Next Generation

Niece #1, ten years old, is developing quite respectable musical taste. In fact, now I no longer listen to the Radio 1 Breakfast Show she’s quite possibly my only ongoing connection to The World Of Pop. We spent about three hours together this afternoon watching the TV music channel The Box and I’ve had a full update. The new Britney and Pink singles sound good, N.E.R.D. require further investigation and the solo effort by Some Other Guy From *NSYNC started to sound very catchy on the third play.
I asked her about Jamelia, about whom I’ve been reading good things. She explained that Jamelia sings Superstar and Thank You, the former of which I’ve heard. About half an hour later the video for the latter was shown. Though it didn’t have the mark of a timeless classic, I liked it and told her so. “Yeah,” she concurred, “it’s not bad, but don’t you think Christina did the ‘thank you for making me strong’ thing better with Fighter?” Impressed, I resisted the temptation to refer her to Sinéad O’Connor’s Thank You For Hearing Me for an even earlier take on the subject.
Amongst all the glossy pop princesses and bland R&B crooners I was surprised to see the video for Scissor Sisters’ Take Your Mama Out, presumably released as their next single. “Ooh, this is GREAT!” I enthused, then promptly started to experience it through #1′s eyes as a slow, clunking and quite possibly incomprehensible relic from a bygone era. After a minute she looked at me thoughtfully and announced that it was “actually rather cool.” (That “actually” presumably implies “… even though it’s so obviously influenced by stuff that was written several decades before I was born.”)
We’re now on CD-swapping terms – her Christina and Black Eyed Peas for my Kelis and Outkast. I wondered whether to try her out on the entire Scissor Sisters album, but then a mental image of her wandering round the house singing “You can’t see tits on the radio” at the top of her voice (and, specifically, her mum’s response to this) crossed my mind, so I thought better of it. Can’t see her being that impressed by the new Mountain Goats one either, though God only knows what we’ll be swapping in another five years’ time.
On a note that I’m sure would both amuse and horrify Robin, she commented on the lyrical blanking of bad language and sexual references in one of the videos. “I mean, I know that children have to be protected from these things,” she mused, “but it’s just really annoying that I have to listen to the albums to work out what they’re saying.” I was just starting to contemplate her admirable levels of resourcefulness when the video for Günther’s Ding Song Song was played, demonstrating that it’s not always the words themselves that are the problem.