Open Letter to Bob Lefsetz – RE: Lady Gaga

In a recent letter to music industry guru Bob Lefsetz, Jacky took a hard look at Lady Gaga and compares her to music legends of past. It is an interesting read so we are republishing it here.

Bob,

I’ve been following your site for some time now, and I definitely agree with most of your views, but your opinion on Lady Gaga rubs me the wrong way. From your words about Lady Gaga, you seem to be placing her on a pedestal, which in my opinion, she does not deserve to sit on.

Lady Gaga is bringing nothing new to the world of music. She’s only copying the disco format of music. The same goes for her attire. Many are pointing to Lady Gaga as pushing the fashion envelope with her so-called racy style, but it’s really nothing new. Just take a look at how “The Village People” dressed, and you will see that she could have been one of their members.

The 70′s generation adored disco music, and many great musicians played disco music for the money. But, artists like Frank Zappa and George Clinton were right to say the production of disco music was cheap. Like most forms of art, disco music eventually died. It has now returned.

The fact that you are well aware of the history of music has me surprised that you would be a cheerleader to such a cheap form of music. Drums with kick snare…kick snare with a happy sounding instrumentation, which exactly describes Lady Gaga’s sound. Her music is nothing like Steely Dan, which can make a person sit back and chill-out with a date. Lady Gaga’s music reminds me of the queen of disco Sylvester, and the European group Boney M. Europeans have been making music like Lady Gaga’s for decades, and New Yorkers went through the Lady Gaga faze in the 70′s. Therefore, she’s nothing new.

Music isn’t only about record sales, it’s also about what are we leaving for the next generation. If there were no James Brown, we wouldn’t have Hip/Hop. Without David Bowie, we wouldn’t have New Wave. Without Bob Marley, we wouldn’t have Sting. If there were no Jimi Hendrix. we wouldn’t have Heavy Metal.

What I’m trying to say is that Lady Gaga is not a leader, she’s just a new version of Madonna – And we all know Madonna is con-woman. Lady Gaga’s theatrical show is not new either…Alice Copper, Kiss and Parliament/Funkadelic already did that. I’ll give it up to her for doing more than today’s regular artist, but she’s not leaving anything for the next generation. Overall, her music has no substance.

She very well could have been a member of the Village People.

If you are in the entertainment industry HSK highly recommends you follow the “Lefsetz Letter”