Whose musical success baffles you the most?

have to disagree about mccartney imo the band on the run album is better than most of the beatles stuff.

You should enjoy the re-issue then GP...comes out in November. He's obviously strapped for cash after the Heather Mills fiasco ! Don't think I will be adding to his millions though !

i've heard it to much lately, it'll be a few years before i give it another spin.

dizee rascal
chipmunk
tinchy strider
and any other uk garage/hip hop artists with their fake bling trying hard to be like 50 cent snoop dog etc

Black eyed peas.

Mick Jagger's Knighthood

Stone Roses are easily the most over hyped band in history.

Céline Dion

i never got the stone roses, but hey they were ever so popular

james blunt, ffs

coldplay

I've skimmed through the whole thread and I'm absolutely staggered that nobody has mentioned


Robbie Williams

I love nearly all the bands/singers mentioned on this thread

"Look at the stars, look how they shine for you..."

I'm off to Youtube

Liberace

Great to see so many long gone but not forgotten forumites out in force.

Sep 17, 2016 -- 11:13PM, Makybe_Diva wrote:

I love nearly all the bands/singers mentioned on this thread "Look at the stars, look how they shine for you..." I'm off to Youtube

Yes, Coldplay are a great band.

But each to their own I suppose.

Coldplay are ****r that ****, Absolutely abysmal.

Lady Ga Ga however is pretty good now she's teamed up with Tony Bennett.

Each to their own, kenny.

She's got a brilliant voice now she performs tthe old standards and seems to have abandoned the garbage she first came out with.

Millions love that 'garbage' You are sounding like an old fart, kenny lad

Well when you get to 39 I suppose you are.

Small chuckle

Spandau ballet
Duran Duran
Wet Wet Wet

Spandau ballet
Duran Duran
Wet Wet Wet

Can't see Drake mentioned.
Seems to always have 30 songs out that all sound the same.
Sounds like he's half asleep singing through a sock, don't get it at all.
Could add Rihanna and Katy Perry as well, where they had decent songs, now release total ****, yet everyone still buys it.

That's all pop rubbish anyway. As for 'decent' music, never got ACDC.

Elton John

Brian Ferry... OMG = oil slick.

Any individual Artist, group,band etc ...totally incapable of performing live and just con and mime their way to the Top !
Remember Milli Vanilli.....
In the music industry, Milli Vanilli is a byword for embarrassment and scandal. The pretty-boy duo, who soared to the top of the charts in the late Eighties and early Nineties with songs such as "Girl I'm Going To Miss You" and "Blame It On The Rain", were exposed as frauds after it emerged that they did not sing their own songs.
They couldn't sing a phucking note !

I thought many within the music industry considered Milli Vanilli the paradigm of what to do. Get a couple/few good looking blokes/birds to lip sync over some bubble gum pop sh1te - sell millions.

Wot no Adele, btw?

Muse.

UB 40 since their first album.

UB40 a decent shout but I'd cut them slack until everything post-UB44, their third album. Only after that did they sell out, imvho.

I bow to your greater knowledge of their early period.  They were superb when I first saw them supporting The Pretenders, but I quickly lost interest.

MOZART.... I mean, one of his numbers could fill a double album, can't have made much cash, his band was that big by the time they split the fee for a gig it must have been coppers. Big in Europe but never cracked America or the Far East. A God in the Prog Rock world with his epic 'The Magic Flute'( a thinly veiled reference to his hampton ) revered. But apart from that a total loser in my book.

One that I could never comprehend from the 60's, Ozzy Osborne (but then I looked up about his wife & realised it's not what you know.....)

On a seperate note

pumphol.
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17 Sep 16 21:48 Joined: 29 Jul 04 | Topic/replies: 45,948 | Blogger: pumphol.'s blog
Mick Jagger's Knighthood

Are you Panglima in disguise? (fwiw I agree with you)

Andrew Ridgeley. Was there ever a more redundant half to a double act ???

Blondie - her group. Was there ever a more redundant group in history ?

Pumps is only panglima when he forgets to log out!

Harsh on Harry's bandmates imo. Comparing them to Andrew Ridgeley ffs!

It will be xmas in 3 month, don't worry Mr Rodney Stewart will bring out yet another yuletide album

Rod sings Sinatra
Rod does Jazz

or maybe Rods Favorite Xmas Carols

the old gravel voice crooner has been stealing a living since Maggie May and splitting The Faces up in the 70,s

Sir Roderick Stewart.

Apart from that, spot on.

ffs I just gave you Ozzy & within an hour RLKP puts up one that's head & shoulders the most baffling.

Bono
Elton John
McCartney
Leonard Cohen

Interesting reading through this thread and seeing how opinions differ. I probably have an equal split with my agree/disagree thoughts of those mentioned.

Personally I have well over a thousand albums and have a pretty varied collection from all types of music, except one. I just cannot for the life of me understand the attraction or appeal of 'heavy metal' music and bands like Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Quo, AC/DC etc leave me cold.

Andrew Ridgeley. Was there ever a more redundant half to a double act ???

can't really argue with that Tell Dell but I bet he wouldn't change anything. Married a pretty girl, moved to Cornwall to go surfing and managed to amass a £10 mill fortune from royalties. That is the way to do it in my view.

Another for Drake especially the song which was at number 1 for 15 weeks FFS

Libertines, Artic Monkeys.

Delighted to say I have no idea who Drake is.

The Libertines' barely sold 100,000 copies of their critically acclaimed debut. People like Adele, Alanis Morissette, Dido & Celine Dion all have individual albums that have sold in excess of 20 million. Even 'the human kazoo,' Duffy sold more than 9 million copies of her debut album.

And Alex Turner is a genius.

Bush.

Surprised you could spare the time to add the full stop

Not looked through thread so apologises if repeating anything.
Never ever got Kate Bush and can't understand why Lily Allen had the success she had.

Was never A BIG FAN OF Morrissey

macy gray passed me by too

Ed Sheeran, he's done Stadium world tours and dated Supermodels for feck sake, explain that someone.

Kare Bush mentioned... some people are tone deaf.
One of the most original and innovative artists of our time.

Admit she was a bit amateur dramatics in her early days but have you actually heard Aerial, Hounds of Love, or aany other masterpieces by the national treasure, Sir Kate Bush?

Ed Sheeran & Gavin James. Total pissmop stuff.

Ditto for Libertines. Can only put it down to it being a very fallow period in indie rock and the desperate need to create something new and big.

Never got the acclaim for either Primal Scream or the Manics. Both pretty damn average.


Big one though is Queen. Just utter tripe.

On the Robbie Williams note. The bloke stole his big hit from a bloke for £10k and told everyone it's a song about his mother....

Kate Bush
Eric Clapton
Madonna

Pet Shop Boys

John Lennon was too shallow, too lazy to do the real work to produce something dibbled and dabbled. would never have been heard of if not for McCartney.

George Michael
Boy George
Michael Jackson

never managed to write a single song.

TELL DEL    18 Sep 16 11:28 

Blondie - her group. Was there ever a more redundant group in history ?

May you awaken to a dozen paper cuts upon your scrotum DEL for such utterances!
And FFS don't order the halibut for Je... know who.

millican and nesbitt

Des O' Connor

Could never understand how INXS got as big as they did.

Supposedly a 'rock' group (a genre, broadly speaking, I like) but they never 'rocked', produced lightweight pop and not very much of it on a commercially successful level ('Never Tear Us Apart' 'Mystify' and that 'plinky plonk' one...'need you tonight' was it?) - but it got them worldwide success and headlining at Wembley Arena.

Or was it just Hutchence (the only band member anyone of us can name) was deemed a bit edgy, went out with Paula Yates and died early?

Beatles were a bit odd. Covers band then boy band (in the modern parlance) and only later did it turn out they were world class.

This pic of John Lennon was taken 6 months before he was shot, on an internal flight in America, very square clothes just looks like some ordinary guy on a plane, not somebody from the biggest band in pop history.

And over 50 years ago you wouldn't think The Rolling Stones would still be rocking in their 70's and doing sell-out arena tours at extortionate prices !

Artic Monkeys for me. No melodies I can appreciate. A lot better indie bands who had a lot less success.

Disappointed and astounded to see it took till page 4 for someone to mention Blobby Williams.

This place must be full of Take That fanboys. The fat imposter wouldn't get  a job on a cruise ship if he hadn't been the media darling cheeky junkie scamp from Take That.

Having said that I do admire the fact he has made so much money doing something he's really **** at....singing.

Linda McCartney . Not baffling but simply astounding ! Think the name may have helped a bit .....

The Black Eyed Peas!

the musical equivelent of painting by numbers, no musical talent whatsoever, embarrassing live performances. even worse will-i-am is seen fit to host a singing contest

Depeche Mode ,been around for over 30 years ,dozens of hits , yet not one decent record.

Aaah , Depeche Mode , back to my bondage themes lol

I think the reason people such as Robbie Williams haven't been mentioned much is because nobody considers them to be credible artists to begin with. Steps haven't had a mention until a few words ago, either.

I notice someone else mentioned the Libertines after I pointed out they aren't particularly successful anyway. Up The Bracket is at least the equal of say, Definitely Maybe, and 10x better than What's the Fookin' Story, yet sales of those two, especially WTS, dwarf those of the Libertines. You're allowed to tbink the Libertines are sh1t, but don't be confused into thinking the ridiculous amount of press coverage devoted to toolbox Pete Doherty translated into record sales.

Has anyone mentioned Travis, Keane or Franz Ferdinand yet?

anything by damon albarn. also queen, i know adults who like queen and think its quite disturbing.

Justin phucking Beever ..WTF ?

On thorough examination and many suggestions, I have come to the conclusion that the correct answer is

Queen.

most answers are wrong.

this is a list of those who are wrong or right on the first 2 pages alone.....

  wrong:                     right:

brendanuk                    HRH
slippyblue
blackpooltower
whenjokersattack
mm
banks
fawwon
vasco08
club20
kennymann
shrewddude

Just been reading an article on the Beeb website that asks if September 1991 was the best month ever for albums being released. It wasn't. Right at the bottom of the page was Simply fecking Red. Can't believe nobody has mentioned them on here, unless I missed it. I can't stand Queen but I'd rather watch that musical written by ubertwat Ben Elton for a month straight than listen to even five minutes of that curly ginger Manure-supporting prick!

Also, Enya. (At least she's responsible for the intro to the Fugees' Ready Or Not. Everything else? Complete sh1te!)

Simply Red / Dire Straits / Sting / Phil Collins

You may loathe them (quite correctly) but the thread was supposed to be about artists whose success baffles you rather than opinion piece. All the above were '80's yuppie dinner party muzak from MTV-friendly hell', which was a huge demographic. Throw in Live Aid which re-energised many careers (Queen especially) and there's your explanation for their commercial success.

I'm not a fan of any of them but to put Dire Straits, Sting and even Phil Collins in the same bracket as Simply Red is a frigging travesty, rog!

Has anyone said Liberace yet?

Well, they are / were in the same bracket in the 80's.

Dinner party muzak for the pretendy sophisticated nouveau riche

Sade was another....

The correct answer is Cliff Richard. How the hell did that happen? A whole career of absolute rubbish with absolutely no redeeming qualities.

Fair comment Mikael.

I humbly withdraw my below the belt assertion that chit chat is full of Take That fanboys.

Sep 21, 2016 -- 12:53PM, asparagus wrote:

The correct answer is Cliff Richard. How the hell did that happen? A whole career of absolute rubbish with absolutely no redeeming qualities.

Again, the 'desperate baby-boomer housewives' (of whom there are millions) who fancied him in the 50's / 60's when he was the British Elvis and kept on fancying him as he became nice, safe, bland and unchallenging mirroring their own lifetime journeys.

Someone for those who think Daniel O'Donnell is a bit too edgy.

Roger, whilst I'm sure your reasoning is correct (and I hadn't really considered the mirroring housewives lives aspect) I still find it baffling. This whole "British Elvis" thing. How did they manage that? I'm not really a fan of Elvis but i can see the sex appeal and excitement both he and some of his hits brought to the party. Cliff was as safe as houses from very early in his career. I'm amazed that there was any sex appeal even then. (Summer Holiday, Livin Doll, etc). From the time when the Beatles and then the Stones etc came along he really should have been forgotten about.
I still find the whole thing remarkable.

Whose musical success baffles you the most?

^ From all the names on here Su Bo has got to be the No.1

Sep 22, 2016 -- 9:47AM, asparagus wrote:

Roger, whilst I'm sure your reasoning is correct (and I hadn't really considered the mirroring housewives lives aspect) I still find it baffling. This whole "British Elvis" thing. How did they manage that? I'm not really a fan of Elvis but i can see the sex appeal and excitement both he and some of his hits brought to the party. Cliff was as safe as houses from very early in his career. I'm amazed that there was any sex appeal even then. (Summer Holiday, Livin Doll, etc). From the time when the Beatles and then the Stones etc came along he really should have been forgotten about. I still find the whole thing remarkable.

It is strange isn't it?

You're in the middle of a social and sexual revolution, The old order is changing. Barricades are being thrown up all over the free world.  Free love....Vietnam....Drugs...the counterculture movement

.....and Cliff is singing 'Batchelor Boy'!

Some amazing comments on this thread.
Just for the record , my personal hero's :-

Bowie
Springsteen
Neil Young
Cohen
Roxy Music
Kate Bush

You'd think somebody with Bowie atop their list could spell "heroes".

Phil Collins and Sting for me.

Neither of whom would have made it as solo artists, imo, if it weren't for the success they'd enjoyed in a group beforehand.

I once read a review of a Sting album, calling it aural wallpaper, and I couldn't have put it better myself.

Mikael you won't convince me (or others) it seems on the Libertines. The only song I can remember was that really shiit one that was overplayed to death at the time YOU CAN'T STAND ME NOW BLAH BLAH. Better than those Oasis albums? Behave.

Oasis haven't been mentioned because their songs hold up, evidently.

Oasis were mentioned in the 8th post on the thread, not by me either.

I wasn't really defending the Libertines. I can take them or leave them, and own nothing by them. I was more trying to point out they weren't particularly successful. Their critically acclaimed debut barely scraped past 100,000 in sales in the UK. What's the Story sold 4.7 million. It's sh!t.

Just had a quick look. At least 3 people who aren't me nominated Oasis. Before this thread was resurrected, nobody had mentioned the Libertines.

Some might say very few Oasis songs 'hold up.' If you like 'em, that's fine.

Ed Sheeran is another good shout, unfathomable how he's been a success

very surprised to see Kate Bush mentioned, her best stuff is as good as any singer/songwriter I can think of

Gravitational Pull    17 Sep 10 15:23 
have to disagree about mccartney imo the band on the run album is better than most of the beatles stuff.


Ridiculous

Kanye West.  Only heard a couple of tracks, but it was enough.  Absolute garbage.  Also has the added bonus of apparently being an absolute koont.

Never understood the appeal of Arcade Fire either.

'Funeral' by Arcade Fire is pure class.

I don't 'get' Lady Ga Ga, Beyoncé, Britany ... etc etc

Agreed. Funeral is a class album and I can understand why early Dire Straits was hugely popular as it's very musical, kind of music that classical music fans would like.

Early Dire Straits was decent and Knopfler is a superb guitarist. Whilst they also produced some rubbish they shouldn't be on the list. Kanye west, Ed Sheeran and Adele are ones where the size of their success is hard to explain.
Arcade Fire on the other hand are a great band. "Funeral' is one of the best albums this century. A brilliant live band too.
Cliff Richard is still the overall winner imo. Virtually no talent whatsoever and a whole list of absolutely appalling songs.

Rolf Harris ....
Personally I like Kates bush.