Quote:
Originally posted by Johnny Stew
Actually I dont remember any "anti-Stevie" rants from Letterman. His beef was always directed at her management. He never said anything derogatory against Stevie personally.
Additionally, those "rants" occured in 1986... so if you're going to refer to 'Street Angel,' which was released in 1994, then the Letterman thing has nothing to do with the discussion, as Stevie appeared on his show at this time.
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Johnny, you are obviously very well informed about the band. But I recall clearly Letterman playing the ending of "Big Love" back then and having a grand ole laugh at Stevie's expense. (Of course, he didn't know that the ooh aahs were actually Lindsey's). And while he did direct a lot of his rants at the management company, he most certainly poked fun at her in a major way. Besides, the management company represents her, so any comments directed at them in their handling of the artist are ultimately directed at the artist.
Secondly, you accurately point out that the examples I picked are eight years apart. Which if anything just goes to show that this lack of popularity was pretty lenghthy. The tide didn't turn until about 1997. Already when Tango came out, there was a lot of antipathy toward Stevie; people were having great fun at mocking her image. And this goes to ChiliD's point. Look at Madonna, she's been loved, she's been hated. She redid her image as often as a normal person might change underwear, and now she is credited as being a great artist, rightly or wrongly.
But beyond the image thing, the fact is that Stevie, as far as I can see, has not written a good song in more than 15 years. And her voice is shot. And, in my humble opinion, the reason she gets so much attention and respect now is because she is a survivor, not because of her music. No one can take that away from her. But can she sing now? No. Can she write a good song now? Possibly, but I haven't heard it.