Do you ever wonder?

Jsd52756 saying that Tom Waits is bad means you diddnt aquire good taste yet...but maybe youll learn someday...maybe...reading your post makes me shure that hes any album is better than anything you have in your CD pile(what a waste of money)...cheers...

Practically every other person I ever come across likes music that I find unfathomable. Their entire listening habits are populated by artists that possess little or no talent that I can see or from musical genres that I loathe. It's often stated that if we were all alike life would be boring and of course that rings true with music. It does allow some of us to bask in the warmth of superiority and that does provide some solace to this occasionally dreary life.
My personal list of artists I cannot stand and that are hugely popular would be far too many to list. Although, it would be a pretty safe bet to state that 99.9(recurring)% of all artists to have charted in either the UK or USA in the last 35 years would make the list.

It's all plain and simple to finalize:
There are bands that have most of income from recordings and there are bands that have most of income from live performances. There are also bands that are happy with income from recordings and would not wish to work harder to perform live.
Here also comes very important show-biz factor: frequency. Frequency of live performances, number of sold recordings affect consumer demand. More frequent live performances and frequent large distribution of recordings certainly can decrease demand on artist. So there's always a decision to make: to tour or to record a new album.
The year of 2011 seemed to shut up most of the good artists as I haven't had any descent live concert exposure.

Audiofeil,
I've never seen them live. Perhaps, like you, I would appreciate them more.

Not that I completely dislike them, their staying power after all these years surprises me.

I must agree with you concerning the Grateful Dead. Those are my 3 favorite albums. In fact Workingmans Dead is one of the first albums I ever bought.

Like you I find some of Garcias solo work interesting. Particularly with David Grisman.

Best,

Dave

You know Dave (Corazon), I thought the same thing about Queen for over 10 years. Never took the band seriously. Then I saw their performances at Live Aid and Wembley. Been a big fan ever since.

As always YMMV

To each is there own I guess but hasn't this been going on for decades? Subpar musicians sell millions of records based on looks, the time their hit single broke out, the push they get from their record companies etc etc.

Well this weekend I got stuck in the car listening to Pop radio stations. Nothing like hearing the same songs over and over and over on pretty much every radio station my car antenna could pick up.

The "artists" I'd like to add to this thread are:

Ke$ha
Britney Spears
Justin Beiber
Jason Derulo
Ne-Yo
Any of the boy bands from the late 90s.

Pretty much if the artist needs a lot production tricks or Autotune to make their voice sound palatable their name should be on this list.

Ac/dc
Guns and roses
Queen
Motely crüe
Peter frampton

To name a few.

Best,

Dave

Ever wonder how boring it would be if we all had the same tastes? We'd have nothing to complain about...

I too am not a fan of anyone in Audiofeil's list, nor own anything by them. (And I could say the same about almost anything and everything played on popular radio these days, irrespective of genre.) But that's not the same as asking how they can move units and put butts in seats, which they do plenty well without me. I can easily understand why the answer to those is affirmative, and recognize, even appreciate, their talent -- which is not to say artistry or integrity. I may (may!) even slightly enjoy some small percentage or aspect of their work, in an incidental, disposable way. Or not.

Personally I think it's naive, snobbish, or disingenuous to imply that, if you or I don't like something, no one else should. The answer, in case it needs spelling out, is that there's simply no accounting for taste -- in any direction. I take it for granted that if somebody enjoys something which I don't, the feelings it generates in them are just as valid, for them, as those I feel listening to something that pushes my own buttons (and which they may hate). We're just different; no way am I gonna say I'm somehow better. (Which is what this query is really about, IMO. I might think it -- I might even say it, in so many words, to friends who share my tastes. But I'm not gonna be insecure jerk enough to feel I need to proclaim my supposed superiority in public to those I don't know.)

Vive la difference! (...Just don't make me have to shop to your crap!)

Depends on what you like.

This thread shows that there is truly no accounting for taste.

U2
REM
Grateful Dead (ok, I guess it's about the drugs)
Dave Matthews Band
Sting
Coldplay
Radiohead
The Who

Those bands have a cult like following for reasons unbeknownst to me. I'm not saying they're a bunch of "no-talent ass-clowns" (to quote a character named Michael Bolton in Office Space referring to the singer of the same name), but I just can't get why they're as popular as they are for as long as they've been.

As far as Bono... A good friend of mine worked for MTV. He's met and interacted with a ton of famous musicians and other celebrities. He said Bono was easily the most pretentious douche bag he's ever met. Second place (David Lee Roth) wasn't even remotely close.

The Steve Miller Band-Take the money and run, how ironic.
Sade-The Kenny G of vocals.
Garth Brooks-A 100+ million Americans are not smarter then a 5th grader.
Nirvana-All that negativity can be fatal.
Eminem-The James Dean of hip-hop.
Nickleback-The real Spinal Tap.

There's a difference between not liking particular artists or certain types of music vs. what I think the original point of this thread which is namely; artists who have achieved success even though they SUCK!;) While I don't care much for Wynton Marsalis I don't think it can be denied that he's a skilled & well-trained musician. The same can be said for Manhatten Transfer. Where as someone like Kid Rock, not so much.

You're puzzled about why the Manhattan Transfer had a successful run? Look, it's not my type of music either, but I can recognize the obvious talent and hard work that went into their recordings (and reputedly performances). I took a jazz arranging class once. The teacher started off the first class by playing an Manh Transfer track explaining all the things they were doing well.

I also wonder why you'd even think to include Norah Jones on the list.

If I had to make a list, it would be replete with alt/hard rock incompetents like Wilco & Poison.

Example of loads of talent and artistry (it takes both) - watch this

What about Wynton Marsalis, the revisionist fraud who made a career off of the supposition that innovation was dead and the 'art of jazz' should be about copying the past? He is not a traditionalist. A traditionalist works in a tradition which is based on INVENTION. He invents nothing. He merely gives echoes of bygone sounds.

Rod Stewart. What was that "if u think i'm sexy just reach out and touch me blah blah dreck that he moved into? He may have a LA mansion full of gold and satin do-dahs, but that dude sold out big time.

Jhugg9- You nailed it.

Geez...I could go on and on however...to add to short list
Pink
Beyonce
Van Hagar
Bob Segar
Liberace

The first three are in order. The rest are a tie.

1 John Lennon solo
2 Paul McCartney solo
3 The Eagles

Kansas,Styx,Bruce Springsteen(everything after Darkness on the Edge of Town), Phil Collins, Billy Joel, Elton(everything after Yellow Brick Road) Rod Stewart (most everything after Every Picture) J Tull (everything after Minstrel in the Gallery), The Who (most everything after K Moon died), and finally, The Stones, (eveything after Tatoo You).

Nickleback. A one sound band squeezing it for all the blood it will give.

Kid Rock

Coldplay...good but not that good. Just about anything out today in pop music or should I say poop music. Barry Manilow, BeeGees, and just about every country artist out there. Too many to list.

Thanks to all of you who mentioned U2. Somebody gave me the
U2:Go Home double disc CD for my birthday. It was awful.
My contribution would have to be Keiko Matsui.

Dug this old thread up and cant resist again;
Tom Waits. Whoever gave him his first microphone oughta be examined. Does Waits gargle with glass shards..?
-John

culture club
Cher
helen reddy
village people
milli vanilli
phoebe snow

All of these had some commercial success that simply baffles me.

No U2 fan myself. Bono's down with the funky glasses and the single name thing that the celeb/stars gravitate towards - but that music, e-gad!

Left Rickie Lee Jones after Pop Pop.

Original Bay Area person who can't take the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane better but I could live without music of the Haight very well.

I don't understand people who don't like Sinatra, but that's my problem.

No accounting for tastes. Bye bye.

I'll go out on a limb and throw U2 on the skewer. I sorta liked their early, punky stuff (I still listen to Boy once in a while), but their mega-grandiose stadium anthem stuff (Joshua Tree et al) sounds kinda like Spinal Tap to me. They seem like nice, sincere guys and all, but I personally can't comprehend their Godlike popularity.

95% of Grateful Deads music is pretty marginal. The thing is though is that almost everything they have ever done has been recorded and they've been around a long time and played allot of concerts. The math is pretty impressive. So if you can weed through the nonsense and find them on a good night, their playing can be magical. Not so different from the great live jazz bands when the players have those great nights. It's also been my experience that the great GD recordings that I have are all about Jerry Garcia playing these inspired improvisational threads. Some people think it's mindless noodeling but I find it a very high form of art and sheer musical beauty. How come it's OK to improvise on a trumpet or piano but when a guitarist does it, it's mindless noodeling??

I've never understand Clapton bashing. He has a great voice, written a fair share of really great songs, he can play alt country, blues, hard rock, ballads and everything in between. Just check out the DVD tribute to George Harrison when he sings "Something" and completely out classes Paul McCartney. You don't see him running around craving attention like McCartney and Steve Wonder. What's not to like?

I also will have to disagree about Wilco. They are one of the better bands out there right now. Check out their last appearance on Austin City Limits.

A live audience seems to bring out the worst in Shirley Bassey - Her live performances are way over the top IMO. But once she did "Goldfinger" and "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" she should have been contracted to do every Bond film.

>Shirley Bassey I do not get yet but then again I have been underexposed to-date.

I discovered her videos on YouTube about a year ago, and I love her!

from 1968: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KWT_a9g-II

from 1973: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51Wg6k9cWhM

from 1991: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raQqGLPcHzg

There is/was (may have gone under) a Radio Dead IO internet radio station that I tried a few times recently with my Roku Soundbridge's Internet radio source option thinking I will get to hear a lot of Dead stuff that I've never heard before and find some new gems. But everytime I turned it on, there was some pointless meandering live jam going on where I lost interest in seconds. Maybe I just have a short attention span these days....

entire books should be (and probably have been) written about the whole grateful dead cult phenomenom. i've been subjected to their interminable live shows and bootleg tapes, which is my idea of hell. now, i don't think their whole ouevre is entirely worthless--workingman's and american beauty are good country rock lps--but seldom has more adulation been poured over less musical substance. some of my less drug-addled deadhead friends have theorized that (sorta like the rocky horror picture show)artistic merit isn't the point; rather the whole communal let's drop-acid-and-buy-the merchandise-together vibe is the draw; all in all they're a fairly benign place for like-minded aging white people to gather and avoid reality.

I'd toss "Mars Hotel" and at least side 2 off "Terrapin Station", the full side "Terrapin Station" suite, which is fabulous.

Not a big fan either but there are 4 or 5 albums that most folks will enjoy IMO.

I'm partial to American Beauty, Workingman's Dead, and In the Dark.

Garcia's solo work is very interesting as well.

YMMV

"I'm a member of that club."

Me too - but I get the feeling that I'm missing something.

Though I like a lot of their stuff over the years, way more often than not (given the quantity of material available these days), I do not get The Grateful Dead when others seemingly do. A lot of the live stuff released in recent years just seems like uninspired and pointless jamming.

actually, not that he's a titan of the biz, but ian hunter's epononymous lp and "you're never alone..." were really good 70s pop records. wrt clapton, for some reason i can't abide any of his solo stuff after "eric clapton" (which was really a delaney and bonnie record), whereas i still listen to layla, blind faith and disraeli gears all the time. all personal bias, of course, but he's never had enough songs, or enough voice, to carry the show by himself. sorta like scottie pippen after mj retired...

Absolutely agree with Bill. Cream appears to be a special case, anyway. Look at (or rather listen to) Jack Bruce's solo albums and Ginger Baker's projects too (in diminishing order of popularity, sadly)

Loomis,
For the most part I agree with you and would add Paul Rodgers, Ian Hunter, David Lee Roth, Phil Collins (yuk), Burton Cummings to name a few.

However, Clapton has done some exceptional solo stuff IMO.

i do think that certain guys can only make worthwhile music in the context of a band--when they step out solo, they flail around miserably. look at the solo records from mick jagger, roger waters, clapton, pete townsend, roger mcguinn et. al.--very little is in the same league as the stuff they did with their bands. pride goeth before the fall, i guess.

Read one of Crosby's books.

I admire him as a musician/performer but he's basically a self absorbed, ego driven prick.

The most frequently used words in his books are me and I.

marty, you've turned me around on this subject. i retract my earlier post and now concur that he's a drug addled ass clown. his solo work does suck. there's less talented people in the biz, but fate is a fickle mistress.

Loomis,

In my post I acknowledged that he has a singing voice - I was alluding to the
harmonies. OTOH, even Artie Garfunkel couldn't live off his harmonies for a
decade. I never really appreciated his songs - maybe they deserve another
listen these many years later, but still... I'll take the first Stills solo record,
the early Neil Young solo stuff, Graham Nash's "Songs For Beginner's. You
can keep "If Only I Could Remember My Name".

As to alternate tunings, it's funny, but I always think of Joni and Ritchie
Havens (but not DC) as the pioneers of that approach, I might have to revisit
that one, too. I still suspect that the real reason for his enduring presence is
that he had to have the best drugs.

Marty

on a certain level, martykl has david crosby pegged. he was, however, one of the great harmony singers (go back and listen to the early byrds stuff) and has his name on a fair number of classic songs--8 miles high, wooden ships, triad, etc.--and was actually somewhat groundbreaking in his use of alternate tunings, unconventional song strctures and eastern modalities. mostly, i think he was a great counterculture symbol--the anti-authoritian, outspoken mustachioed jerk in a fringe jacket. dylan, for one, praises him mightily in his autobiography.

Anyone who can explain David Crosby?
Very spotty songwriter, limited playing skills, trouble with guns, drugs and the law, um...let's say limited sex appeal, and a decent enough voice. How does he keep getting gigs? If you're a lesbian couple and you needed a sperm donor to get pregnant, how does this guy end up topping your list? I don't get it.

Marty

Jolt52 - Queen really tops my list for this post. Hopefully will never have to hear that obnoxious voice again....