Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson, two of the American Idol judges, epitomized what is wrong with the American music industry and audience last night when they criticized Haley Reinhart for choosing a little known song for her first performance of the evening. Haley chose to cover Lady Gaga's unreleased You and I.
The judge's problem with the song had nothing to do with Haley's performance; instead, they were saying that if the listener had never been to a Lady Gaga concert the song would be unfamiliar - like that is a bad thing. That kind of thinking, especially from someone in the music business, is a gross insult to all up and coming singers and songwriters of whom no one has ever heard.
To dismiss a song because you have never heard it before is just plain asinine, but is probably one of the reasons why main stream music today is such a reeking pile of audible shit. If the listener is fortunate enough to be able to detect a melody, all too often the lyrics (here I am being generous) consist of a word or a phrase just repeated over and over, ad nauseum.
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of talented people in this country that no one has ever heard of, and they never will be heard of, because no one has ever heard of them or their songs before. Michael McCloud (case in point) once suggested that the next time you hear a song that you have never heard before, played by that nobody at the beach bar - just shut-the-fuck-up for a change and listen to it.
Who knows, you might be listening to a musical treasure from the next Cole Porter, Leiber and Stoller, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Lennon/McCartney, Leonard Cohen, or Bob Dylan just to mention a few great songwriters.
Instead of hammering Haley's song choice Lopez and Jackson should have praised her and educated the American public on the joys of discovering something new. The SOG City Oracle gives Haley a thumbs-up for musical choice and performance.
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