Music Council from Carly Simon to Sabrina Carpenter after controversy about sexualization

Music Council from Carly Simon to Sabrina Carpenter after controversy about sexualization

Carpenter is at the center of criticism after appearing sensual and suggestive on the cover of his new album, an experience that Simon has lived

Almost 25 years before the birth of Sabrina Carpenter, Carly Simon He was in a department store in New York and felt very well. She had just released her fifth album, Playing Possumand the animated single “Attitude Dancing” I was about to follow the successes “You’re So Van”, “Haven’t Got Time for The Pain” and “Anticly” on the radio. So a woman who apparently knew the cover of Playing Possum He approached her.

“She had seen a picture or knew someone who had the album,” he remembers Simon. “And asked, ‘What you were thinking?’. The voices raised. “

Last week, Carpenter revealed the now famous cover of his next album, Man’s Best Friendin which appears kneeling on the floor, with one hand extended toward a man of suit who grabs her by the hair. Debates, some quite intense, emerged about whether the photo showed female empowerment, cleverness and knowledge, or simply empowered the male look.

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A publication shared by Sabrina Carpenter (@sabrinacarpenter)

But how Simon Well you know, the view of a female pop star in a similar pose and touching the same subject did not start with Man’s Best Friend. Launched in 1975, Playing Possum boasted some suggestive music titles, such as “Are you Tickish” and “Love Out in the Street”but its most provocative appearance was your black and white cover photo: Simonon his knees, looking fierce and mysterious on a black nightgown and black boots, clenched cuffs, partially hidden face, slightly open mouth. The photo of Norman Seeff It was the opposite of the cover of his previous album, Hotcakes (1974), who presented her smiling and visibly pregnant. On Playing PossumSimon says, “I remember thinking, ‘If it works, you will let people see that I recovered my body.'”

But, in a scenario that can be familiar to the community of Carpenterfans and feminists did not know what to do started discussing the message. Like the Rolling Stoneat the time reported, a department store chain considered not selling the album of Simon. THE Crawdaddya competing counterculture magazine, published an entirely dedicated review of the cover analysis rather than the music. The image became so striking that the nightgown that Simon Used it was included in its exposure in the Rock & Roll fame hall when it was introduced in 2022.

Considering the contrast between the cover of Playing Possum and Hotcakesits story behind it is ironic: in fact, it started with the daughter of Simon, Sallywho, just a few months old, was in a kangaroo on his mother’s back while she I made purchases. “I was looking at the cars in underwear, and she leaned to me when she looked at something,” he says SimonRemembering how her daughter grabbed the black lingerie and pulled her into the kangaroo with her. No one in the cashier realized. “(At that time the clothes had no safety labels.)

When Simon He arrived at the studio for the photo shoot, was wearing the stolen garment under a skirt and a blouse. As she remembers, she was in a dressing room wearing her casual clothes again after the session when she heard “Theme from Shaftfrom Isaac Hayesplaying in the studio. “I loved that song, so I ran out and started dancing,” she says. While SEEFF clicked, Simonblack lingerie, sang along with Hayeslying on the floor before rising. “And it was then that Norman He took that picture after I managed to make that pose, “she says.” It wasn’t done on purpose. It was not a frame. “

When the photos were revealed, SEEFF focused on one in particular. “I was looking at these photos and I thought, ‘Well, here’s a picture that has some kind of energy,” he says. “The head was cut. She was moving from the floor to the standing position, and her fist was closed. No one thought of what it could convey. It was a fascinating and unique image that left a lot of room for the imagination.”

Own Simon I wasn’t sure at first, but it ended up having the same idea. “There was something in black and white photographs that suddenly made you feel like an art image,” she says. “The whole thing seemed artistic, even if it wasn’t artistic on purpose.”

In the artist’s memory, the initial feedback she received – from the then husband James Taylor and your producer, the deceased Richard Perry – It was positive, and she proudly showed him the Joni Mitchell and Graham Nash at a birthday party that organized to Taylor In Los Angeles, just before the album release. “Everyone looked at him, and people definitely reacted,” he recalls, “but they didn’t tell me what they really thought.”

The most visceral answers arrived when Playing Possum It was released in stores. “How about destroying the image of the future future radiant mother on the cover of her last album?” Wrote a critic. Another questioned if she should wear a whip to match the clothes. Simon He even remembers his mother, the civil rights activist Andrea Louise Heinemannsaying, “Carlydear! What are you doing?”

“Suddenly, I started to receive calls from the Team and from Newsweek saying, ‘This is one of the most sexy covers ever’, ‘he says SEEFF. “Is there a whole controversy about what she represented? It looked a lot like that energy in a woman, but I just thought it was a beautiful picture. None of what they were talking about was the intention.” The conversation did not hurt sales: Playing Possum became the third consecutive album of Simon in the top 10.

The cover of Man’s Best Friend, of Carpenterit is not an explicit tribute to Playing Possumbut Simon It has been recognized by modern pop stars. Both Carpenter as Olivia Rodrigo have already made covers of “You’re So Van” on stage, and Addison Rae praised the later album of Simon, Boys in the trees, In a recent interview. “I love that younger girls are discovering me and that I have received attention from them,” he says Simon.

On the controversial art of Carpenter, Simon You don’t see too much. “She’s not doing anything outrageous,” he says. “It seems harmless. There have been much more flashy covers than hers. One of the most amazing covers I’ve ever seen was Sticky Fingers [dos Rolling Stones]. It was exaggerated in terms of sexual attitude. So I don’t know why she’s getting so much criticism. “

Own Simon It hasn’t released a new album since 2009, but has been working on new songs sporadically for a decade. The songs, many produced by your child Beninclude “Howl”with Nile Rodgers on the guitar and an invited vocal of Chris Stillsson of Stephen. “It’s a kind of song about taking revenge on someone, or in this case a lot of people,” she says. “It’s affectionate? No, it’s not. It’s very brave. There’s a lot of power.” She also wrote a song about her daughter Sally, “Mother of Pearl”and another, “From It Anyway”that she calls “a kind of coach song – ‘If you think you can’t do it, do it anyway.'” “Pity The Poor Man” It was co -writing with NATASHA BEDINGFIELDand Simon also music music QEn.

It is not yet known what the format of the songs will be, says Simon. “I didn’t record like an album,” he explains. “I just recorded one song here and another there. We have 10 songs, the equivalent of an album, but there is no albums released today, so let’s release one by one.”

How it may not be a traditional album, Simon Don’t even think about the cover. But as for the advice for Carpenter on how to deal with the situation, Simon He says, “Well, any publicity is good publicity, so I wouldn’t worry. And as to the fact that it is sensual, I certainly don’t think that’s it. I mean, see all the people who dress with much less clothes. She’s so beautiful, and she should be proud of herself and her appearance. I don’t see anything wrong with it.”

Taking a look at Man’s Best Friend, Carly Simon It has one last thought. “I thought it has crossed the limits when touching the man’s knee,” she says, with a laugh. “I didn’t need to do that.”

Article published on June 18, 2025 at Rolling Stone. To read the original in English, click here.

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Source: Rollingstone

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