The front page of today's New York Times Arts section has a review of Bieber's recent concert at Madison Square Garden. Two color pictures accompany the article--a large photo of white denim-clad Bieber, and a smaller photo of the hordes of screaming girls who attended the show. Bieber, 16, has attained true teen idol status. He is the newest member of the heartthrob club; he is in the company of dreamboats like David Cassidy, James Dean, Elvis Presley, and, of course, Frank Sinatra.
Sinatra is often seen as the original teen idol because of his popularity with bobbysoxers in the 1940s. Audiences of adoring teenaged fans fell under Sinatra's spell, the "Sinatrance". Men questioned whether the swooning, shrieking, and fainting that Sinatra's voice provoked were brought on by frustrated romances of women and girls whose boyfriends, fiances, and husbands were heading off to war, or whether their fanatical devotion to Sinatra was simply the result of feminine silliness. Either way, Sinatra's songs successfully seduced a generation.
Bieber's fans exhibit much of the same obsession that the bobbysoxers showed to Sinatra 70 years ago. Like Sinatra, Bieber capitalizes on their adolescent fervor. As heir to the teen-pop throne, Bieber uses some of the same tantalizing tactics that Sinatra used to captivate audiences. The Times article notes, "[Bieber's] songs cracke with the first blush of seduction and power--sweet enough to deceive his youngest fans, and probably their parents too, but absolutely delivered with a devious glint in his eye."
The Times has an excellent collection of photos from Bieber's concert here: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/09/01/arts/music/20100902-beiber-ss.html
A video at this link http://www.paleycenter.org/sinatra-the-bobby-soxers shows bobbysoxers going crazy over Sinatra. This article http://www.pophistorydig.com/?tag=bobbysoxers has good pictures and gives a nice summary of bobbysoxer Sinatra-fever.
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