Well a few days have past since the passing of Amy Winehouse. I deliberately put off writing about her untimely death I wanted to wait until the whole celebrity aspect of it died down. Now I'm not gonna speculate on what caused her death. It was most like due to drugs, but you never know. Maybe it was a murder. Maybe it was a suicide. Maybe it was due to sobering up that caused other complications in her health. It is endless and not a debate that we need to go into at this point.
From a historical stand point just another number added to the list of 27. Another victim of the Curse of 27. Joining the ranks of Jim Morrison and Kurt Cobain, she's in good company (Joplin would be a better example but whatever). Many have speculated on the Curse of 27 and tried to answer why 27 is so significant. Ultimately, I believe it is just a stastical anomaly. No good reason. It's just because. Maybe except for Kurt Cobain, since he was so enchanted by the allure of the curse, 27 really holds no signficance. Regardless it is a sad time, when we as musciains have another number to add to the curse.
Now to the music, the legacy that Amy Winehouse leaves. 2 really, really influencial albums. Well maybe 1 influencial regardless music would not be where it is today without her. Back to Black won her 5 Grammys in one night, which is incredible. Now I don't place much significance in the Grammys (actually I loath them) but something must be said by the dynamics of winning that many awards. I'm not going to into the discussion of the level of artistry or musical maturity that this album has simply because I know very little of her music. However, what is important to note (in my mind) is the influence she has had on modern music. That throw back style to early swing and big band music, with that very old soul voice - modernizing it and bringing it to the 21st century. That spawned a large industry shift. The old was new and the new was old. Right now on the radio I hear that Cee Lo song, Fuck You... I think is what it's called. Don't worry I'm not listen to it by choice, I just happen to be at work right now, and it's on the radio. Regardless, I listen to it, and think could this really be possible without Amy Winehouse. Look at the top female charters today, Lady Gaga to Duffy. They all cite her as influences and some even say the reason they even decided to pursue a career in music. That's huge. Regardless of how daft I think Duffy is or blatently Gaga is a copycat, it still a huge thing to influence a whole scene.
So with all that said, it is very tragic that she pased away. We all knew that it was inevitable, but that does not take away the shock or saddness of the event. But what is inportant after death, is to celebrate their life. Celebrate the music she left us. That hopefully will be her legacy and not all that garbage in the tabloids and such.
On a sidenote, apparently she's one of Geezer's favourite musicians. Who would have thought eh?
