Who was the first "no-talent" rock star?

[coolhouse]

Uhh...yeah. What Trickfall said. later, Mike

[fantasticsound]

[quote]Originally posted by Cereal: [b]The Banana Splits?[/b][/quote]TAKE THAT BACK, CEREAL!!! RIGHT NOW!!! :mad: (You just don't go bashing part of a person's childhood!) BTW, I'm sure they were musical genius'. A dog that rocks? (I don't even know what the rest of them were.) :D

[Beatheavy]

I'll throw my hat in for ELVIS. the britney spears of his time. [b]ATOMIX[/b] :evil:

[The Studio Pet-Rock]

Interesting. I recall posting a topic several months ago concerning my beliefs that Elvis was a hack and Buddy Holly was an all-around more talented musician. A lot of people flamed me on that thread. However, It now appears as though Elvis does suck. I would go so far as to say he sucked long before I suggested he sucked several months ago. Furthermore, I believe he will maintain this high level of suck-dom for countless decades to come. Oh-so-sorry if I've stepped on anyone's Blue Suede Shit-Kickers. :freak:

[Dak Lander]

[quote]Originally posted by mdpetrick@yahoo.com: [b]Oh-so-sorry if I've stepped on anyone's Blue Suede Shit-Kickers. :freak: [/b][/quote]Hay! Wayt jist aw guldarn minnitcheer! 'em ol' shit-kickers a myne jist happins ta be water buhfler! Heh, Iyn't never heyrd a them thar blue suede shit-kicker thingies. Onest ah reclek ah seen aw par aw dem dayr Convers Ahlstahs & dey waz kinda blue fuzzy lookin' thangs & ah seen aw par aw dem dayrlowfers what waz fuzzy & blue & hed 'em silvah clik clak thangs ona botums. Mebbe so 'at's wahchoo wahr 'eh?

[nhcomp45aol.com]

Tiny Tim gets my vote. At least the monkees had two great singers. Paul.

[Rog]

[quote]Originally posted by spigots: [b]Lou Reed[/b][/quote]Are you fucking insane?

[gmd]

FABIAN! FABIAN! FABIAN! I've got a great video from an old televison series called "Hollywood And The Stars". It's a segment from that series that aired in the late fifties/early sixties about Fabian. It's just great, and a must see for anyone interested in rock and roll history. I got it from a great place called thevideobeat.com, which sells all kinds of cool and rare rock videos. This particular video is all about how he was discovered, groomed and promoted. The live stuff is hilarious, because he really can't sing on key, despite having had extensive vocal coaching. He was discovered working at a grocery store by an agent who was looking for an Elvis look-alike. Fast forward to today and you have the Backstreet Boys, Brittany, etc., so nothing has really changed... :D

[Felix_dup1]

[quote]Originally posted by alcohol: [b]Perry Farrell Axl Rose NIN The above all make J -Lo and Brittney seem like geniuses[/b][/quote]I can't believe you just said that. Especially about Trent Reznor.

[strat0124]

[quote]Originally posted by Sylver: [b][QUOTE] I think Elvis was still first chronologically, though, right? Sorry, you Elvis fans. I think the guy was smoke and mirrors.[/b][/quote]Kinda hard to get smoke and mirrors from Sun studios.....amazing Elvis bash goin on...specially since so many emulated him or reference him as an influence. In the south, Elvis has a little more credibility, sans the movie post Army days.

[trick fall]

While I'm not a huge Elvis fan it just occured to me that everyone dissing him needs to go listen to Mystery Train right now.

[Wewus432]

I had no idea I would actually offend some one by saying The Monkees had no talent. What I object to is that the ENORMOUS degree of their success had nothing to do with the little bit of talent they had. The Monkees were a total record company PRODUCT, what made them sound good was great songs, written by great song writers, and then played by great musicians. Is that a cheap shot? I'd like to find out how many tracks Nesmith and Tork played on, not too many I would think. Sure Mickey Dolenz can sing a bit, so can a lot of people I've seen in karaoke bars. Also, Why would I have to have more talent than the Monkees to decide whether they had talent or not? If that were true there would never be any reviews of any artistic endeavors. The Monkees were a great record company product, they were the O-Town of their day. The four people who were The Monkees could have been just about anyone. If they had not had that huge machine behind them they would have taken The Last Train To Clarksville a looong time ago. OK I'm through Monkee bashing, and if you get enjoyment out of their music I think that's great.

[BP3]

The Shaggs.

[Bobro]

Johnny Favorite.

[jnorman]

i cant believe nobody ripped my head off for saying axl rose. my oldest son loved that band, but i could never get past axl - he simply could not sing at all, had about as little musicality as anyone i've ever seen, and was a complete prick on top of it all.

[Lee Flier]

oops dbl post..

[Lee Flier]

I was being [i]slightly[/i] facetious with the Elvis comment... no doubt the dude could actually sing (although I never was a fan of his voice), but I do think his fame stemmed more from his image than talent, and that there were lots of other folks around at the time who were much more talented but, as Keith Richards once said, they were either old, black, or ugly (or all three!) --Lee

[Eric Worthington]

Let's get a little focus here. Let's bash for the right reasons, under the apropriate category. :D The topic here, I think, is people who are props. They're put out there in the limelight by some backstage svengali. That's why I nominate people like Cher and Michelle Phillips, because they were just eye candy. They never would have passed a vocal audition sight unseen. Elvis, like him or loathe him, had the werewithal to learn guitar, and get up on stage and perform. He had some talent. And whether his voice is or isn't your thing, he had chops. He had a BIG voice, he had range, and he certainly could have passed many an audition. He could have done session work as a singer. There's a difference between being loathesome/obnoxious/grating and being musically untalented. I think what's most galling for a lot of us is seeing someone up on stage who has no business being there, and could never have gotten there on their own. Fabian looks like the winner so far....

[Tom Capasso]

I agree that Elvis had talent. For many years I was underwhelmed by him, but that's partially because I became aware of music during the 60's. the stuff he did in the mid 60's seemed like a rehash of what had gone before, and the rest of the world was moving on (those bug-guys with the mop tops helped point a new way). Later on, I realized that the earlier Elvis stuff was really good - more so considering what was going on at the time. If he chose to make movies with questionable music later, it doesn't change what he did, or how much talent he had. Tom

[Nytrix]

Well, I was never really an Elvis fan ever - but the dude COULD sing. To mention Elvis in the same breath as some of the other no-talent losers is ridiculous. I think he only wrote one song or something (so he loses a lot with me) and I didn't care for him personally - but the man could sing his ass off. To say he had no musical talent is utterly ludricrous. Axel Rose ... maybe he was an asshole (who gives a shit, I'm not living with the guy) ... and yes indeed, he couldn't sing to save his life - but he is a good songwriter. There's plenty of talentless losers out there to mention first before Axel. Like him, hate him, he's a prick, can't sing - but he wrote 2 masterpieces at least that I've heard. He CAN write songs. People's exhibit #1 : November Rain People's exhibit #2 : Estranged I'll throw my vote in for those 1 hit wonder embarrassments from the early 60's ... Bobby Darrin, Bobby Vee, Fabian, Bobby Rydel, Bobby Vinton. To quote "the Killer": "Everewhere you looked it was Bobby this, Bobby that ... then the Beatles came along - they showed them a trick - cut them down like wheat before the cicle." (spelling)

[Wewus432]

The early Elvis stuff is the real thing. John Lennon and Paul McCartney were big E fans. Did you ever see that TV special made in the late 60's. It's Elvis dressed in black leather with an acoustic guitar playing a lot of old rock n roll. They showed it on HBO some years back. He did not suck. I guess his early work became over shadowed by stuff like Viva Las Vegas and the Vegas stage show.

[BP3]

[quote]Originally posted by popmusic: [QBI've said it before, I'll say it again: The Shaggs scare me.[/QB][/quote]And it's not just beacause they all look like Paula Poundstone.

[D. Gauss]

perhaps Jesus? -d. gauss

[KHAN]

[quote]Originally posted by jnorman: [b]i cant believe nobody ripped my head off for saying axl rose. .[/b][/quote]That's because everyone knows he sucks. :eek:

[Eric Worthington]

There's a difference, also, between talent and taste. Elvis had plenty of talent. Taste, however, well..........let's just say that there's a reason that the black velvet paintings found in trailer parks are of Elvis. As for songwriting, I don't think it matters when judging the talent of a singer; otherwise, Sinatra must have sucked. :freak:

[RobT]

[quote]Originally posted by GT3: [b]Uh, Elvis was selling black music? Have you ever seen Leiber and Stoller? ;) -GT3[/b][/quote]You are kinda [b] young [/b] aren't 'cha? I would suggest a course in ethnomusicology. RobT

[Xenophile]

Lots of ruckus about Elvis. No one jumped on [b]DC-Jim[/b]'s troll nominating The Beatles. I've never been a big Elvis fan, but I've heard him singing his ass off on some old recordings. Like him or not, he was an extremely influential and commanding performer. That takes talent. I gotta side with the camp that pegs Fabian as the first phony rock star. Somebody mentioned Cher. I've always thought she had a big voice from day one. I just learned last night (her appearance on Letterman) that she was working for Phil Spector as a backup singer before Sonny Bono made her a star. She evidently "passed an audition" for that gig.

[Rader Ranch]

[quote]Originally posted by Tedster: [b]As for the Monkees...actually, Nesmith and Tork were folk singers. Tork was a friend of another guy who was thinking of auditioning, who was big on the local folk scene. This buddy of Tork's suggested he audition as well. If Tork's friend had gotten the part, it would have been Mike Nesmith, Mickey Dolenz, Davy Jones...and Stephen Stills.[/b][/quote]actually, if the producers had picked the [i]right[/i] Brit named Davey, the line-up woulda been Mike Nesmith, Mickey Dolenz, Stephen Stills, and [b]David Bowie[/b]! he auditioned too... according to Mitch Mitchell (Hendrix opened for the Monkees!!!), Mike Nesmith really could play guitar, Peter Tork really could play banjo, Mickey Dolenz was just a real nice guy, and Davey Jones was an ass.

[henryrobinett]

Well I disagree with almost all of y'all. I don't think Elvis was particularly talented. And *IF* he was, it was way out a bounds to the "KING" acknowledgement he received. I've always disagreed about this and therefore have, for years, been accosted by people, offended at my forthrightness, sat me down to convince me of the man's talent. I sat through many recordings of the Sun Sessions. I've listened to track after track of "the King". I have never been able to stand him. Admittedly there is some pretty nice stuff Sam Phillips recorded of Elvis. But none of that puts him in any hall of fame. But the man had no spine. He went where the colonel told him because HE KNEW HE WASN'T PARTICULARLY TALENTED. He had so much press he didn't HAVE to have talent. I don't like the way he sang either, with that lame vibrato. He was a cartoon. He LOOKED cool. I'll give him that. And please, what chops? Guitar chops? Vocal chops? Writing chops? Sorry, but the emperor has no clothes.

[chessparov]

Having amassed over 500+ rock albums, listeniing to EVERY one many times over the years, without a doubt in my mind Elvis was the most talented singer in rock and roll. Yes he was technically untrained, however, when you listen to his best recordings-what a voice that could convey so much emotion. Feel free to post any of your music that surpasses his best-love to hear it! P.S. Little Richard, James Brown, Roy Orbison, AND Buddy Holly among many others thought Elvis was great too.