Defiant Dislikes

Subject: Defiant Dislikes
From: Smedley
Date: 20 May 09 - 09:24 AM

This topic proved quite popular on another site I frequent, so I wonder if it will appeal here.

It's the opposite of 'guilty pleasures', where you admit liking a singer/performer/song/genre/track that is conventionally thought to be tacky or trashy or otherwise without merit.

A 'defiant dislike' is your chance to announce that even though a singer/performer/song/genre/track (or whatever) is widely acclaimed & almost thought of as beyond criticism, you cannot stand it/them.

Any offers ?

Personally I cannot abide Joan Baez or Billy Bragg.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Hamish
Date: 20 May 09 - 09:37 AM

Too scary. There are a number I'll not admit to disliking on this site cos I just feel I may incur death threats...

...but I'll pop down Christie Moore, Jim Morrison (late of The doors) and Van Morrison. And, no, I don't think I'm being unreasonably Morrisonist.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: nutty
Date: 20 May 09 - 09:49 AM

This will probably make me unpopular but I can't stand Hughie Jones (The Spinners) and I wouldn't pay good money to see Bram Taylor.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: LilyFestre
Date: 20 May 09 - 09:50 AM

Celine Dion. UGH

Michelle

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Maryrrf
Date: 20 May 09 - 09:58 AM

I'll confess, and I hasten to add that for those of you who like her I'm not putting her down, it's just a matter of personal taste. I don't enjoy Kate Rusby's singing.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 20 May 09 - 10:16 AM

Barbra Streisand, I don't care how many millions she's made.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Smedley
Date: 20 May 09 - 10:21 AM

I see that nominations are ranging beyond the kinds of music usually central to this site. Fine by me - so let me throw in how much I abominate Radiohead, Bruce Springsteen, Eminem and pretty much every piece of opera!

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Maryrrf
Date: 20 May 09 - 10:36 AM

I was confining my dislikes to folk music related performers - if other types of music were included the list would be too long to print.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: TenorTwo
Date: 20 May 09 - 10:40 AM

Rachel Unthank? Sorry, I'm out of here!

T2

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: SINSULL
Date: 20 May 09 - 10:48 AM

Farah Fawcett - IMHO, a fifth rate actress with overly large teeth.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: GUEST,Golightly
Date: 20 May 09 - 10:50 AM

Don't know why my previous submission failed to appear, but to summarise:

Martin Carthy and Rachel Unthank. I just don't enjoy their singing.

And John Lennon's 'Imagine' makes me cringe.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: katlaughing
Date: 20 May 09 - 10:53 AM

Kind of a mean-spirited way to go about things? I'd prefer to focus on those I do like.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Phil Edwards
Date: 20 May 09 - 10:59 AM

I listened to a lot of Steeleye Span recently, after a gap of about 30 years, and I find I've gone right off Maddy Prior's singing. (The high pure stuff a la Gaudete still works, but count me out of the yo-ho bellowing. Eliza 'F' C has been known to let rip in the same sort of way, but she brings it off.)

And... [whispers]... I don't really like Anne Briggs. Er, sorry.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Rifleman (inactive)
Date: 20 May 09 - 11:04 AM

people who start stupid threads like this one

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Wesley S
Date: 20 May 09 - 11:10 AM

Richard Thompson. I just don't get it. I've tried to like him but it just doesn't work for me.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: GUEST,Golightly
Date: 20 May 09 - 11:11 AM

It's not mean spirited to say you don't enjoy something. Mean spirited is calling something stupid just because you don't like it.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 20 May 09 - 11:13 AM

A line from "The Merry Minuet," which some of you may recall, sums up the feelings of some: "And I don't like anybody very much!" By the way, that song is nearly as relevant today as when it first appeared.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Zen
Date: 20 May 09 - 11:16 AM

Again another pointless thread in the recent mean-spirited (entirely correct use of the term) style redolent of recent Mudcat postings.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Rifleman (inactive)
Date: 20 May 09 - 11:18 AM

Oh alright, to be a bit more philosophical about it...I never gotten the point to threads like this *LOL*

Took seventeen words to aay exactly the same thing, as opposed to eight previously..

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: theleveller
Date: 20 May 09 - 11:26 AM

"Too scary"


MUCH too scary - I'm in enough trouble as it is from my big mouth.

Anyway, I love EVERYONE!

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: pdq
Date: 20 May 09 - 11:51 AM

I can't tollerate anyone who bludgeons their audience with their smelly politics. Steve Earle, Ani DeFranco and Billy Bragg come to mind, but there are too many to list. I prefer Doc Watson, Bill Clifton, Ian Tyson and other non-political folks who stick to producing music.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: GUEST,jeddy
Date: 20 May 09 - 12:03 PM

this is a very silly thread but then again i'm a very silly person. i like kate rusby but can't stand bill jones sorry, i think she is a marvelous insrument player but shouldn't sing. just my opinion.
favorate popsong tide is high, great fun in the car when it's sunny
and a pizza hut apizza hut kentucky fried chicken and a pizza hut. told you i was silly it gets stuck in my head for days.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Maryrrf
Date: 20 May 09 - 12:16 PM

Well, in the course of a normal conversation it would be perfectly natural to discuss our musical likes and dislikes. A forum such as this is different from a conversation but still it is an exchange of ideas, and if it doesn't get out of hand and become a slagfest I don't see anything wrong with the thread. It would be kind of one sided if we only discussed music we like all the time. Of course it may be a vain hope that things don't deteriorate....

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: mg
Date: 20 May 09 - 12:21 PM

OK. I can not listen to Dougie McClean?? I first thought it was his voice but then I realized I can't listen to others singing his songs..don't know why. mg

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Phil Edwards
Date: 20 May 09 - 12:24 PM

Jumping into a conversation you don't like and telling everyone else to stop having it strikes me as a lot more mean-spirited.

I don't like Anne Briggs's singing. Some people love it. On the other hand, I could listen to Shirley Collins all day - and I know some people can't stand her. Just different people with different likes and dislikes.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: glueman
Date: 20 May 09 - 12:38 PM

"I can't tollerate anyone who bludgeons their audience with their smelly politics"

Too right, even if I agree with their politics. "If you want to send a message call Western Union" as Sam Goldwyn probably never said. Also people who say 1954 as though it's the last word on the subject and trumps anything someone says instead of just another load of opinions in an old hat.
Oh and the Glasgow Orpheus Choir, The Spinners, those old BBC schools radio braodcasters or anyone other group who put p r o n u c i a t i o n before emotion.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Wesley S
Date: 20 May 09 - 12:40 PM

I don't see anyone saying that a singer is bad because we don't like them. On the contrary - someone like my pick - Richard Thompson - is a highly talented person. Many people I respect love the guy. He's just not my cup of tea. That's not a put-down of Richard Thompson at all. Just a reflection of my personal taste.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Darowyn
Date: 20 May 09 - 12:49 PM

I just can't abide The Watersons, or for that matter anyone who sings with an accent from that place in mythical England where Norfolk borders with Somerset.
I have a reason for disliking the Watersons- an interminably boring concert many years ago.
The accent thing mostly irrational prejudice- but that is what this thread is about isn't it?
Cheers
Dave

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: GUEST, Richard Bridge
Date: 20 May 09 - 12:50 PM

testing via shadowsurf

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: The Sandman
Date: 20 May 09 - 01:01 PM

I cant stand the singing of Dick Miles.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: vectis
Date: 20 May 09 - 01:09 PM

Martin Carthy's guitar tuning.
It drives me bonkers to such an extent that the first time I went to see hiom (because he is so highly rated) I left at half time.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Joe Offer
Date: 20 May 09 - 01:19 PM

I suppose this kind of thread could be considered "mean-spirited," but I see a real value in it. Too often, performers get their popularity through "hype." We get dragged along with the crowd, and end up surrounded with stuff that we really don't like - or at least that we don't like as much as some people think we should like it.

I think it's good for us to be honest with ourselves every once in a while, and assess what it is that we do and don't like.

As for me, I've worked really hard to appreciate Richard Thompson, but I just can't bring myself to like him. Same with the singing of Richard Dyer-Bennet, although I appreciate his scholarship. And John Jacob Niles sang just like Dyer-Bennet, and was infamous for faulty scholarship (but I still like some of his songs). And I really like most of the recordings of the Limeliters, but Lou Gottlieb and Glen Yarbrough both made me feel creepy. Gottlieb's humor was weird, and Yarbrough's solo singing was affected and shallow. Maybe I'm just hard on tenors, since I dislike the singing of Dyer-Bennet, Niles, and Yarbrough.

Oh, and I like many Dylan recordings, but the one Dylan concert I saw was an absolute rip-off. It was obvious he didn't care about us as an audience at all. I can't understand how he could charge full price for a 45-minute set. I had the same experience in a Bob Hope performance, by the way.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Diva
Date: 20 May 09 - 01:21 PM

Mary Black...there I've said it......remember seeing her at Girvan a good few years ago and it must have cost a few bob to get her. I was really bored.

Ewan McColl when he came to the Kilmarnock Folk Club again many years ago. Couldn't be arsed with the party political broadcast! So we went and had a game of pool with the barman. Now I realise I could well be stuck down!!!! I will say in fairness I have recently been listening to the album that he made in 1962 with Kenny Goldstien The Merry Muses and that is a very fine piece of work......so I'm not falable

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: GUEST,M.Ted
Date: 20 May 09 - 02:29 PM

I think that, even without this thread, people seem to have no problem expressing dislikes, often in extreme terms, and frequently with hyperbolic disdain for those who have the temerity to like what they dislike.

Given that, this thread is actually quite restrained.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: meself
Date: 20 May 09 - 02:35 PM

So far.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: SINSULL
Date: 20 May 09 - 02:41 PM

I don't have a problem with expressing dislikes. Richard Thompson doesn't do it for me either. In an infamous moment I got a fit of giggling during his concert and had to leave. FOR ME, pure torture. The rest of our group loved him.
This isn't a personal attack. It is a fact.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Tug the Cox
Date: 20 May 09 - 02:43 PM

Yes, why haven't the usual suspects with their eternal prejudices chirped in yet? Shall we close the thread while we're ahead(ish).

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Frozen Gin (inactive)
Date: 20 May 09 - 03:25 PM

I still can't listen to Ewan McColl and his party political broadcasts, and I really don't care who knows it.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Will Fly
Date: 20 May 09 - 03:36 PM

Ah well - I've never been to a Richard Thompson gig that I didn't love from beginning to end - and I have every record he's ever made. His voice is unique, his guitar playing is wonderful, and his songs are thoughtful and intelligent...

...but what on earth am I doing saying all this? This is not what the thread is about!

Back on topic: I thought at one time I was the only person (and jazz musician at that time) in the whole world who didn't like the singing of Billie Holiday - then I discovered that the late Miles Kington (English musician and journalist) couldn't stand her voice either. Which made me feel a lot better. Same with Frank Sinatra - all my musician mates revered him, but not me.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 20 May 09 - 03:41 PM

Echoing Pip there somewhat. I DO like *some* of Anne Briggs - tho' ironically not her renderings of trad songs. But overall - like I said on another thread, I just find her a bit too 'frilly' and reedy. Doesn't do it for me anyway.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: glueman
Date: 20 May 09 - 03:45 PM

Won't hear a word against Unthank or Rusby because a) they're top totty and b) they sing in their own accents. Afraid I also find Richard Thompson hard work even though some of his albums are in the cupboard, unlistened to in many a long year. OTOH I used to find Joan Baez and her octave bashing tortuous but warm to her more nowadays.

Changing your mind about artists is a very healthy state of affairs.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: GUEST, Ricardo Ponti
Date: 20 May 09 - 03:50 PM

I get VERY annoyed with people who criticise Martin Carthy's tuning. He has a choice - play in a tuning that inhibits the epxression of the song, or carry 20 guitars, or re-tune between songs.

It's a no-brainer. You get a guitar into a differnet tuning faster than that.

Or are you unable to realise that a guitar, unlike a freaping squeezebox, needs tuning?

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: GUEST, RIcardo Ponti
Date: 20 May 09 - 03:53 PM

But I find Anne Briggs and Shirley Collins a bit twee, Dick Gaughan impenetrable, Bragg unmelodious, and Kate Bush the nastiest noise on the planet.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Paul Burke
Date: 20 May 09 - 03:56 PM

VINCENT BLACK LIGHTNING 1952

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Banjiman
Date: 20 May 09 - 04:08 PM

I'm with Captain Birdseye.

Though I will listen to several of Dick Miles' sets this weekend at Ryedale and give him the chance to change my mind.



So who is it that buys all of those records that Richard Thompson sells then if everyone dislikes him so much?

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Will Fly
Date: 20 May 09 - 04:11 PM

I suppose I must have bought all of Thompson's records myself over the last 30+ years... no-one else seems to have any. :-)

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Paul Burke
Date: 20 May 09 - 04:16 PM

De gustybutts non est disputandum.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 20 May 09 - 04:32 PM

enya

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: theleveller
Date: 20 May 09 - 05:14 PM

"just can't abide The Watersons, or for that matter anyone who sings with an accent from that place in mythical England where Norfolk borders with Somerset."

'Scuse me - that's a 'Ull accent. Nerbady in the herl cuntreh talks like a cod'ead

"I cant stand the singing of Dick Miles."

Well for god's sake sit down, man.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Bill D
Date: 20 May 09 - 05:44 PM

I rather LIKE Richard Dyer-Bennet, but my John Jacob Niles album has been played once.

It's funny about Dylan...I never enjoyed much of his regular stuff when he was doing his own music, but I have heard a number of 'covers' he did of regular 'folk' stuff and pop music, and he did them mostly quite well.

..and I winced the first time I heard Buffy Sainte-Marie...I don't think there was a 2nd time...

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 20 May 09 - 05:53 PM

Regular? As in "recurring with a fixed periodicity"?

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Tootler
Date: 20 May 09 - 06:42 PM

Fairport Convention. I wouldn't say I particularly disliked them but I don't find them particularly inspiring.

Frank Sinatra leaves me completely unmoved as does Brahms.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 20 May 09 - 07:01 PM

Mary Black -- and not just because she doesn't respect the music.

Greg Brown, Schooner Fare and other so-called "folk" singers, either of the singer/songwriter persuasion or just homogenized, pasteurized blandification of songs that might exist in another life as a traditional song.

Not crazy about Dylan, either. He was interesting when I first heard him in the '60s -- but I was a heck of a lot younger then and had a lot of listening to do yet.

Linn

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Diva
Date: 20 May 09 - 07:49 PM

Could not abide Dylan's voice. Don't mind his songs sung by other singers

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Bill D
Date: 20 May 09 - 07:57 PM

"Regular? As in "recurring with a fixed periodicity"?"

nope... 'regular' as an American colloquialism meaning 'usual'. I could have phrased that better.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Neil D
Date: 20 May 09 - 08:40 PM

I wouldn't want to get into whom I specifically dislike other than my irritating neighbor. I don't like music that is too slick especially within the folk genre. But I like what Tom Waits said in an interview years ago when he was having a hard time finding something GOOD to say about any contemporaries: "I guess you could say everyone I like is either dead or not feeling well." Thats not necessarily how I feel but it was a cool thing to say and informative of his tastes. Since then I've tried to avoid getting to that point by seeking out quality young artists in a variety of genres.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: TRUBRIT
Date: 21 May 09 - 12:16 AM

Sins -- was that the Richard Thompson concert I was at? I remember you and Jacqui left early and Tammy and I stayed and raved on til the end.........I LOVE Richard Thompson but totally respect that you might not like him. Sorry, Bat Goddess - I quite like Svhooner fare (SP?)

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Spot
Date: 21 May 09 - 02:50 AM

PDQ...

Doc W and Bill Clifton...good choices!! Any idea what Bill C's doing these days? I loved his stuff with Red Rector!!

Hmmm..Billy Bragg? Afraid he canna sing in my book and I dont like the political sermons of anybody....though I find McColl more of a comedy act with his ludicrous phoney Scots accent!! ;-)

I don't care for anybody doing Dylan stuff , especially D himself!! :-)
         
             One man's meat etc , methinks..........

                         Regards to all.Spot

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Smedley
Date: 21 May 09 - 03:17 AM

Sorry if starting this thread upset a few people.

I see it as a kind of 'safety valve' - a space to admit that sometimes you just don't respond to things that the prevailing consensus regards as unimpeachably marvellous. It's not about vitriolic attacks on the objects of your dislike - and happily nobody has gone down that route.

And sometimes there are qualifying clauses.....I can't just listen to flamenco, for example, but it makes sense and can be wonderful when you see it performed live. On a disc it's just too much wailing.

But saying this (like all these choices) says more about me that the thing disliked.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Banjiman
Date: 21 May 09 - 03:39 AM

Pianos in British folk music. I like 'em in blues, boogie etc ..... but they always make British folk music sound like it is being played in a Victorian parlour for polite company.

IMHO of course.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: GUEST
Date: 21 May 09 - 03:58 AM

Sorry if starting this thread upset a few people.

I see it as a kind of 'safety valve' - a space to admit that sometimes you just don't respond to things that the prevailing consensus regards as unimpeachably marvellous.

No offence taken. It's perfectly possible to appreciate the skill and artistry that performers bring to their music and still not like their sound. What's sometimes difficult is admitting to the dislike when all around you think the opposite! I found this in the jazz scene when daring to express my opinion of Billie Holiday and Sinatra - I can easily understand why people love their singing, but it does nothing for me.

As you say - probably reveals more about us... beauty in the eye of... etc.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: GUEST,Shimrod
Date: 21 May 09 - 04:15 AM

"So who is it that buys all of those records that Richard Thompson sells then if everyone dislikes him so much?"

Perhaps it's all those people who congratulated the Emperor on his new clothes (?)

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 21 May 09 - 04:17 AM

Totally with you on that Banjiman.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Phil Edwards
Date: 21 May 09 - 04:38 AM

Pianos ... always make British folk music sound like it is being played in a Victorian parlour for polite company.

I agree, kind of - although I'd say a primary school hall rather than a Victorian parlour - but I love the sound. Shirley and Dolly's Come All You Little Streamers is one of those songs I can listen to three or four times in a row.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: GUEST,Greycap
Date: 21 May 09 - 05:34 AM

Eliza Carthy, Billy Bragg, Kate Rusby.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: David C. Carter
Date: 21 May 09 - 05:44 AM

Donovan,David Bowie.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: glueman
Date: 21 May 09 - 06:01 AM

One bloke, in pub, with guitar. You're going to have to be brilliant, or funny or know a load of songs no-one's ever heard of to pull it off. Wearing an interesting T-shirt and telling us about your day is not enough!

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Mooh
Date: 21 May 09 - 07:22 AM

Without being specific, folks who gush in my face about their latest favourite artist of the moment, as if I HAVE to agree. This has happened to me so many times by one locally respected musician that I generally try to avoid him lest I be pommelled by another round of opinionated flack. I heartily dislike being told I HAVE to like something.

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: theleveller
Date: 21 May 09 - 09:06 AM

I have quite a lot of CDs of people who, at some point, I was incredibly enthusiastic about but who now never seem to get an airing. These would include Seth Lakeman, Tim Van Eyken, Mary Black and, I'm ashamed to say, June Tabor and Nic Jones. Vashti Bunyan never made it past the first playing.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Azizi
Date: 21 May 09 - 09:37 AM

I prefer not to list those singers I don't like-the list would be a mile long. But I'd like to suggest to Will Fly and Guest 21 May 09 - 03:58 AM -in case that Guest isn't the same person as Will Fly, that there are probably other people on that jazz forum who don't like Billie Holliday's voice [I don't like her voice either]. Nevertheless, I and I bet a number of other people revere Billie Holliday for her song "Strange Fruit" and the courage it took to sing such a song in those days, and who see her sad life as a symbolism for what happens in a racist society.

I wonder whether having deep admiration and respect for particular singers or musicians for reasons other than how they sound or the quality of their music may at least partly account for why people are reluctant to publicly say that they don't like them.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: M.Ted
Date: 21 May 09 - 10:29 AM

I have to agree with Mooh on that one--I dislike being gushed on--being the sort of person that I am, I am more likely to listen to something that such folks say they hate--a lot more likely in fact--for example, I just downloaded two Vashti Bunyan albums!!!

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: frogprince
Date: 21 May 09 - 10:29 AM

Outside of the folk realm, I've heard very little operatic singing that I can enjoy; I have been taken off guard by a lovely, melodius aria, but usually the sound of opera brings back fond memories of castrating pigs on the farm.
In the folk realm, I've seen Rambling Jack Elliot live twice; the second time, it cost me little or nothing to give him a second chance after the first time. Ramble he did, with endless stories that someone must find interesting. I like hearing him sing Buffalo Skinners, and some things I've heard recorded, but I wouldn't subject myself to a live performance again.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: theleveller
Date: 21 May 09 - 10:39 AM

"being the sort of person that I am, I am more likely to listen to something that such folks say they hate--a lot more likely in fact"

Good. In that case, I really hate Billy Bragg, New Model Army, Roy Bailey and Chumbawamba. Enjoy!

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: breezy
Date: 21 May 09 - 10:58 AM

Any 'performers' who use a music stand and crib sheets.

Attendees at sessions who fidget with their loose leaf anthologies whilst someone else performs thereby distracting other listeners.

Instrumental players usually whistle or flute who play mechanically from the music note for note but have no knowledge idea concept of phrasing emphasis thats not a desease - please insert you own punctuation marks

People who heckle and think themselves hilarious when a floor singer is trying to compose themselves for the performance of a lifetime of a song they just learned, and have been gearing themselves for a period of time.

Floor singers who havent planned what to sing

An audience !!!!! usually in a pub gig - that do not applaud or only clap twice cos theys ignorant

Passers by in the street who have no appreciation and think the busker is beneath them, when all the time....

Drunks with pit bulls who sit close to you when busking, and the dog gets to be patted by very small children with very young mums and you can see that the dog is thinking.
'Lunch?'

Under-rehearsed performers.

Anyone singing Streets of London a capella and other similar well known 'Done to death songs'

People who arrive on the scene and immediately interupt other people 's conversations,

My old english teacher from school

My old P E teacher - Ryan by name - too who was miffed that I went to the college he'ld gone to and cos I smashed him at badminton. And I got better results and my students, well some, achieved greatness. Up yours Ryan

Thats enough for now, more later.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Phil Edwards
Date: 21 May 09 - 10:59 AM

Your monicker suggests that sentiment may not be entirely genuine, leveller.

I'm not crazy about NMA et al, I confess. I mean, 'punk folk' - what's that, Anachie Gordon in the UK?

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: breezy
Date: 21 May 09 - 12:40 PM

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Spot
Date: 21 May 09 - 01:45 PM

Breezy..

Nail on head!! Change "English" teacher to all of the bastards ay my school ecxepy maybe one - funnily enough, he taught English!!!!Plus floor singers who can't... there's a lot of 'em.... ;-)


               Regards to all.... Spot :-)

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Spot
Date: 21 May 09 - 01:47 PM

Ecxepy?? WTF I talkin about!!;-) sorry...   Spot

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Will Fly
Date: 21 May 09 - 02:02 PM

Azizi (the GUEST was indeed me) - I have every respect for the artistry and talent of Billie Holiday, as I hope I made clear. And I also have great respect for those singers and musicians who, in their lives, have stood up and been counted as anti-racist, etc. - people such as BH, Tony Bennett, Dave Brubeck and many others.

I have records by Brubeck and none by Billie Holiday or Tony Bennett. This merely illustrates that I don't care for the musical output of these people - and I'm not applying this judgement to the people themselves.

The wider question revolves around whether you admire/hate an artist for the people they are, rather than just the artistic output. Caravaggio was, reputedly, a monster in many aspects of his life. Do I take this into consideration when looking at his art? My gut instinct is to admire his art, which I think is marvellous. Others may think differently.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: SINSULL
Date: 21 May 09 - 03:34 PM

I won't be seeing either Joan Baez or Ramblin' Jack when they appear here in Portland. Not my cup of tea.
Isn't it kinder to leave the seats for someone who genuinely enjoys the music?
Not only do I despise Sinatra's music but I turned down tickets to his sold out NYC concert when they were offered - a fate worse than death at least to me.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Paul Burke
Date: 21 May 09 - 03:51 PM

It's the adolescent melodrama of 52VBL that makes me want to puke. It's not the bike; though I wouldn't want to ride one, they were built before brakes and handling were invented. But I can't really see the difference between that song, and Twinkle's egregious effusion of 1964 or so:

He said to me he wanted to be near to me
He said he never wanted to be out of my sight
But it's too late to give this boy my love tonight
Please wait at the gate of heaven for me, Terry.

He said to me he wanted to be close by my side
We had a quarrel, I was untrue on the night he died
And it's too late to tell this boy how great was
Please wait at the gate of heaven for me, Terry.

He rode into the night, accelerated his motorbike
I cried to him in fright, don't do it, don't do it, don.t do it.

He said to me you are the one I want to be with
He said to me you are the one who my love I shall give
One day he'll know how hard I prayed for him to live
Please wait at the gate of heaven for me, Terry.

He rode into the night, accelerated his motorbike
I cried to him in fright, don't do it, don't do it, don.t do it.

He said to me you are the one I want to be with
He said to me you are the one who my love I shall give
One day he'll know how hard I prayed for him to live
Please wait at the gate of heaven for me, Terry.

Terry, Terry, Terry


Which is better sung as:

He rode into the muck, accelerated his dumper truck,
I cried to him oh f***, don't do it, don't do it, don.t do it.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: M.Ted
Date: 21 May 09 - 04:12 PM

Too late, leveller, already been there, done that. P.Radish-- I rather like the" Anachie in the UK" joke.

The idea that it is important to let others know your "likes" and "dislikes"   is a bit of vanity anyway, and says more about you than it does about the artists.

As a musician, you can only learn from the artists that you listen to--Dylan, Billie Holiday, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Tony Bennett all had something important to offer--if you didn't listen, you didn't get it.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Sorcha
Date: 21 May 09 - 04:21 PM

Enya and Celtic Women!

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Rifleman (inactive)
Date: 21 May 09 - 04:24 PM

"The idea that it is important to let others know your "likes" and "dislikes"   is a bit of vanity anyway, and says more about you than it does about the artists."

Sums the whole exercise up perfectly

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: mg
Date: 21 May 09 - 04:30 PM

Agreed with Celtic Women for the most part...if this was the 19th century and they were tubucular I could understand their singing but they really do not look like frail women on death's door but to me that is how they sing...and the one skipping around with the fiddle ..pretty..and a good fiddler...but to each her own...it all seems like an ode to prolonged prepubescency or something...mg

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: glueman
Date: 21 May 09 - 04:34 PM

Just to add an ageist slant there are artists I admired enormously at their peak who spend the following thirty years with ever diminishing taste and ability performing a parody of their younger selves. Very occasionally I weaken, book a ticket and am surprised, Dr John was a marvel two years ago and Southside Johnny and Asbury Dukes infinitely better than the last viewing in the 1970s.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 21 May 09 - 05:30 PM

The C series Vincent was not that bad. Then. The song is crap - no rockers rode C series Vincents, they all butchered the gearboxes off the engines to make Norvins. No-one with taste rode D series Vincents - overgrown motor scooters with those silly body panels.

Twinkle (my late aunt told me) was a silly little slapper who used to be seen staggering down to the jiggings in Croydon in 5 inch heels and a pube-length skirt before miniskirts were invented. My two girl cousins (one of whom jived a new pair of shoes into non-existence in one night in the same Croydon Palais) agreed.

If anyone doesn't know Twinkle sang "Terry".

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Paul Burke
Date: 21 May 09 - 05:34 PM

You might be thinking of Ariel Leaders. The C Series Vincent wasn't a lot like a scooter.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Paul Burke
Date: 21 May 09 - 05:42 PM

Oh that one, yeah.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 May 09 - 07:32 PM

In my humble opinion...

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Shalini
Date: 22 May 09 - 06:11 AM

Buffy Sainte-Marie. Dylan, though he's surprised me lately with songs like 'Hard Times' - his is now one of my favourite versions! Cara Dillon, much of Sandy Denny, Martin Carthy, and Woody Guthrie.

This, as someone said before, has more to do with my own taste than the artists mentioned. There certainly are artists whose music I think is simply of poor quality, but this isn't that list!

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Jack Campin
Date: 22 May 09 - 06:53 AM

Re Billie Holliday and Strange Fruit: didn't Josh White record it first?

I like both Holliday's and White's versions about equally. Don't like anything else I've ever heard of Holliday, though.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 22 May 09 - 07:04 AM

I find Dylan's singing painful to listen to but I love his Theme Time Radio Hour where he sounds like Zappa's Central Scrutiniser somehow crossed with Vic Reeves's Crazy John / Inspector Fowler... and he plays some very fine music on there too, unlike his own turgid mush, (although I've always like XTC's cover of All Along the Watchtower). In fact I don't like the whole protest song thing as a whole, songs with earnest & purposeful messages (political or otherwise) usually have me heading for the bar. Generally speaking, I like my music unsullied by sentiment...

English Folk Rock isn't something I've ever enjoyed much, though I've recently been trying to get the measure of it. I'm glad Richard Thompson et al contributed to Bright Phoebus though - Danny Rose especially, which brings me back to the promise of the first Fairport LP with Judy Dyble before the Folk Rot set in. Liege and Lief I've likened elsewhere to a sequence of tasteless, bland modernisations of some nice old characterful properties; the wattle & daub of the originals ripped out and replaced with mass produced breeze block and plaster board; sash windows replaced with UPVC and the open fires with flame-effect gas fires.

How long will it be before someone does an album called Anachie Gordon in the UK? One for a future Woodbine & Ivy Project perhaps?? Nice one, Pip!

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 22 May 09 - 07:16 AM

The D series had the body panels, not the C series.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Ruth Archer
Date: 22 May 09 - 07:26 AM

[Jersey Shore pedantry alert] I believe it was Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, not Dukes. [/Jersey Shore pedantry alert]

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Will Fly
Date: 22 May 09 - 07:35 AM

Yup - Jukes it was - in honour of a Chicago harmonica player. Saw SJ and the AJs at the Fairfield Halls a couple of years ago - wonderful music but too LOUD.

Remember "The Fever"?

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 22 May 09 - 07:51 AM

wonderful music but too LOUD.

Hey - another subjective dislike - PA systems in folk clubs... Oh God, this is when I realise that I only got into Folk because it was one of the small scale participative acoustic genres (along with Free Improvisation) that wouldn't hurt my poor ears which were done in by rock gigs in early adolescence. That said, I sometimes use an SM57, zoom effects pedal, line 6 delay modeller, mixer & micro-cube when I'm performing my Experimental Jew's Harp Music, but only the equalise the volume with the acoustic instruments. I've yet to do this in a folk club though - but maybe soon I will...

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 22 May 09 - 07:52 AM

Best make that: Experimental Jew's Harp Music...

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: sandinmyears
Date: 29 Dec 10 - 09:47 PM

Bob Dylan's voice to me is very irritating, but I do like his songs-- just not his voice.

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: GUEST,Guest from sanity
Date: 30 Dec 10 - 01:46 AM

Sorcha: "Enya and Celtic Women!"

A lot of Enya's singing, is buried in the mix....and some of her tunes a little bit boring. On the other hand, some are quite beautiful..especially when NOT done by her!

And as far as 'Celtic Woman', (singular)..a few of their pieces, maybe not so great...but on the most part, they are wonderful, and have done more to bring Celtic music, to the world than anyone, in modern times.

As far as not liking their singing....maybe a little jealousy??

So.......here is Lisa Kelly of Celtic Woman singing an Enya tune..and it is Wonderful!!..(Sorry, Sorcha...methinks its not a matter of taste, but 'perception deficit disorder'!)


" May It Be", sung by Lisa Kelly of 'Celtic Woman', written by Enya

What's not to like about this performance?????!!!!???

GfS

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 30 Dec 10 - 04:06 AM

Van Morrison and Joe Cocker, I really can't grasp it, not one bit musical, just groaning [ almost in time ]

Dave H

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 30 Dec 10 - 04:19 AM

Dave Hanson: "Van Morrison and Joe Cocker, I really can't grasp it,...."

Yikes, I met Van in Aspen, Colorado..and played when Joe did a benefit.
I'll have to say, that Joe has gotten better in his 'old' age!

GfS

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: Darowyn
Date: 30 Dec 10 - 04:24 AM

Some people dislike pretty voices, some people don't like raw, unconventional ones.
It's a constant of musical life, I'm afraid. Whatever you play, however good or unique you are, you are doing well if only a third of the audience hates it on principle- before they've heard a note!
Tell you what though, I loved that Lisa Kelly track, and I'm really hoping that my new band can create moments of glorious stillness like that at some time in our shows.
Cheers
Dave

Subject: RE: Defiant Dislikes
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 30 Dec 10 - 04:42 AM

Darowyn, Thank you!....So....just for that.....here's two more great performances of Lisa, from a Celtic Woman Concert! Enjoy!!!!!

This one is a must for all you songwriters!

'Send Me A Song' Lisa Kelly, Celtic Woman


If you watch closely towards the end, you can see tears as she puts her heart into it!!

Lisa Kelly 'The Voice', Celtic Woman...Mairead Nesbitt, violin/fiddle

...and they hardly get ANY radio airplay!!!!!!

GfS