The Mosh Pit 11.14.08: Divas

Posted by Dan Haggerty on 11.14.2008

The Mosh Pit turns a spotlight on the women of music and asks: How do you get to be a Diva? Who belongs in this exclusive club? Are Britney Spears, Madonna, and Aretha Franklin all Divas? Also we check out Rush’s Moving Pictures!




Welcome back everyone. I'm going to keep this simple and sweet, sense I'm fighting a cold and out of it. First my computer and now this… Man this month can end any time because I seriously need a new one. Anyway, sorry for the brevity and lets just get into what will hopefully be a coherent Friday!

Diva's


While putting together the news one day, I ran through a news/gossip blurb on the Madonna show in LA and the appearance of Britney at the show, when a particular sentence stuck out at me:

"She [Britney] sauntered out to the end of the catwalk for a diva match-up."

That was from the original story, and I omitted it from my report on 411 simply because that phrase irritated me. Well, that and the way it was reported - I mean, the guy was gushing over the two singers in what I thought was more promotion than news. But anyway, I have an old pet peeve that I had largely forgotten about until I read this story, and that is just how lightly the term "Diva" is tossed around. So with that in mind, I set out to seriously think and explain what about this that irritates me.


What Is A Diva

Something struck me as being wrong. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but somehow every time I've heard someone just toss out the term "Diva" for the latest radio favorite female fatale it just sounds wrong.

But why?

Well, I like to start at my favorite place, and that is with the fundamentals. In this case, what is the definition of a Diva? So here is what the good people at Webster had to say on the subject:

di•va
Pronunciation: \dē-və\
Function: noun
Etymology: Italian, literally, goddess, from Latin, feminine of divus divine, god — more at deity
Date: 1883

1 a: prima donna
2: a usually glamorous and successful female performer or personality ; especially : a popular female singer

Well, that seems to backup what is said about the latest pop princesses and you can easily draw a parallel to many of the other famous (i.e. successful) female singers to grace the airwaves or stage as well. After all, there is a certain fascination with the singers and the tabloids love to treat them like nobility (with the same level of scandal and tribulations I might add). And certainly the term "prima donna" applies if you've subjected yourself to the gossip on those ladies.

So it would seem Webster is telling me that the singers did have a "Diva match-up". Right? Well, yes… But… I just can't shake that feeling. I like to think I'm a fairly reasonable guy, and I can certainly admit when I'm wrong, but something still seems… Well, just wrong.


Will The Real Diva Step Forward

Somehow, it just seems wrong for Britney and Madonna to both be treated with the same level of respect in terms of how we look at them as singers/performers. And this is not a slam against Britney. Not at all. I mean I certainly couldn't get on stage and shake my money maker, sing a song, and get millions for it. Hell, I'd probably get arrested. It's just that I don't see the comparison between the two. I mean, yes, both are pop singers and thrive off of controversy. Madonna has made a career out of it and managed to stay relevant while Britney has been a rolling goldmine for Entertainment Tonight.

In fact, that might be the issue. Madonna is a smart business lady who has directly controlled her image, press, music, and has been a dominant figure in the business for a quarter of a century. Britney dominated for several years, and overall has been popular (or notorious) for about a decade in total. But Britney is managed by others, and has had disastrous results when she has veered off of what they wanted (Last years Video Music Awards). Madonna is the architect of her success, while Britney's was handled by others. In fact, Britney has to have her father manage her finances (albeit by court order). Like I said, this isn't a slam against Britney, as she is very talented (when motivated). It just seems wrong to say she is on the same level as Madonna.

But if Madonna is in control of her image, does that mean Britney is a natural prima donna while the Material Girl is planned? According to Webster, that would make Britney the real Diva of the two.

WHAT?!

Who? What? When? Where?

HOW?

Well, obviously not; so much for thinking to deep on this stuff. And besides, I honestly don't think that well of Madonna as an accomplished singer. As a business women, performer, pop artist… Yes. But not as a true singer. I'm talking about Britney and Madonna because that is the comparison used in the news bit. But I've had the same misgivings about people calling Madonna and say Dianna Ross a diva together too; or any current popular singer with someone who seems to be of a greater stature in my mind.

And that is when it finally started to come together. It was the simple fact I'm always comparing the person that someone claims is a Diva with someone else who I think is a Diva…


Guilty By Association

The real problem for me is not in what a Diva is, but how a Diva is portrayed, and by extension how something is implied. It's not that they are calling Beyonce and Aretha Franklin Divas, but that they are putting them on the same pedestal by default. Again, this is not a complaint against someone like Beyonce. She is a fine singer and performer, only that there are pundits who just easily tie them together. I suppose this is what the folks in the wrestling zone would call "Giving someone a rub". And I have no problem with that itself, but in this game the rub can work both ways.

And that is when it fell into place. Maybe it's just my idiosyncratic way of looking at things in fundamentals, or maybe just being too passionate about music for my own good, but when I see you call someone like Britney Spears or Amy Winehouse a Diva, then turn around and use the same term for someone like Aretha Franklin or Diana Ross, ultimately you are doing a disservice to the later. Spears and Winehouse might benefit from such a comparison (much to the delight of their agents) but in my mind I see it taxing the stature of real iconic women who have a real reason to be remembered for their music.

Like I said, I have absolutely nothing against Britney or Amy. Both are very talented for what they do, and further Winehouse has some real serious potential if she doesn't fall apart (Anyone else getting the Jim Morrison vibe for how she is literally burning her system out). But if I toss out names like Aretha Franklin, Britney Spears, Diana Ross, Amy Winehouse, Donna Summer, Billie Holliday, and Pink… ask yourself which ones will still be talked about in several decades for their singing ability.

That is the real issue here. A Diva might be a prima donna by definition, but the way I see it our pop music culture doesn't mean that term in that way. The way pundits toss it around it comes across more as:

di•va
Pronunciation: \dē-və\
Function: noun

1: a usually glamorous and successful female performer or personality who is the top performer in her career; especially: a popular female singer

In other words, it has become an ad-hoc means of wrapping any popular singer who is either critically praised or successful under one nice little term. So Britney and Ross might be of different stature in their lives, but when it comes to making popular music they are equal. They are Divas.

NO. Just no… I need to draw a line as that is what I see as wrong. Britney is no Dianna Ross in the singing department. Diana Ross got by on one thing, her voice. Britney had image, videos of her tramping about in school-girl outfits, catchy tunes, and slick production. Diana Ross just belts it out and leaves it to you to pick up the pieces. Britney might have made more money in recent times by making wildly popular pop songs with the right gimmick at the right time, but Diana Ross has 12 Grammys, a Tony, portrayed Billie Holiday in a movie (I mean, come on, who can pull that off), TWO stars on the walk of fame (solo and the Supremes), and is the record holder of the biggest female artists of the 20th century. There is a bunch of other accolades as well, but the point is in the great scheme of music history Diana Ross is WAY UP HERE while Britney is still way down here.

And don't even get me started on Aretha Franklin. That woman can chew-up and spit out a pop princess with a look and an after thought, and they damn well should be glad they got that much attention. Franklin has no less than:

* Has won 20 Grammy awards (!)
* 8 of those were consecutive awards between 1968 and 1975 during which time the category of Best Female R&B Vocal Performance was nicknamed "The Aretha Award". I mean, DAMN
* She has been ranked as the 9th greatest artist of all time. She is the highest ranking female artist and is only been topped by people like the Beatles, Elvis, and James Brown. That's good company to be in.
* Many music firsts like the first black female to grace the cover of Time Magazine and the first women to be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame. At least those knuckleheads in Cleveland got that right.
* Has been declared by the State of Michigan as a "Natural Resource". Again, something the idiotic politicians from my state actually managed to get right.
* Has been declared the #1 singer of the rock era by Rolling Stone Magazine.

Now when I see Aretha Franklin and Diana Ross, I see these larger than life women and their powerful voices. These women can sing and are literally icons of the industry. They are no less that giants in the business and are responsible for shaping it. THAT is what I think of when I hear the term Diva. The Best.

As good a pop singer as Britney is, does anyone see her working on that level?

And that, ladies and gentleman is what I find so wrong with the term Diva being tossed around like a cheap tagline for "Popular Singer". Aretha has earned the title of "Queen of Soul" and to be (and act like) a Diva. Plus, you know, SHE CAN SING. And when today's pop stars earn Grammys into the double digits and are recognized as an all time great, then the pundits can say they had a "Diva Meeting". Until then the little princess should be thankful they get to share the stage.


Time To Change The Rules

I think it's time we recognize the undefined meanings we have placed onto the term Diva, embrace it, and then use it properly. Only when we single out what we truly intend with the term, and champion it, can we get on the right track of recognizing the people who truly deserve the highest praise for their abilities. So without further ado, I give you what I think the term Diva should henceforth be recognized as:

di•va
Pronunciation: \dē-və\
Function: noun
Etymology: Italian, literally, goddess, from Latin, feminine of divus divine, god — more at deity
Date: 1883

1: A great singer
2: Recognized as being one of the best female artists
3: A great singer
4: Prima donna attitude
5: Have a powerful voice (see Aretha Franklin)
6: Is. A. Great. Singer. Period.

Notice a trend there. Yea. At the end of the day, what it really boils down to is that some women truly belong into a class privileged for few by virtue of their outstanding singing abilities. At one time, that highest level of female singers who were part of our pop culture were identified as a "Diva". Now any successful female singer is just slapped with the label like they picked it up at the Quicky-Mart on their way to the show. That is just wrong. Yes, many pop stars like Madonna and Britney have been very successful. Honestly, I think they have done some good music too. But they are not great singers. Some might even argue their not that good, but that is beyond this column. The only thing I want to accomplish is that we get back to recognizing the best for being the best.

A Diva should be recognized for the great artist they are and the impact their music has made on the industry. At the end of the day, it's all about giving the greatest singers their "Respect" and not just letting anyone go "Oops… I did it again".

Christmas Ideas
For you parents with children who act like an emo, here is the ideal Christmas gift for you to get them!

Rush - Moving Pictures

Rush enter the 80's a new band, having departed their guitar-progressive sounds more for the synthesizer washes of the coming decade, Moving Pictures (and more so previous outing Permanent Waves) acts as a bridge between eras of the band like a lost continent where East meets West. And what a landscape it is, a distilled reworking of the best possibilities of both eras in style, tone, and sheer musical might. The keyboards don't dominate, merely providing a texture to a swirl of sounds and a dynamic by it's prominence. Here, the guitars still do dominate like early outings while leaning towards the bigger power chords to come, without losing Alex's carnivorous riff-bite.

Most people consider this to be the best album from the band's storied catalog, and that is indeed a hard fact to dispute being one of 3 albums from the band that are in my Top 50 albums of all time. Man, if you had to go to big bright hooks and sterling synths in the 80's, this was the made to order blue print everyone should have read and learned on the subject. Maybe some mountain peeks are just to high for others to climb.

Lyrically, the album is a journey worthy of a book on intellectual prose, a complete fusion of metaphor and story telling, intellectual without the arts and croissants. From the most popular song in the bands history, "Tom Sawyer" with it's dominating keyboard drops and bigger than life chords turning the tale of race and society into a metaphor on modern man in that society; through the guitar rhythms of future a future society where a man joy rides through the country during the abolition of automobiles (based on a Novella incidentally); to the gilded if jaded perspective of success and it's insulating nature in "Lime Light"; to what is one of my favorite lyrical turns in the observation of mankind and it's potential for mass-mob rule in the truly horrific "Witch Hunt". Bottom line is, Neil Peart is truly at the top of his ability to apply words to verses and meaning to a chorus and I can't think of any one album that equals this ones ability to continually deliver words worth a thousand pictures.

And less we forget that Peart still does the one thing he is acclaimed wide and far for, his ability to turn a drum kit into a 87 piece orchestra of percussion that has evolved beyond such lowly standards of keeping time and driving a melody. There is a reason he has been voted best drummer every year this band has released an album since 1980. .

In many ways Geddy Lee is the MVP here, going from increased synth support to more applied vocal duties, and most importantly the part his bass moves from rhythm section to lead instrument and solo work. You don't have a true appreciation for "Tom Sawyer" if you don't check out his bass during the instrumental work; truly an expression in technical passion and applied brilliance. And speaking of brilliant solo work, I swear Lifeson's solo on "Lime Light" is one of the man's preeminent statements on the subject, and that is something mighty when you look at just what the man has done in his career.

TRIVIA
On the instrumental "YYZ", that pattern that Peart opens up the song with, then Alex and Lee join in with as well, it goes something like " _._ _ _._ _ _. _ _ _ _.. " before it repeats. Well that is actual a very well know riff pattern.

It's Morse Code for YYZ.

But then again, Alex is all over this thing. From riffs to power chords, big hooks to rhythms, and some of his best solos this lights up as if his guitar was the proverbial burning axe. And I would direct the reader to take a good listen to "Witch Hunt" which features Alex's most sinister guitar work in his career. Man, that guitar sound supported by those haunting keyboards is absolutely fabulous, in total a cinematic backdrop to the tension of the lyrics.

Alex barrels forth "Lime Light" with the perfect union of riff, power chord, rhythm, and awesome that makes that axe swing wide and gracefully with one of the best melodies to be scorched into vinyl. When you add in Lee and Peart, two men who add more to a rhythm section by accident than most bands do on purpose you get one excellent song. Peart's lyrical prowess just adds to the stately stature of this track: "All the worlds a stage/We are merely players/Performers and portrayers/Each another's audience outside the gilded cage".

But less we forget the prog, the band returning to their roots on side two for the bands last multi-part epic piece of song craft in "The Camera Eye". A swirling piece of keyboard washes and primary colors that drips with textures to set the stage for a tale of two cities. But Lifeson and Lee still dance around the edges with excellent guitar work, the axes cutting through the sheets of atmosphere with the right degree of prog and roll. Plus Lifeson delivers another under-appreciated solo.

"Vital Signs" is interesting in that it is a forward lens into the future of the band's sound, undoubtedly due to the fact that it was the last song they did for the album. Another tid-bit of a factoid is that the band sometimes goes into the studio with an open slot to put together a song spontaneously. This is one of those songs.

But hell, what can I say, be it the massive story telling and melody strokes of "Red Barchetta" with it's hard rock on a sci-fi bender tone, hooks aplenty dipped in rippling crystal clarity, to good to be just a song while to rocking to be a soundtrack, all the way through the instrumental smash bash rhythm of "YYZ" (on the table as one of two instrumentals from this band that fans debate as the ultimate statement on the subject) with it's firm moral standard of "going for it" – This album delivers as one giant statement of an album that rightfully belongs in the hall of great recordings.

The Set List
What's Playing In My Head Phones

1. AC/DC - Black Ice

2. Bloodbath - The Fathomless Mastery

3. Early Man - Beware The Circling Fin

Good job on identifying why people even listen to AC/DC, man. I can't listen to anything but the singles that came after Back in Black. "If You Want Blood (You Got It)" is my personal fave by them, for what it's worth, and almost solely for the intro (and how awesome it would be to cover and thrash the fuck out of it).

I completely missed the article last week. Other good stuff for Halloween would be Marilyn Manson's Smells Like Children (although the stuff hasn't aged well, there's still something intangibly creepy about Portrait of an American Family, Smells Like Children, and Antichrist Superstar), Zombi's Cosmos (think Goblin, the band that did the soundtrack for Fulci's European cut of the original Dawn of the Dead, only with a little more *oomph*), and the second disc to Send More Paramedics' The Awakening (which is similar to Zombi, but more simplistic and a little creepier, and a complete 180 from the thrash that they're used to; what a way to end a run).

But now, Halloween's over. X-Mas is right around the corner...so some Christ-raping Satanic black metal would be great. Or even just some classic death metal. Marduk, Deicide...yeah, I'll be blasting those on December 25th. Many infernal hails, sir! ~ AndrewCrow

Thanks man, and some great suggestions there. And I am indeed swerving back and forth from doing something for Christmas that would be fun and in the spirit of the holiday, or going the dark route and covering some black metal for shits and giggles.

Play it loud my man!



Regardless of how anyone feels about AC;DC(I love them btw.) that was perhaps your most well written column to date, and that is high praise considering I feel that you write the best column on this site. ~ Rob E.

Thanks man, I appreciate the kind words. Putting so much time into this column can be a real stress some weeks when you add in the full time (plus) job and family, so it's good to get a morale boost. Thanks!


And as a side thought, it warms my metal heart to see so many people still digging AC/DC.

Do people still say "Digging"? Crap, I am getting old…

Music Trivia

A defense strategist by the name of Herman Kahn was a gentleman who worked for the military think-tank Research And Development Corporation (RAND), which is a non-profit group that offered analysis for the Defense Department. He wrote a book in 1960 called On Thermonuclear War where he popularized a new military term for the horrifying prospect of massive population death in the nuclear age. It was the definition of "One Million Deaths" due to a nuclear strike (or some other weapon of mass destruction). The term was "Megacorpse", also called "Megadeath". So "10 Megadeaths" meant a nuclear strike that resulted in 10 million civilian deaths.

Twenty plus years later a young guitarist, recently fired from Metallica, started up his own band that would use many lyrical themes regarding the military/industrial complex and the horrors of war. So he adopted that name for his new band: Megadeth. Of course, Dave Mustaine did change the name a bit to fit the new breed of thrash metal he was about to unleash...

Time to wrap this bad boy up again, so keep it real folks and always play it on 10. We'll see you next week when I do an all album column and hit you with many classics across genres of rock and metal. That, and we'll be giving away a CD!