The_Rev Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Indeed. I'd have spat out my coffee had I been drinking any. The question is about frontmen, not who is your favourite band. The Clash were very much a group in my opinion. Arguing for Joe Strummer would be like arguing for John Lennon. I'm not a fan of or know much about The Clash as I think they were shit, but Joe Strummer was the lead singer and therefore the "front man" was he not? Its a point of debate. For me the front man is the guy who appears on the magazine covers, does the interviews, gets the headlines written about him and is basically the face of the band. The Clash didnt have a single face as far as I am concerned, Mick Jones was every bit as much The Clash as Joe was. I say this as a massive Clash fan too, I am not trying to shit on them in any way. ****, I went to see The Mescaleros in the hope that they might play a few Clash tunes (they did) but I just cant put Joe Strummer in the same bracket as somebody like Freddie Mercury or Iggy Pop despite much preferring his music to theirs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulver Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 I love the spectacle of the Flaming Lips, but **** nora their music is shite. Sir, you have no taste. I think I just proved I did Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 The Flaming Lips < this is just magical. :nod: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbr600rr Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 dave gahan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted October 20, 2011 VT Supporter Share Posted October 20, 2011 Indeed. I'd have spat out my coffee had I been drinking any. The question is about frontmen, not who is your favourite band. The Clash were very much a group in my opinion. Arguing for Joe Strummer would be like arguing for John Lennon. I'm not a fan of or know much about The Clash as I think they were shit, but Joe Strummer was the lead singer and therefore the "front man" was he not? Its a point of debate. For me the front man is the guy who appears on the magazine covers, does the interviews, gets the headlines written about him and is basically the face of the band. The Clash didnt have a single face as far as I am concerned, Mick Jones was every bit as much The Clash as Joe was. I say this as a massive Clash fan too, I am not trying to shit on them in any way. ****, I went to see The Mescaleros in the hope that they might play a few Clash tunes (they did) but I just cant put Joe Strummer in the same bracket as somebody like Freddie Mercury or Iggy Pop despite much preferring his music to theirs.Totally agree with the above. But it made me think - why then is Daltrey the front man of The Who, when Townshend is such a mega stage presence (and the compositional brains behind the band)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted October 20, 2011 VT Supporter Share Posted October 20, 2011 Saw The Flaming Lips once, and was mightily impressed with their stage act. But when I closed my eyes and listened to the music without the visuals I heard a pretty ordinary band (Steely Dan on an off-day sprang to mind). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veloman Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 But when I closed my eyes and listened to the music without the visuals I heard a pretty ordinary band (Steely Dan on an off-day sprang to mind). Steely Dan don't have off-days ! So; a front woman for a change....how about Dolly Parton ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted October 20, 2011 Moderator Share Posted October 20, 2011 Saw The Flaming Lips once, and was mightily impressed with their stage act. But when I closed my eyes and listened to the music without the visuals I heard a pretty ordinary band (Steely Dan on an off-day sprang to mind). Thats only the Soft Bulletin album, everything since has been more "out there", much more Floyd with added pop sensibilities and a possible element of uniqueness too. As for the subject matter at hand, I really don't know or don't care, I usually prefer the sum of that parts rather than the show off at the front, so my answer would probably be Thom Yorke ;-) Oh and a shout to for nigel from Half Man Half Biscuit ;-) ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted October 20, 2011 Moderator Share Posted October 20, 2011 So; a front woman for a change....how about Dolly Parton ! Apart from the obvious gender issue, what band did Dolly Parton ever "front" At least Tammy Wynette fronted the KLF! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarewsEyebrowDesigner Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Karen O is good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 And she isnt Caucasian! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 dave gahan Good shout Add in Bono Kerr Hucknall Tom from Keane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted October 20, 2011 Moderator Share Posted October 20, 2011 Add in Bono Kerr Hucknall Tom from Keane Jebus, I think you've come to the wrong topic, this is about best "frontmen" not top twunts! That's a very spectacular list of twunts you've made there, I'm impressed by your twunty knowledge. Top Twunts, I think I have an idea for a card based game there, so I'm copyrighting it, right here right now. I'll play my Bono against your Prince and the category is hiding your dwarven status with stack heeled boots…. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Posted October 20, 2011 VT Supporter Share Posted October 20, 2011 How about hiding your children with international statesmen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrDuck Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Indeed. I'd have spat out my coffee had I been drinking any. The question is about frontmen, not who is your favourite band. The Clash were very much a group in my opinion. Arguing for Joe Strummer would be like arguing for John Lennon. :? The Clash are not my favourite band FWIW. Joe Strummer was a frontman. Of The Clash, and later of other acts. I'm not sure that's something you can dispute. On what planet was Strummer not a frontman?! More to the point, he was a great frontman. Lennon, btw, from footage I have seen was (for all his undoubted talents) some way from being a great frontman. I'm not meaning to belittle Jones by calling him a sidekick. Keef was just as important to the Stones as Mick to was the Clash... does this somehow mean Jagger wasn't a great frontman, or is somehow disqualified? Queen were "very much a group", as you say of The Clash... they all were in it together, all playing a big part in the writing of the music. Does this somehow disqualify Freddie? I think you misunderstand. Apart from a VERY occasional album track, Mercury was THE SINGER in Queen. Lennon was NOT the sole lead vocalist or songwriter in The Beatles, nor was Strummer in The Clash. Mick Jones wrote and sang a bit less, but still quite a lot. So are we dragging this into semantics territory? Do we need a rigid definition of frontman? Sorry, I just can't take seriously the idea that Strummer was not the frontman of the Clash. He was the lead singer. He was the focal point of the band onstage. He was more often than not the spokesman for the band. Mick didn't sing many songs for the band.. probably a similar number as Noel sang for Oasis. Even if Mick sung an equal number of songs to Joe (which thank god he didn't) that would just make them the frontMEN. Joe Strummer = one of rock's great frontmen. Fact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted October 21, 2011 Moderator Share Posted October 21, 2011 Michael Stipe was pretty damned fine. What an awesome weekend that was, Belle and Sebastian, Teenage Fanclub, Mercury Rev, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mogwai, Jarvis Cocker (DJing) and The Flaming Lips, who blew everybody else out of the water. There's one Über-twee problemette in what seems otherwise to be accurate post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFC-Prideofbrum Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Charlie Simpson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiggyrichard Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 What was that blokes name from Radiohead? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarethRDR Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Tom York. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiggyrichard Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Tom York. Thats the chappy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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