From: owner-jewel-digest@smoe.org (jewel-digest) To: jewel-digest@smoe.org Subject: jewel-digest V8 #369 Reply-To: jewel@smoe.org Sender: owner-jewel-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-jewel-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk jewel-digest Saturday, August 23 2003 Volume 08 : Number 369 * If you ever wish to unsubscribe from this digest, send an email to * jewel-digest-request@smoe.org with ONLY the word * unsubscribe in the BODY of the email * . * For the latest news on what Jewel is up to, go to * the OFFICIAL Jewel web site at http://www.jeweljk.com * and click on "calendar" * . * PLEASE :) when you reply to this digest to send a post TO the list, * change the subject to reflect what your post is about. A subject * of Re: jewel-digest V8 #___ gives fellow list readers * no clue as to what your message is about. Today's Subjects: ----------------- [EDA] Article In My Local Paper [Lisa ] [EDA] Lyon's Den sneak peak ["Fabio" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 17:38:29 -0400 From: Lisa Subject: [EDA] Article In My Local Paper This article was in my local paper last weekend with a BIG picture of Jewel with her guitar :) "Jewel and Liz Phair are hardly the mothers of reinvention" "What is that?" my somwhat appalled girlfriend asked, peering over my shoulder. We were at Borders, and "that" was the cover of a recent edition of Blender magazine- specifically, "that" was a photo of Jewel, the former dressed-down, yodeling Alaskan folk-popper who now appeared all sexed-up in a bustier and fetish gloves, her pants pulled down low on her hips. Inside, we found more photos of the same- and also of earnest, critically lauded alt-rocker Liz Phair, exposing miles of thigh in a pair of micro-shorts and not much else. Uh-oh. In the next few weeks, the new CDs by Jewel and Phair- "0304" and "Liz Phair", respectively- were released, and the sense of uh-oh was heightened. Although both records have their moments, it quickly became apparent that: A) Both women were trying, desperately it sometimes seemed, to update their sound as well as their look; and B) the music-buying public wasn't taking the bait: "0304" has fared better than "Liz Phair", which is bombing, but neither CD has set the world on fire. The cynic in me- and in plenty of people who have written about these two- has to laugh at their too-obvious attempts to appeal to younger music fans. But wait a minute, I think: Isn't reinvention a huge part of many pop music careers? Didn't Jerry Lee Lewis- his career in tatters after it was disclosed that he married his 13-year-old cousin- come back in the '60s as a successful country singer? Didn't Elvis- for a few years, anyway- make the shift from sleek rockabilly bad boy to seasoned Las Vegas entertainer? Didn't U2 drop their ultra-serious style, embrace the fact of being rock stars, and reinvent themselves in the early '90s with one of their best CDs, "Achtung Baby"? This is not to compare Jewel to U2. Heaven forbid. But it is to say that making major stylistic twists and turns is part of the game, and it sometimes results in not only career longevity but also some excellent music. Moreover, as cynical as this all looks from the outside, what if these women simply updated their look and their sound "because they wanted to?" Have we really become so cynical that we can't accept that this just might be how these women want to express themselves these days? I can't say that I would really go out of my way to listen again to much of what I heard on "0304" or "Liz Phair". Or that these makeovers don't seem at least a bit grasping and obvious. But as the great Neil Young- a man who knows plenty about confounding his audience- has said, "If you don't have the freedom to fail, you don't have any freedom at all." I'm just old enough to remember when throwing your audience change-ups- be you King Crimson or Jethro Tull or the J. Geils Band or Young himself- was part of the fun, was "expected". We hungered to see what our musical heroes would next pull out of their bag of tricks. It was part of the fun of following a band. Pop music needs a bit more of that adventurous spirit to return- for the performers and for us. http://dafc.conforums.com http://aliasfans.conforums.com http://sville.conforums.com http://jewelfans.conforums.com http://tremors.conforums.com www.max452.homestead.com/home.html ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2003 00:00:06 -0300 From: "Fabio" Subject: [EDA] Lyon's Den sneak peak I have no idea what they will show or if they will show Jewel, but, you never know: Saturday August 23, 2003 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm (Central Time) NBC Sneak Peak for the upcoming season, hosted by Rob Lowe. Fabio - - ------------------------------ End of jewel-digest V8 #369 ***************************