An Australian TV show looks
behind the scenes of a manufactured pop band, created by the TV station,
a gossip magazine and the local Warner subsidiary: (The Age)
Of course they'll have hits. Sell out stadiums too, what with all this
free publicity. The people up top ... have ensured the media is on the
girls' side before they've even recorded a note. How often is it you
encounter people who are famous before you even know who they are?
We don't even know the name of the group yet.
Perhaps nothing bad happened at all. Could it be that Chantelle's departure
was scripted from the out? It makes for a great plottwist. It would be also
in keeping with the archmedia manipulation that is required from the
creators of every successful manufactured pop group, from Phil Spector's
Ronettes through to the Sex Pistols and Frankie Goes To Hollywood, to
the Spice Girls.
Here's the main point I want to make. How one generation's definition of
what defines a pop star differs from another's. What was great about the
Spice Girls was they managed to project the image of five clueless girls
having fun, effortlessly escaping the humdrum of reality through dint of
their own personalities. It didn't matter if they could sing or dance or
turn up to rehearsal on time. And it shouldn't. Pop stars are the antithesis
of work. Or they should be.