Who the hell is Daniel Powter?
This month’s copy of music paper The Stool Pigeon lists the top 10 most played songs in the UK over the past five years, based on TV, radio and online play.* They are:
- Bad Day – Daniel Powter
- Because of You – Kelly Clarkson
- You’re Beautiful – James Blunt
- I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’ – Scissor Sisters
- Chasing Cars – Snow Patrol
- This Love – Maroon 5
- Shine – Take That
- Put Your Records On – Corrine Bailey Rae
- Leave Right Now – Will Young
- The Sweet Escape – Gwen Stefani
Now despite living a relatively normal life (I would have thought) for these past five years and being a massive music fan, something has clearly passed me by. I am struggling to have any recollection whatsoever of at least five of those songs and I’m not sure if I’ve ever even heard the first two. Who the hell is Daniel Powter?
Music industry pundit Bob Lefetz is always going on about the death of the mass appeal artist or record. Niche marketing, the proliferation of digital radio channels and the lack of dedicated primetime music shows like Top of the Pops, for example, mean that you can remain happily oblivious to huge swathes of music if you want to. The old music industry model for flogging tunes is dead.
What does this really mean though? People don’t just recognise and respond to songs like Spandau Ballet’s Gold or The Eagles’ Hotel California because they were promoted by a wealthy, self-satisfied music industry with a working business model, but because they were also catchy, memorable tunes. Surely if Daniel Powter was really any good I would have heard his song somewhere, somehow and remembered it?**
*According to the PRS.
** And apologies if Daniel Powter is actually the new Arctic Monkeys / Elton John / Fleetwood Mac / Beatles etc. and I really have been asleep.
Tags: music = opinions
September 22nd, 2008 at 1:27 pm
I think it depends totally on how much of a passive listener you are. I’ve heard most of the songs listed above, but almost always either in the hairdresser’s, around my sister’s house, in a sandwich bar, or anywhere else where a mainstream radio station happens to be tweeting its stuff out in the background. I would argue that Snow Patrol’s “Chasing Cars” is utterly inescapable if you tune into certain stations, for example. My hairdresser was humming along to it the last time she cut my hair…
Generally speaking, though, people who actually love music and don’t just buy 4 CDs a year can tune into Radio Six or pick up tunes from the Internet and totally bypass this crap now, which comes as a massive relief to me. Because even though there have been great tunes in the mainstream in every decade, I happen to believe that complete bland crap has always dominated… there again, I hate Spandau Ballet, so perhaps don’t listen to me…
September 22nd, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Never heard of Mr Powter. Is he like Daniel Beddingfield or something? from what I know of those listed above, I’d say they were less ‘pop’ and more AOR. Which is sad. Or has pop music become dull and respectable again while my back was turned?
September 22nd, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Dave, that is the funny thing, I do notice the music around me generally – that’s how I am aware of the Kooks, Keane and Corrine Baily Rae, but Daniel Powter and Kelly Clarkson just don’t register, although I’d probably recognise the tunes if I heard them.
Your belief that completely bland crap has always dominated raises more interesting questions for me. You see, I disagree; I like completely bland crap (and I’ve got boxes and boxes of singles by the likes of Thompson Twins, Chicago, Demis Roussos, Smokie and Gloria Estefan to prove it!). Theoretically, I should know and like this new stuff. So does this imply that Daniel Powter is worse than Dean Friedman and Snow Patrol less interesting than Mr Mister?! Or am I just getting old? Or perhaps just getting better music taste? Questions, questions…
Ill Man, If I could remember what Daniel Beddingfield sounded like I could answer this. But sadly, I don’t so we’ll both have to go out and do some research. I don’t think though that pop has become dull and respectable – it’s still around in the form of Girls Aloud, Mika, Rihanna and Estelle etc. – but it clearly isn’t played much on the radio either.
I suspect that because the PRS does measure music played on TV and radio, it’s also indirectly measuring blandness and background music for cookery shows. Therefore we get this list.
Very suprised that the hideous ‘Angels’ isn’t there come to think of it…
September 22nd, 2008 at 2:46 pm
He’s a Canadian pop-rockist…Bad Day was one of those absolutely inescapable radio tunes that you will definitely have heard (it’s also been on countless adverts and trailers)…you probably just never knew who it was. Like 23Daves says, much of this stuff just washes over you, and then before you realise it, it’s stuck on repeat on your internal jukebox.
If forced, I will admit that I quite like Leave Right Now. But if you ever tell anybody, there’ll be trouble…
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Dylan, thanks to that article I’ve got Leave Right Now stuck on repeat in my internal jukebox. Fortunately [whispers] I don’t mind Will Young that much either.
And I think I’m going to have to give in and google Bad Day now. Dammit.
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Well, I went and listened to most of those on Youtube, and they’re not all bad. The James B***t, Kelly Clarkson, Snow Patrol and Corrine Bailey Rae songs are all steaming piles of weapons grade donkey dung, but the rest range from alright to quite good, though I can do without the vids (Take That & Scissors Sisters excepted)
Daniel Powter is indeed a bit dull, but the tune is fairly economical and has a chorus the size of British Columbia. Not as good as the REM song of (almost) the same name though….
September 22nd, 2008 at 10:13 pm
Bloody hell, Ill Man, you’re keen (and clearly up for self-torture). But I’ve been inspired and I too have googled Daniel Powter and yes, of course! Instant recognition! It’s in loads of ads and its a Radio 2/Heart FM staple. Awful. Ditto Snow Patrol.
I’m pleased to say that Kelly Clarkson was kind of new to me, but still unappealing. Give me Barbara Streisand any day.
The good thing about all of these tunes is that they are making me feel less worse about having a soft spot for Travis.
September 23rd, 2008 at 12:46 am
At least ‘The Powt’ has a ham-fisted way with a tune.
I actually blame Travis for the existance of Snow Patrol. After a great debut, full of funny, charming, upbeat music, they shovelled two albums worth of dirgey introspective ballads at us and suddenly Snow Patrol appeared, suddenly realising that all you needed to do was bleat ’soulfully’ over a collection of distorted minor chords, and the money would come rolling in. The most recent Travis stuff is actually a return to form, not o self absorbed…..
September 23rd, 2008 at 10:07 am
Ill Man, I think we could argue for a long time over who is responsible for Snow Patrol. Some people might say Coldplay (who have released at least one good single, not that I can remember the name of it) are.
Anyway, it cannot be Travis’ fault. I’ve heard it suggested that Teenage Fanclub are responsible for Travis and any linkage (even indirect and stupid ones) between Teenage Fanclub and Snow Patrol is unthinkable. I feel disturbed just thinking about it ;)
September 23rd, 2008 at 11:14 am
responsibilty for not keanecoldsnowspatrol,the removal of free school millk by Maggie thatcher, that and her hand maiden Jo Wiley. If you only heard any of these songs once a month they would be ok it’s the fact that they are everywhere that ruins them .
September 23rd, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Fair point Cocktails. I was referring more to their ‘Man Who…’ period, which seemed, in my eyes anyway, to herald a new dawn in morose, self absorbed indie guitar music.
Anyway, hark at me, the Radiohead fan…………………… ;)