When The Artistes Don't Know The Difference Between Right And Wron

[Dukesy 0]

Have had various conversations about pop & rock stars with friends and other DJs. One point which seems to crop up is... as much as their music may be popular, when they (the pop & rock stars) go off the rails and into the downward spiral, do the record companies have a duty to step in and should they step in?

Should they cut off the investment and support?

 

By inaction, is the record company aiding and abetting these 'role models'?

 

I've never heard of a record company being taken to court because they continued to fund the drug habits of the artistes on their books, but I did hear a father of a famous singer in interview ask the fans to stop buying his daughters records until she sorted herself out!

 

Opinions?

[DJJEG 0]

Very good point here, but their success or downward spiral seems to ge publicized by the press more than the record company

But your right the record company should step in & look after their investment

[Dream Catchers 0]

They will only intervene if it affects their profits.

There is the fact that publicity is publicity, so the press reporting that they are snorting white powder just gives them more publicity and more sales.

Take Amy Whinehouse for instance, virtually all the press she receives is bad publicity, but that is what has made her an household name.

 

Jim

[Dukesy 0]

I must admit that I like Amy's voice in her recordings, but can not stand her singing live!

The media says she sounded great over the last few days but I thought her performance's were :poo: !

 

Recently, she was diagnosed with Emphysema - a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), formerly termed a chronic obstructive lung disease (COLD). Perhaps, caused by exposure to toxic chemicals?

 

Filmed snorting, smoking or absorbing the crap one way or another, which has been published in the media...filmed punching out at fan's and guess what! No further action!

Her buddy, Mr Peter Doherty, has well-publicised drug abuse:

 

Doherty has been repeatedly arrested for drug offences and those arising from drug misuse, such as driving under the influence, car theft, and driving with a suspended licence.[38][39] He has plead guilty to possession of crack cocaine, heroin, cannabis and ketamine. His addictions have resulted in jail time and multiple trips to rehabilitation facilities.

The influence of drugs on his life had already reached such an intensity at times, that in his younger days, Doherty worked as a gay prostitute and drug dealer to pay for his drug habit, as he stated to author Peter Welsh in his biography.

 

In 2003, while Doherty's first band The Libertines were performing in Japan, he broke into Carl Barât's flat and stole various items, including an old guitar and a laptop computer. On 7 September Doherty was sentenced by Judge Roger Davies to 6 months in prison, however the sentence was eventually shortened to two months on appeal with the judge commenting, "We feel that a custodial sentence was justified in this case but sufficient credit was not given for his timely plea of guilty which it should have been. We have reduced his sentence to two months which will allow for his almost immediate release." Doherty was released from jail on 8 October - a month!

 

What I find amazing in our politically correct times is these 'stars' are portrayed as talent or genius: having an exceptional ability, having an unusual natural ability to do something well, especially in artistic areas that can be developed by training, somebody with exceptional ability, especially somebody whose intellectual or creative achievements gain worldwide recognition.

 

Well, they are getting recognition all right.

 

How far do the record companies and even the music collection agencies for that matter go?

Unless the artistes hit even greater lows and follow the path of other 'once highly popular stars' such as Paul Gadd, then these companies will probably continue to turn a blind eye and keep their fingers crossed...

Edited June 30, 2008 by Dukesy

[bigMCben 0]

Am I being too hard and uncaring to sometimes think "Go on, just take an overdose, die and give us peace?"

 

Robbie Williams, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Pete Doherty, Amy Winehouse, etc, etc, etc, etc.......................

Edited June 30, 2008 by bigMCben

[UKHero 0]

I understand where your comming from, but this is not a new phonomena in the entertainment industry, Infact some of the greatest classics would never have been written if it were not for drug missues from such artists as The Beatles, The Who & The Stones to name a few.

 

When I was taking journalism at college my lecturer told me she had dabbled in her youth and one time pulling an all nighter to get a project done she smoked some wakkie bakkie, She said she woke up on the floor the next morning with all the work compleated, she did not remember doing it but she got the best marks she ever got.... Some drugs free up your inabitions and your creative mind that can sometimes be repressed.

 

I am not condoning drug taking in any way. And would recomend that people never imbibe. But, just think of some of the great works of art that would have never been made with out its influence...

 

Nik

[Dukesy 0]

But, just think of some of the great works of art that would have never been made with out its influence...

 

Yep - you're probably right...

 

Hey Fred - the Beatles ?

Demons - Robbie Williams?

My Sweat Board - George Harrison?

I'm Still Sitting - Elton John?

 

I could go on, but you get the idea!

 

This is interesting:

 

According to research, one in 10 children in the United Kingdom wants to be a pop star.

 

Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale University School of Medicine's Prevention Research Center, said the study findings should serve as a wake-up call for performers and their fans about the hazards that can accompany fame.

 

"People should understand the type of lifestyle that many of these performers live," said study author Mark Bellis, director of the Centre for Public Health at Liverpool John Moores University. "In addition, the music industry should consider not just the short-term health of popular rock stars, but also the longer term health even as they disappear later into obscurity."

 

Part of the problem is living with the stress of fame, Bellis said. "Also, living in an environment of money and fame, which protects people from some of the consequences, which would make members of the general public give up drugs," he said.

 

"Generally," he added, "affluence enhances people's lifestyles and prolongs life, whereas in this particular case the exposure to fame and what comes with it is associated with a mortality which is higher than that in the general population."

 

For the study, Bellis and his colleagues collected data on 1,064 pop artists from North America and Europe who shot to fame between 1956 and 1999. These musicians were all featured in the All Time Top 1,000 albums, selected in 2000, covering rock, punk, rap, R&B, electronica and new age music.

 

Bellis's team compared how long the stars survived after achieving fame to the life expectancy of the general population, matching for age, sex, ethnicity and nationality, up to the end of 2005.

 

The researchers found that between 1956 and 2005, 100 pop music stars had died. Their average age was 42 for North American stars and 35 for European stars. More than one in four died from long-term drug or alcohol problems, the researchers found.

 

But, for European stars who survived 25 years after achieving fame, their life expectancy returned to normal. North American pop stars, however, continued to suffer higher death rates. "The higher mortality in the rock business has elements about achieving fame, but also coping with obscurity," Bellis said.

 

Note..Winehouse is also set to be immortalised in wax at London's Madame Tussauds later this summer.

The 24-year-old will appear in a new music area at the museum alongside artists including Jimi Hendrix.

This is not made up!

 

 

Edited June 30, 2008 by Dukesy

[bigMCben 0]

Nik

 

I agree with your comments re Beatles, Stones, etc, but what we didn't have then was

 

John and Paul in new rehab scandal!!!

 

Keith R relapses, Exclusive Photos Page 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and centre spread

 

Ringo Starr ate my hamster (Freddie's Dad)

 

I'm not fussy what these guys do, but it does p me off when it's the top story on the six o'clock news. It also pees me off when Pete Doherty (and others) gets caught with drugs or breaches his bail conditions for the umpteenth time and it's "Oh, poor Pete, away you go son and don't do it again or again or again or again.............."

 

:rant:

 

Big Sigh I feel better now, thank you.