Gimme More: Some Unsolicited Career Advice for Britney Spears
By Aaron Goldstein (11/03/07)
An argument could be made that Britney Spears' career is the one area of her life where she need no counsel. Her single Gimme More, from her just released album Blackout, is her biggest hit since her 1999 debut single Baby One More Time. Blackout itself has drawn mostly positive reviews as a collection of good dance tunes. The sort of thing one would like to hear if one were to go clubbing. The CD was originally scheduled to be released on November 13th but it was pushed up to October 30th after it had been leaked on the Internet.
In 2007, Britney Spears has made the headlines for all the wrong reasons – shearing her locks, going in and out of rehab for substance abuse, estrangement from her mother, brushes with the law and most importantly losing the custody of her children to ex-husband Kevin Federline. It is a given that no matter what Britney Spears does she will make news. Given this fact it is in the best interest of Britney Spears to do two things. First, clean up her act. Second, make headlines with her music. I shall focus on how she can make headlines with her music.
The biggest headlines Spears made with her music this year was her lackluster and lethargic performance of Gimme More at the MTV Music Awards in September. Her literal walking through that performance indicates two things. First, she was most likely under the influence of an intoxicating substance or substances. Second, she looked bored both with life and with music. Since music is Britney Spears’ life this cannot be a good thing.
So what should Britney Spears do? Here are but five things Spears could do that might make people and the media to pay attention first and foremost to her music.
1. Change Her Genre
Britney has gone as far as she can go with the pop/dance milieu. She needs to expand her musical horizons and experiment with a different musical style be it folk, country, jazz or psychedelic rock just to name a few. Now I know it is hard to imagine Britney recording a CD of traditional English folk songs. Yet this could prove to be very fruitful. If one listens to an English folk group like Fairport Convention or Pentangle much of this music is very danceable. I also mention these groups in particular because both had female lead vocalists (Jacqui McShee of Pentangle and the late Sandy Denny of Fairport Convention). Britney is 26 years old. McShee and Denny were at the height of their success in their mid-20s. If Spears were to hear their voices it might prove to be a source of inspiration. Britney need not give up dancing. She just needs to dance to a different beat.
2. Record a Concept Album or Song Cycle
Of course, concept albums and song cycles are nothing new but it could be fertile ground for someone like Britney. Something as simple as a favorite book or movie could serve as the basis of a concept album or song cycle. No, I am not expecting Britney Spears to record a CD of songs based on Joseph Conrad’s An Outcast of the Islands or Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. Something mainstream audiences would be familiar with like The Wizard of Oz or Harry Potter would do just fine.
Britney could also record a tribute album. I can see it. Britney Sings The Beatles or Britney Sings Dylan. It would give Blonde on Blonde a whole new meaning. What about Britney covering Billie Holiday tunes? Could you imagine Britney singing “Strange Fruit”? Sure, Britney has done covers before recording “I Love Rock n’ Roll” in 2001; a song made famous in the early 1980s by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts. Yet it would be intriguing to see how Britney would interpret a specific artist or group over a series of songs. She could also produce a work in tribute of a historical figure as the British country/folk rock group Plainsong did with their 1972 album In Search of Amelia Earhart. Could there be a woman of historical significance that Spears would like to record a series of songs about?
Or she could use her next album to make a personal statement such as the late Arthur Lee did with Love’s Forever Changes or Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks. This, of course, would require her to conjure up her own material. If that isn’t a viable option she would need to collaborate with someone who innately understood the mood of her vision and how to make it come to life for the world to hear.
3. Form a Super Group or Record a Duet
Collaboration might very well be the key. Imagine Britney Spears at the helm of a super group. Britney would be on lead vocal. Her drummer would be someone like Carmine Appice from Vanilla Fudge, Ozzy Ozbourne and Pink Floyd amongst others. She could have on bass either Bootsy Collins of Parliament-Funkadelic or Donald “Duck” Dunn of Booker T & the MGs/Blues Brothers fame. Let’s add Peter Frampton on lead guitar. He could certainly show her the way. They could be called Britney & the Dirty Old Men. Yes, I have a strong bias towards retro and for good reason. These grizzled rock veterans could broaden Britney’s appeal while introducing them to a whole new audience. If Britney has the chops to rock with these guys it would be a win-win.
Britney could also accomplish this by recording a duet or a series of duets. How would Britney Spears sound with Johnny Mathis? Or Stevie Wonder? Paul Simon? Gladys Knight? Dionne Warwick? Carly Simon? Surely, she can’t be that vain to say no that lineup.
4. Learn How to Write a Song or Play an Instrument
Britney might try to become a singer/songwriter. Of course, singer/songwriters are a dime a dozen. And there are people who are better suited to singing the songs of other people. If that’s the case, Britney could take a page from Christina Aguilera’s book and find her own Linda Perry who could innately understand Britney’s mood and put it to music. With such a relationship perhaps Britney could gain the confidence to write her own material. There’s more on Aguilera in a moment.
If Britney were to make a serious commitment to learn an instrument it would add an extra dimension to her music. It doesn’t really matter what the instrument is. It could be the guitar or drums. It could be the flute or piano. Aretha Franklin and the late Nina Simone could play piano. Why not Britney? Having that knowledge can only make her music better and more interesting.
5. Follow Christina Aguilera’s Lead
The way things are going right now if we were to fast forward to 2017 there is no question that Aguilera will have the more accomplished career. Apart from having stronger pipes, there is no question that Aguilera’s collaboration with Linda Perry has enriched her career. Perry wrote her signature song Beautiful (from the much maligned Stripped CD). Aguilera and Perry also collaborated on Aguilera’s 2006 album Back to Basics which was an homage to blues and jazz from the 1920s, 1930s & 1940s. This can be heard especially on the Andrews Sisters inspired song Candy Man – which was co-written by Aguilera and Perry. Aguilera has also exhibited few of the personal problems that have beguiled Spears and has handled fame about as well as a young woman under 30 can in this age of every waking moment being posted on YouTube.
Aguilera has done many of the things I have put forth. She hass sung duets with Tony Bennett and Andrea Bocelli. She’s worked with Herbie Hancock covering a Leon Russell song. That is but a degree of separation from Miles Davis and Donnie Hathaway. She did a bedazzling cover of James Brown’s “It’s Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World” at this year’s Grammy Awards show. As someone who viewed it, her tribute to the Godfather of Soul was the best part of the evening and one of the few moments of that show worth remembering. In many ways, Christina Aguilera is only on the first leg of a long musical journey. There is a path Britney can follow and make her own. She merely needs to take the first step.
Of course, any of the suggestions I have recommended have their pitfalls. Britney does take some risk should she embark on any of them. There is a chance she could both alienate her current fan base while simultaneously not being well received by new audiences. Her attempt to shift gears could be subject to disdain and ridicule. Yet it is certainly possible that with the passage of time what seemed like musical missteps would eventually be seen as groundbreaking, innovative and a source of inspiration to musicians and music aficionados alike. The question is does Britney have the patience and temperament to risk artistic failure. If she is willing to undergo the often painful transition from entertainer to artist then she has a chance to truly leave an imprint on the world. Britney Spears must ask how much of herself can she give? Or will she merely be content to gimme more?
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