it's about Pop Idol, that's the star, and like Millionaire and Big Brother, it's a massive star, which will have burned out very quickly, until the next one, and there will be a next one.

�

Actually, since we're being truthful here, the record is not a million seller, yet. The 'million sales' are advance orders from record shops, but records are supplied on a 'sale-or-return' system, so if nine-hundred-and-fifty-thousand of them refused to move, they could be returned and credited for something else, although that isn't going to happen this time. It will sell a million, and then ...

�

Q.� And then what

A.� Well, Will has to join the dog-eat-dog world that the rest of pop inhabits, and his records will sink or swim with the rest of them, and of course the competition will be waiting.

�

Q.� What competition

A.� Take your pick. George Michael releases his new single, and he's cornered the 'mean and moody' look they've given Will on his first cover. Gareth Gates, who lost out to Will in the Final releases Unchained Melody, and Rik Waller, the larger contestant enters the race with his version of Dolly Parton’s I Will Always Love You, so it's all more of the same, with the exception of George Michael who has the track record, and the talent, to outlast all the others.� �

�

Q.� Why is it more of the same

A.� If you were looking for records that were such sure fire hits a couple of extremely limited talents could make a hit with them, Unchained Melody would be right up there�- as proved by the fact that Robson And Jerome (remember them ) had a hit with it, and I Will Always Love You kept Whitney Houston in the charts for an unfeasibly long time, which is down to the strength of the songs, rather than the talent, or absence of it, in the artists who recorded them.

�

Q.� Hasn't there been some controversy already over Will's single

A.� There has. Because of the large sales, Will's management, Simon Callow and others, asked, or demanded, depending whose version you want, that he be allowed to sing both songs on Top Of The Pops. The producers refused, and the management withdrew Will from the show�- the first time in 38 years that an available Number One artist has not performed in the studio.

Q.� Isn't that a bit petty

A.� It's more of a power struggle really. It's not that it's unknown for artists to perform two songs�- The Jam did it, and more recently Travis have done the same, but the difference is, they were invited by the TOTP producers, this time, an artist's management asked / demanded it, which is "against editorial policy", which is a polite BBC way of saying that TOTP producers are not being told if Will, what will, or will not, be played on their show.

�

Q.� So what happens now

A.� Hopefully the Hear'Say lessons will be learned�- too much to soon is the death of a manufactured product. Will's song will stay at the Number One spot for a number of weeks, his follow-up may do well, and then we'll see how he manages back in the real world. Of course, Pop Idol 2 will be upon us before we know it, and the whole circus will roll again.

�

Q.� But that's not what pop is supposed to be about is it

A.� That depends on whether you like your pop served up pre-packed, or you want to search for it and buy it fresh. The choice is yours.

�

Got a question about any style of music � Click here

Andy Hughes

�

�

�

�