Biz person you most love to hate & why
Posted by: Jim Ashton on 12 August 2002
For me it's: Elton John
NOT because he's gay (so is Cecil Taylor, after all) but because he's almost completely a talent-free zone and to cap it all had the crass affrontery to re-dedicate Candle In The Wind (the only song of his that ever did anything for me) from Marilyn Monroe, truly a worthy dedicatee, to Diana Spencer simply to liposuct cash in the most brazenly mercenary way out of a wave of national emotion (I'm entirely neutral on DS herself).
Runners-up: 1. Madonna (at least she hasn't dedicated Like A Virgin to DS) and 2. Phil Collins (at least he can play the drums)
Well now
Jim
Posted on: 13 August 2002 by seagull
He's been dead for a quarter of a century (TODAY!) but we still have to endure the warblings of his many 'impersonators'. They all seem to 'do' his Vegas cabaret persona rather than the young rock'n'roll singer from the 50's (when he was relevant!)
Posted on: 13 August 2002 by Shayman
Well said!
Why every time there's a national celebration or event Sir Elton Biggins (apol. Dom Jolly) is wheeled out to the adoration of...er...nope got me there... I'll never know.
The Queen must be getting f**king sick of the sight of him this year the number of times he's hauled his bloated, talentless frame along to her Jubilee celebrations.
Jonathan
Posted on: 13 August 2002 by Peter Stockwell
He was as good as Rod Stewart once!
Peter
Posted on: 13 August 2002 by Pete
quote:
Originally posted by Peter Stockwell:
He was as good as Rod Stewart once!
Hmm, is that Rod as he originally was, a damn fine singer or Rod as he is, a national embarrasment who butchers once-good songs for clueless Americans?
Elton John actually used to make some okay records (Don't Shoot ME I'm Only the Piano Player is all right), and he can be forgiven a lot for his appearances on the Muppet Show and with Morecambe and Wise, but current output is indeed shocking.
OTOH Michael Bolton and Mariah Carey have, AFAICT, never made any good records and both set my teeth on edge.
Pete.
Posted on: 13 August 2002 by mykel
I hear on the radio ( pop / rock ) Especially the pop princesses ala Britany, Shakira etal
To find anything worth listening to you have to dig, check out alternative radio ( college / university for example ) or do as I am currently, rediscover the past.
As for Reg, well I like his early stuff, my fav is Madman, a bit over the top at times, but good melodies. Same for Rod or Dave, early is great, later output is a sure sign that in some cases early retirement is a good thing.
Then again it just may be my warped sensabilities.
michael
Posted on: 13 August 2002 by Peter Stockwell
quote:
Originally posted by Pete:
quote:
Originally posted by Peter Stockwell:
He was as good as Rod Stewart once!
Hmm, is that Rod as he originally was, a damn fine singer or Rod as he is, a national embarrasment who butchers once-good songs for clueless Americans?
Elton John actually used to make some okay records (Don't Shoot ME I'm Only the Piano Player is all right), and he can be forgiven a lot for his appearances on the Muppet Show and with Morecambe and Wise, but current output is indeed shocking.
Pete.
Well there was a time when it was cool like 'Rod the Mod' and it was acceptable to like 'Elton John', I was merely responding tongue in cheek to this thread. I like Rod (before Atlantic Crossing) and like a few of the early period Elton John songs.
Peter
Posted on: 13 August 2002 by Cheese
I've permitted myself to quote here the comments of two guys who know what they're talking about in matters of rock music, at least according to the contents of their
site. I love Bach, Beethoven, Schumann, J. J. Cale, AC/DC and Motörhead, but I happen to like Elton John as strange as it may seem. This comment reflects quite accurately why I openly like Elton John - knowing well that there are greater artists, but 'talentless' is for sure not the right term:
quote:
Kids of my <their> generation grew up through the early and mid-70's listening to the former Reginald Kenneth Dwight's endless radio hits, like "Your Song," "Rocket Man," "Crocodile Rock," "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," "Bennie And The Jets," etc., etc., ad nauseum. Some of us developed an aural Elton John allergy as a result of this over-exposure, and twenty years down the road I only consider myself partially cured: I'm still sometimes tempted to write him off as a cheesy popmeister. But Elton's records more or less defined the era, and he really earned his popularity with a fantastic singing voice, unerring pop sensibility, and outstanding production values.
But I agree about Madonna...
Cheese
Posted on: 13 August 2002 by herm
I like nauseum - I'm going to hold on to that. I can picture a building, along the lines of a museum, but this is a nauseum, room after room of boredom (with s/h Elton John muzak, following me all the way to the loo).
Herman
Pedant note: it's ad nauseam - as in nauseating.
Posted on: 14 August 2002 by Peter Stockwell
quote:
Originally posted by herm:
I like _nauseum_ - I'm going to hold on to that. I can picture a building, along the lines of a museum, but this is a _nauseum_, room after room of boredom (with s/h Elton John muzak, following me all the way to the loo).
Herman
Pedant note: it's _ad nauseam_ - as in nauseating.
ROFL!, I didn't spot that. And what about a Nausoleum ?
Peter
