All good things come to an end. A rather pointless thing to say, really, because bad things rarely demonstrate inexhaustible longevity either. Still, it’s up to the individual to decide whether they are happy or sad at the news that Keisha Buchanan is to leave the Sugababes. One suspects, oh cruel irony, that most people will find themselves neither up nor down about it. Poor girl – you give 11 years of your life to the God’s of manufactured pop, you throw yourself at the mercy of the fickle song downloading public and in the end they couldn’t give a fig for you as an individual. It’s not fair, that.
Now, not being a peruser of lads mags and rarely feeling the need to prove my kitsch credentials by pretending to like a pop band, I’d hold my hand up to being somewhat inexpert about their career. I could probably muddle through to a B minus if a Uni ever ran a course on them. But what did catch my eye was the fact that she was the last remaining original member of the group. Now, her departure is obviously not quite as devastating to them as a musical force as Paul leaving the Beatles was, I’ll grant you, but it does raise an interesting point about pop. If the band are going to tour without her – which they are – and play the old hits, is it really much different to the 18 versions of the Drifters currently on tour?
It makes you question exactly what the audience for these gigs want. Sugababes songs, whilst very good for what they are, are not exactly all-time classics. But we are being asked to believe that they are so good, so utterly timeless, that people will pay to see them performed live, even if it is by what is essentially a tribute act. There’s nothing wrong with that per se, but most successful tribute acts – Complete Stone Roses, Bootleg Beatles, Counterfeit Stones etc – exist because the act they are aping can’t or won’t tour anymore and they acknowledge that they are indeed a tribute act.
The reason that the Sugababes management will do this, and most likely get away with it, is that it is all about brand. Millions of people may by their product, but it’s highly unlikely that there are millions of diehard Sugaaboys and girls out there. You are no more a fan of them as you are of your favourite brand of toothpaste. It is not a fact which is likely to shape your personality in any way, unlike a fervent love of a band, football team, writer etc. You buy the songs. You may go to a gig. That’s pretty much it.
So the name, the franchise matters more than the individual. You can’t help feel the Archies had it right all those years ago – when the writing is done by someone else and the performance can be done by anyone who can stand up, why not just get a cartoon to do it? It’s much easier to control, you don’t get hissyfits and you don’t need to pay them anything. Admittedly, they can’t get their tits out in FHM, but that would surely be a small price to pay.
Filed under: General Stuff Tagged: | cheerio cheerio cheerio, FHM, keisha leaves the sugababes, manufactured pop, Pop, sugababes
It seems odd that they can continue without ANY of the original members.
My wife went to a function / dinner thing and special guests were The Drifters. She assures me that there may have been an error as these Drifters were in their 20s, mimed and ended up stripping to their tango briefs. Unlike The Driftets. Well, I presume….
I don’t usually reply to posts but I will in this case.