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Singers acting badly

25 May 99 - 09:11 AM (#81538)
Subject: Singers acting badly
From: Bert

Well, someone has to do it.

One's that immediately come to mind are Elvis & John Denver.

Burl Ives wasn't TOO bad and Johnny Cash was pretty good.

IMHO - Bert.


25 May 99 - 09:20 AM (#81541)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: Alice

The Monkees
Madonna


25 May 99 - 10:32 AM (#81569)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: Mike Billo

Roy Orbison starring in "Fastest Guitar In The West" is so bad it has to be seen to be believed.


25 May 99 - 10:37 AM (#81572)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: Fadac

Fabian in North To Alaska...well he wasn't nuch of a singer either.


25 May 99 - 10:39 AM (#81575)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: Paul G

Warren Zevon. Last night on the American TV series "Suddenly Susan" (sorry, but I have a 16 year old at home who watches such tripe...)


25 May 99 - 11:00 AM (#81579)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: Allan C.

Nobody could ever, ever be any worse than Glen Campbell in "True Grit". (Sorry, Glen - but at least you had sense enough to quit after that.)


25 May 99 - 11:38 AM (#81588)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: Rick Fielding

Jeez Bert, I always thought Elvis was a pretty good actor. The Movies were awful, but I think if the Colonel had released his hold, El would still be around. Poor Roy Orbison though, He NEEDED the Colonel to keep him out of "Fastest Guitar.."


25 May 99 - 12:00 PM (#81593)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: catspaw49

How have we missed Dylan's sterling performance in the Billy the Kid thingy?

catspaw


25 May 99 - 12:44 PM (#81607)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: Steve Latimer

I don't believe that Arlo Guthrie was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in "Alice's Restaurant"


25 May 99 - 01:34 PM (#81629)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: LEJ

I thought Elvis was pretty good in Jailhouse Rock and Love Me Tender . It was only after he got out of the service when the Las Vegas influence took over that his movies and acting really became self-parodies.

One of the worst singers trying to act was James Taylor in Two Lane Blacktop , which is probably the worst movie ever made, as well.


25 May 99 - 01:40 PM (#81632)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: Alice

Doris Day
(ok, I may get bricks thrown at me for that, but, then again.... maybe not.)


25 May 99 - 01:52 PM (#81635)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: Allan C.

Oh!(gasp)why(sigh)would you('nother sigh) say that, Alice?(gasp/sigh) - he asked, trying his best to cyberize the Doris Day school of breathing.


25 May 99 - 02:09 PM (#81639)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: SeanM

As much as I love Tom Waits, it's getting so anything he's in is pretty much destined to belly flop. One of the best examples is probably 'At Play in the Fields of the Lord'... Oddly enough, it doesn't seem that he has to be BAD in it, just that he has to be IN it.

M


25 May 99 - 02:40 PM (#81646)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: Peter T.

Richard Harris fits into neither or both -- can't sing, can't act, pretended to be both.
How about Paul Simon in "Annie Hall"!
Yours, Peter T.


25 May 99 - 02:40 PM (#81647)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: The Shambles

I don't think Frank Sinatra's behavior was very nice.


25 May 99 - 03:36 PM (#81655)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: Alice

I was wondering when someone would point out that this could be 'singers behaving badly'.


25 May 99 - 03:50 PM (#81658)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: SeanM

In that case, I'd like to post almost all of the singers within the last 400 years or so from every branch of music ever created. Bunch of prima donnas! (NOI BG)

Hiding behind his bass harmony line...

M


25 May 99 - 03:50 PM (#81659)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: The Shambles

Sorry.


25 May 99 - 05:44 PM (#81681)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: folk1234

My favorite singer acting badly is Kris Kristopherson in a little know movie called "Boone's in Love" He sings a great terrible song about Chester; Gawd he wuz a good ol' goat. Actually I like his songs, but most of his movies were pretty bad.


25 May 99 - 06:12 PM (#81688)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: Wotcha

Sting in Quadrophenia and another awful movie he did (it) with Meryl Streep (who puts on an English accent ... Sting puts on a Southern Engish accent too; I can't decide which was worse).

And who can forget Mick Jagger as the Australian Outlaw Kelly doing the Irish/folk song "Wild Colonial Boy."

Then again some actors should have gone into singing: Edward Woodward should have given up acting and done opera instead of the 80s TV show "The Equalizer."

Cheers, Brian


25 May 99 - 07:39 PM (#81708)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: Ronn

Tony Bennett in THE OSCAR, Roger Daltry in LISZTOMANIA, Chuck Berry in any of those old Alan Freed movies, and who can forget the Fabulous Arch Hall Jr?

Does John Travolta count as a singer?


25 May 99 - 07:59 PM (#81712)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: Duckboots

When I first saw this thread I thought it meant singers *behaving* badly and I was going vote for Joe Cocker and Jim Morrison. Now Val Kilmer was pretty good in movie of Jim Morrison behaving badly but I don't recall if he did any singing. Anyway, actors singing badly is a bit off track and maybe that's a whole other thread.

Although, Alice, I thought the Monkees were pretty good singers for actors.

Duckboots


25 May 99 - 08:07 PM (#81716)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: catspaw49

OH Brother Leej....YOU ARE SOOOOO RIGHT !!!!!

James Taylor is the top of the list here...I love the stupid movie It"s SSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOO bad Bad BAd BAD!!!!

The only tech term the writer knew was "re-jet the carbs." What a piece of work!!!

catspaw


25 May 99 - 08:22 PM (#81722)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: Jeri

Two words: Gomer Pyle.
As for Kristopherson, I don't think he's a bad actor, but he's had some classically stinko roles.
I remember Tom Waits in "Ironweed." I didn't like the movie at all, (it was about as entertaining and uplifting as watching flies land on road-kill) but he was pretty good. I mostly remember that film because it featured Lena Spencer (of Cafe Lena) in a cameo.


25 May 99 - 11:16 PM (#81765)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: Don Meixner

I'd have to take issue in a small way here. To say Burl Ives wasn't too bad as an actor is a little unfair. Burl had some klinkers (Brass Bottle, Ensign Pulver) but he had some great roles as well, mnostly on stage but Wind in the Everglades (title may be wrong slightly) and Cat on a hot tin Roof come to mind. He was in a bunch of TV plays in the early 60's. I put him in the same class as Will Geer.

Johnny Cash is a very good actor ( The Pride of Jessie Hallam, and a cop film he did with Andy Griffith as a bad guy. come to mind)

Edward Woodward was a singer for quite awhile with good success. The Equalizer wasn't terrible but Breaker Morant and The Wickerman are masterpieces.

However, much as i liked Roy Orbison....

Don


26 May 99 - 12:19 AM (#81774)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: emily rain

has anyone seen paul simon's film/baby "one trick pony"? now that was a paragon of Badness. bad script, bad direction, bad acting (all round), and sadly, a lot of bad songs.


26 May 99 - 12:21 AM (#81775)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: Rick Fielding

Ahh Don. I've seen "The Wicker Man" several times and am still fascinated by it. Also fascinated by Brit Eklund (who never lived in MY town).


26 May 99 - 12:24 AM (#81776)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: emily rain

AND LYLE LOVETT! oh my god, after his el stinko cameos in those robert altman films (umm... "the player" and ... "short takes" or some such title) i was horrified that he had an actual full-sized part in "the opposite of sex".

i love you, lyle! sing more, and please stop trying to act!


26 May 99 - 12:59 AM (#81781)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: Mudjack

The biggest surprise was seeing Dwight Yoakum in "Sling Blade" He was a convincing bad guy. I had to wait and run the credits to see who this bad guy was. Yep, none other than Dwight Yoakum. A Fine actor in deed doing a really bad guy.
Oh! you mean doing a bad job of acting, well Dwight gets an A+.
OK, Dylan gets the bad actor prize in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. That was bad acting.
So I stretched the thread to a good singer that acts good.
Mudjack


26 May 99 - 01:24 AM (#81783)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: lloyd61

Bill Monroe.....Mister Happy go Lucky. But then again what can we say about a guy, who at the age of 78, hits his wife with his Bible, when she claimed he was running around on her.


26 May 99 - 09:22 AM (#81816)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: Bert

I missed some of those Don, so I'll defer to your opinion.

Bert. (yes The Pride of Jessie Hallam was great)


26 May 99 - 10:06 AM (#81821)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: tomtom

Sir Paul McCartney in Give My Regards to Broadstreet? Wrote, directed, acted, and scored by Paul, I believe. That movie is an enormous mess. And if you're lucky, you might be able to catch The Making of Give My Regards to Broadstreet. Fascinating insight into the creative life and mind Mr. Paul.

I second the Dwight Yoakum thumbs up in SlingBlade. Great movie, too. Another Singer-Actor was in that one--Vic Chesnutt. Anyone know this guy? He was the guy in the wheelchair that ole Dwight threw against the wall in the movie. Vic's not a terrific actor, but not terrible either. He sure is a terrific singer/songwriter, though--at least to my ears.

tomtom


26 May 99 - 06:00 PM (#81930)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: Peter T.

Everybody in "Honeysuckle Rose", alas. Singers acting badly, non-singers acting badly, actors singing badly.
Some great music, but where are the pinking shears?
Yours, Peter T.


26 May 99 - 08:51 PM (#81980)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: LEJ

Catspaw...You remember the end of Two Lane Blacktop ? The thing slogged on and on without a hint of a plot, and just when you were saying "Please God let it end!" the cinematographer (and I use the term loosely) decides to have the film melt. Heavy concept.

You guys were right about Dwight Yoakam- he was a great villain. It has, however, affected my esteem toward him in a negative way. I keep thinking "he sure has a great voice for a drunken, sadistic, woman-beater." You have to understand that for me the lines that separate real-life and fiction are rather blurry in the first place. Must be why I'm so attracted to the Mudcat!

LEJ


26 May 99 - 10:03 PM (#81991)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: Art Thieme

In one of my favorite films, __LONE STAR__, Chris Kristofferson did a pretty good job as a corrupt sheriff.

Johnny Depp doess a fine acting job in most everything he's done--_Ed Wood_ & _Gilbert Grape__ & _Dead Man_ especially.

Nat King Cole, singing in the Western _Cat Balou_ was totally miscast as the "balladeer"/ street singer.

Art


26 May 99 - 10:30 PM (#82002)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: Don Meixner

Art,

Nat Cole was in a movie Called China Gate where he played a memeber of the French Foreign Legion in the French Indo-China civil war of the 50's. He was quite good, Angie Dickenson was not however.

Don


26 May 99 - 11:24 PM (#82015)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: catspaw49

Yeah Leej, I know........but when you got such a turkey as that going, melting the film is damn near your only possibility. "Two Lane" is right up there with "Plan Nine" at the top of the turkey list...but I just can't resist watching either!

I too am a big fan of "Sling Blade" if only for the first 15 minutes, everyone should see this film. One helluva' great movie and Dwight Yoakum did a superb job. I also gotta' say that when Billy Bob hammered him at the end, I spontaneously applauded the first time I saw it...not my usual reaction to on-screen violence.

catspaw


27 May 99 - 02:01 AM (#82057)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: Rita64

A case of so dreadful it is fascinating:

DAVID BOWIE as the "Goblin King" in the Jim Henson film "LABYRINTH".

Again, I think it has something to do with sex symbols in tights and tragic hair. You will all laugh at me but I confess I know the words to every song in that film ...


27 May 99 - 04:54 AM (#82078)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: Helen

Don,

What about Edward Woodward in the wonderful series "Callan" in the 70's? (The Woodward series are British, and the movie Breaker Morant was Australian so maybe you USA-ers won't have had a chance to see them.)

Art, Johhny Depp in Benny & Joon, too - a quirky little movie.

Youngmaid,

I like Labyrinth, too, and The Dark Crystal, in fact any of the folk/fairy tale style muppet movies, like The Storyteller, with William Hurt, etc

Helen


27 May 99 - 07:45 AM (#82097)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: Steve Parkes

I thought the Monkees didn't actually do their own acting?

Steve


27 May 99 - 10:15 AM (#82112)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: Shack

Saw Ricky Skaggs in a supporting role in something recently and he was pretty good, but I forgot which movie. Anybody see it?


27 May 99 - 11:57 AM (#82149)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: Art Thieme

Once, a long time ago, I was paid $50.00 to ride a Greyhound to and from the CHELSEA HOUSE FOLK FESTIVAL in Brattleboro, Vermont--from Chicago. I had fun anyhow but wasn't surprised when that organization did, finally, close it's doors. A famous guitarist there (sometimes known as Blind Joe Death)came out on stage to an audience who cheered as he came out. He sat down, the audience quieted and waited in total silence for him to start his finger picking show. Hw waited for about 10 minutes in total silence and then screamed into the mike, "SHUT THE F*** UP!!!" The audience was amazed but still polite--mostly from shock I've always thought. Only then did he do his show.

If that wasn't acting badly, tell me, what is???

Art


27 May 99 - 05:24 PM (#82208)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: Peter T.

I thought the "sainted" John Lennon's public behaviour during his drunken a****** phase was acting pretty badly (not to mention the horrible albums in that phase), but Blind Joe Death seems to have walked off with the prize!
Yours, Peter T.


27 May 99 - 06:20 PM (#82218)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: Llanfair

John Lennon, whom I loved dearly, and still do, did not display any remarkable acting skills in "Oh what a lovely war" We all went to see it because he was in it. Am I the only Mudcatter who saw the Beatles "LIVE"? Hwyl, Bron.


27 May 99 - 09:42 PM (#82261)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: Don Meixner

Hi Helen,

Never saw "Calan". The british series we got on PBS were always comedies. Billy Oddie and the Goodies anyone?

I am however, a confirmed Edward Woodward fan. I probably enjoy his reading of the Brighton Phone Directory.

Don


27 May 99 - 10:10 PM (#82267)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: MAG (inactive)

Oh no Art; you didn't like *Dead Man ...* !!?? Depp cwas good, as always, but the movie .. what a ripoff of Aoicalypse Now (unless they thought that if one ripoff of Conrad was good, two would be better ...) I can just see Sherman Alexie grimacing at Farmer's role. not that he wasn't good. but the bad guys .. no no no no no

-- MA


27 May 99 - 10:20 PM (#82268)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: Big Mick

LLANFAR

Have you looked at the average of the 'Catters? I, as well as many others I suspect, have seen the Beatles live.

On the other side of the coin, I saw Willie Nelson in a western once upon a time, he played an old bandito who loved to eat armadillo, can't for the life of me remember the name of the movie. I just remember that I loved him in the role.

Big project is over, I am tired, but elated to be back on the 'Cat. Now where the hell did the fair Alison get too.

Big Mick


27 May 99 - 10:28 PM (#82270)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: alison

Still here waiting patiently Mick..... **grin**

slainte

alison


27 May 99 - 11:02 PM (#82277)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: DonMeixner

Mick,

"Barbarosa" with Gary Bussey as his side lick apprentice.

Don


27 May 99 - 11:25 PM (#82286)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: catspaw49

Don and Mick,

As a matter of fact, I thought that was a damn good flick and maybe Gary B.'s best besides the Buddy Holly story. On the other hand, I've enjoyed Willie in every movie he's done.

catspaw


27 May 99 - 11:37 PM (#82290)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: DonMeixner

Cat,

As did I. That shoot out scene where the bullits are fly by willie as he stands still waiting for the mexican gunman to come in range is classic. That one round creases his face just Willie shoots. I enjoyed the film a lot. Do I recall "7 spanish angels" from this movie?

Don

BTW that should have read side kick not side lick. What kind of freudian collapse was that?


27 May 99 - 11:39 PM (#82291)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: Big Mick

Hi 'Spaw,Nice to see you.

I agree........think he is a great actor. And thanks Don, that is exactly the name of the movie. Now that I know the name, I can go rent it.

Mick


27 May 99 - 11:41 PM (#82293)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: catspaw49

Well, not one I want to deal with, I know that! We gonna' just let that puppy lay........

catspaw


28 May 99 - 03:14 AM (#82330)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: Llanfair

Mick, you're probably right about most Mudcatters having seen the Beatles, but it impresses the kids no end!!!!!! Hwyl, Bron,


28 May 99 - 03:32 AM (#82332)
Subject: RE: Singers acting badly
From: Steve Parkes

I would have gone to see the Beatles live (I'd have given my eye teeth!), but we were a very poor family, so I couldn't afford it. My mother wil kill me for saying that!

Steve