En Tribute : Introducing Ms. Amy Winehouse

En Tribute : 

Introducing Ms. Amy Winehouse

 an introspective by: a.illumi

Rather than write some goodbye or memorial or stupid exploitative on how she died…this Lumi would like to introduce Amy Winehouse – a singer we should not have forgotten so soon and are lucky enough to be able to listen to even now.

If you are listening at all, you can tell that Ms. Winehouse’s style, music, and presentation all incorporate a wide array of delicious influences.  Ms. Winehouse herself pointed to the 1950-60’s girl groups like the Ronettes as one of her main influences.  Lumi permits you to go ahead and add other famous 50’s-60’s girl groups like the Crystals, Marvellettes, Shirelles, and the Flirtations, among many many others.  Ms. Amy Winehouse, like other legendary rockers and rockstresses, was first and foremost a music lover who most certainly did her homework.  Her other obvious influence are straight up soulful sumptuous solo singer jazz ladies like Sarah Vaughan.)

And bless her for saying,” Fuck Her” about Billie Holiday; this Lumi has felt much the same about overly mentioned woman worthies.  It is not that there is anything wrong with these women and they did do important things BUT somehow they become the only mentions and all that is understood or expected about women in that given genre, this, to Lumi, is a criminal travesty of ceaseless ramifications for generations of women and girls who feel and think that there was only THIS ONE jazz singer or architect.  In addition to Amy Winehouse’s named inspiration – Lumi also immediately thinks of Eartha Kitt’s,  “I want to be Evil” when she hears Winehouse’s “You know I’m no Good. Name almost any other famous jazz songstress and you can place them and Ms. Winehouse in the same school.  How long has it been since we were graced with a woman that could have easily hung with Nina Simone or Aretha Franklin?

In addition to the incredible writing and singing – Ms. Winehouse has also been playing guitar since 13.and of course continues to perfect her fashion phantasticness:

The thing about Amy Winehouse – the thing that made her special – the thing that drove her – the thing that led us not to fully accept her is simple:She is not like youShe had her own thingA strange thing for many of us, especially fans in America, i would think.She was unabashedly a drinker, a rocker, a lover, and lived in a fashion universe all her own.We prefer our stars to conform and be ashamed of who they truly are: hiding any of their issues in Photoshop or “spa’ getaways.  It was in this sort of shaming and shunning and ignoring and constant picking at her, that Lumi feels, Ms. Winehouse was done very wrong.

From the fantastic Sam Spratt

She was no weaklingShe was no useless freakShe was this:

and this:

and this:

Which should, Lumi really hopes, SHOULD remind you that all stars, superstars, Grammy winners, grocery store attendants and everyone famous or whatever are human beings and we all need more than money or work or fame in order to live.  And perhaps, if we could treat everyone, including the famous with a little more humanity, not without criticism mind you, but with slightly less cruelty than we might avert further tragedies like this one.We need more types of all artists – not less and we need to do this by accepting and appreciating a MUCH wider range of expressive styles.  We need to do it while they are here, before they burn out, give up, or give in.  Right now, Lumi can think of a few female talents (and she is sure there are many many more who never even get far enough due to the shaming and shunning) that experience a great deal of crap storm for being something other than what is expected:  Beth Ditto, Brody Dalle , M.IA., Nicki Minaj and no one will believe Lumi because she this next lady is so famous but she is going to say it anyway – Lady Gaga.  Lumi and Wicked both believe strongly that these women are just squished and squished until no more music can come out because they can’t breathe or they just walk away from it or are left only to make terrible squeaks for many years to come.  Ladies and gentleman, please stop obsessing on what our signers and songwriters and band members look like and who they are fucking and please listen to what they are doing- judge not Katy Perry by her pumps but by her songstressing no?In short, everyone should be ashamed that we can’t seem to appreciate and love and keep our amazing talents alive or unbroken.  Booh to us and yeah to Ms. Amy Winehouse for staying true to herself.Maybe next go round, we won’t be so hard on the bouffanted ducklings before they have a chance to truly become swans.  Also, do yourself a favor, instead of JUST buying a ton of her music now, because she is DEAD and now has a MYSTIQUE; INSTEAD look around the world of women in music, in the media, and in general and choose not to fuck over anymore amazing girls or women because they look different, or dress different,  or act different, or have boyfriend problems…let’s be the voice that says, “I don’t care who her boyfriend is and I don’t judge her for her substance use”  Let’s hold our female rockstars to the same standard we do the men.  Let them be who they are and we love and admire them for creating incredible out of whatever the situation is.  Furthermore, don’t buy into tabloids or the mentality.  Let the women be musicians, not our personal game of Operation and we might just see a great deal more of  talents like the late great Ms. Amy Winehouse

As always we aunties want to hear from you!  Especially if you have know any great new music we should be listening to or if you have something to say, preferably nice, about Ms. Winehouse(we won’t not respond to unkindness and derision about her but we warn you – our heart is in this one and it could get messy).You can find us on facebook, tumblr myspace, and email the2aunties@gmail.com