She Is Strong ... She Is Invincible ... She Is Kelly!

June 27, 2007

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So I’m listening to Kelly Clarkson’s new CD, “My December,” as I write this. You know, the one that label boss Clive Davis reportedly didn’t want you to hear because he didn’t think it had radio hits. I pleased to say I’m totally digging it. It’s catchier than the buzz would have you to believe. Given the media reports and Clive’s backhanded diss at the Grammys where he gushed over Carrie Underwood’s talent for letting him call the shots while ignoring Kelly, you’d think Kelly had abandoned pop altogether in favor of Gregorian chants. But that’s not the case. Kelly’s in great voice -- blistering and powerful on some songs, achingly fragile on others -- and you can really tell that the songs mean something to her. That should count for something.

Now, I get that the whole music biz is in the toilet and the labels need hits like a drowning man needs an inflatable love doll, but the way I see it, Kelly had five huge radio hits from her last CD when most big artists are lucky if they score one so if she wants to crack open her diary and vent about the jerk who done her wrong, I feel like she’s earned the right.

It’s too soon to say whether I’ll take any of the songs from “My December” into my heart or hearts like I did “Beautiful Disaster” from her first album, which was never a single by the way, still I’m loving listening to this new CD because it feels like a political act. When I went to Target on the Tuesday it came out and plunked down my $9.95 (it was on sale, hooray!) I was surprised to discover my feelings were bigger than me and bigger than Kelly. I felt like I was sticking it to the man. Somehow in my mind, the Clive controversy came to represent all the injustices of the Bush decade. After six and a half years of shit-storm brought on by a lot of old rich white guys running the show, it’s inspiring to see a young female, who is by all accounts a sweet, decent person, stand up for herself and say, “Sorry, fellas, I’m not compromising.” That takes guts.

In an excellent article in the L.A. Times, music critic Ann Powers wrote about the Kelly brouhaha and lamented the possibility that the quality of Kelly’s music will ultimately not matter as much as whether or not “My December” delivers hits, that that’s what everyone’s going to be watching. At first, I thought Powers was right on, but now that I’ve been listening to the CD, I’m more optimistic and I think Kelly will ultimately be vindicated, much like the Dixie Chicks were. Kelly may not have a smash the size of “Breakaway” but that’s a tough act to follow no matter how many Max Martin-penned songs you record so you might as well put your heart into it. What if you compromised and the record still didn’t do well -- even with Clive’s magic touch. That would really suck.

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