Op-Ed: Why The Press Should NOT Leave Amy Winehouse Alone

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Earlier this month I posted a report on why the press should leave Britney Spears alone. A slightly older co-worker of mine heard the story and asked another question: why are they following Amy Winehouse around? Who is she?

I quickly made her a CD of four Winehouse songs and needless to say, she was amazed by her talent. And that is when I came to a strange, ironic epiphany: the media should keep covering Amy Winehouse for her own good and musicphiles all over the world.

I don’t mean cover her as in send 1,000 paparazzi and helicopters a la Ms. Spears, but they should keep continuing to photograph her on stage, back stage and in public. Why? Because she is a world of talent that should not succumb to the pressures of drugs and alcohol and with the eye on her every move for awhile it will make it difficult.

Amy Winehouse has a phenomenal voice that doesn’t seem put on. Probably one of the best voices to come out of our generation in the last decade, not because she’s doing the “blue-eyed soul” act like Joss Stone, but because it actually feels real. I could imagine that sound coming out of a turntable in quadraphonic ecstasy. She is a darn good songwriter and just has an other-worldly way of making every note count, be it soft or hard. Not too many singers can do that now without sounding like they are imitating Mariah Carey or Aretha Franklin. Winehouse is just natural when she’s not drunk, high, or around her husband.

But it could be easy for her to continue spiraling into a decline as long as no one cares. And so many people do. Even the Stones, who have had harsh words for her, are probably saying them because they have had those experiences and they don’t want to see her wasting away at such a young age. What if Mick and Keith or Paul or John made an early exit within their first years of their spotlight? What if someone had gotten to Kurt Cobain a little earlier? Or Jim Morrison? Or even Jimi Hendrix?

It could happen to Winehouse. We could watch her continue to become enabled by her husband Blake and, as soon as he leaves jail, shoot up, smoke up, and drink up to stay connected to him because he has worse problems than she. We could see her start work on a third album and three songs in die of an overdose.

But if the press stays on her (respectfully, of course), if they continue to quote her parents basically saying not to buy her records until she cleans up because it supports her habit, if they keep photographing her to and from jail visits of her husband, there is hope that Amy will get it and work at coming clean. If they follow her AFTER rehab at parties NOT drinking, helping her husband get through issues, maybe she’ll get back to the studio and record more great music.

There is hope. She was able to perform on the Grammies and actually looked clean. Her parents were there to congratulate her on her numerous wins. She looked like she had some emotion back in her veins and a little bit of energy beyond notes. She may have sung “You Know I’m No Good”, but she is the opposite. She’s good, all right. I hope she gets better so she can be great.