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...