Unpopular music opinions

[Miss Peach]

Every time i try to teach classic rock junkies how to dance, they find it impossible to find rhythm in ACTUAL MUSIC (aka what we've been listing above). I find this frightening. I think my heart beats to jazz and blues rhythm.

 

[The Good]

With regard to the rock genre, here's what I think. I like Bill Haley and the Comets most, Duane Eddy, Buddy Holly, and then Elvis Presley. They're all great, in my opinion. Some of their style I prefer more than others. As for the later Beatles, I'm OK with them, they're good when they are good, but I'm not obsessed with them or anything. Their vocal and instrumental style, especially later on, is just not as mesmerizing to me as earlier artists of the 1950s and early '60s. As a whole though, I think I prefer jazz to the rock and roll genre, whether it's early jazz, 1930s/'40s swing, 1950s/'60s cool jazz, or even 1970s/'80s smooth jazz or jazz funk/fusion. The jazz genre as a whole, just offers a lot more to me; it appeals to me more so than rock. Anything past the 1960s in rock doesn't really appeal to me at all. Past that decade, it's almost foreign to my ears, as much as it's sometimes painful to listen to. If it is even considered "rock," the metal music of the 1980s to now (whatever these sub-genres are called, black metal, death metal, etc) is mostly atrocious. I find nothing of that sort pleasing to listen to. I feel as if I'm on a torture rack, rather than in a cool bar lounging around. Classical music as a whole is great too, from Bach, to Beethoven, to Schoenberg, although I still find myself listening to jazz more frequently. As for the currently popular hip hop or rap genre, I haven't ever listened to too much of it (I just happened to watch the Joaquin Phoenix documentary I'm Still Here as well, for what it's worth) to warrant much of a judgement. My opinion is, it isn't for me either, but I'm still open to what actually sounds good to my ears, regardless of genre. Besides, it seems that more than any other mainstream genre, more hip hop artists are actually wearing hats, including fedoras. Only country (which I do like as a whole) has more hat-wearers. Anyway, I'm generally very tolerant of everyone else's musical tastes.

 

[Lady Day]

The Andrews Sisters.
Not discounting their tours or their iconic morale building of troops, but as singers, their harmonies were a bit acidic.

LD

 

[Aristaeus]

I feel the same way after listening to the Beatles.:eusa_doh:

Ok, name one song that bears merit---not something that they were copying Chuck, Elvis or some of the other stars of the time. Definitely not any of the maggot infested hippie stuff from later either. Duck! :laser::hippie: Got him just before he got away.

Lennon and McCartney.



[video=youtube;DFMVdnoBHCI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFMVdnoBHCI[/video]

 

[FinnSpinn]

A lot of the commercial "retro-swing" groups to come out of 1990s were just plain awful. Most of the bands donned fedoras, played 1950's rockabilly (with a trumpet and saxophone thrown in for good measure), and passed it off as swing. A handful of good tracks were made by various groups, but the overall attempt at recapturing the swing-era came across as cheesy and tacky - like paying homage to Da Vinci and Monet by coloring with crayons on crumpled notebook paper.

Actually, Da Vinci and Monet did quite some coloring on crumpled notebook paper themselves, but that is besides the point.

Even worse than the cheesy retroswing is what they call 'Electro Swing'. If you don't know it, it is swing cut to shreds and shoehorned into an electronic beat. In the process, all the swing is beaten to death, and the incompatible sound of the vintage swing and the electronic beats throw you in an acute attack of cognitive dissonance.

As for Dylan: The Dillards (any bluegrassfans out there?) said it best: he sounds like a dog caught in barbed wire.

 

[Adcurium]

I love this thread! I've worked as a 'semi-professional' musician for 20 years and there are a lot of things I HATE playing. I've never really cared for the Beatles. I don't find the Boss enjoyable to listen to or play, and while I understand the importance of Nirvana in the rock musi scheme, I've neve cared for them. Oh, and the Doors and the Dead. Spare me. I do however belive Clapton is a God. And my love of classic rock ends about there. But for me, early Elvis (late 59, early 60's) is the coolest. Seriously. He oozed cool. And the Clash just changed my life. There are a few things that have been in my daily music rotation since I was a young kid: Sinatra, Martin, Elvis, the Clash, Nick Cave and Social Distortion.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The Andrews Sisters.
Not discounting their tours or their iconic moral building of troops, but as singers, their harmonies were a bit acidic.

LD

Agreed. I'll take the Boswells or the Pickenses any day.

 

[dhermann1]

OK, I guess I'll chime in. I'm a Beatle lover and a Sinatra lover, unapologetically. Really can't stand Springsteen. Like Elvis but don't go nuts over him.
I stopped listening to Rock and Roll around 1975. I think it was Bad Company that sent me over the edge. Had a couple pals in the room next door at college who boomed them incessantly. Gak!
Another one I have no use for is Richie Havens.
Not fond of Hal Kemp.
Totally agree that Mildred Bailey is possibly the numero uno most greatest unsung (so to speak) singer of her era. Great singer. People talk a lot about how Billie Holiday learned a lot from Louis Armstrong, but she also clearly learned a lot from Bailey.
And last but not least, and I'm truly sorry to say this Lizzie, but I really don't like Al Bowlly. There. I've said it.

 

[Fletch]

Not fond of Hal Kemp.

His best recordings - IMHO, those of 1928-'34 - are mostly unavailable.

 

[CharlieB]

For me, the best rat pack type, lounge singer (forgetting his early dabbling in rock and roll and later folk nonsense) was Bobby Darin. He was one of the few that could actually carry and tune, and not just talk-sing the lyrics.

 

[Lady Day]

I've always made a clear destination between Rock and Rock N Roll. The latter had it's start in blues and jazz and reached crossover appeal with Elvis, where as the former I always felt started in the early 60s with other bands trying to co-op the sound. IT reached its turning point with the Beatles and came into its own in the lat 60s early 70s with the Vietnam war.

Am I wrong?

LD

 

[martinsantos]

Sinatra has different phases in his career. The recordings to Tommy Dorsey are just fabulous. In the Columbia years he was almost boring.

At Capitol he was great!! Only the Lonely, Nice'n'Easy, Where are You? and other classic LPs. With the back of wonderful orchestras, by Nelson Riddle, Billy May and Gordon Jenkins.

Reprise Records are usually boring and nothing special. I like just a few, like with Count Basie or Duke Ellington.

 

[jamespowers]

Lennon and McCartney.



[video=youtube;DFMVdnoBHCI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFMVdnoBHCI[/video]

lol lol lol lol You are kidding right? It sounds like something Ronnie Specter and The Ronettes should have been singing. lol They would have done a better job.
You owe me two minutes of my life back. :eusa_doh:

 

[Fletch]

Sinatra has different phases in his career. The recordings to Tommy Dorsey are just fabulous. In the Columbia years he was almost boring.

Frank posed such an artistic and commercial threat to Mitch Miller, who took over A&R at Columbia in 1950, that Mitch all but killed Frank's career for a few years.

 

[Widebrim]

Ish Kabibble did some very impressive trumpet solos.

That I was unaware of. (Loved his bowl haircut, though...)

 

[LizzieMaine]

Frank posed such an artistic and commercial threat to Mitch Miller, who took over A&R at Columbia in 1950, that Mitch all but killed Frank's career for a few years.

His throat hemmorage right around that same era didn't help things either. It's amazing how close Sinatra came to being just another Dick Haymes -- big bobby-soxer star who was cast off and forgotten when his time was up.

 

[Aristaeus]

I feel the same way after listening to the Beatles.:eusa_doh:

Ok, name one song that bears merit---not something that they were copying Chuck, Elvis or some of the other stars of the time. Definitely not any of the maggot infested hippie stuff from later either. Duck! :laser::hippie: Got him just before he got away.

Lennon and McCartney



[video=youtube;LLhoNBNpuOQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLhoNBNpuOQ[/video]

 

[rue]

How about this? My favorite Beatles song:
[video=youtube;ZlShC-GxFNw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlShC-GxFNw[/video]

 

[Widebrim]

Ok, name one song that bears merit---not something that they were copying Chuck, Elvis or some of the other stars of the time.

One? "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," comes to mind. (Oh, but that's from their :hippie:eaceeriod...) Okay, "I Should Have Known Better" predates it. Great song.

 

[Widebrim]

His throat hemmorage right around that same era didn't help things either. It's amazing how close Sinatra came to being just another Dick Haymes -- big bobby-soxer star who was cast off and forgotten when his time was up.

Yes, it took From Here to Eternity to get him back on top. Any of you ever listen to the Rocky Fortune radio show that Sinatra did just before his come-back? Formulaic, but I like it. His character (a.k.a. Rocco Fortunato) is presented as a somewhat early'50s hipster-type who gets into various jams. What I want to know is: Why was Dick Haymes able to get out of the draft for simply being an Argentinian citizen? Many non-US citizens were drafted in WWII...