Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Disney Tween Machine Moves On

Disney is grooming Demi Lovato to be the heir apparent to Miley Cyrus' Hannah Montana. Demi is 15, slated to open on the sold out Jonas Brothers tour and has the lead in the new Disney Channel movie "Camp Rock". The movie premiers this Friday. As is usual with Disney deals, she is also signed to Hollywood Records, Disney's label. She's enlisted the Jonas Brothers as co-writers and co-producers on the album. She refers to her own writing as dark and said "I'm more of a writer whose stuff wouldn't make it on a Disney album," therefore Jonas inc, will help pop things up. The record comes out in November. I'll be curious to hear this album. It seems to me a big leap of faith on Disney's part to let the 15 year old participate in the creative process, which is usually tightly controlled by Disney.

This leads me to another TV creation, the Monkees. Why do I find myself revisiting those old albums as much as I do "Pet Sounds" or "London Calling"? It's all about the songs. How can you go wrong when you have Carole King, Neil Diamond and Boyce & Hart penning tunes for you. Eventually the band members were able to share in the songwriting, although Mike Nesmith always got a tune in there. Papa Gene's Blues from the debut is a standout. I wonder if Demi can have a hit, without proven songwriters behind her.

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