Inappropriate Poll #3: When did Stevie jump the shark?
 

From jumpingtheshark.com: "It's a moment. A defining moment when you know that your favorite _____ has reached its peak. That instant that you know from now on... it's all downhill. Some call it the climax. We call it jumping the shark."

We are all human and we all have made decisions that were not in our best interests or were borne of desperation. And Stevie of course is no exception. She has had her ups and downs, and in recent years she has risen almost like the Phoenix from the ashes. But as much as we love our Stevie, Mama has done some things in the past (mostly under the influence of drugs) that made us wonder "is this the beginning of the end?"

So what to you was Stevie's defining "jumping the shark" moment?

I consider "jumping the shark" more of a desperate last ditch effort to maintain popularity - not a climax, more like the beginning of the end. :D

So I had to go with Kenny G, although the Timespace tunes were a close second. Both of those moves just reeked of desperation to me. "Hey Stevie, these guys are pretty popular right now, you should do something with them." I dunno. Maybe she really thought there was...a... connec...tion. :p But I doubt it. The stuff with Henley & Petty was good, damn good. It meant something to her and the fans. Those collaborations were like passionate love affaris, you can look back on them fondly. This stuff? Not so much. No emotional involvement. They were like bad one night stands - seemed like a good idea at the time, but you feel so dirty afterwards. :laugh:

And I don't care if there's a big ass pic of her & Kenny G in the Enchanted book. :p I cannot make the connection between his music & Stevie's AT ALL.

I agree... but I have decided to also include all of those other events that made you wonder whether Stevie had hit the wall; something so unbelievably tasteless (e.g., the Frankenboks) that made you wonder whether she had lost her good senses.

Oh no, your selections are great. I just wanted to let everyone know that I think of it differently than jumpingtheshark.com. I mean, isn't it in reference to when Fonzie literally jumped over a shark on Happy Days? :laugh: Was that really the climax of Fonzie? If so, I'm sad.

before i can answer, i must know ... when were the frankenboks born?

I think they first showed up (very briefly) when she hurt her foot on TOSOTM tour, but it was the TISL Tour in '01 when they came back...and never left.

thanks.

ok, in light of all the evidence, i've gone with the OSOTM tour. snooze. there have been some bright spots since: SA tour, enchanted tour, most of TISL ... but not enough.

Before "jump the shark" became a popular term, I thought Stevie sold-out and seemed desparate for working with Prince. Of course, I admit that was way too harsh as Prince released his best work after doing Stand Back with her and Stevie reached plenty of new levels of lameness and desparation. But when she recorded songs with Bret Michaels, Bon Jovi on Timespace and added "Desert Angel" - I was all..."it's over Johnny. It's over."

RAL tour - it was downhill as a solo artist from there and IMO and though Seven Wonders was fab. - also as a member of FM. She did, however, come back with a vengence for The Dance and The Enchanted tours.

Playin' with Kenny G-I-Suck was my pick (If ya ever heard the unreleased master-reel track "Lily Girl" you'd also agree).

Playing with Kenny G. is almost as bad as someone playing with Michael "Strawhead Sleastack" Bolton...Almost!

I went with 'playing with Kenny G'. Had I been a fan already back then I probably would have jumped off a building somewhere. Becoming a fan a few years ago I at least knew good things still came after that. I feel bad for those who were present during the late 80's already. ;)

I guess I have a different point of view than most (big surprise, huh?), as I've never really felt that Stevie's done anything out of "desperation."
She's made some regretable decisions, no doubt about it... but I see "desperation" as more along the lines of an artist trying to pretend to be something they're not, in order to stay "hip."

The collaborations with Prince or Kenny G. or Jon Bon Jovi or Brett Michaels could all be looked at that way, I suppose, but, at the same time, none of those songs -- production-wise and thematically -- sound completely out of sync with the rest of her catalog.
It's not like she turned around and did a grunge album, or a hip-hop tour de force with Salt 'n Pepa.

Having said all that... :laugh:... my least favorite "moment" on that list, would have to be her working with Kenny G.
It wasn't the Klonopin that dulled Stevie into listlessness from '89 to '93, it was her listening to Kenny G.'s CDs on heavy rotation.

This reminds me. What about her duet with that dumbass from MTV? Ewww. Truthfully I've never listened to it and nobody can make me.

Jesse Camp. I've never heard it either. And I never will.

It was dreadful - but cool in a way. Then again, my glass is always half full.

"You're my little saviour...."

I like that song. :D

Doh! How could I forget Jesse Camp?! That right there is THE defining moment.

I did buy this CD used for something like $2 years ago. You have to be a diehard Stevie collector in order to own this. :eek:

I do, too, actually... even though I couldn't stand Jesse Camp when he was on MTV.
Stevie's vocal on that track is awfully pretty. :nod:

By default, I'd say the Rock A Little tour because I think you're starting the poll too late chronologically. The shark had been jumped, caught, filleted & BBQ'd by then.

She was on the downward slide during the Mirage tour.

Gonna have to say OSOTM tour. If there was a choice for "when she started taking Klonopin" I may have had to go with that. I can't remember when exactly she started taking it. Don't tell me it was the OSOTM tour?

i'm pretty sure it was late 86/early 87. don't think it was as late as 89, tho.

Her voice was a bit rough at spots on the Mirage tour indeed. But that was probably the top of the mountain as far as her singing, commercial success, and writing abilities are concerned. Oh, and she was quite the piece of a$$ too! :p

I must admit that I was a bit disappointed by RAL when it first came out (I even wrote a bad review for the school newspaper :distress: ). But as dated as it sounds, it really has held up as quite a little gem. It rocks. It's campy. It's soothing. The tour, on the other hand... :eek:

maybe as a combined whole, but her vocal peak was on the SA tour.

but she was ****ing fine on the mirage tour.

During the "Shake the Cage" tour, I had heard that Stevie was soldiering on despite having come down with Epstein Barr. And at the time I was thinking bullshirt! She would have been totally unable to perform if that was the case. Perhaps that was something cooked up by her publicist to help explain how her demeanor could have so completely flattened out within the space of a year. Don't get me wrong... I really, really liked the 1987 tour... but I did think something was a bit strange. Maybe it's not a coincidence that she started wearing those awful poofy sleeves and pirate hats when she started Klonopin. :eek:

I suspect she didn't become a total drone until OSOTM. As with any other addictive drug, she had probably built a tolerance and started taking escalating amounts to maintain an even keel. :distress: I have seen heroin addicts getting detoxed with all kinds of nasty ***** like Klonopin and Methadone... and I just wondered why they didn't just stay on heroin. Pick your poison. :shrug:

Nobody before or since has been able to rock a tablecloth on her head like Mama! :nod:

I can't answer this...It's too tough. OSOTM was a great album but the Timespace tracks were desperate. However, allthough Street Angel was abysmal, TISL was amazing so she sorta dunked in the early 90's until The Dance and then she was back with a bang in '97 and is still incredible today IMO.

The SA tour was a different voice than WH (mostly) and before. Though her voice was strong and very clear on SA, she never went near the octaves she used to on WH and prior.

I know. I hate Jesse, but Stevie's harmony gives me chills. every time. I wish they could just remove his part and let her sing it! :nod:

Stevie has never jumped shark.

You're right. She jumped the donut.

That's when it fell a part....when the donut went bye-bye. No hair, no fame.