Amy Winehouse is anyone really shocked by this outcome? The writing was on the wall from the moment she popped up on our radar. This is the longest drawn out ending since the final Lord of the Rings. So people’s shock is a bit of surprise to me.  Though I think part of that has to do with the fact that most people already thought she was gone. And in the fickle world of pop music she died years ago. The question now is does she join the illustrious twenty-seven clubs.

            I realize some of you may not know what the twenty-seven clubs is; so here is a quick synopsis. The twenty-seven club consits of amazing musicians who perished just as their stars were burning the brightest. A few of the famous members are Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, and Janis Joplin.  Writing thosse names down solidfies the fact that Amy Winehouse has no place on that list. And I write that as a huge fan of her’s. I find both her albums fantastic and accesible to a mainstream audience; this is no easy feat. I was genuinely rooting for a third album to show up and be the antidote to the endless parade of Gaga’s and Perry’s. Her music wasn’t calculated and had heart two things antithetical to pop music. Yet she still managed to crossover. But the twenty-seven club; I don’t think so. For starters she’s only got two albums and let’s face it three is the magic number. If maybe she had released one more she would have made it and been heralded as the greatest singer of her generation. But sadly she missed it. And you know that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.     

      What it really comes down to; is that the twenty-seven club is pretty much bullshit. It’s rewarding people with a mass of talent who couldn’t keep their shit together. The club gets it’s mystique from the fact that the artist wasn’t around long enough to let us down. I mean obviously ignoring the irony of the fact that they died and can’t relase anymore-new music. Yes, I am glad I don’t have to witness a balding Jim Morrison pitching tantric sex. Or Kurt Cobain turning Axl Rose and firing his band and relasing an awful folk album. But I would trade all of those awful images to hear one more great Nirvana album or another mind-boggling Jimi Hendrix solo. And for that I hold them in contempt not idolization. Maybe the true amazing club should be the Survivors; the Lou Reed’s, Tom Waits, Neil Young, Iggy Pop, Bruce Springsteen, and Bob Dylan the people that reached the top and kept going. And for Ms. Winehouse sure she might not be in the twenty-seven club; but something better yet has happened. We can just hear her music and not all the baggage that comes with it. To quoute one of the Survivors. “There’s more to the picture than meet’s the eye.”