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ClayManiacs.com  |  Archive  |  Media & Appearance Archive  |  11/09/03 CLAY IS A MOMS' BEST FRIEND
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Author Topic: 11/09/03 CLAY IS A MOMS' BEST FRIEND  (Read 2552 times)

Marilyn

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11/09/03 CLAY IS A MOMS' BEST FRIEND
« on: May 13, 2010, 09:10:58 PM »
Pamela
Assistant Webmaster
CLAY IS A MOMS' BEST FRIEND
« on: November 09, 2003, 10:44:46 AM »   

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COMMENTARY
Clay Aiken: Moms' best friend
By Kim Hasty
Columnist

My friend Gloria Evans is probably too exhausted by the end of most days to be a crusader. The mother of two young girls, she spends large chunks of her waking hours on the 25-mile stretch of Interstate 95 that leads them from their home in St. Pauls to the girls' private school in Fayetteville.

She's not asking for all that much. Just a little decent music on the car radio. Music that's cool enough to suit her daughters, but decent enough that she doesn't feel like she has to launch into a sermon after every song. Could that be that difficult an order? Well, on some days, she might as well be looking for a personal chauffeur for those rides to school.

Some mornings, they just ain't got the music in them. Some mornings, the music's just too provocative or nasty or profane for mom to endure. Or the singers too provocative or nasty or profane.

Heck, even country music, the stuff that historically has given us home and mama and the good old red, white and blue - have you watched any country music videos lately?

That is why you can count Gloria Evans among the zillion or so Americans who are crazy about "American Idol" runner-up Clay Aiken. Some people love his music, some people just think he's cute. Gloria Evans likes him because her daughters happen to like him. And when they listen to his music, she knows she never has to worry about him singing about things like, well, like things mothers do not like to hear singers singing about. You know.

She pointed out a recent story about Aiken that appeared in Time magazine. The story described the intriguing disparity between Aiken and the people who work for big music labels - in Aiken's case, RCA - who see themselves as sort of musical gourmets. They see themselves as Oysters Rockefeller compared to the servings of milk and cookies they think Aiken is serving up.

Parents like Gloria Evans have to worry about their children wanting to dress like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera and act like Pink. That's why you can count parents with impressionable children among those who favor a diet of Clay Aiken, even if he's viewed as rather bland by those who favor spicier fare. Parents must have loved reading about Clay bucking the system and refusing to put sex or even sexual innuendo into his album "The Measure of a Man.''

Here is a guy who just wants to sing. He's not buying into the whole celebrity thing. If Trista and Ryan want to pose for provocative photos just so people will turn into their gaudy wedding ceremony, let them, for better or for worse. If other singers want to sing about awful childhoods, drugs, and sex, let them.

Aiken was a special-education teacher before "American Idol" came along. He is a devout Baptist, doesn't smoke or drink and gets mad only when he sees "people with disabilities treated like they're 4 years old.'' He would swear that he is not going to change. Except that, actually, he doesn't swear.

Clay Aiken is obviously the kind of person who is turning out to be a nightmare for music industry executives who think they know best.
Time magazine quoted RCA legend Clive Davis, who discovered the likes of Janis Joplin and Whitney Houston. "I told him,'' Davis said of Aiken, "that he is a marvelous talent...but when you get into being a career recording artist, the stakes are different. People want to see if you can stretch and evolve. They want to know if you have some edge.''

Clay told him that, even so, there were still certain words he was not going to say and certain things he was not going to sing about.  So it is that RCA might be nursing a big headache as long as Clay is around. But he is turning out to be quite a pain reliever for mothers, who think that, at least for their kids, they are the ones who know best.

FAYETTEVILLE ONLINE
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Marilyn

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Re: 11/09/03 CLAY IS A MOMS' BEST FRIEND
« Reply #1 on: May 13, 2010, 09:12:54 PM »
cjrmax
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  CLAY IS A MOMS' BEST FRIEND
« Reply #1 on: November 09, 2003, 03:46:18 PM »   

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You know, I am not a mother nor am I quite as conservative as some, but the other day something happened that brought what this article is talking about home.  Last weekend I was out and about.  I had MOAM playing in my car.  When I got home I popped out the cd (after I sat there to finish listening to "Touch", my favorite song!) and the radio came on.  It was set to the one and only station on which I have heard "Invisible".  I had the volume set pretty loud, because I love to hear Clay loud.  Some rappish/hip-hop type song was blasting at me and the lyrics that were being shouted to me were "Take off all your clothes. Take off all your clothes."!!  I just sat there - amazed. Then I began to laugh. Talk about going from the sublime to the ridiculous!  Then I thought, this is what its all about.  This is the music being played ad nauseum on even a generally "adult contemporary" station.  Granted, it was their "Boogie Nights" show, but still.  I could not even imagine why any music had to literally shout at you to take off all your clothes! I didn't listen to anymore of the song, so I have no idea what it was all about - but I can imagine!

Then I thought of an analogy.  Take the song "Touch" and whatever that "take off all your clothes" song was.  To me, "Touch" is sensual, sexy.  My guess is this was the aim of that  "take off all your clothes" song.  But which one is really sexier, more sensual?  Well, you can guess which one I think!  But the analogy I thought of was this.  Remember the old time movies when you saw a couple in love falling into each others arms and the camera would pan to a close-up of a roaring fire or the waves crashing?  Then think of the "romantic" scenes in a lot of movies today.  The couple fall into each others arms (often at the drop of a hat!), then you see them ripping off each others clothes, falling into bed (or not - it could be a kitchen table, a sofa, the back seat of a car, a rooftop - pretty much anywhere!) and they bump and grind, and groan and sweat, and bounce and.... well you get the picture!  Which do you think is more sensual and sexy?  For me - and trust me I am not a prude - it the old time movies.  There is something just so sexy about what isn't shown!  That to me what "Touch" is like.  It doesn't go on and on about what they may or may not be doing, or about taking off all their clothes.  The beat, the rhythm, the voice, the lyrics - its like the camera panning to the roaring fire or crashing waves.  The "take off all your clothes" song is like the bump, grind, groan and sweat scenes.  I guess my point is you can have a sexy, sensual song without being crude.  I doubt the mother in that article would object to her kids hearing "Touch", even though it can be thought of as a very sexy and sensual song. I bet, however, that she would freak if, with her kids in the back seat, the radio was suddenly balsting "Take off all your clothes!"!!

As I said, from the sublime to the ridiculous.
 
 
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Marilyn

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Re: 11/09/03 CLAY IS A MOMS' BEST FRIEND
« Reply #2 on: May 13, 2010, 09:14:02 PM »
corazon blue
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  CLAY IS A MOMS' BEST FRIEND
« Reply #2 on: November 10, 2003, 10:11:44 AM »   

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Well said! I've lost touch with radio and MTV, but when I do get a few glimpses of the stuff that some of these people are churning out, well, all I can do is wince and shake my head. Then I switch the channel or turn the TV off.

And for the record, I'm not even a mum. I'm 23 years old, a working gal, recent grad. It's people like me and younger who are supposed to dig the 'edgy' stuff I shake my head at.

I can only say that they haven't a clue.
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Marilyn

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Re: 11/09/03 CLAY IS A MOMS' BEST FRIEND
« Reply #3 on: May 13, 2010, 09:15:17 PM »
Natalya
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  CLAY IS A MOMS' BEST FRIEND
« Reply #3 on: November 11, 2003, 03:54:54 AM »
 
corazon blue, I completly agree with you, I am only 15 and i am disgusted with some of the things i see on MTV nowadays. Many of my friends (even non-Clay fans) would rather listen to him then some of the inappropriate things that other artists sing.

However, I can see why many people in our age group do like that kind of music. There are two simple reasons. One, it's fun to dance to, and high school dances attract loads of students who just want to dance and have a good time with their friends. Two, many teens feel the need to rebel, they know their parents don't like it, so they'll pop in a loud punk CD with swear words and act gloomy and depressed.  I know this because i see it around me at school everyday, and i'd be lying if I said that I've never listened to inapropriate music just to rebel. We've reached a new era where celebrities influence the younger population and show teens, starting at a very early age, things that they shouldn't see, or know about until they're MUCH older (if you know what I mean). The world has lost its class, which is why Clay has so much fewer teenage fans. Teens tend to look for a trend, an edge, or something that their parents don't approve of, and quiet frankly, Clay isn't it.

For the more decent of us teen fans, Clay is a dream come true, and we finally have a reason to stop avoiding the radio and MTV, because we finally know there is something on there that we like. It's about time the music industry got a wake up call. Bless you, Clay  :)

~Natalya

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Marilyn

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Re: 11/09/03 CLAY IS A MOMS' BEST FRIEND
« Reply #4 on: May 13, 2010, 09:16:11 PM »
houstonclayfan
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  CLAY IS A MOMS' BEST FRIEND
« Reply #4 on: November 11, 2003, 07:08:19 AM »   

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You are so smart for 15 !  I am a high school teacher and the majority of my students need to get a clue - Clay is the way to go. Congrats to you and spread the word amongst your age group.
 
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