{"id":6158,"date":"2023-11-20T11:45:26","date_gmt":"2023-11-20T18:45:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/?p=6158"},"modified":"2023-11-22T17:53:59","modified_gmt":"2023-11-23T00:53:59","slug":"cher-christmas-reviews-upcoming-appearances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/2023\/11\/cher-christmas-reviews-upcoming-appearances\/","title":{"rendered":"Cher Christmas Reviews &#038; Upcoming Appearances"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/iceberg.png?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-6159 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/iceberg.png?resize=423%2C278&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"423\" height=\"278\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/iceberg.png?resize=1024%2C673&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/iceberg.png?resize=300%2C197&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/iceberg.png?resize=768%2C504&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/iceberg.png?resize=676%2C444&amp;ssl=1 676w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/iceberg.png?w=1317&amp;ssl=1 1317w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 423px) 100vw, 423px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s way past time to catch up on how Cher\u2019s new album has been doing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Remixes<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Before we start, the digital remixes for \u201cDJ Play a Christmas Song\u201d were just released. Check your local streaming service. Some remixes I like even better than the \u201ccanonical\u201d song, and I think I can only say that about two prior remixes. Although I acknowledge the fun aspect of remixes, (which is a very unfun way of saying it), remixes kind of confuse me in a scholarship sense: what\u2019s the canonical version if remixes fare better than the album versions in sales or on the charts?<\/p>\n<p>And anything that stars with a pounding beat for three minutes will send me to bed with a headache. But happily, this is not the case with these remixes.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>DJ Play A Christmas Song (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-lEtzKbitdI\">Extended Mix<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>DJ Play A Christmas Song (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9EpU1mrhPtY\">Extended Instrumental<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>DJ Play A Christmas Song (<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/u38EQ7BLtyY?si=I-8bJ1egjNqqdcLV\">7th Heaven Club Mix<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Good Reviews<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>So let\u2019s start with the fans. Ones I\u2019ve heard from have been playing the album nonstop. Starting with Google reviews, I couldn\u2019t find anything less than a five-star. The Amazon reviews are spread out between the two editions Amazon is selling.<\/p>\n<p>Amazon 1 or 2 stars complain that their CD cases were cracked. I bought some extra copies for gifts and the majority of mine from Amazon US were cracked as well. None of my Amazon UK cases were cracked. But some fans were complaining that their CDs were cracked too! Boo Amazon US.<\/p>\n<p>One four-star review said the album lacks the sparkle of a typical Cher album and they wanted more dance songs. Another four-star review wanted the songs to be more traditional. This speaks to the variety of Cher fans and how many subgroups want different things.<\/p>\n<p>Some other four-star examples:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cSo it&#8217;s arrived ,after year&#8217;s of rumours Cher&#8217;s Christmas album has finally landed. Overall its a good affair with stompers Dj play a christmas song and Angels in the snow ,Drop top sleigh ride withTyga could have been awful but is a winner, couple of ballads which fit in well.Home feat Michael Buble is almost the same version he recorded with Blake Shelton ,should have done Baby it&#8217;s cold out side instead or maybe that&#8217;s to woke or snowflakey for these days. Dissapointing mastering or production ,not sure which it is but the sound is very basie and not clear at all which for me spoils the whole album. That said Put the dec&#8217;s up have a drink and put this Cher-mazing album on ! ,\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Or this funny four-star:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>Good CD except for 2 tracks which are awful<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>There are more cracked CD complaints.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the five-star reviews:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201crefreshingly different, in top form, Cher puts her stamp on Xmas, \u201cFavorite Christmas CD of All Time\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Two fans disagreed over one song:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cI love &#8220;Drop Top Sleigh Ride&#8221; with Tyga! It&#8217;s has a great upbeat and is just plain fun.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Another fan disagrees:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cTrack #7 &#8220;Drop Top Sleigh Ride&#8221; with Tyga is the stand out bad track simply the rap ruins the song. The song starts great and fits perfectly, then Tyga puts the spoil on the song with rap. Wish there was a [Tyga] rap free version of the song.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>And this hilarious five-star review:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cJUNK the album is a piece of junk..cher should leave christmas ALONE<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Or this review speaking to the variety:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cThis is the best album Cher has ever recorded! The perfect mix of 60&#8217;s nostalgia, dance, rock and ballads.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Other headlines used words like fabulous, quality, wonderful, loved it!<\/p>\n<p>The overall Amazon rating is 86% at five-star (at this time). But these are most likely big fans. <em>Dancing Queen<\/em> also has a five-star rating at 85% (and I don&#8217;t remember such enthusiasm for that album) so this could just mean Cher fans like Cher stuff and they\u2019re motivated to give Amazon reviews. Not that there&#8217;s\u00a0 anything wrong with that and I use those reviews all the time when picking out books for authors I\u2019m less familiar with.<\/p>\n<p>But next I put it to Mr. Cher Scholar. Mr. Cher Scholar is not a Cher fan, per se. He\u2019s also very much entirely not a Christmas song fan. So this album posed particular problems for him potentially. But he lives with a Christmas song \/ Cher fan who made him listen to the album four times on a recent road trip (I gave him 48-hour breaks in between). But his opinion was already contaminated by my complaints about the album&#8217;s one bad online review so he defended the album as \u201cfun.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But let\u2019s be honest. Mr. Cher Scholar is Mr. Cher Scholar for a reason. He\u2019s no dummy. So we need to go searching for other reviews. But where do you even go to find album reviews these days?<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecrimson.com\/article\/2023\/10\/26\/Cher-christmas-album-review-holiday-winter\/\"><em>The Harvard Crimson<\/em><\/a> gave the most detailed review and called it a \u201cstrong showing from an industry legend.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cWhile holiday albums are a dime a dozen, Cher gives her own take on the saturated genre by combining mid-twentieth century doo-wop and early 2000s dance-pop with beloved\u2026classics.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cChristmas is at its best when Cher leans into one of two genres: big band ballads of the 50s and 60s and dance-pop tracks reminiscent of her 1988 hit \u2018Believe.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The reviewer likes the high notes and vocal runs of Darlene Love and Cher and thinks \u201cAngels in the Snow is a strong track\u201d (although the reviewer considers the song a love song which I don\u2019t because of the strong backup by Cyndi Lauper).<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cOne experimental, yet highly successful track that deviates from these genres is \u2018Drop Top Sleigh Ride\u2019 with Tyga. Proceeds with a bass and 808-heavy instrumental. Tyga\u2019s highly suggestive verse. \u201cThese rap elements would be astonishing on any Christmas album, let alone one by Cher. Still, the track is surprisingly festive and cohesive, as the jingle bells and Cher\u2019s silken vocals soften its more unconventional parts.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The rap song comes up again and again as a touchstone in reviews. We\u2019ll talk about this song more at the end.<\/p>\n<p>The reviewer didn\u2019t like the\u00a0 duet with Bubl\u00e9, but for no other reason than it\u2019s too slow.\u00a0Slow and sad Christmas songs have long been my favorite type of Christmas song and last week <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/music\/2022\/dec\/06\/santa-claus-best-christmas-songs-miserable-prince-marvin-gaye\"><em>The Guardian<\/em> agreed with me<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The reviewer talks about the \u201cuplifting anthems\u201d on the album but then doesn\u2019t like the most anthem-y ones:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cSome songs display too much holiday: \u2018This Will Be Our Year\u2019 and \u2018Christmas Aint Christmas Without You\u2019 <\/em>(mistakenly listed as \u201cChristmas Won\u2019t Be Christmas Without You) f<em>or those songs\u2019 \u201dpine-scented mediocrity.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>It\u2019s interesting our bad review below will single out \u201cThis Will Be Our Year\u201d as \u00a0the only \u201ccharming\u201d track on the album.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/herald-review.com\/life-entertainment\/nation-world\/music\/cher-first-christmas-music-album\/article_9cd11007-aeea-5ec1-b192-37d09b966d8a.html\">Herald&amp;Review<\/a> says, \u201cThere isn&#8217;t much Cher hasn&#8217;t done in her career. A Christmas album is new territory, though\u2026The secret, of course, was to lean into the incredible eclecticism of her career, all while avoiding the sleepy, saccharine pitfalls of a &#8216;Silent Night&#8217;-heavy holiday release.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>They go on to say, \u201cAlexander Edwards, Cher&#8217;s romantic partner and a credited producer on the project, is best friends with Tyga, who helped make the most unexpected and delightful collaboration happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yes: \u201cmost unexpected and delightful\u201d \u2013 keep that in mind for later on.<\/p>\n<p>This review also had some interview elements.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cShe was asked to do a special, she says. \u2018They said, &#8216;Well, we can do it in England.&#8217; I said, &#8216;We can do it on the moon, but I&#8217;m not doing it,'&#8221; she says, not until an [acting strike] agreement is reached.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Yup, I support that. Maybe we can get a special next year once the strike is, hopefully, resolved. Because that would still be awesome.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.allmusic.com\/album\/christmas-mw0004089395\">Allmusic<\/a> gave the album3 1\/2 stars and said it was a \u201cnice balance an upbeat contemporary energy with the storied Motown sound of the original recordings..\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitaljournal.com\/entertainment\/review-cher-releases-her-first-ever-holiday-album\/article\">Digital Journal\u2019<\/a>s review was almost too positive. They liked just about everything with no clear indication as to why. The most specific they ever got was to say that on \u201cChristmas (Baby Please Come Home)\u201d Cher and Darlene Love \u201cboth showcase their powerhouse crystalline vocals, to the point where it is hard to differentiate where Cher picked up and where Darlene Love left off.\u201d They also say \u201cAngels in the Snow \u201cwould be a good sing-a-long and they end the review with \u201cMariah Carey ought to watch out\u2026 With this new collection, it is evident that there is a new \u2018Christmas Queen\u2019 in town.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Well, not quite.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/retropopmagazine.com\/cher-christmas-album-review\/\">Retro Pop<\/a> was the only review, fan or online to talk about the \u201criotous rendition of &#8220;Put A Little Holiday In Your Heart\u201d and called \u201c\u2019DJ Play A Christmas Song\u2019 a &#8220;genius opener that sets the scene for an album where Cher throws out the Christmas album rulebook and places the focus on having a good time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>They go on to say, \u201cthe Motown-inspired &#8216;Christmas Ain\u2019t Christmas Without You&#8217; and hip-hop leaning &#8216;Drop Top Sleigh Ride&#8217; (feat Tyga) add to her musical toy box.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, \u201cthere\u2019s the occasional misstep; a reworked \u2018Home\u2019 with Michael Bubl\u00e9 is less a winter warmer and more an ill-judged vehicle to shoehorn him into the set \u2013 and clocking in as the longest track on the album between two feelgood originals, something of a vibe-killer \u2013 while \u2018Santa Baby\u2019 is a little out of place on an album that largely avoids the obvious holiday staples.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s kinda true on both counts.<\/p>\n<p>But, the review says, &#8220;come closing number, a cover of The Zombies\u2019 \u2018This Will Be Our Year,\u2019 however, those shortcomings are forgiven and the overall effect is one of joy and warmth that has you reaching for a snowball and soaking up the holiday cheer\u2026.Overwhelmingly festive and quintessentially Cher \u2013 there\u2019s a new Queen Of Christmas in town!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Okay, let\u2019s drop the Queen of Christmas thing. This is one album, people.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bad Reviews<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I have to say if you want to be a Cher fan who reads positive reviews about her all the time, you\u2019ll have to be a fan of her movie career because she gets about 100% positive accolades for her acting performances, even in movies where she\u2019s clearly playing a version of herself. Film people love her.<\/p>\n<p>Music people, not so much. The music reviews historically have been very disdainful reviews. Not just bad reviews, but vitriolic. Like pre-trolling, offensive ad hominem reviews. They\u2019re usually personal attacks and this goes back to the beginning of her career. But something changed in the last 10 or so years where these trashy reviews suddenly stopped, like overnight.<\/p>\n<p>But sometimes you still\u00a0 see one and you have to think about what it is about Cher herself they do not like. And you can tell it gets personal because attacks on what she represents will slip in there. Oftentimes, it&#8217;s political. They don&#8217;t like her politics.\u00a0 So whenever I read a bad review, I try to separate legitimate points, (because even Cher herself will criticize her vocal performances as being far from perfect), from reviews with subterranean agendas.<\/p>\n<p>On an album like this, reviewers could focus on her vocal changes or the sentimental Christmas genre they just don\u2019t like, on production matters.<\/p>\n<p><em>Slant Magazine<\/em> put out not one bad review but two pieces trashing not only the album but the song \u201cDrop Top Sleigh Ride\u201d particularly and we\u2019ll end this conversation talking about that song.<\/p>\n<p>The author of both articles is a self-described fashionista and cool-finder. Which, of itself, does not make her a bad critic. But cool-finders and fashionistas tend not to like Cher because her fashion is of-its-own-path and the only people who find her cool are other cool people, like Nile Rodgers, for example. There\u2019s surface cool and foundational cool and the ones who gravitate to the prior don\u2019t like the later.<\/p>\n<p>But let&#8217;s look at her points individually:\u00a0\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.slantmagazine.com\/music\/cher-christmas-album-review\/\">A Holiday Album We Didn\u2019t Know We Didn\u2019t Need<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The reviewer talks about the \u201clong-dated dance-pop of [Taylor and Cher\u2019s] late-\u201990 smash \u2018Believe\u2019\u201d and how \u201cthe sleigh goes off the rails\u201d with the \u201cpaint-by-the-numbers\u201d DJ single, &#8221; its \u201cgratuitous Auto-Tune&#8221; (she likes the word gratuitous) &#8220;and half-step key change.\u201d She complains there are too many songwriters, a common lament for Cher\u2019s dance music songs and says \u201cSanta Baby\u201d is \u201cvampy-to-the-point-of-campy\u201d and that\u2019s kinda true but fully in the pocket of a Cher thing if you knew her history at all. In fact, to invoke the words &#8220;vamp&#8221; and &#8220;camp&#8221; in a review of Cher without any acknowledgement of irony says a lot about the age of the reviewer and their cultural literacy.<\/p>\n<p>She says, &#8220;but that most \u201ccringe-inducing\u201d is the \u201ctrap-adjacent &#8221;Drop Top Sleigh Ride.\u2019\u201d She calls the song \u201ca crime against the holiday spirit\u201d and dislikes the \u201cembarrassing wordplay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So here&#8217;s my question: if she found the toned-down sexual elements of the Cher song uncomfortable, what does she think about the entire genre? Because she is the only reviewer to repeatedly label the song \u201ctrap-adjacent\u201d vs rap.\u00a0 I looked up bios and Wikipedia pages for both Tyga and Alexander Edwards and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.last.fm\/tag\/trap\/artists\">a page on the top trap artists<\/a> and they were not listed as trap artists.<\/p>\n<p>According to Wikipedia, \u201cTrap is a subgenre of hip hop music that originated in the Southern United States in the 1990s. The genre gets its name from the Atlanta slang term &#8220;trap house&#8221;, a house used exclusively to sell drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Both Tyga and Edwards are from California, not Atlanta. I&#8217;m not sure how these are trap artists.<\/p>\n<p>In any case, the reviewer even hates the album title (but what Christmas album ever had a good title?)<\/p>\n<p>She only liked \u201cThis Year Will Be Our Year\u201d and went on to highlight its hipster credibility.<\/p>\n<p>In another article, &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.slantmagazine.com\/music\/worst-christmas-songs-of-all-time\/\">The 15 Worst Christmas Songs of All Time<\/a>\u201d the same reviewer starts with even more snark beginning with \u201capologies in advance\u201d (a total hipster adage). The list included, judging by the Facebook comments defending them, some fan favorites. All the comments I could find about the Cher&#8217;s song on their Facebook post were defending the song. Some examples:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/defense.png?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-6160\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/defense.png?resize=565%2C389&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"565\" height=\"389\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/defense.png?w=816&amp;ssl=1 816w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/defense.png?resize=300%2C207&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/defense.png?resize=768%2C529&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/defense.png?resize=676%2C466&amp;ssl=1 676w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 565px) 100vw, 565px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The reviewer alo attacks Dan Fogelberg\u2019s \u201cOld Lang Syne\u201d for its \u201cgratuitous details\u201d but aren&#8217;t the details of the scene in that song the whole effect? She hates that effect! She attacks the usual novelty songs for being novelty songs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Rap Song<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>So\u2026.anyway. There\u2019s something significant about a white woman (who gives a lot of good reviews to Taylor Swift) placing a laser focus on the one rap song over multiple reviews. Which is not to say a white, female, pro-Swiftie can&#8217;t make sentient points about rap, but this review seems to be sticking out like a sore thumb. It feels like a dog whistle. Especially when so many other fans and online reviews single out the song as a good showing.<\/p>\n<p>As I was driving to Cleveland a few weeks ago I was tooling some response jokes\u00a0 to this review, like this one:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis reviewer needs to pull that piece of coal Santa gave her last year out of her ass.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Or \u201cIsn\u2019t if funny that on this album Cher asked us to &#8216;put a little Christmas in our heart&#8217; but the reviewer couldn\u2019t find it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Anyway, those were my jokes. Once I got back I realized this bad review was a very significant review. Because after trying to figure out what so offended this reviewer about the song,\u00a0 I have come to believe this is the most important song on the album. And a crucial song at this juncture of Cher&#8217;s recording career.<\/p>\n<p>I believe there is a direct through line from Sonny\u2019s love of gospel and R&amp;B to this very song. And there&#8217;s a direct connection between this song and &#8220;Believe.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Rap music has always incorporated technology in subversive ways. The white rock response to this just illustrates that subversiveness, like this other ironic Cher intersection involving Gregg Allman. &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.needsomefun.net\/gregg-allman-facts\/\">When asked what he thought about rap music, Gregg Allman said rap was \u201cshort for crap<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So it\u2019s politically significant that Cher included a song from her boyfriend, who happens to be a rap producer who then called on his best friend, Tyga, to sing on the Cher song.<\/p>\n<p>And it\u2019s also significant that Cher recorded \u201cBelieve\u201d which is known as the Cher-effect, a technology that she stubbornly continues to use, a technology establishment rockers dislike but that the rap community has wholeheartedly embraced,\u00a0 a fact proven not only in the rap songs themselves that went on to use the technology but with the famous story of Jay-Z approaching Cher at the Met Gala one year to tell her \u201cthank you\u201d for spearheading its use. (In one story I read it was the former Mr. Kim Kardashian who said thank you). In any case, rappers understood auto tune&#8217;s potential as part of their ongoing use of technology. And since then, Cher has been seen as much more popular in the rap community.<\/p>\n<p>Therefore, the song makes perfect sense on this album and can be read as Cher\u2019s merging musically and officially into the community she is already a part of.<\/p>\n<p>The first essay in\u00a0<em>The Cambridge Companion to Pop and Rock<\/em> (I&#8217;m only two essays in) is called \u201cPlugged In: Technology and Popular Music\u201d by Paul Th\u00e9berge and it covers a lot of this ground:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cAny discussion of the role of technology in popular music should begin with the simple premise: without electronic technology, poplar music in the twenty-first century is unthinkable.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>He talks about pop technology from instruments to recording, performing and playback. Technology is a baseline and has a long history of being a \u201ccatalyst for musical change\u201d as does using technologies in ways for which the technologies were not intended, much of music\u2019s technology having been historically developed for other industries like for example the microphone being developed by the telephone industry.<\/p>\n<p>There have been \u201cconflicts in musical aesthetics and values have accompanied virtually every development in music\u201d and that \u201cdifferent uses of technology reflect different\u2026cultural priorities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Th\u00e9berge talks about microphones and amplifiers that fueled the new crooner of the 1940s and how those were once controversial technologies which have now been naturalized. He says it is a lie that pop and rock music can ever really be \u2018unplugged\u2019 and how this is more of an ideology than a possibility.<\/p>\n<p>The impact of the microphone alone \u201cwas both subtle and profound: for example, the string bass could be heard clearly, for the first time,\u00a0 in jazz recordings and the instrument quickly replaced the tuba\u2026\u201d\u00a0Crooning was instantly \u201cregarded by early critics as effeminate and their singing style and both technically and, by extension, emotionally \u2018dishonest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The microphone.<\/p>\n<p>Th\u00e9berge\u00a0 talks about how crooners would develop a singing technique better suited to the microphone and how Bing Crosby\u2019s \u201clow register was particularly enhanced by the microphone though the physical phenomenon known as the \u2018proximity effect.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Singers sing, Th\u00e9berge says, \u201cfirst and foremost <em>to<\/em> the microphone and every microphone has it\u2019s own characteristics and colours the sound in subtle, yet unmistakable ways.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This is a fact fans have noticed in the Michael Buble duet where the sounds of their respective microphones possibly doesn&#8217;t meld well in the final result.<\/p>\n<p>Th\u00e9berge says our experience of the \u2018grain\u2019 or \u2018warmth\u2019 or \u2018presence\u2019\u00a0 of a singers voice is always mediated by the microphone.<\/p>\n<p>Then, Th\u00e9berge shows, we begot magnetic recording and putting mics on other instruments. Then engineers \u201cgradually took over much of the responsibility for achieving musical balances\u201d and then multi-track studios and then guitar pickups and then rock amplification and feedback and distortion and then computers and computer software.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe loudness or rock or the booming bass of hip hop are sounds that can only be produced and experienced through technological means.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Th\u00e9berge talks about early technology effects that started out as novelty effects but have since become normalized: the echo effect in Elvis Presley\u2019s \u201cHound Dog,\u201d late 1960s \u201cflanging&#8221; on many psychedelic rock recordings, (created by manipulating the speed of tape recorders), and the multitrack tape recorder \u201cwhich makes of song recording a compositional process and is thus central to the creation of popular music at the most fundamental level.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole used multitrack recording to isolate their vocals from their orchestras. Overdubbing was used by Les Paul and Marty Ford and \u201ca single vocalist performing multiple harmony parts [was] a technique pushed to its limits by artists such as Joni Mitchell\u2026through overdubbing.\u201d Phil Spector and Stevie Wonder also using overdubbing for various purposes.<\/p>\n<p>And then mixing \u201c a complex and specialized tasks\u201d used by Giorgio Moroder and other disco producers continuing on to dance remixes and DJ mashups and rap songs.<\/p>\n<p>And then MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) which led to synthesizers, samplers, drum machines, sequencers, home computers, software simulation. \u201cThe technical reproduction is not without its social consequences. The technologies of rock and pop music production have long been a male-dominated terrain, and this has been as true for the most basic of rock technologies, the electric guitar, as it Is for the wider range of electronic technologies associated with stage and studio.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMusical instruments are often the centre of controversy in pop and rock because their use is so intimately tied with musicians\u2019 notions of personal expression\u2026.even Bob Dylan\u2019s adoption of the electric guitar\u2026was looked up with derision.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Th\u00e9berge then addresses rap and the Roland TR-808 drum machine (see above in <em>The Harvard Crimson<\/em> review of &#8220;Drop Top Sleigh Ride&#8221;) that became \u201cthe instrument of choice among many\u00a0 hip hop, house and music producers\u2026.for the ability to detune the bass drum, creating a sound akin to a low-frequency hum, and the necessity of building rhythm patterns in a precise grid-like framework, have been cited as influences on the musical style of these genres\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201c&#8230;scratching and the art of the DJ, &#8221; digital samplers, tape loops going back to the Moody Blues and King Crimson,<\/p>\n<p>Electronic pop is criticized \u201cby the rock press for being \u2018cold\u2019 and \u2018inhuman.\u2019 but that digital effects \u201cappear in a surprising number of genres.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He ends by saying,\u00a0\u201ctechnology must be understood as both an enabling and a constraining factor, that acts in complex and contradictory ways in music production, distribution and consumption&#8230;.Technology acts to disrupt both music performance and recording practices but the business of music itself,&#8230;mediating the ever-shifting power relations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Th\u00e9berge adds this article in is his notes: &#8220;An insightful case study of the uses of technology in the production of rap music can be found in \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amherst.edu\/system\/files\/media\/1298\/Rose%2520-%2520Soul%2520Sonic%2520Forces%2520-%2520Technology%252C%2520Orality%252C%2520and%2520Black%2520Cultural%2520Practice%2520in%2520Rap%2520Music.pdf\">Soul sonic forces: technology , orality, and black cultural practice in rap music<\/a>\u201d by Tricia Rose\u201d (1994)<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s worth a full read but let\u2019s just excerpt the salient parts of that piece. Tricia Rose talks about common criticisms of rap: it&#8217;s too simple and repetitive, it&#8217;s not creative or musical, its just noise. She takes the structures of rap, (the volume, looped drum beats and bass frequencies), back to earlier black cultural traditions and explains rap&#8217;s social and emotional power for black communities. She also outlines the differences between Western classical music structures and African-derived structures.<\/p>\n<p>Since we\u2019re talking about technology here, I just want to say Rose makes a very detailed case for repetition and how new technologies enable that repetition in rap, \u201cthis advanced technology has not bee straight-forwardly adopted: it has been significantly revised in ways that are in keeping with long-standing black cultural priorities, particularly samplers\u2026.[which have raised] complex questions regarding fair use of musical property and the boundaries of ownership of musical phrases.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That we already know. But Rose then explains how sampling is \u201ccritically linked to black poetic traditions and the oral forms that underwrite them\u2026.intertextuality, boasting, toasting, and signifying in rap\u2019s lyrical style and organization. Rap\u2019s oral articulations are heavily informed by technological processes\u2026.in the way orally based approaches to narrative are embedded in the use of the technology itself\u2026.these black techno-interventions [<em>me: of which auto tune is now one<\/em>] are often dismissed as nonmusical effects or rendered invisible.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cThe arrangement and selection of sounds rap musicians have invented via samples, turntables, tape machines, and sound systems are at once deconstructive (in that they actually take apart recorded musical compositions) and recuperative (because they recontextualize these elements creating new meanings for cultural sounds that have been relegated to commercial wastebins)\u2026.These revisions do not take place in a cultural and political vacuum, they are played out on a cultural and commercial terrain that embraces black cultural products and simultaneously denies their complexity and coherence. This denial is partly fueled by a mainstream cultural adherence to the traditional paradigms of Western classical music as the highest legitimate standard for musical creation, a standard that at this point should seem, at best, only marginally relevant in the contemporary popular music realm (a space all but overrun by Afrodiasporic sounds and multicultural hybrids of them).\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cAdvances in technology have facilitated an increase in the scope of break beat deconstruction and reconstruction and have made complex uses of repetition more accessible.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Rose talks abut the bass line, the loop, the rupture of the pattern and \u201cthe cut,\u201d where she establishes a ground zero in the music of James Brown and goes on to say, \u201c\u2026.music embodies assumptions regarding social power, hierarchy, pleasure and worldview.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cAlthough rap music is shaped by and articulated through advanced reproduction equipment, it\u2019s stylistic priorities are not merely by-products of such equipment.\u201d <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>(An important sentence and the same is absolutely true for \u201cBelieve.\u201d)<\/p>\n<p>And here\u2019s the thing:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cIf rap can be so overwhelmingly mischaracterized, then what other musical and cultural practices have collapsed into the logic of industrial repetition, labeled examples of \u201ccult\u201d like obedience. [Theodor] Adorno\u2019s massive misreading of the jazz break, beside betraying a severe case of black cultural illiteracy, is another obvious example of the pitfalls or reading musical structures in the popular realm as by-products of industrial forces.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cRetaining black cultural priorities [<\/em>and feminist ones, I would argue]<em> is an active an often resistive process that has involved manipulating established recording policies, mixing techniques, lyrical construction and the definition of music itself.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Rose also states that \u201cRap lyrics are a critical part of a rapper\u2019s identity, strongly suggesting the importance of authorship and individuality in rap music. Yet, sampling as it is used by rap artists indicates the importance of collective identities and group histories.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And again when we criticize a cadre of writers on a Cher song, or a producer\u2019s advanced involvement in a Cher song, we\u2019re fighting this same idea of a collective cultural project.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cRap musicians\u2019 technological in(ter)ventions are not ends in and of themselves, they are means to cultural ends.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>If Cher doing Rap offends you, that\u2019s on you. She has a direct connection to rap although she heretofore never crooned a syllable of it. The majority of the reviews and comments state that it hasn\u2019t offended many listeners. I have no doubt there are sinister areas of the internet that are trashing Cher for her involvement with rap and for her attachment to Alexander Edwards and black culture. But the song is not offending the rap artists I\u2019m pretty sure, which is an interesting phenomenon itself in an era of calling out cultural appropriation.<\/p>\n<p>What is Cher doing differently, (other than dating a rap producer)? What cultural work did &#8220;Believe&#8221; perform? Controversy always illustrates something.<\/p>\n<p>Rap has been using technology in music in empowering and subversive ways. Cher, as a music outsider, has given rap another tool. And in return, rap artists have helped Cher record a rap song&#8230;.for Christmas even. It&#8217;s pretty amazing.<\/p>\n<p>There are some fine points being made here about how communities merge and how one song can culminate after 25 years of influence on a genre of music.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Appearances &amp; Interviews<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/hallmark2.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-6163\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/hallmark2.jpg?resize=300%2C158&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"158\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/hallmark2.jpg?resize=300%2C158&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/hallmark2.jpg?w=310&amp;ssl=1 310w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m not about to watch all the Hallmark Christmas movies this season but Cher songs have made there way into many of them: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hallmarkchannel.com\/christmas\/cher-and-countdown-to-christmas\">https:\/\/www.hallmarkchannel.com\/christmas\/cher-and-countdown-to-christmas<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Chehttps:\/\/www.hallmarkchannel.com\/christmas\/cher-and-countdown-to-christmasr and Countdown to Christmas (All Season Long)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;DJ Play A Christmas Song&#8221; can be heard in &#8220;The Santa Summit&#8221; starring Hunter King and Benjamin Hollingsworth.<\/li>\n<li>In &#8220;A Merry Scottish Christmas&#8221; starring Lacey Chabert and Scott Wolf, listen to the original song &#8220;Home&#8221; performed by Cher and Michael Bubl\u00e9!<\/li>\n<li>In &#8220;Christmas on Cherry Lane&#8221; you can catch the classic Christmas song, &#8220;Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)&#8221; performed by Cher and Darlene Love.<\/li>\n<li>In &#8220;Holiday Road&#8221; listen for Cher&#8217;s performance of the joyful song &#8220;Run Rudolph Run.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Finally, don&#8217;t miss the unforgettable song &#8220;Angels in the Snow&#8221; by Cher in the original Christmas movie &#8220;Friends &amp; Family Christmas.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/iheart.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-6166\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/iheart.jpg?resize=300%2C169&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/iheart.jpg?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/iheart.jpg?resize=1024%2C576&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/iheart.jpg?resize=768%2C432&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/iheart.jpg?resize=1536%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/iheart.jpg?resize=676%2C380&amp;ssl=1 676w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/iheart.jpg?w=1600&amp;ssl=1 1600w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/iheart.jpg?w=1352&amp;ssl=1 1352w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>22 November<\/strong> \u2013 I Heart Radio Special<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.iheart.com\/live\/holiday-season-radio-9608\/?autoplay=true&amp;pr=false&amp;fbclid=IwAR0AK5Bxcrg28Tcqc2XcbHqhAjVILlRYI6c1bMD1A2eGnaw_1VhxcUE6L_E\">https:\/\/www.iheart.com\/live\/holiday-season-radio-9608\/?autoplay=true&amp;pr=false&amp;fbclid=IwAR0AK5Bxcrg28Tcqc2XcbHqhAjVILlRYI6c1bMD1A2eGnaw_1VhxcUE6L_E<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wnci.iheart.com\/calendar\/content\/2023-11-22-iheartradio-holiday-special-cher-elton-john-meghan-trainor-more\/\">https:\/\/wnci.iheart.com\/calendar\/content\/2023-11-22-iheartradio-holiday-special-cher-elton-john-meghan-trainor-more\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>23 November<\/strong> \u2013 Macy\u2019s Thanksgiving Day Parade starting on NBC at 8:30 am (all U.S. time zones)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.macys.com\/s\/parade\/lineup\/?lineupaccordion=Performers&amp;lid=parade_primarycta-lineupperformers\">https:\/\/www.macys.com\/s\/parade\/lineup\/?lineupaccordion=Performers&amp;lid=parade_primarycta-lineupperformers<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon <\/em>NBC 11:35e\/10:35c<em><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbc.com\/nbc-insider\/how-to-watch-cher-on-the-tonight-show-starring-jimmy-fallon\">https:\/\/www.nbc.com\/nbc-insider\/how-to-watch-cher-on-the-tonight-show-starring-jimmy-fallon<\/a><br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>29 November<\/strong> \u2013 Christmas at Rockefeller Center with Darlene Love<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/christmas-in-rockefeller-center-performers-cher-keke-palmer-barry-manilow-8401862\">https:\/\/people.com\/christmas-in-rockefeller-center-performers-cher-keke-palmer-barry-manilow-8401862<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Barry Manilow is another listed guest. I love the rare times those two coincide in a cultural product.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/tapemag.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-6165\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/tapemag.jpg?resize=300%2C300&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/tapemag.jpg?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/tapemag.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/tapemag.jpg?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/tapemag.jpg?resize=676%2C676&amp;ssl=1 676w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/tapemag.jpg?w=843&amp;ssl=1 843w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>1 December<\/strong> &#8211; at Odeon de Luxe, Cher in Conversation<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/cher-announces-live-london-in-person-interview-event-3537716\">https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/cher-announces-live-london-in-person-interview-event-3537716<\/a><\/p>\n<p>This event is also offering a Cher Christmas magazine in combo with the LP or cassette tape but order fast (you have until Nov 23)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/shop.thisisdig.com\/gb\/dig\/artists\/cher\/?ref=direct\">https:\/\/shop.thisisdig.com\/gb\/dig\/artists\/cher\/?ref=direct<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Screenshot_2023-11-20-08-27-03-83_a23b203fd3aafc6dcb84e438dda678b6-2.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-6167\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Screenshot_2023-11-20-08-27-03-83_a23b203fd3aafc6dcb84e438dda678b6-2.jpg?resize=300%2C236&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"236\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Screenshot_2023-11-20-08-27-03-83_a23b203fd3aafc6dcb84e438dda678b6-2.jpg?resize=300%2C236&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Screenshot_2023-11-20-08-27-03-83_a23b203fd3aafc6dcb84e438dda678b6-2.jpg?resize=1024%2C805&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Screenshot_2023-11-20-08-27-03-83_a23b203fd3aafc6dcb84e438dda678b6-2.jpg?resize=768%2C604&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Screenshot_2023-11-20-08-27-03-83_a23b203fd3aafc6dcb84e438dda678b6-2.jpg?resize=676%2C531&amp;ssl=1 676w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Screenshot_2023-11-20-08-27-03-83_a23b203fd3aafc6dcb84e438dda678b6-2.jpg?w=1080&amp;ssl=1 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>1 December &#8211;<\/strong> Cher on Graham Norton Show<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/tv\/reality-tv\/a45824179\/graham-norton-show-julia-roberts-tom-hanks\/\">https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/tv\/reality-tv\/a45824179\/graham-norton-show-julia-roberts-tom-hanks\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Keep up with the news on further Christmas-related appearances and chart info: <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TCherUniverse\">https:\/\/twitter.com\/TCherUniverse<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s way past time to catch up on how Cher\u2019s new album has been doing. Remixes Before we start, the digital remixes for \u201cDJ Play a Christmas Song\u201d were just released. Check your local streaming service. Some remixes I like even better than the \u201ccanonical\u201d song, and I think I can only say that about [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2,36,48,15,18,7,215],"tags":[4,317],"class_list":["post-6158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cher-news","category-cher-product","category-concerts","category-music","category-scholarship-in-action","category-television","category-vamp-bulletin","tag-cher","tag-christmas","wp-image-borders","post-preview"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Cher Christmas Reviews &amp; 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