Horses' Arse

We live in very strange times. The biggest pre order CD in the history of Amazon is a collection of covers by a strange Scottish woman called Susan Boyle. Why would this be I ask myself and I really struggle to come up with any sort of logical answer.

Cowell and co have a helluva lot to answer for when they keep feeding the public with an endless supply of mediocrity. The sad thing is that the public seem to lap it up time and time again. Now, I bear no ill will towards the woman who has indeed got a decent voice but come on?? A collection of songs including 'Amazing Grace', 'Daydream Believer' and 'Silent Night' is hardly the stuff of musical par excellence. It's typical dross churned out to hit the shops for the xmas people. Maybe there is something wrong with me that I would rather buy John Mayer's new album which is a collection of finely crafted and mostly self penned material that comes from the heart with some amazing musicianship to boot. Has it made the news headlines? Nope.

I do watch The X Factor for my sins and I have found myself despising it on so many levels this year, but I keep watching it. I DO NOT buy into it, I don't vote and wouldn't dream of buying any material associated with it. On the whole, it's entertainment that will quickly disappear from my mind as soon as they bring down the final curtain.

When Susan Boyle was in 'Britain's Got Talent' I didn't get the fuss at all and I still don't. Believe me, there are hundreds and possibly thousands of more musically talented people in the UK than her. Every town and city has better singers than her, but they just don't have the drive, commitment or luck that she has had and we will never hear of them. Programmes like 'The X Factor' and the tabloid press are so powerful that they just need to suggest something and the whole world just follows. It's force feeding and it is not healthy if the music business is going to prosper with any substance.

I wish Susan Boyle well and I am sure she will do well, but honestly after watching her sing 'Wild Horses' on television last night, it ain't for me. 'Wild Horses' is a classic that was ruined in her translation of it. But hell who am I to offer a critique? I'm just a has been baseball pitcher who curses and swears a lot. Shit, I'm not even that...................