I have a vague recollection of the Jonas Brothers being a thing several years back, but I couldn’t tell you how many years back, or what sort of a thing they actually were.
Obviously they were one more incarnation of the boy band craze — another New Kids on the Block, Backstreet Boys or One Direction. But I couldn’t name a single song or controversy tied to them (there had to be a controversy, right? Isn’t there always?).
I can name a few reasons why Beyoncé’s self-titled December 2013 release belongs on this list.
First is the industry-rattling manner in which it was released — as a complete surprise, with no advance publicity and no online leaks (of its very existence, let alone the music). Nobody imagined such a thing was possible in this era of transparency, let alone by the most visible star in the musical universe.
I was really into Sinead O’Connor when she first hit it big back in 1990. ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ was on constant MTV rotation — that mesmerizing video where O’Connor stared right at you with those big beautiful eyes and sang her heart out until she teared up — and this bald, lanky Irish woman had put out the best album of the year, I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got.
I remember my Dad dismising her as a flake and once when I was going on about what a talent she was, he said something like “Just wait, in ten years I bet nobody will even know who she is.” And I said, yeah… I’ll take that bet.
Meet Me In Montauk 