Lady Gaga - On The Record with Fuse: The Lost Tapes

For all you Lady Gaga fans, Fuse is airing new, previously unreleased footage of its exclusive Gaga interview, which aired late last year. This new special will air tonight at 8 pm and again at 11 pm (both times Eastern). So, if you get Fuse, tune in. Here's a little teaser of what you can expect:



I actually caught the original interview and found it pretty interesting. I was amazed that Gaga managed to come off as part hippie yet part pop commodity, intelligent yet spacey, and pretentious yet down-to-earth all at the same time. I'm also certain that, if a movie is ever made about the Lady's life, Drew Barrymore should play her because they have THE SAME EXACT SPEAKING VOICE. It's kind of weird.

Many of you know that, although I began as a non-believer who tried to fight it, I've become a huge Lady Gaga fan in the past year. A lot has been said on both sides of the Gaga fence: die-hards praise her as some sort of musical messiah and detractors say she's just ripping off those who came before her, like Madonna, David Bowie and Grace Jones, with the latter herself recently blasting Gaga as an unoriginal copycat.

I can see both sides of the argument, but I'm honestly a little tired of the "copycat" talk. Gaga has always worn her influences on her sleeve, but I think she's brought what they started into the 21st century. Gaga may not be a visionary, but in the context of today's pop landscape, she is something different. And really, at this point in our musical lives, can we really expect to see a truly original artist? Is there ever going to be another person to come along and do something 100% different? I doubt it. But there's a difference between someone like Lady Gaga putting a new spin on an old schtick and someone like Ke$ha quickly cashing in with her dime store impression of Gaga's act. One is paying homage and one just wants to get paid.

This whole originality debate is best summed up by Chris Robinson, whose Black Crowes were endlessly compared to the Faces and other '70s classic rock bands. When Rolling Stone once asked him about the criticism, he said: "What is original? I'm not going to bang two badger carcasses together and recite poetry and say, 'Hey, here's the new thing.'"

Hmm. Now that I think of it, Lady Gaga probably would bang two badger carcasses together. And then Chris Robinson would blast her for stealing his idea.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Don't you think it's getting MORE and MORE difficult to be an original in our society? I mean, how many forms of weird and out there are there?
Red said…
I always say to the haters, "She may not be the most original thing ever, but she does what she does, in 2010, better than anyone else. Ya gotta respect!"
rachaelgking said…
I will never be able to listen to her talk without hearing D-more again.

Sigh.
Penny said…
Welcome to Team Gaga!!
So nice to have you!!

She's great. Love everything about her. The most amazing thing to me is she actually writes her own music and lyrics. Thats a pop feat that is rarely done these days..done "well" rather.

LOVE Speechless. Such a great song full of emotion. Take a listen if you have not yet.

As far as Ke$ha..Totally ripping off of Gaga. I thought I was the only one who noticed.
Alice said…
ah, gaga. i started off as a mocker and have also become a helpless fan.

the madonna thing kind of irritates me. what, because she has shocking performances and an amazing stage show and is a woman? it's not like madonna's songs were a brand new kind of music never before heard in history; she was (is!) an amazing performer and showman. no one else can put on a great show now without "ripping off" madonna..?
Unknown said…
I too drank the Gaga Kool-Aid and LOVE it. I would love to see her in concert because that must be some AMAZING show! Unfortunately, I'll never be rich enough.

Ke$ha is a flash in the pan at the most.
If Gaga shows up in the new Conan the Barbarian movie, I'm calling bullshit.

Word verif: offeesyr, as in "I'm not drunk, offeesyr."
Billy said…
Accusing anyone of being musically derivative is like accusing modern writers of being derivative because they use words. It's so silly.

Yes, GaGa is derivative. Yes, she's crafty and slick about it. Yes, she makes some catchy dadgum tunes. Yes, she's a giant leap for mankind as an improvement over the teeny bopper Britneys (even if she acknowledges Brit as her original inspiration).

Oh yeah, and nah, I don't really love her all that much, but I respect what she's trying to do, which I basically think boils down to one-upping Madonna on the mind-f*&king of pop culture.