:::listening to Fefe Dobson "Revolution Song":::::

Since this topic seems to be straying everywhere.





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[Edited 12/10/04 21:19pm]

Tell me who should I be
To make you love me?
Tell me what does it mean
To be alone
Can't you see me standing, staring
Out from a distance
Hear my cry if you'd only listen
Out of focus
Into me and you.

Fefe Dobson - Kiss Me Fool

This has now turned into the Fefe Dobson thread.



::listening to Fefe Dobson "Stupid Little Love Song"::

It's just a stupid little love song
It's just a stupid little
It's just a stupid little love song

Here we go
Put em' up
Put em' up, put em' up

Your grandpa fought in world war two
Your cousin landed on the moon
Your mother is a diplomat, the senator of Connecticut
Your sister's got 4 point O
Your father's got his own talk show
Your bother is the scientist, who found the cure for morning breath



I came here by taxi
You came by limousine
And all I have to offer you is this
Just a stupid little love song
(3 chords and a microphone)
Just a stupid little love song
(hip hop and rock n' roll)
So sit right down I'll sing this song to you



Put em' up
Put em' up, put em' up

The captain of the football team
The cheerleader's recurring dream
You're on the road to Harvard Law
I'm on the bus to Arkansas
I stand in your doorway
Your world looks so enchanting
And all I have to offer you is this

Just a stupid little love song
(3 chords and a microphone)
Just a stupid little love song
(hip hop and rock n' roll)
So sit right down I'll sing this song to you

Put em' up
Put em' up, put em' up
And the moon comes in the window like a spotlight
(this is love cause this is real)
Sit you down and I being to gently rock your night
('cause I'm trying to tell you what I feel)
And we're truly approaching a moment
And then you lean over, and saaaay, what's my name?, what's my name?, what's my name?
ooooohhhhh, go on



Here we go
(Hi is Brett home?)
(Well will you tell him I came by?)
I stand in your driveway
Your world looks so far away
And all I have to offer you is this
Just a stupid little love song
(3 chords and a microphone)
Just a stupid little love song
(hip hop and rock and roll)
So sit right down I'll sing this song to you



Put em' up, put em' up
Just a stupid little love song
So sit right down I'll sing this song to you

Fefe performs at sound check for The Dome (Germany).

FEFE DOBSON, CANADS LATEST TEEN MUSICAL IT GIRL, TAKES ON THE WORLD.



TORONTO – FEFE DOBSON IS A BUSY GIRL. The 18-year-old Torontonian is two weeks away from the December release of her self-titled debut album and she’s flitting from interview to photoshoot back to interview.

Dobson and her publicist are to meet me at a perennially trendy restaurant/bar on perennially trendy Queen Street. They’re running late. The publicist arrives sans Fefe, but “she’s coming.” The singer and her people make their entrance soon after in a flurry of apologies. It’s not a Mariah-sized entourage but big enough to suggest that Fefe Dobson is being groomed for greatness.

So how did a biracial teen from Toronto’s east end become the new face of pop-rock? Felicia Dobson always sang, and her mother, a single parent, always encouraged her daughter’s talent. Mom danced to Lionel Ritchie downstairs while her older sister blasted Nirvana upstairs. Dobson started writing at fourteen and caught the ear of Zomba Records, home to Britney Spears, a year later. They loved her voice and set her up with a number of producers with an eye towards developing a pop star. But Dobson knew it wasn’t right and walked away.

She did meet Jay Levine through the experience, though. The former Philosopher Kings bassist and one half of cartoon pop duo Prözzak clicked with the teen right away. A year of writing later, Dobson signed with Nelly Furtado’s manager Chris Smith.

Smith arranged showcases with several labels. Universal Music Canada president Randy Lennox loved her and coaxed Island Def Jam CEO Lyor Cohen and his head of A&R, Jeff Fenster, to fly into Toronto for another showcase. They were immediately taken with the young singer, signed her, and flew Dobson and Levine to New York to start recording. Levine co-produced the record with his Prözzak partner, James McCollum.

Fefe Dobson reflects the singer’s diverse influences, mixing punk, rock and pop in equal measures. ‘Stupid Little Love Song’, the track that grabbed Cohen’s attention, is a furious punk ballad, while the first Canadian single, ‘Bye Bye Boyfriend’, is a slow-burning rock track that detonates in the chorus. ‘Julia’ is a quiet plea to a sick friend propelled by acoustic guitar. Dobson even takes aim at the dance floor on ‘Rock It Til You Drop’, featuring ‘Wild Thing’ rapper Tone Loc.

In person, Dobson is charming and reasonably articulate. She retains the insecurities inherent to her age but is unshakeably confident in her music. She can also turn on a dime, as when our interview is interrupted so she can run outdoors to film some B-roll footage for a TV show. Then she returns to the restaurant for a magazine photoshoot before coming back to the table to finish our chat as her next interviewer sits a few tables away. She wears a Sex Pistols T-shirt under her sweater and that’s as good a place to start as any.

Q: So you’re a Sex Pistols fan.
Oh yeah. Big Sid Vicious fan.

Q: Why Sid?
I think I’m attracted to that kind of tragic icon. I like Kurt Cobain and I love John Lennon. It’s weird. I don’t know why.

Q: What does your mom think of your career?
She’s excited. How could you not be excited for your kid? But of course she’s sad because her daughter left home. It’s hard for her because she’s afraid... of her child being eaten up. But I think she is really proud of herself and how she raised me.

Q: You grew up in a single parent household. Was that tougher on you or your mom?
I think for my mom. I just kind of dismissed it. Father’s Day was for my mom, basically. And it was harder on my mom because we didn’t have a lot of money and she kind of needed that child support. But she didn’t really care. She didn’t really want him in our life anyway.

Q: You wrote ‘Unforgiven’ about your father. Was that therapeutic?
Yeah, for sure. I’m almost glad that he wasn’t there. I never regret and I never look back at things. I always think everything happens for a reason, and I think it helped me, definitely, writing a song about it.

Q: Were there other career options for you or was music it?
No, just always music. I’ve never asked myself ‘should I be this or should I be this?’ It was always like ‘I should be this’.

Q: Zomba didn’t agree with your musical vision so you walked away. A lot of artists only assert themselves after they’ve sold records.
I heard a demo I did with the other producers and I didn’t sound like me. I sounded unhappy! My voice just didn’t mix well with synthesizer, fake drums and all that stuff. And then when I heard myself doing stuff I did with Jay, I went, ‘Wow, my voice shines. It sounds really good. It’s right, it’s magic!’

Q: Do you have a sense of being at the beginning of your career?
Oh yeah. I have so much to do. I want to do film, I want to direct a Broadway play. I want to do all these things in my life and it’s just starting for me, and I’m nowhere near where I want to be.

Q: Have you had the race card pulled on you yet? ‘What’s a dark girl doing playing rock music?’
I think people are surprised by it when they hear it on the radio. They’re probably thinking of something, and they see me... ‘oh my God!’ — it’s totally different. But my record label, they were like ‘this is awesome. Power to you.’ From Island Def Jam, who is Bob Marley and then you have Beastie Boys... So they were just like ‘this is what we’ve been waiting for. This is our baby, this is our thing.’

Q: Do you see yourself as someone who is taking those elements forward regardless of race?
Oh yeah, for sure. A lot of people on my Web site say, ‘Fefe’s breaking stereotypes. She’s doing it and it inspires me to do it.’ Being biracial as well, it’s just awesome to know that I can do it and I’m not being put in a box. No one’s pigeonholing me.

Q: The record is out in two weeks. Would you have been ready three years ago?
I used to say, ‘I’m ready! Let me out now!’ No. I’m so glad I’m eighteen. I can think for myself. I have a mind that works! I’ve been through things so, to me, this couldn’t be a better time.

Q: How much of yourself goes into these songs?
Everything. It’s all about my life, all about my experiences. Why not talk about it?

Q: Was ‘Bye Bye Boyfriend’ about a specific person?
No, not really. It’s just about swarms of guys that I’ve dated that I’ve just said bye to basically. It’s pretty generic. It’s not towards... Sid Vicious!

Q: Have you ever been in a relationship and had someone say ‘don’t write a song about it’?
No. They don’t have the right to say that to me. Freedom of speech, dude!

Q: ‘Give It Up’ is about the pressures of giving up your virginity. Where does that song come from?
Sexual things go through my head. Of course. I’m a teenager. Why not? And I just think it’s kinky. I’m not posing in anything, I’m not in a little halter-top, but I can think about sex because I’m eighteen and it’s normal.

Q: Is it easier to talk about your life or write about it?
I can do both. I’m going to have a talk show when I’m older.

Q: Really?
Yeah, like Oprah.

Q: What’s the most personal song on the record?
‘Julia’ is very personal. A guy had tried to kill himself and we found him on the floor blue in our high school and we freaked out, me and my girlfriends. And the counsellors came in after school to talk to us because they don’t know how we’re taking it. So three of us girls went in and we’re talking to our counsellor, and then one of my girlfriends broke down and started telling us that she had a really bad disease. I never knew about it, my other girlfriend never knew about it. So we’re sitting there already in tears about the other thing and then this happens. And it was just like, ‘Wow, you never told me about this the entire time, and I can’t help you if you don’t tell me.’

Q: Are you a confident person?
I’m confident of who I am. I’m confident on stage. In high school I wasn’t very confident. I was insecure about the clothes I had, about the music I listened to. I was always insecure about everything.

Q: What about now?
I still have insecurities. I’m eighteen! I’m going to have insecurities. Everyone has it, even as an adult. So many adults are insecure about things.

Q: I once read that the music you listen to at age fourteen sets a pattern for the rest of your life. What were you listening to four years ago?
I was listening to everything. I listened to ‘NSYNC, I listened to Nirvana, I listened to Silverchair, Marvin Gaye. I listened to everything I could get my hands on.

Q: Is that where the diversity on the record came from?
I think so. I think I soaked everything us like a sponge and now it’s releasing slowly.

Q: I just got the record yesterday, obviously because the label is afraid it will be leaked online. Is that a fear for you, that no one’s going to buy your record, they’re just going to download it?
Well, I think what people got afraid of was there were so many records that were released that only had one or two good songs, and people felt like they were being ripped off. You go in, buy an album for twenty bucks, you get no change back and you have an album that you only listen to two songs to... and you spent twenty bucks!
Teenagers want to do three things: they want to get high, they want to get it on, and they want to rip people off. If they bring twenty dollars into a store, they want to feel like they get money back or they feel like they’ve been ripped off. But if they get five dollars back from buying that album, they feel like they ripped you off.

Q: I’ve read that you’re already thinking ahead to your second album.
Oh yeah. I’m thinking about everything. I want to bring orchestration, I want to bring trumpets, I want to do everything. I want to do a collaboration with Paul McCartney and David Bowie. Yeah, I want to do everything I can possibly do.

Q: Has your sense of what you can accomplish expanded?
For sure. And as time goes on, next record I can have that leeway to say ‘can I have David Bowie sing a song?’ Because David Bowie knows who I am now.

Q: How important is success in Canada?
It is important but it’s important for me just to succeed everywhere. I don’t look at different countries as more important than the other. I look at it as a world and I have to dominate and take it over! So I don’t think I have to take over Canada – I have to take over the world.

Q: You have a healthy ego.
Yeah! The funny thing is I’m confident about my music but I’m not confident to the point where I can dismiss my good manners or become egotistical. I’m not like that. That’s not me. But I want to be everywhere.

Q: Fefe isn’t your given name. How is Fefe different from Felicia?
Well, they say that your name determines your future. Fefe Dobson is the singer. Fefe Dobson is the girl I had to become to be here today.

Q: Is Fefe all you?
Yeah. Fefe is all me. Fefe is 100% Fefe!

FEFE FAST FACTS

Real name: Felicia Dobson
Age: 18
Birthday: February 28, 1985
Grew up in: Scarborough, Ontario
First album: Fefe Dobson (released December 9, 2003)
Signed to: Island Def Jam
Singles: ‘Bye Bye Boyfriend’, ‘Take Me Away’
Most often compared to: Avril Lavigne
Instruments played: piano, guitar
Inspirational albums: Nirvana’s Nevermind, Silverchair’s Neon Ballroom










- By Sean Plummer

isn't Fefe Dobson a has-been already? buzz about a year ago, and then damn little to show for it as far as sales or airplay are concerned.

GrayKing said:

Wow. So quick to dismiss. Fefe's an artist on the verge, give her time. It took Kelis two albums before she hit it big with "Milkshake."

Fefe's debut was certified platinum in Canada (her home country).

Plus, she's currently working on her follow-up LP slated for a 2005 release.

JANFAN4L said:

easy come, easy go

GrayKing said:

That was a great track on Kelis' Wanderland LP.

VoicesCarry said:

Thank You! That half-time show had three major warnings that I counted before the "incident" had even aired, but apparently, some parents just can't tell their little brats, 'No'. Warning number 1: the fact that it was announced almost 3 months before the Super Bowl that MTV would be producing the half-time show. Hmmm, the parents who don't let their children watch the channel just happened to let them watch a half-time show that was produced by said channel ? BRILLIANT?!?! Warning number 2: The musical lineup for the half-time show was announced 2 months before the show even aired. Someone tell me what kid-friendly shit P.Diddy, Nelly, and Kid Rock have put out in the past so that I can understand why 'concerned parents' would let their 'precious little darlings' watch them do a live performance. Every artist on that line-up, with the exception of Justin, have put out albums that got "Parental Advisory" stickers. You won't buy the album for you kids, but you are willing to let them watch a live performance by these people? Ohh, yeah, "Pimp Juice" is really appropriate for children to jam to on the way to school. Plus, don't forget, children, that Kid Rock wants you to also give a shout out to "all the hookers all trickin' out in Hollywood". Man, they should really make people take a test before they have kids...most of the idiots who let their children watch that shit would have probably failed. Warning number 3: Like I said in a post before, Nelly was crotch-grabbin', Diddy was dancer gropin', and Kid Rock was sportin' American flag ponchos and giving shout outs to Hollywood hookers long before the boob was seen. At what point in these performances didn't parents get a clue that, "Hmm, I don't want my children watching this anymore?" Hesitation kills and/or harms millions of people each year, folks. Plus, thank you for making that statement about MTV. Their target audience is teenagers and whoever doesn't want to agree to it, obviously has some mental issues they need to take up with a psychologist. Three little letters prove all those people who make that excuse that, "There's a HUGE difference between cable TV and broadcast TV" wrong, and those three little letters are TRL. Anyone who has watched that show knows good and well that all those videos are voted on by people who most likely aren't over 15...Hilary Duff being number one for 4 weeks on the countdown yeah, I'm sure that there are tons of 20 and 30 somethings that jam to Hilary Duff in their cars on the way to work Broadcast TV or not, the Super Bowl half-time show was still produced by MTV, so I blame the parents 100% for letting their kids watch it. People who complained about it are just a bunch of hypocrites if you ask me, because they buy their children Britney Spears stuff and she sells just as much sex as Janet or Madonna. Britney just sugar-coats her shit and doesn't get parental advisory stickers like Janet and Madonna have gotten in the past. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

JANFAN4L said:

i thought she went gold or something or did she really flop then she went 2 europe and then came bac and went platinum?

VoicesCarry said:

What I love is how some Janet nuts continue to fail to grasp the notion that the VMA's are on cable, and that the Super Bowl is on broadcast TV, a highly regulated medium.

JANFAN4L said:

pffffft

Avril wannabe

GrayKing said:

So families with children don't get cable? I don't see your point.... You let your kids watch MTV, you let the watch the halftime show, you take responsibility for it.
[Edited 12/11/04 10:18am]

VoicesCarry said:

it doesn't matter. the FCC regulates the airwaves. which means broadcast television (CBS). not MTV.

GrayKing said:

FCC control and regulations are not the issues we were discussing.

The fact that children were the target audience of both events was.
[Edited 12/11/04 10:25am]

VoicesCarry said:

no, it really wasn't. the discussion is about why Janet has been "banned" from MTV. she embarrassed MTV, who were the producers of the halftime show, and brought a lot of flack down on Viacom who had to pay the FCC fines for her stunt. you can understand why she'd be persona-non-grata on flagship MTV, considering the nature of their relationship with her re: the Super Bowl.

GrayKing said:

Whatever. This debate is honestly going nowhere so I'm going to stop now.

VoicesCarry said:

Fuckin' ridiculous whatever the reasons given. Most kids suck tits for milk anyway. I really don't see what the big deal is. It's just another part of the human body.

VoicesCarry said:

i win!

Cloudbuster said:

Exactly. Like the kids watching had never seen a breast before (and certainly not the barely-covered ones of Britney Spears on previous halftime shows or the ones Nelly was practically milking with his hands in the set preceding Janet's). So what it really comes down to is the nipple. Yes, America hates the nipple. And the long shot of Janet's from about 150 feet away really fractured the nation.
[Edited 12/11/04 10:32am]

Cloudbuster said:

yeah, with the added bonus of a Chinese throwing star on the nipple for teething purposes

GrayKing said:

Yes. *pats GrayKing on head condescendingly* Yes, you did.

VoicesCarry said:

I love nipples!

GrayKing said:

VoicesCarry said:

you honestly don't see the difference, from a regulatory angle how breast feeding and flashing a pierced nipple for salacious effect?

it's the equivalent of a woman walking down the street and flashing her breasts at a 10 year old. or how about if it was man, who'd whipped his dick out?
[Edited 12/11/04 10:37am]

GrayKing said:

Well women are legally allowed to go topless in public in Ontario, so that's not really an issue where I live.

However, an uncovered breast is not the end of the world for a child. And certainly not one filmed from 150 feet away.