Oh man, this is hard to do… I have a confession to make.
I have purchased, I have in my possession and when the mood strikes me just right I do occasionally listen to the newest Katy Perry album.
Please, please don’t tell anybody.
If people find out about this it will obliterate any amount of street cred I may have.
I’d heard the first two singles, “California Gurls”, and “Teenage Dream” and was strangely drawn to them.
The lyrics are sophomoric and the arrangements are stunningly formulaic to the point of dumbfoundedness. In other words, it’s an almost perfect pop album. Not the sort of stuff to which you or I would think I’d be drawn.
Ultimately, though, I guess that’s a big part of why I enjoy it so much.
Not since I was the inwardly proud yet outwardly secretive 8-year-old owner of a red fake-leather jacket with lots of fake zippers and a cheap white glove during the heyday of Michael Jackson’s reign of pop supremacy had I been the type to be drawn to what people refer to as the “pop music” genre.
Not long after the thrill of “Thriller” had worn off, I became the type who liked hard rock.
It was an image I conjured and cultivated myself. I became a very convincing actor with all the right props. Long hair and real black leather jacket with working zippers. Hours spent perfecting the coolest Guns ‘n’ Roses and Van Halen licks. I was comfortable playing the part in which I had cast myself and it was easy to do. People knew exactly what to expect of me and I knew exactly how to act. It was all right there in the script.
This script, however, had a head writer who wasn’t very open to changes. Me. I had initially become very comfortable in that role I had cast for myself, but now was feeling a little bit constrained by it. And by “a little bit” I mean a lot a bit. There were things that I wanted to do or at least try that ran conversely with the character’s traits. After a while I felt the need to launch a rebellion against that writer. Fire him. Try out all the things he wouldn’t let me do. Improvise. Cut my hair and dye it orange or magenta. Introduce some synthesizer sounds into my music. Wear a kilt and some eyeliner. Start a business. Try to get a column printed in a local newspaper. Become a mascot for a roller derby team and dance around like an idiot. Buy a Katy Perry CD. Enjoy it without trying to find reasons why it’s okay to do so.
Dace Anderson is the founder and president of Dace’s Rock ‘n’ More, a non-profit music school in Maple Valley.
He can be reached at uofrock@hotmail.com.
