Posted by The Storm on April 11, 1999 at 14:04:43:
In Reply to: Re: Christ, Mick, and Women posted by Mariajag on April 11, 1999 at 03:10:49:
But if you were to really count up all the gender-neutral vs. misogynistic songs, do you really think you'd find a relative decrease in gender-neutral songs? Think of all the early examples of misogynistic or male-oriented songs like "Under My Thumb," "Stupid Girl," and "Brown Sugar." Has there really been an increase in such songs? Or is it something you said earlier: The problem (if it is a problem that the Stones can't get big hits anymore) isn't the increase in misogynistic songs. It's the decrease is social tolerance for misogynistic songs. This is a more powerful theory, I think, although there's a lot of evidence to suggest that misogynistic songs by other artists still make it.
I think the real problem is simply age: The older the Stones get, the fewer the number of people in the MTV-watching, CD-buying crowd (typically, 12-24)who can identify with them, look upon them as sexy (or as sexual models to imitate), or even comprehend them. I doubt most people 12-24 could understand either a song like "Evening Gown," on the one hand, or "Flip the Switch," on the other. So a decreasing popularity is inevitable.
What's ironic is that the decrease--if measured in terms of CD sales--only began sharply with B2B, an experiment designed to appeal to the CD-buying crowd. According to *Radio and Records* data, VL only sold marginally fewer copies than SW, and then "Stripped" sold nearly 1 million--amazing for a live(-ish) record. The big drop came with B2B, which sold only half as many copies as VL and SW, and the overwhelming majority of those copies being sold to Europeans, who like that techno-dance-computer-Kraftwerk sound much more than the average American. This illustrates the Taoist principle that "the harder you try, the less likely you'll succeed." The Stones should just be themselves and not cater to trends. They'll certainly sell more records--and might even have a hit--if they would just relax and be themselves, like the do every night on stage on tours that are much, much more successful than the last record.