Most over rated ever?

Exactly the point I was attempting. We seem to have dismissed everyone.

As for Richard Strauss - I stand corrected. Not a big (or even medium-scale) opera buff. Just ignorant perhaps.

CZ

it did not work. you are absolutely right about strauss. i think he is not over rated. i tried my best at satire, too. it might work in my mothertongue, but obviously not always in english. sorry.

however, i simply do not like strauss that much for several reasons but am perfectly willing to acknowledge his importance in musical history.
and you are right, i am not such a big fan of operas. most of the people and their attitude puts me off. and i am no big fan of "koloraturen" either. it is supposed to be about emotions but most of the times arias do not tickle me. i prefer "lieder" which i feel to be more "honest" and "authentic" in terms of emotions. just imo.

hey, now we are about it.

over rated:
opera in general!!!

I mean....really, apart from creating probably the best album of all time what did he do for us? To the person who questioned Davis's prowess on the trumpet you are missing the point to a ridiculous degree. Sure there were better players (Louis Armsrtong, Dizzy Gillespie) in a technical sense but he was so much more than just a trumpet player.

quote:

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Originally posted by Thorsten:
over rated:
opera in general!!!

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What's all this I hear about Oprah being over rated? I think she's great; I watch her show every day and I read her magazine ... what? You said opera, not Oprah? Oh ... that's entirely different. Never mind.

Miss Emily Litella

hi woodface,

i always thought miles played with his back to the audience because he had such a bad sound and technique and knew about it! :-)) just joking of course. as i mentioned before in earlier posts: my attempt at satire might not work perfect in a another language my mother tongue.

hi fred,

sorry, but there are no oprah-houses in germany. hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

Thorsten,

Actually, most opera is not really my cup of tea, either. I think it's the singing.

quote:

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Originally posted by Mick Parry:
Chaps

Herewith my nominations for the most vile and awful singers ever ...

4. Eva Cassidy.....a nothing voice.....died at the right time and made the music industry a fortune

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I was trying not to respond, but like a crow who sees something shiny ...

Eva Cassidy ... dig her or not, but "vile and awful"? Really that horrible? And Celine Dion is nowhere on your list?

For me, Eva singing Paul Simon's "Kathy's Song" is sublime, and her gospel shout on "Golden Thread" gives me chicken skin every time without fail. So, OK, she's not your cup of tea, but "vile"? And if she has a "nothing" voice, who, in your less than humble opinion, has a "something" voice?

Also, it may have seemed clever at the time to write the words "died at the right time," but given her horribly painful yet stoic death from ovarian cancer at a young 33, please tell me you feel at least some regret for having dismissed another human so cavalierly, someone who, like you, we assume, had family and friends who loved her and miss her terribly. Pretty damn harsh.

quote:

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Originally posted by Mick Parry:
Herewith my nominations for the most vile and awful singers ever ...

10. Pete Seager....nothing special, I have heard better in the local pub.

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You may not care for Pete Seeger's voice ... fine. But tell me who at your local pub has had the galvanizing social and political influence on modern culture that Pete Seeger has? "We Shall Overcome," "Where Have All the Flowers Gone," "This Land Is Your Land," "Turn, Turn, Turn," "Waist Deep In the Big Muddy," "Ain't Gonna Study War No More," "If I Had a Hammer," and so many others ... whether he wrote them or popularized them, sentient progressive minds and struggling peoples all over the world have greatly benefited from Pete Seeger's enormous contribution to folk music as well as to political and social activism, a contribution which, again, you have dismissed so cavalierly.

Pete Seeger - skip the importance on the musical landscape, Mick's just plain wrong, as Pete has probably the most resonant and wonderfully sonorous voice of any folk singer out there, even beating out Utah Philips.

As for what you said regarding Eva Cassidy, amen brother. Apparently listening to Sarah Brightman causes a deformity of some kind.

Cheers

Keith.

Chaps

Fred..said "Eva Cassidy ... dig her or not, but "vile and awful"? Really that horrible? And Celine Dion is nowhere on your list?

Fred I could put dozens more on the list but the reality is that Eva Cassidy's voice is nothing special.

Swindon was until a few weeks ago, the main CD pressing plant for EMI in the UK. Now it has all transferred to Holland. However, without wishing to appear cynical, I know a few senior guys who worked at that plant and the death of a singer did wonders for sales. A friend nearly cleared his mortgage when Freddie Mercury died in 1991 because of booming sales of Inunendo. At the end of the day, business is business and most of her CD's were sold after her death, not whilst she was alive.

As regards to Pete Seager.....his voice is dull and I still find it amazing that someone was daft enough to spend 6/8d (£0.34) on a record
back in the sixties to listen to a load of tosh about little boxes on the hillside etc. It was pure drivel fit only for kindergarten.

Regards

Mick

quote:

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Originally posted by Mick Parry:
Fred I could put dozens more on the list but the reality is that Eva Cassidy's voice is nothing special.

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It may be your reality, but it is certainly not "Reality" for everyone.

quote:

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As regards to Pete Seager.....his voice is dull and I still find it amazing that someone was daft enough to spend 6/8d (£0.34) on a record
back in the sixties to listen to a load of tosh about little boxes on the hillside etc. It was pure drivel fit only for kindergarten.

Regards

Mick

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So I guess you're saying I'm daft and listening to drivel?

If you consider Malvina Reynolds' song about conformity and the death if individualism (Little Boxes) "tosh" and "drivel" then perhaps its significance escapes you.

(By the way, it's spelled "Seeger.")

Fred

You said...."(By the way, it's spelled "Seeger.")

I say....." By the way you should say spelt not spelled......sorry couldn't resist.

You now seem to grasp my point that the message was so childishly basic that it was only fit for kindergarten......anyway I bet Seeger lives in a really big box.

Regards

Mick

Eva Cassidy died from skin cancer (or a secondary cancer after having skin cancer).

I had "Fields of Gold" by Eva on a compilation album and really liked it before I knew she had died. She was being courted by Blue Note, so had she lived we could be having the Nora Jones argument over Eva instead/as well.

PS I've got Songbird on both CD and vinyl. The vinyl is even better!

quote:

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Originally posted by Mick Parry:

I say....." By the way you should say spelt not spelled......sorry couldn't resist.

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Either way is entirely acceptable, though the former would probably be more at home in a Restoration comedy.

... provided there'd be discussions about Pete Seeger's vocal merits in Restoration comedies.

Herman

PS I'm not saying it isn't an excellent subject for comedy...

quote:

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Originally posted by Mick Parry:
Fred

You said...."(By the way, it's spelled "Seeger.")

I say....." By the way you should say spelt not spelled......sorry couldn't resist.

You now seem to grasp my point that the message was so childishly basic that it was only fit for kindergarten......anyway I bet Seeger lives in a really big box.

Regards

Mick

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The British use "spelt," Americans use "spelled." Both are correct.

Many of the most important ideas have a childlike simplicity (The Golden Rule, etc.) So what? Does that make them unworthy of our attention? More importantly, isn't it crucial for folks like Seeger to keep singing about these precepts as long as so many humans, long past kindergarten, still don't live by them? I think so.

By the way, Seeger lives very frugally and always has. He's the real deal. I really don't care whether you like his voice, his music, whatever ... please stop trying to paint him in a cynical light, it doesn't work.

Fred

All I am saying is that in my opinion, Seeger's voice is bog standard and his songs are drivel.

I just cannot understand why people buy his stuff, it is nothing special and you can hear better in any local folk club.

The same applies tp Joan Baez who does live in a big box.

Regards

Mick

quote:

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Originally posted by Mick Parry:
I just cannot understand why people buy [Seeger's] stuff, it is nothing special and you can hear better in any local folk club.

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The supreme irony being that anyone really good in the local folk club acknowledges Seeger's greatness.

michael jackson

quote:

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Originally posted by rch:
michael jackson

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Did I see somewhere that Mr J has been made a director of Exeter City Football Club????

Here we go (with apologies for spelling)

Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Oasis
The Strokes
REM
Pet Shop Boys
Queen
U2
The Verve
Nirvana
The Rolling Stones
Damon Albarn
Ry Cooder
Keith Jarrett
Jan Garberek
Pat Matheney
Elton John
Frank Sinatra
Aerosmith
Steely Dan
Jean Michel Jarre
Duran Duran
Paul McCartney
Seal
Peter Gabriel
Harry Conick Jnr
Stereophonics
Tom Jones
Dire Straits
Eric Clapton
Santana
Dido
The Beach Boys
Dave Stewart
Cher
Tina Turner
Modern R&B
Anything to do with P.Diddy

You left out Beethoven, The Beatles and Louie Armstrong

Cheers

Keith.

Only one item [J M Jarre] from Alex Simon's list features in my collection. Is this a record?

JD

Jeremy - sorry but I couldn't resist

quote:

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Is this a record?

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I don't know....is it a cd?

Actually unless I'm missing the point I think it is a bit sad that you only have only one "album" from Alex Simon's list of artists (and without commenting on the one you mention).

Chris

Hey Alex,

Why didn't you simply confess the music YOU like is operetta & ballet?
Cheers

Christian