Thank you for replying. I did not expect one. You say Amy is playing, my position is that almost everyone who plays with fire, (of whatever sort), typically begins on a lark and only too late realizes the danger of their game. Amy may have been posing in the beginning, however I think that she has taken that one step too many and whether she was 'fronting' is irrelevant at this point. Particularly in light of my above stated opinion that most people begin on a lark only to impress peers and to appear 'cool', (posing). We will respectfully disagree.

As to the second part of my first letter, it was intended for one of my fellow posters replying to your article and not directed at you. I do not expect that you would have given voice to such a load of trash in a public forum. I stand by what I said in that part of the letter. Anyone who believes that only a certain race or ethnicity can do a specific thing and all others are incapable is just ignorant at best, a racist at worst. Do rich, happy black folks have the innate ability to reach into their families' past to successfully sing the blues? And no other group of people has ever been downtrodden. Ridiculous. In any case, again, thank you for your reply as you did not have to go to the effort.

According to James Hannaham, Amy Winehouse is "playing the part of the tragic talent", and "living the blues", in order to convince us she's an authentic blues artist. Being messed up is all part of proving her bona fides as a blues singer. Hence her tatty hair and bedraggled, dishabille appearance; her unsettled, wayward ways; her wild, chaotic existence; her seedy lifestyle (or, what to old fogeys, looks like seedy); the unkemptness; the air of being in disarray, down at heel, and all mixed up. Well, actually, James that appearance of hers from that beehive hairdo to those thrift shop clothes and black eyeliner exemplify what we call style. Not chic, but style. It's her personal signature. She is not playing at being a blues singer. She is displaying the mannerisms of the star--by which I mean she is an aesthetic object in her own right. Amy Winehouse isn't just a performer; she's an aesthetic phenomenon. In her form and content (or meaning)- or beauty and significance - come together. The singer and the song are one. Everything is exaggerated about her as in a mannerist painting (like the, thin elongated fingers or long stalk-like neck in, say, Parmigianino's painting Madonna of the Long Neck). Amy Winehouse doesn't just make art (make music). She is a work of art. Just as Sebastian Bach's Mass in B Minor conveys religious beliefs and attitudes through melody so Amy Winehouse conveys pain through vocal technique and her person. That what she does isn't as impersonal as his is doesn't make it less of a work of art. Nor does all art have to aspire to high art. Even if we don't think Amy Winehouse is a great artist, the fact is we do have to take her work on its merits and not judge it according the way she lives her life. Just because she's cancelled concerts and snorting cocaine doesn't mean her music shouldn't be listened to. We look at Van Gogh paintings after all and he cut his ear lobe off when in a deranged state. But as he was unknown then, and there was no media functioning 24/7 to inform people of the fact, no one cared. He was a nobody. No one today would suggest we not look at his art, lest people get the idea in their head to slash their ears. But that's what posters on this site counsel people to do about Amy; we should stop listening to her and not encourage her. They waggle their finger at her and pontificate about the dangers of taking (eek!) drugs. They caution about how she could end up another casualty of fame -- like Joplin and Hendrix; which is like saying that Van Gogh would have been alive a lot longer if he didn't paint! We're told she glamorizes drugs because she sings about being addicted to them and won't condemn them. And therefore should give her music the flick. Sylvia Plath was gallant about her suicide attempts, and her death from suicide made her a legend; glamorized her. Should we burn her books, then? What Philistines!

Kudos to Babygrumpus for giving a much deserved shout out to the amazing Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. I recently caught a free concert they performed at Amoeba Music in LA. They rocked the joint so hard I made it a point to check out their concert the following night at the El Rey Theater, despite the fact they were sold out! I bought a scalp ticket and it was well worth the extra bucks. Ms. Jones is a force on stage with an energy and vocal expertise remniscent of Tina Turner in her prime! And that band! One of the reasons why I couldn't take Winehouse's "Back To Black" CD off my player months after I first listened to it was because of the Dap Kings instrumental backing. If you don't know this group, do yourself a favor and check out one of the three CDs they have out now. And Amy, if you are reading this, I love you Babygirl, but you can stand to go check out Ms. Jones and take notes. It will only make you a better performer on stage. And maybe, just maybe, that voodoo that she do will help you heal and get your mojo back so that you won't go back to black...AQUALINE

The fact you're unable to figure that out renders the rest of your article sorta moot.

Here are the lyrics to "They Don't Know": http://www.paradise-engineering.com/quotation/theydontknow.html

And here are the (best set I could find online of) lyrics to "Rehab": http://www.metrolyrics.com/rehab-lyrics-amy-winehouse.html

Kirsty MacColl's song could easily have been penned in the '60s. As realized by Ullman, it's a wonderful bit of '60s pastiche. Winehouse's song couldn't have been written in the '60s, although she operates in a stylistic genre similar to '60s pop and soul in many (though most certainly not all) respects. Instead of slavishly imitating the '60s, Winehouse's record expands upon and updates that style.

If you're seriously comparing songs like "Rehab" or "You Know I'm No Good" to Ullman & MacColl's clever pastiche, you must be on heavier drugs than Winehouse.