October 23, 2018

"She was very well prepared. Since '... Baby One More Time' was the first song, we really didn’t know where to take it. We just kept on recording."

"We tried a couple of different styles. After a while, I could hear her stomach growl in the microphone. I asked if she was hungry. We’d been going for eight hours. She said, 'No, I’m fine.' I said, 'Let’s take a break,' and she had three burgers."

From "'Britney Spears wanted to be a star': An oral history of '...Baby One More Time'" (Entertainment Weekly).

28 comments:

gahrie said...

I knew there was a reason I liked her.....

The Crack Emcee said...

If passing up a burger was what it took to succeed, everybody woulda stopped eating years ago.

I'll read about people like Britney Spears when my tits AND my music get a fair hearing, and not until.



Vance said...

She seems to have recovered from her insanity, for the most part. I also think she's a very quiet conservative that is smart enough to keep her mouth shut because she knows that people don't pay her for her political opinions, but to see her (still hot) body and listen to her music.

I wish more Hollywood types knew that lesson.

MadisonMan said...

I really don't remember her music at all. It came out when I had two toddlers/pre-schoolers. There's a huge gap in my memory in the late 90s/early 00s.

Yancey Ward said...

I have always loved that song and the video. Incidentally, the song was written by Max Martin who has writer or co-writer credits on more #1 Billboard Hot 100 singles than all but two people in history- Paul McCartney and John Lennon.

Carter Wood said...

Richard Thompson covers Oops, I did it again.

Bill Peschel said...

That's a great version, Carter. I also love the Max Raabe version.

Doug said...

Nigel Dick: I was kind of aware that some people might feel that that was exploitative. And as it turned out, I got a huge amount of grief about it once the video came out.

The adults involved in making the video all act to coy, so ... omigosh, what's this all about?. I don't believe them for a second. They set out to exploit a 16 year old girl to make a boner video for 40 year-old dads.

Doug said...

Fountains of Wayne's cover of "Bayb, One More Time" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6g4t93uuus

Kay said...

I’m noticing more and more oral histories being published these days, and I think it’s a really great way to tell a story.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Stunned that Althouse is writing about Britney Spears when Yoko Ono has just released a new album in the last two days!

Wince said...

After a while, I could hear her stomach growl in the microphone.

I thought he'd say that's where Spears' signature growl/purr came from.

Jupiter said...

Yancey Ward said...
"I have always loved that song and the video."

Really? I had never seen either one. My immediate reaction to the song was that she needs to get over the asshole. I guess there is a long tradition of songs celebrating massively dysfunctional relationships. The video seems pretty tame, but I didn't stay to the end.

MayBee said...

The first time I saw the video, I thought it was a parody.
I feel sorry for Brittney because I'm pretty sure she was drugged and possibly sexually used to get her into fame. She was not well for while, and I'm glad her dad could step in for her.

In the era of #MeToo, I would like someone to address *why* so many young stars go a little crazy-- what are they going through to get their stardom?

Geoff Matthews said...

I thought the song had a nice hook, but I never considered it 'good'. It pandered more than it impressed.
Why people think that they need to push an anniversary type memorial on it is odd.

D 2 said...

Do you like American Music? I like American Music. Don't you like American Music .......baby.

Decline & Fall in "Baby" songs. (PhD thesis, U of ---)
1950s Baby It's Cold Outside
1960s I Got You Babe
1970s Baby, I Love Your Way
1980s Push It ("Baby baby, ooh baby baby")
1990s Baby One More Time

Ronettes and Sir Mixalot could fit in there, I know. Maybe Beyoncé for the 2000s (Baby Boy) but I am too lazy to see if that came out pre 2010.

Fabi said...

She wore a Catholic school girl outfit in the "Baby One More Time" video. Not that I remember it or anything. I looked it up online. Three times.

vermonter said...

Achh. Pfuui. I just wasted precious minutes of my life reading about Brittany Spears. Ann should put the tags on top so we know what to skip.

readering said...

She puts on quite a show at the Monte Carlo in Vegas. (Not my first choice but I wasn't picking and then I wasn't disappointed.)

BUMBLE BEE said...

I just finished watching Tina Turner Wembly 2000, Proud Mary. Who the flyin fuck is Brittany Spears??

readering said...

Rip van Winkle

Jay Vogt said...

. . . The Crack Emcee said..." I'll read about people like Britney Spears when my tits AND my music get a fair hearing, and not until,

I have some bad news and some good news.

The bad news is that with that a as a conditions you will have to wait a very very long time. The good news is that with that a as a conditions you will have to wait a very very long time.

0_0 said...

Feeling superior today, aren't we?

Gordon Scott said...

She wanted to be a star, back then. She became one, and then she crashed in front of the world. She overcame that and rekindled her career in Las Vegas.

A friend who is familiar with the industry says she works hard for her money, but doesn't get to keep a lot of it. Too many people make a living off her. He said that she would be happier if she just went home to Louisiana and opened a dance studio.

Leland said...

I bet her appetite came from being nervous recording her first song with a major record label.

Doug said...

D2 said: Do you like American Music?
"Baby, I Love Your Way" - Peter Frampton is sorta British.

D 2 said...

I write these things in an hurry.
Or it's a red herring to see if any of the 356,201 pedants round these parts are keeping tabs.
Or I use Violent Femme lyrics on different blog posts to send messages to Norwegian fighter -skiers.

Zach said...

The song still sounds great. The only thing that's aged badly is the overly repetitive and slow pattern on the drum machine. A competent drummer would really spice things up.

Just clicking through YouTube, you hear the same repetitive beat on "Oops, I did it again."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CduA0TULnow

Compare to "Toxic," which is also a drum machine, but has a much more imaginative beat:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOZuxwVk7TU