RANT ALERT

[gumby6371]

Firstly I'd like to say I do feel for the family of Amy Whinehouse as losing a child must be the worst thing in the world for any parent......but......Am I the only one that is fed up of hearing what a tragic loss to the world the death of an alcoholic junkie is!!!!
She was an ok (imo) singer who put out a couple of albums, 1 of which was successful then she cancelled tours and gigs and when she did perform she was so out of it she forgot the words to her own songs!!!
If the scroat down the road who nicked your car stereo died from a heroin overdose would it be a tragedy just because he could knock out a half decent tune? I don't think so!!!!

Have a mentioned the even worse loss of the king of pop/kiddy fiddler who's having a tribute concert soon???

[steve_earwig]

Oh dear, I thought we were going to get away with ignoring this, but then I guess you guys are still getting overloaded with the stuff. Our news is full of all the terrible things that have happened in Norway, as well as a certain mass-murderer that our neighbours have finally got round to handing over so they can join the EU gravy train

Ok, yes, 27, terrible age, but if you couldn't see it coming you must be pretty thick. Which brings me on to her parents and her so.called friends who were presumably too busy living off of her to do anything effective like have her committed, which was the obvious next step after therapy didn't work. Sympathy=none.

First thought:
does this qualify as "mission accomplished"?

Second:
Live fast - check.
Die young - check.
Leave a good looking corpse - fail.

Third:
Why did they bother cancelling her tour? Judging by her performance in Belgrade they could have propped her corpse up in front of the audience and no-one would have noticed any difference.

Oh yes, there was something on the news the other night about how many other rock stars have died at the age of 27. Which I suppose might be significant had she been in the same league as Jim Morrison or Janis Joplin or Kurt Cobain. She was more in the same league as the kid my brother was school with who got electrocuted hotwiring a Jag.

I didn't know that about the king of kiddy fiddlers, perhaps Gary Glitter could still regain his popularity!

[highlander]

I'm very musically-inclined, I'm always listening out for new music & artists to listen to, and I have a fairly eclectic taste in music. Probably comes from being brought up in a house where there was always music being played, from being encouraged to learn a musical instrument from an early age (first started on cello, but struggled with that and began playing piano, also learned to play the recorder in primary school, and taught myself how to play drums throughout high school and college).

I first heard Amy Winehouse on Later... with Jools Holland back in 2005. She had an excellent contralto singing voice; very rich and clear. The thing about Later... is that all the signing is done live, Jools Holland doesn't tolerate miming or autotune (except where autotune is being used to create a deliberate effect), so you know that what you hear is what the studio audience hear. She really did have a lot of talent as a singer/songwriter.

The problems with her came following her marriage; I recall her husband had introduced her to hard drugs, and thus the downward spiral began.

Her parents had been trying to get her off the drugs and booze for years, and I wouldn't say a word against them. In fact, now that Amy herself has gone, rather than live off her earnings, they themselves are continuing to work and have pledged to use Amy's money to found a free drug rehabilitation charity. I won't hear a word said against them; they seem like good decent people.

Who I do have a problem with are her management (who reputedly held her to her contractual obligations very rigidly, despite knowing that Amy was struggling to get off the drugs and regain her mental and physical strength - this would have put her under a lot of pressure, thus resulting in some of her most shocking appearances on-stage), and her husband (who started her off on the drugs and pretty much crashed her system as a result).

Her album "Back to Black" was the more commercially-successful album, but it is darker in tone and is musically a stark reminder of the problems she had in her life.

My own recommendation is to go onto YouTube, search for "Amy Winehouse Jools Holland 2003" and watch the video of her singing "Take the Box".

This is Amy as she should be remembered - before the drugs and the booze, before the massive weight loss, before the mad eye makeup and the crazy beehive hair - singing songs that she wrote about life before she went off the rails.

Yes, in the grand scheme of things, her life and death are essentially irrelevant, but isn't that just the nature of things? I mean, we sit on the web and chat about a car that isn't made any more.

This concludes my own rant.

[lozz]

R.i.p Amy Winohouse,

Im getting fed up with hearing her on the Radio now tho tbh, (Chalk on a black board)

such a loss tho iwas waiting for her to bring out a Good tune, perhaps a 80s classic, ? White lines

[sirwiggum]

Interesting opinions and discussion, some good points well made.

Regarding the media coverage:

It is a bit overkill, but then it always is and this is because we live in a dumbed-down celeb-obsessed society. The media perpetuate it because it sells.
What annoyed me was that it got huge airtime at expense to the tragic events in Norway, the Chinese traincrash and the aircrash in Morocco that no-one has heard of.
And also people on facebook who join 20 clubs called "RIP AMY WAS BEST. GOD ONLI TAKS TEH BEST. WIF DA ANGLES NOW" like hyperactive gumtree posters.

Regarding her:

From what highlander has said I will look at that youtube video of her Jools Holland performance when I get home. But to be honest, her music was never my cup of tea. I didn't actively hate it like I do the majority of RnB/HipHop/Gangsta/Cowell music that is on the radio these days, but I never thought 'Gosh! I'll have to buy that!'. But then, these things are subjective.
I remember her on Never Mind the Buzzcocks where she didn't come across very well.
And while her husband may have introduced her to drugs, she chose her husband and she chose to partake. There are millions of men out there who don't do drugs, and it would have been reasonable grounds for divorce that she caught him taking them.

Regarding the parents:
Obviously at a loss, and they did tearfully greet those who had gathered outside.

[DaiRees]

@Highlander, well said that man!

I believe that any loss of a life so young is a tragedy, some of the comments I've heard and read (particularly on farcebook) have been sickening and have even changed my opinions of certain "friends", all this "just another smackhead" and "good riddance to bad blood" stuff is apalling, I just don't understand nasty and vindictive behaviour to someone who has passed away. Alright, she wasn't the most savory of characters in recent years and she wasn't my favorite singer, but to hear some people talk you'd swear she personally threatened their lives. Her life went off the rails and she spiralled, Russell Brand commented that he was expecting one of two phone calls, he hoped it'd be a call from her to say that she'd had enough of the lifestyle and was ready to sort herself out, but unfortunately the one that came was the other one. It is a sad and tragic loss and may she rest in peace.

That said I think the media are, once again, over milking the story (hell, they can probably be held at least partly accountable for her untimely demise)! Yes she was a public figure that, it seems, some people loved to hate, but there are more important things happening in the world (Norway attacks, bullet train crash in China, various wars and skirmishes, our economy crisis, etc), yes, tell me about it, but only after you've told me about the really important stuff.

Edit: Beat me to it there Sirwiggum, and a good point well made, I hadn't heard about that Morocco Hercules crash either, 78 dead

[omega]

i heard today that shes going to have 4 records in the chart this week.
as for all her proplems,iam sorry but they where all self inflicted she had a privlage lifestyle and had lots of chances to get clean and could afford private clincs where other drug users have to wait months to get on a nhs course.
okay she had contracts but she could have said stuff the contracts iam getting clean.yes she might have been taken to the cleaners but she could have got a job
nobody forced the pills and drugs down her it was her choice and she had the choice to stop
if she had died of some cancer i could feel for her

[highlander]

i heard today that shes going to have 4 records in the chart this week.

This always happens when a popular singer dies. Michael Jackson's records surged in popularity in the wake of his death.

as for all her proplems,iam sorry but they where all self inflicted she had a privlage lifestyle

She's not completely blameless, I will agree there. Just wanted to point out that she made her money through her musical talents (she wasn't born into money, she wasn't the archetypal "poor little rich kid"). She wrote an album and got a record deal; that takes a lot of skill and a lot of work to achieve.

and had lots of chances to get clean and could afford private clincs where other drug users have to wait months to get on a nhs course.

Just because you can afford the treatment doesn't mean to say you have the willpower and the mental strength needed to kick the habit. Some people can do it unaided, even cold-turkey, and that takes a lot of strength and support from all sides. Some people simply can't do it at all.


To be clear on my own position on this - Amy wasn't perfect, and she made a lot of mistakes. I don't feel any sense of personal loss at her passing, but I do feel sad that anyone should die that young (or even younger; hundreds of children die every day around the world). Amy's musical talents are what endeared people to her; she was a star, and the general public love talented young people. To me, the drugs are a side-story (I stopped paying attention to her music once all the tabloid revelations started about her drinking and drug abuse), but it is clear that they robbed her (and her family) of her life, and cut short what could have been a stellar career in the music business.

Her place in the so-called "27 Club" (talented stars who died at age 27) is well-deserved - remember most of the other inductees into the club were famed for being musically talented, but also notorious for their self-destructive lifestyles - Kurt Cobain, Jimmy Hendrix, Janice Joplin, Jim Morrison ... and now Amy Winehouse.

Final word - the toxicology report hasn't come back yet, there's still no official cause of death - she may have dropped dead as a result of an underlying condition (genetic, something that she may not have known about or may not have had any control over at all).

[Welly]

Has anyone seen the price of butter these days? it must have risen at least 125% in the last 12 months

[steve_earwig]

I think I can vaguely remember what butter tastes like, I've not eaten any in years now.

[DiscoPol]

Has anyone seen the price of butter these days? it must have risen at least 125% in the last 12 months

I think I can vaguely remember what butter tastes like, I've not eaten any in years now.

Welly puts it in his special place.

As for Ms Whinehouse,

I was a fan at one stage, i like her chosen style of music and believed she had a great talent, her untimely demise is sad for her parents and those that actually knew her and cared for her but the rest of us are just involved on the periphery of the Whinehouse story,

call me cynical but IF the toxicology reports come back it was an overdose of some kind then I for one will always believe it was a deliberate act by Ms Whinehouse at a stage in her life when she knew exactly what the act of dying at 27 would bring her, her musical career was over, her talent wasted the only option left to her was to choose to go out in a media frenzy, much better than the option of becoming a laughing stock for the next generation,

27 was not a coincidence in my opinion.

Oh and i have big problems with those that choose to top 'em selves, selfish B@stards.

[steve_earwig]

Has anyone seen the price of butter these days? it must have risen at least 125% in the last 12 months

I think I can vaguely remember what butter tastes like, I've not eaten any in years now.

Welly puts it in his special place.

I feel sick now

Oh and i have big problems with those that choose to top 'em selves, selfish B@stards.

But what if the alternative is a slow and painful death?

[DiscoPol]

But what if the alternative is a slow and painful death?

as with everything I believe there is an exception to every rule, if all other avenues have been exhausted and the only alternative is a slow and painful death then assisted euthanasia has its place in any civilised society, that much is given, but if the guiding influence is depression, an imbalance of the brains own naturally regulating chemicals,it can be controlled and rectified, giving the individual back their life, both in a physical and metaphorical way.

Sadly in the midst of the depression many people are unable to see this for what it is, an illness that can be treated, they then feel the only option available to them is suicide without thought for those they leave behind. The individual suffering from this kind of illness cannot be blamed for their actions at this stage, we as a society need to promote mental health in a much more positive fashion, educating those who may suffer and those who may know somebody who suffers about the options available whilst also removing the enduring stigma still attached to these kinds of illness.

More should be made of the emotional damage left behind by suicide, the victim isn't just the one that dies, for them it's all over, they are worm food, the people left behind are the damaged ones and if more was made of this, maybe just maybe some sufferers would seek help earlier and allow the medical profession to do what they are there for, to heal, not all illnesses are visible or have immediately obvious symptoms, especially when there is still such a huge social stigma attached to admitting you have mental health issues.

Unless you have been on the receiving end of this, you do not realise just how much damage is done by one selfish individual choosing to end it all to make their pain go away.

Am I biased?
Too fecking right I am

:Nerve touched:
apologies if this is seen as a rant.

[lozz]

Call me asad bastard if you want but
ithink people like this who get a bit of fame and all that cash just Blow it once theyve got all the things they need and run out of things to buy coz theyve got everything Then out come the pills @ powders,

yup its there money and theyve Earnt it but why blow £1000s on sh*t when they couid just give it to charity,


IHeard Amy Had a Bad E tab and thats what finished her off,
ithink she was a selfish cow if so as Didnt her Family send her to Rehab for the Alchol and drugs ?
its them ifeel sorry for

[sirwiggum]

Agree somewhat with DiscoPols comments.

Due to the high rate of suicide in Belfast, there are public service adverts to speak to your GP with mental health issues, one of which is fronted by an ex-newsreader who herself had mental health issues.

The stigma needs removed and help put in place.