I begin by saying that there is little music I do not like. At the same time, I am particularly delighted by the jazz-inspired pop that was made possible by the work of Amy Winehouse.

Whatever people think of her and her story, the fact is, she was an excellent musician and showperson, who paved the way for a whole raft of other jazz-influenced artists. I am thinking of Adele, Paloma Faith, and Caro Emerald, and even someone like Cee Lo Green. All good in one way or another in their own right, but indebted (to some extent) to the one who reacquainted our ears with that synthesis of jazz and pop.

Thanks Amy.

The zutons made an inspired choice when they covered valerie

Yep, I love unoriginal, watered down versions of stuff that’s gone before. Well done Amy. Barf.

I thought she had a really good voice.

And I’m sorry she couldn’t have been happier.

Did Joss Stone and Jamie Macullum make Amy Winehouse possible?

(double barf)

I have nothing of relevance to add other than to note that Amy Winehouse is french for ‘I love the pub’

finbar – Member

Did Joss Stone and Jamie Macullum make Amy Winehouse possible?

You, sir, are treading closer to criticising Joss Stone, than a wise man would ever tread. There will be no further warnings.

Did Joss Stone and Jamie Macullum make Amy Winehouse possible?
(double barf)

I’ll see your barf, and raise you Macy Gray

Edit: but yes, if it wasn’t for Any Winehouse, there probably wouldn’t have been the “quick, find more white girls that sing like black girls” frenzy amongst record companies.

Are you drunk?!?

That girl could sing. Effortlessly and with amazing resonance.
Some of the songs she recorded weren’t the best choice for her but you can’t win all the time.
It’s a tragedy that she became addicted to alcohol and drugs and extremely sad the way her life ended. A true loss.

Over rated smack rat that contributed nothing new to the music industry! I’m glad her crap is no longer played very often on the radio!

Would this post exist if she was still with us? People’s music means so much more to some folk posthumously!

LOL @skaifan – I got it….

Good singer and songwriter. Sometimes mining an existing seam is no bad thing.

There are plenty more against whom I can direct my ire.

Much prefer Alice Russell but then music’s all subjective.

I’ve tried, but I just can’t think of any more over-rated artist in my lifetime.

A proper character who was obviously a bit troubled, but from what I’ve read, she was a real goodun’

Obviously she was a great singer aswell.

RIP

Yup Mark Ronson is still banging out the catchy tunes.

not sure if I agree with the statement about originality, very few if any artists are singlehanded changers of the artistic landscape, even the greats had their influences and their collaborators

take nothing away from her though, she worked with the right people and she could sing, resonated with a lot of people. her delivery of a song is her chief talent

‘How to Build a Girl’- Caitlin Moran. Perhaps the mid section of the book is Dez and Enduro’s go-to guide for music criticism.

As said above, she sure could sing.

DezB – Member
I’ve tried, but I just can’t think of any more over-rated artist in my lifetime.

Kanye?

But yeah, she was overrated IMO.

Amy Winehouse = pub singer

Was never a particular fan, but standing on the shoulders of giants and all that; if you’re talented enough to take a familiar and brilliant style and re-popularise it, engage (or be egaged by) other talented individuals such as Mr Ronson and co, I think you deserve a fair accolade. She was good. Exceptionally good even.

I can however not stand the incessant verbato that’s persisted in every pop singer for the last decade. But that’s ok, I just listen to something else.

Aural beige.

I can however not stand the incessant verbato that’s persisted in every pop singer for the last decade. But that’s ok, I just listen to something else.

Joan Baez?

Amazing voice, but I can’t listen to more than a couple of tracks before the vibrato gets on my tits. Can’t think of any others that put me off in the same way.

skaifan – Member

The zutons made an inspired choice when they covered valerie

not sure if you wrote that correctly, or some form of hidden joke I missed ( 🙁 ), or you don’t actually know that the zutons wrote that song first?! winehouse covered them!

I’ve tried, but I just can’t think of any more over-rated artist in my lifetime.

Ah, your musical taste is the one true way, I suppose.

or you don’t actually know that the zutons wrote that song first?! winehouse covered them!

I think that was his point.

It’s too obvious that the OP is a wind up 😀

centralscrutinizer – Member
It’s too obvious that the OP is a wind up

I am hoping so! 😆

or you don’t actually know that the zutons wrote that song first?! winehouse covered them!

I heard one of the Zutons interviewed. He thanked Amy for paying for his great big **** off new house!!

Can’t see why you’d dislike Amy, when you consider most of the music-by-numbers blandness released nowadays. Say what you like about her, bland she wasn’t.

Kanye?

I dunno, I’ve listened to a Kanye album, it’s listenable. Not good enough to justify his own oppinion of himself, but he is (or was) good.

Jay Z on the other hand, the singles are frequently brilliant, but the albums I just couldn’t get into.

she was lucky she sang in the time of auto-tune.

I’m with iolo and goldfish.

Asif Kapadia’s* excellent film Amy is a poignant portrayal of the “over rated smack rat”…I’d recommend it to fans and detractors alike.

*director of Senna

Say what you like about her, bland she wasn’t.

Maybe she wasn’t, but her music was.

Ah, your musical taste is the one true way, I suppose.

I find it quite difficult to post opinions from the point of view of someone else’s taste.

how the hell did she pave the way for Cee-Lo Green? he’s been making music since 1991.

And i’m with Joolsburger on this one, Alice Russell is far superior

Music is not a competition btw.

But if it was she’d be a Wimbledon circa 1988 FA cup final.

And she begat nothing, Jazz and female Jazz artists go waaaay back, she is the few steps up to the chairlift ticket office that takes you to Nina Simone’s Alpine mountain.

I thought she did some good stuff, maybe not original per se but different enough at the time to make it big. Pitty she was messed up but that probably added to her song writing.

I was involved in the promo of Amy Winehouse. There was nothing like her before & you can talk what you want of artists going back decades (Minnie Ripperton etc etc) but from a mainstream perspective she created something brand new and that is such a hard thing to do. Mainstream success is dominated by Radio 1 & to bring a new artist with a new sound & convince them to playlist it is very very hard especially if there is no template for them to follow or a very old one (jazz). In a nutshell she/management recruited Mark Ronson & Salaam Remi give her a sound that could cross over and the rest is history.

BTW Alice Russell is miles away from Amy Winehouse, she is artist far more on the fringe of mainstream, the nearest you could say to AW is maybe Jill Scott/Alica Keys.