Y’all know Attack of the Lesbian Activist Squirrels has a theory that ABBA was among the first (or best) to master the use of music to imbed pre-planted bullshit in the population. How else to explain how Swedish Disco, which should be forgettable fluff, became a planet wide phenomenon? How else to explain when you find yourself tapping your feet when a 40 year old song comes in the radio. It’s all in good fun but there’s heart too. Witness the current generation, where a 50 year old bald clown turns the whole thing into dramatic sorrow. Don’t blame me, I just report what I see.
Update:
Someone mentioned that it’s a shame that this guy (whoever he is) has to dress like a damn clown to get airtime. He’s obviously a darned good singer. I’d say that performers dressing like an absolute dumbass is a long standing tradition. I agree the clown thing is pretty fuckin weird, but that’s only because it’s “new”. Here’s a few flaky dressers from other generations:
All of which makes The Association (1966) seem so much more radical:
At the height of their career ABBA record sales were the second largest component of Sweden’s GDP behind Volvo. We didn’t even get fully exposed in the US. I stayed in a Swedish hotel in Saudi Arabia one time and the entertainment center in my suite had a wall full of ABBA cassettes most of which we never heard of in the US.
That emo cover actually wasn’t too bad. I prefer it to the original. Here’s another cover for your listening pleasure. “Dancing Queen” sung in Hindi……..
Puddles has got some pipes.
Pretty sad that in this day and age, in order for someone who can sing like that to get noticed, he has to dress up like a clown on youtube.
I think performers dressing like weirdos is as old as time itself. The clown thing seems unusually fucked up but that may only seem so to one generation versus another.
Puddles was on one of those got talent things at least a time or two a while back… Dont think hes bad, hes just down with his schtick and happy to just do what he does IMHO.
Weird, yes, but hes not a clown in the sewer looking like biden telling us we all float down here.
ZZ Top is cool !