I seem to have really ticked off a couple of people when I called David Cook a one-hit wonder.

Guess it goes back to what your definition of a ‘hit’ is.

I’d argue that a hit is a song or performance that is so POPULAR that you can make reference to it in casual conversation and people will know what you’re talking about.

For something to be a ‘hit’ doesn’t mean you have to like it.

If I reference Gaga’s (don’t like calling her ‘Lady’ because I feel she’s anything but!) Born This Way it is definitely a ‘hit’ and most of the general public will know what stupid tune I’m referring to.

I don’t like the song, and I don’t like her, but even I have to admit it’s a ‘hit’. Whether it’s platinum, titanium or whatever.

The funny thing is whenever a song by Gaga comes on, I want to ‘gag’, and I shut off the radio till I think it’s over.

She reminds me of Madonna, and she seems to be a very brittle prickly person who tries WAY TOO hard to prove that she’s okay with herself.

Methinks she does protest too much, but then, before anyone can accuse me of spouting off about things I don’t know, I’ll readily admit that I know very little about Gaga–and I want to keep it that way.

Gaga and Madonna and Katy Perry represent the lowest common denominator (funny! when I was first typing the word denominator it came out ‘demoni…’)

They’re like stand up comics who fall back on the sleazy sexual innuendo to get a laugh.

Jon Stewart and his gang do this a lot.

I guess when you have to write a show per day, getting the cheap sexual laugh is easier than thinking of something truly witty.

Madonna, Gaga and Katy Perry and a long line of other female artists sing about “girl empowerment” while ironically overly sexualizing themselves.  And in subtle and not so subtle ways, they’re leading to the downfall of society, encouraging promiscuity in women (in the name of their girl power) with no thought of any consequences! By the way, I tend to shut the radio off whenever Katy Perry comes on too. I find listening to her songs makes me feel like my intelligence is leaking out of my brain.

And I think exploiting their sexuality is like the cheap joke standby in Jon Stewart’s shows. (I actually stopped watching Jon Stewart because of his profanity towards God. I just couldn’t be part of that even though he said so many things that I agree with.)

In order to be popular these artists appeal to the lowest common denominator, intended to hit the biggest majority of people in an emotional way.

Anyone who is a bit more thoughtful will reject such drivel but then how much of the population are we talking about? It seems less and less.

As for David Cook, I’m glad that he’s keeping on keeping on!

Okay, I just tried looking him up on youtube, and started listening to Light On. And all I can say is ‘meh’.

I stand by what I said about his best performances (so far as I know) being on American Idol in the run up to his winning. His tribute to Cornell’s version of Billie Jean really is amazing! And who benefitted from that??? Certainly not him. Whoever uploaded the video, I think, and of course the producers of the show.

And you have to remember that if a performance really touches people, they will tell others, “You’ve got to see this!” and simply by word of mouth, things go viral, and there’s something to be said for that kind of reaction.

That’s a ‘hit’. And being popular, and even, yikes, being played on the radio is nothing to sniff at!

That would be the equivalent to a bestselling list for an author I think.

Popular art doesn’t have to be brainless.

Look at Cold Play’s Vive La Vida. That has depth to it! And even Grenade by Bruno Mars. It’s quite interesting. He stays in the character of this obsessed lover and that’s probably why it’s got over a hundred million views on youtube.

It deserves to be popular.

Guess personally, as an artist, I want both.

I want to appeal to the intellect and write something moving, but I also want it to be popular.

But of course none of that is in my control.

Love what Joni Mitchell did.

Ever since I was a kid I’d always loved Big Yellow Taxi. Didn’t know the song was actually called that. I thought it was called “Put up a Parking Lot” because of a line in the chorus.

I heard a few years ago that Joni Mitchell put out an album of her greatest hits, while concurrently putting out an album called ‘Misses’, with her greatest ‘misses’.

And that’s really what it all comes down to.

Hits and misses.

But as long as you like what you’ve done, as long as it expresses your thoughts and emotions and contributes to the artist dialogue, then you must stand by it–including of course David Cook.