Chuck said:
I tend to agree with you. A lot of kids actually think Michael Buble is cool. Their parents and grand-parents like him too. Whenever you find something that bridges generations, I think you are on to something.
Are you sure about that? I'm 32 and I'm not that impressed. I work with many people of all ages including kids as young as 16 and there's no way any of them would listen to him for 2 minutes, let alone think he's "cool." Even my parents think it's old-fogey music. My grandparents may have liked him, but the standards format already has that audience.
The future of the format is not new artists or '70s rockers covering all of these old standards. What does Rod Stewart add to "It Had To Be You" or any other old standard that has been remade a million times? Nothing. All it brings is comparisons to what a great song it used to be.
Now... if these "new" artists would do new ORIGINAL standards music, then you may have something. I thought Diana Krall's "Peel Me A Grape" was one of the freshest new jazz songs of the last 20 years. Now I don't know if she was the first to record it, but it became her signature song. Why can't these artists come up with more new material like this? That is what will save the format.