Reading about the Doobies reminds me of one of those great gigs I went to "on spec" and ended up loving: Michael McDonald at the Jazz Cafe, which is a very small and rather awkwardly shaped venue in north London. I'd never checked for his records much, had the impression that he was a good singer whose records had been coming out of Blandville for years. Anyway, I decided to give it a pop, precisely because it was such a small place. As it turned out, it was a warm-up for a show at Wembley Arena, which holds about 12,000 people! Well, he kicked our British butts! His band were as tight as a duck's arse [erm, sorry about that, but the other expression I was going to use was even ruder], and pretty loud with it. His voice was unbelievably good, and he didn't shirk any of the many falsetto high notes. As for the songs, I was amazed at how many of them I knew. And of course he played What A Fool Believes, one of the greatest pop songs ever. That gig was a wonderful surprise, as it challenged my preconceptions... ...however, I can safely say that wild horses would not drag me to a Celine Dion gig. She certainly has a voice, one which I would describe as a force of nature - and forces of nature can be harnessed in all sorts of ways! I find her singing genuinely unbearable - I run, not walk to the off switch when I hear her lungs inflate, because it's inevitable that somewhere around the halfway mark, she (or her producer) will hit the button marked "EMOTE!", and that unholy caterwauling will start up. Aaaarrgh! What really strikes me is that she doesn't seem that interested in music. I read an interview with her (in Q, I think), in which she came across as a decent sort, and my overriding impression is that she is more "product" than just about any other singer. She has this extraordinary vocal power, which she doesn't seem to understand fully, but which has turned out to be an amazing cash cow. And as she enjoys singing, they (whoever "they" are!) can keep pushing glutinous ballads at her, she'll keep singing the living daylights out of 'em, and everybody concerned will add more zeroes to their bank balance. A win-win situation, some might say. Meanwhile, brilliantly talented people who right wonderful songs and put their heart and soul into them will continue to live on the breadline. Ho hum, that's the way of the world... More in sorrow than in anger, Azeem in London
