Re: [Harp-L] Cover Songs

[Rooty Baegga <rootybaegga@xxxxxxxxx>]

At 10:30 AM 15/04/2005, Chris Michalek wrote:

> Cheesy because they are part of American Pop culture.

Oh goodie.  My first disagreement here.

American pop culture does not translate to cheesy and cheesy does not 
translate to American Pop Culture (tm).  George Gershwin, Bruce 
Springsteen, and The Ramones (just to name 3 examples) do not deliver the 
cheese and yet they are quintessential American Pop Culture 
(tm).  Conversely, Aqua, Nena and Freddie and the Dreamers are little but 
fromage, yet they are not American Pop Cultural artifacts.

Cheese is a quality that transcends borders, cultures and genres.  In other 
words: The cheese stands alone!!!

What defines cheese is the unmistakable whiff of kitsch, camp, or irony --- 
or all three at once.  That's why all those tee vee theme songs are 
automatically cheese.  When it comes to oldies (defined for this discussion 
as anything from yesterday right back to the beginning of time), it becomes 
much harder to determine what is cheese and what is a classic.

Cheese is in the eye of the beholder.

> How many instrumentalists cover Michael Jackson tunes? Some would say where
> the soul in that?  We do it because it's a hot topic right now. Last
> night we played Billie Jean into Messing with the Kid.  Only a couple
> of people got the joke but we thought it was funny.

Michael Jackson is a perfect example of the Fromage Factor.  Some might 
argue that he's cheese right now because of his legal woes.  Some might 
argue he's always been cheese.  Some might argue that none of that matters; 
quality is quality and music transcends the news page.

The following URLs may, or may not, be on topic, but all are cheesy.

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-5597.html

http://www.netherworldnews.com/food0507.html

http://wfrv.com/topstories/local_story_197183329.html

http://www.livejournal.com/community/cheese_party/

http://www.packers.com/news/stories/2004/09/30/2/



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Rooty Baegga

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