The Revengers (more music)

I recall an interview with Amy Winehouse that I read in late 2006 (when she was just about to release a knockout sophomore album, consternating critics with the occasional incoherent rant about her addiction to weed [?]). Amy said that while writing "Back to Black," after breaking up with current husband, Blake Fielder Civil, she was listening to "One Kiss Can Lead to Another," the much beloved Girl Group box set, almost exclusively. Heartbroken, she could not abide the kind of "post-relationship" anthems released by present day pop idols, the ones about how "you don't need that scum anyway," how "you have more money and power," about how "you're unaffected, unharmed, heartless, tough." She could relate to the songs of the sixties about, and these are her words, "laying down on the floor and wanting to die." I was so struck by the observation. Where had melancholy gone? Why (apart from the Women's Movement--as this shift has occured with male singers as well) had we become these armored revengers, unfeeling (excuse the phrase) gangsters of love. Here are two to weigh, two wildly different songs about loss: The Chantels' "He's Gone" and Beyonce's "Irreplaceable" (both quite good).

The Queen B has prevented folks from embedding her videos, so here is the link.