12.13.12 Adam News and Info

My friends know and have converted many of them to fans also. My husband knows and is fine as he has the artists he loves. I would never put up a calendar or picture or other like stuff but then I don't do that period and is nothing Adam related... enuf?

Okay, I don't like to post but this subject is very interesting and I wanted to give my two cents for whatever that's worth. As a diehard fan, I have all of Adam's music in various forms but what I tend to do is only listen to the Kiev concert over and over again. I rarely listened to either one of his albums. I think Adam's voice with the Queen music is otherwordly and I can't get enough. I've often gone over, in my head, what would have sent Adam into the stratosphere after idol and I do believe it would have happened had he done things right from the start. His first mistake was the AMA's and then the album cover. I think Adam was not realizing that his voice alone is what people wanted from him. I remember Barry Manilow saying that if he had just sat there (at the AMA's) and sang a great song (WWFM would have worked), he would have blown the roof off the place and I think he was right. If he had done that and then followed with the voice front and center instead of the OT stuff being front and center, I think he would be huge right now. My humble opinion is that he did not rely on his voice as much as he did the OT look and actions to get people's attention. I think this was his biggest mistake from the beginning. His being gay certainly plays a role too but a lot of the OT in the beginning was all about the gay with the AMA's, the album cover, his GNT shows, etc. and I think it was just too much too soon for those people who still live in the dark ages, which is most of America, unfortunately. If he had taken it more slowly and built up to the more OT stuff gradually so people could more willingly accept that from him, I think it would be a different story for him right now. He would be huge because he is the most talented man I have ever seen in my lifetime and one of the most beautiful too.

My daughter is also an Adam fan so I have someone to share with in addition to you guys.

My co-workers know that I am an Adam "groupie". Before I began my current job I had to negotiate my start date around my trip to Arizona to see Adam in the Idols concert. My boss thinks it's a hoot and told my team mates why I started when I did and the "cat has been out of the bag" from the beginning. Whenever they hear any Adam news they ask me "did you know?" They also know why I went to London ;D I have given those interested a copy of his CDs.

Jo! First of all, welcome to ATop.

Wow, what a first post! I see your point, and don't know that I disagree with it. Certainly the majority of the American public who watch Idol are most comfortable with the cute guy next door who strums a guitar and sings love songs to his girlfriend. Extra points are awarded if he also is involved in his church music ministry and/or has a sob story. After all, that's the guy they voted for for the past five years straight. It is entirely possible that Adam would have become an even bigger star with number one singles on radio if he had taken that vanilla route.

Only one problem with that: it isn't who Adam is. As he said in an interview quoted recently, compared to his life prior to Idol, the things he did since Idol that were deemed "controversial" were nothin'. Warm up acts. He hasn't been that "apple-pie Adam" with red hair and a buzz cut since he was in high school. He's been a neo-hippie, a flower child, a sleazy Studio 54 club kid, a counter-culture standout in platform glitter boots, green body paint, and crazy make-up. Playing it straight and narrow during "The Ten Commandments" drove him crazy.

Adam is a wild child. Probably wilder than some of us even imagine. He played nice and conventional in musical theater for many years until that wild child, that creative alien just had to break free and express himself. It is not surprising that he has not been embraced by the masses. SHOULD he have been "safer" and more conventional coming off Idol? In terms of record sales and acceptability on radio etc, perhaps. In terms of being his outrageous self, not so much. I think he tried his best at the beginning of the TP era. He released two "safe", acceptable singles. He ditched most of the make-up and toned down the fashion claiming he was into a more organic look and feel. He played the game. Until he couldn't any more. Gradually, we saw the "crazy" OTT Adam re-emerge until we have him in wonderful make-up, edgy fashion, yellow and black TP costumes, fringe for days, and male dancers in Big Bird Yellow Afro wigs.

That's who we stan. Who we love. Aren't we lucky to be able to appreciate, celebrate, smile, laugh and drool over such an exceptional and unique artist?