I always thought "I Want It That Way" was a fine piece of product. But it wasn't until Joe Gross in the 1999 Pazz issue compared it to Gertrude Stein's Stanzas in Meditation that I realized it was no piece of product at all. Or rather, it was the ultimate proof that the pop assembly line could produce poetry of an almost disquieting singularity. The well-trained sincerity (NOT an oxymoron) of the voices; the sturdy, non-distracting backing track; the overall arc from quiet to quiet; the "ain't nothing" hooks which are really cascades of question marks - all are designed to streamline what is at heart a mystery so that "I Want It That Way" means exactly what you (or I) think it does. It's like DeBarge made solid
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Couldn't have said it better...
I like Kevin John Bozelka a lot. The best bit of (seemingly) tossed-off criticism this week.
Agreed, Kevin is a treat. I think he has more insight + wealth of information on disco & related dance music styles than practically anyone else on ILM. So much so that I honestly wish he would seriously consider writing a post-disco pre-house/techno dance music/R&B type book. He seems like a really nice guy, too (which is certainly not something that should be undervalued on ILx these days).
ReplyDeleteYa know, I was having a shit day. But then I read this and felt quite on top of the world. Thank you VERY much for your kind words, Alfred. If I get anything worthwhile accomplished tonight, it's because of you.
ReplyDeleteAnd you too, "anonymous" who I suspect is John. Y'all make me keep on keepin' on.
Alfred, you're in my links now. I adore your stuff too!
John it is, ideed. Dummy that I am, I couldn't figure out how to reister and gave up in frustration.
ReplyDelete