How do you abhor a WHOLE GENRE of music?
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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on March 24, 2011 6:12 PM.
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Comments (24)
I think this quote should be on a 20 ft. X 30 ft. bronze plaque above the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame entrance in Cleveland. This soulless snobbery is why the music exists in the first place.
Posted by John Cox | March 24, 2011 6:21 PM
Posted on March 24, 2011 18:21
Frank should have stayed around, he'd have loved Hip-hop and Rap.
Posted by GarandFan | March 24, 2011 9:22 PM
Posted on March 24, 2011 21:22
HEY G
So I do a little research and discover this quote is from an editorial he wrote in...wait for it...1957.
He was carping about Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley and Bill Haley and the Comets. Think about that.
Posted by John Cox | March 24, 2011 9:54 PM
Posted on March 24, 2011 21:54
GF beat me to the statement! But, I will say that this is somewhat generational.
With that said, I will also say that rip-rap and hip-hop is a lot different than Elvis moving his hips or than Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper singing Peggy Sue. However, they were hated big time!
Should I view these guys different? I say yes! The Rappers language is just over the top!
This is a good discussion! I'm a teenager of the 70s (bell bottoms dragging on the ground; my parents hated that)but now have 3 "best of" Sinatra CDs.
I threw a lot of stuff out here, and I know that I'm rambling again? Comments?
Posted by Cowboy | March 24, 2011 10:03 PM
Posted on March 24, 2011 22:03
HEY COWBOY
This IS a fun topic. I have admit, my opinion of Sinatra's legacy has been tinted to a pissy yellow based on this quote.
He does recant much later in his career, but this premature diatribe (read the article) is virtually unforgiveable.
Posted by John Cox | March 24, 2011 10:17 PM
Posted on March 24, 2011 22:17
Article?
October, '57 in the London Daily Sketch.
You may now Google.
Posted by John Cox | March 24, 2011 10:20 PM
Posted on March 24, 2011 22:20
"He was carping about Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley and Bill Haley and the Comets. Think about that."
Yeah, generational gap. I can remember being told that I was NOT getting sideburns or piling my hair up in a pompadour.
But Buddy Holly did make wearing glasses okay!
Gotta face it. Our music was "evil"! Especially when listened to in the back seat of a car!
Posted by GarandFan | March 24, 2011 10:38 PM
Posted on March 24, 2011 22:38
LOMAOOTF GF admitted to having a pompadour! I'll store that one! LOL!
Posted by Cowboy | March 24, 2011 10:56 PM
Posted on March 24, 2011 22:56
Hey GF and Cowboy:
I was thinking the same thing.
On the other hand, I suspect some of the classical composers who preceded Mr. Sinatra probably would have said similar things about Frank's music.
I also suspect Frank probably wasn't too thrilled with ABBA.
Posted by Dr. Bob | March 25, 2011 12:27 AM
Posted on March 25, 2011 00:27
Hey - you'se guys - don't be dissin' my Jersey boi Sinatra. Guido and Vinnie are gonna come down there and bust yo knee caps, know what I mean?
Posted by The Situation | March 25, 2011 8:41 AM
Posted on March 25, 2011 08:41
I am probably way too biased to weigh in on this, but what the hell. I liked Rock n Roll in the early days. I also liked big band, jazz, folk music, some country, and show tunes None of that has changed.
However, being someone who sings tenor in a choral group whose focus is primarily classical, I'm not much of a fan of hard rock, hip hop, rap, etc. That's where the bias comes in. I probably need to develop some tolerance.
Posted by Tom Wms. | March 25, 2011 10:16 AM
Posted on March 25, 2011 10:16
I've always thought Sinatra was grossly overrated. He had one heck of an orchestra backing him up, but he was often off pitch & lagging behind the beat. A lot of Sinatra "fans" mistook his lack of enthusiasm (lemme git awuf uh dis stage so's I kin git to da pahty) for improvisational genius.
My favorite observation on Sinatra came from Jackie Mason:
"Ask 100 musicians who the greatest singer of all time is. You know what they'll say? 97 out of 100 musicians will tell you that Frank Sinatra is WITHOUT A DOUBT the greatest singer of all time: And you know why? They know if they don't, they'll be killed."
There are a lot of cats who came up the same time that Sinatra did who could eat his lunch. They just weren't from the "right" (mob) neighborhood.
I also know that can't be "The Situation." My friend (who seems to like torturing me with the drivel that's on TV) made me watch a DVR of the Trump roast. I know for a fact "The Sitch" can't write--& on top of that, he's not from New Jersey--he's a transplanted New York mook.
GF:
"Rap music" is an oxymoron.
Posted by Terwiliger | March 25, 2011 10:31 AM
Posted on March 25, 2011 10:31
Who u callin' a mook?
Posted by The Situation | March 25, 2011 11:11 AM
Posted on March 25, 2011 11:11
I love Sinatra, just for that whole era he represented. Sinatra was it. Sinatra was cool. But as a singer, Tony Bennett is the man. Sinatra might have invented it, but Tony Bennett put the "oo" in "cool."
Posted by NateW | March 25, 2011 11:18 AM
Posted on March 25, 2011 11:18
Is there any way to get a print of this? Or could I put it on a T-shirt? As a rock-n-roll guitarist for over 30 years, I'd love the irony of having this on my wall or wearing a shirt like this to a gig!
Posted by Martin | March 25, 2011 2:37 PM
Posted on March 25, 2011 14:37
HEY MARTIN
You can contact me at me email address in the "About" info. We can work something out.
Hey Gang
I want to be clear on one thing: I don't have a problem with Sinatra disliking rock; I have a problem with trashing a relatively new genre of music wihout giving it a chance. It was *&^%& 1957!
Posted by John Cox | March 25, 2011 2:46 PM
Posted on March 25, 2011 14:46
Your layout for your blog is nice, im trying to write my own blog any tips?
Posted by Backlinks | March 26, 2011 5:14 AM
Posted on March 26, 2011 05:14
"How do you abhor a WHOLE GENRE of music?"
Well, the only music that I really dislike is punk music, because it is a vulgar form of rock n' roll. Other than that, most music is okay, as long as it has a good melody & lyrics.
Posted by Martin Lundqvist | March 26, 2011 8:50 AM
Posted on March 26, 2011 08:50
SITCH'S IMPOSTOR:
You can change the name of a rose, but you can't do nothin' about the smell.
NATEW:
Ditto. If Tony Bennett had Frank's orchestra behind him, we'd all be saying, "Frank WHO?"
JOHN:
I don't have a problem with anybody liking or disliking anything. However, sometimes I see things that are so horrible, I don't get how there is an audience of 1, much less a market for it. (ex.; BH0--average approval rating for January, 50%; How bad does a politician have to muck up before people see it?)
MARTIN L:
I agree about punk, but if the music is good, I don't need to hear vocals. I agree with GF about rap. I'd also add techno, emo, grindcore, neo faux metal, teeny pop, hair pop-rock...
...I could make a pretty long list, & I'd also be pretty comfortable in saying that I dislike more of just about any genre of music than I like (& I'd also have to admit that I like some music that isn't very good).
Apologies to TOM WMS, but I never acquired an ear for classical voice. I've sung some of that music over the years as part of a vocal ensemble (I've become a baritone with a narrow range, but I could sing tenor, bass, & falsetto when I was younger), but it's too stiff for me. I just don't seem to be able to connect with it.
Posted by Terwiliger | March 26, 2011 11:45 PM
Posted on March 26, 2011 23:45
No apologies needed, T. That's why we have different genres. As to the voice thing, I switched from bass to tenor (1st tenor) about nine years ago and I'll be 65 in a couple of months. Age hasn't seemed to take its toll yet.
Posted by Tom Wms | March 27, 2011 1:41 AM
Posted on March 27, 2011 01:41
Can you imagine Sinatra strapped to Hendrix's Marshall stack right about now?
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Posted on March 27, 2011 23:30
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