Frontmen
So quite some time ago I did a "favorite drummers" post. It got a decent amount of discussion going (decent for my blog, where typically a good discussion is more than 2 comments). So I thought I would do a "favorite frontmen" post.
By frontman I don't just mean who I think is the best singer in the world. A frontman has to captivate the audience - work a crowd. They need to be a showman of some variety, dancing, strutting, whatever it may be. And some kind of vocal style is needed... maybe they are a brilliant singer, or maybe they just have a vocal style that's unique and sucks you in. Anyway, these are not ranked, just my favorite 10 frontmen. I haven't seen all of these people live (obviously), but it's based on what footage and performances I have seen and different things I've read about these performers over the years.
A. Freddy Mercury (Queen). What a stage prescense Freddy had and a big, powerful, operatic style of vocal to go with it. All the performances I've seen of Queen you can tell Freddy is giving everything he has to each performance. Great pasion.
B. Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin). This guy defined what a rock front man should be like. Great screaming vocals. Whatever Elvis did to make himself sexy to the ladies, Plant did that to the power of 10. Every rock and roll frontman since owes something to Robert Plant. Sex, drugs, and rock and roll!
D. Elvis. If you don't know the impact Elvis had on how to be a rock and roll singer, you may have been locked in the trunk of a car. Great looks, great voice, and a shakin' leg that drove the girls wild.
D. Mick Jagger (The Rolling Stones). Mick is one unique lead singer to be sure. I've seen countless people imitate his chicken strut. In the late 60's and early 70's Mick began using his voice as almost another instrument in the band and that's when he truly became one of the all time greats in my opinion.
E. David Lee Roth (Van Halen). Frontmen for all of the 80's hair bands stole their act in some part from David Lee Roth. Spandex, the blond hair, the ego as big as an auditorium.
F. Bono (U2). Bono does it in a much different way than alot of great frontmen. He doesn't dance around on stage, but somehow he manages to grab a hold of the audience and you don't want to blink. Ive seen U2 3 times live and each time he seems to be a better performer. His voice has lost a bit over the years, but his unwaivering passion for his music comes across in each performance.
G. Prince - An amazing performer. Amazing. He's a true band leader when he performs. Many of the songs they perform live Prince leads them as they go. He's notorious for deciding mid song to keep jamming more, throw in a quick horn break, you name it. You can't help but watch him when he dances and his energy is unmatched by any other performer I've seen live.
H. James Brown - See above. Prince owes a lot to James Brown... a lot of people owe a lot to James Brown. He has to be on the list, he's the hardest working man in show business.
I. Madonna - But Jason, she's not a man! You are correct sir... but I didn't want to put "frontman/woman" everywhere. You get the idea... anyway, Madonna is one of the most influential artists of my generation for sure. And if you were born in 1974 like I was, then when she really blew up on the scene in 1984 you were guaranteed to have a crush on her. She was controversial and finally after a few albums began writing about things that mattered besides "You just keep on pushing my love, over the borderline". I've yet to see her in person, but Heather owns a couple of dvd performances and they are amazing. She puts a HUGE show with tons of choreography and acting. It's quite the live show, and no lip syncing. Take that Britney!
J. Jimi Hendrix - if you're a pretty good singer and showman AND you might just be the greatest guitar player to ever live, well... you make the list. This is one of the few people that if I turn the channel and there is some kind of performance of his.. I'm going to watch. You can't help but watch Jimi... the guitar was an extension of him and you never knew what he was going to do next... light his guitar on fire, play with his teeth, smash it into a billion bits? I understand he would make any "top guitarist" list, but he was the leader of The Experience and sang so he's deserving of being on a frontman list as well.
So, who on this list shouldn't be? Who would be on your list? There are a few that should probably be on my list but I'm just not familiar enough personally to include them... Little Richard, Chuck Berry come to mind.
17 comments:
Mine would have to be Sanjaya Malakar. I mean he owns the audience every time he sings...er, is on stage...er, wears a pony-hawk. I mean who else can make a 13 year old girl cry like her first boyfriend just broke up with her for her best friend. Man, he's got my vote.
I kind of liked Madonna but then I heard "Like a Virgin" for 8 hours straight on my senior trip (in '85 when you were crushin' on her). Dude, I can't stand that song anymore. And now this whole adopt a kid from a 3rd world country gig.
Man, I really dig Phil Collins and Billy Joel. Talk about guys who can bring the house down. I love their voices.
Overall your list is acceptable. In My opinion Plant is THE frontman of all time. I would have to add though, not that I'm a big fan in particular, Garth Brooks. I'm not a big country fan but when this guy put on a concert it was a rock show with a steel guitar.
I could think of more, but I should get to work.
Okay, so my musical horizons aren't very expansive, but I gotta put the plug in for Kurt. Sure, he wasn't much of a showman most of the time, but he made the "completely destroy your set" thing famous. I know it had been done before him, but never with quite the same effect.
I would like to point something out about this list, though. Have you thought about the fact that there are NO bands from the current decade on here (well, U2 I guess, but the height of their fame has come and gone). Music has changed a lot in the past 7 years, and I'm pretty convinced it hasn't changed for the better. In fact, I'm pretty sure that music as you and I know it, is dying. The same thing that happened to pro sports is happening to it: it aint about the music anymore, it's all about the Benjamins.
Yeah Forrest I agree with you in the overall decline of music. It's quite sad... I find myself often going back to music I've had or known about for years rather than checking out a lot of new bands... I mean sure there are interesting things coming out at some point, but not like previous generations where you'd have a whole new music movement every generation. Yeah Kurt definitely got some consideration from me. I've been fortunate enough to see Nirvana in person, and he's a great live performer. You can really see and hear his angst or pain or joy or anger or whatever emotion he's feeling coming through.
I agree with you guys that Kurt was a great "frontman," and a great writer, but does destroying musical gear on a stage make you a better frontman? I'm not so sure about that whole thing, it seems pretty self righteous to me. I also agree that it seems music is getting worse, and less creative, etc. BUT, isn't this the EXACT same thing your parents told you about our music, and isn't it the exact same thing my grandparents told my parents about their music?? I mean, every generation of music isn't getting worse is it? Maybe we just refuse to recognize it. Nice top 10 Jae...
Ceth
Point well taken Ceth... maybe the Music isn't getting worse, maybe I'm just not getting it like the current generation of kids are getting it... but we both agree it's not as good as previous generations. I was born in 1974 and really started getting into music outside of listening to Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, etc. that my parents were listening to when I was in about 3rd grade (1983 or so). But what I've found through the years is I do like alot of music from every decade starting with the 60's... so that tells me that overall the quality and creativity as slipped...
Good pick on Garth Les. I'm not a Garth fan at all, but yeah he can put on one hell of a show for sure.
Self righteous? Maybe.
Friggin' cool? Definitely.
As a pimple-faced, guitar playing junior high kid, I watched him destroy the entire set (including Dave's drums while they were still being played) and it was simply cool! I can see how that might come off as too showy, but I guess that's just my brand of frontman. Nirvana was the first band that managed to draw me into the world of distorted guitars and strained vocal chords, so that's sort of the standard by which I judge bands.
I can definitely see your point about music being more relevant to the younger generations, though. It's a good question: is music really getting worse or are we just not picking up on it? I guess my follow up question to that is: who has completely redefined the way we think about music in the past 10 years? I'm talking the same way Nirvana birthed the grunge movement, the same way Metallica made metal popular, etc. And I'm not asking rhetorically...I really would like to hear what you guys have to say. The only things I can think of off the top of my head are the cheese-pop boy bands, Brittney Spears, and the surge in popularity of rap. I can't say that I have any large amount of respect musically for any of those three 'revolutions.' Rap may be all well and relevant, but they're not doing anything innovative musically. In fact, it seems that they're copying melodies from older music left and right and putting their just-slightly-more-than-spoken-word vocal stylings on top. And need I even speak of the lack of creativity in boy bands? I think not. So anyway, am I missing something that actually has been revolutionary recently?
And, for what it's worth, my parents only told me that my music was too angry. ;)
Angry music always helped me sleep at night.
Thinking of the live performances I've seen over the years, the one person I thought of that I would add to the list is Willie Nelson. He certainly has the ability to captivate an audience and his vocal style is definitely unique. He doesn't dance or strut around onstage. In fact, he's at the opposite end of the spectrum from dancing and strutting, but in that unique laid back way of his, he definitely grabs hold of the audience and holds their attention the entire time he's performing.
Besides seeing Willie perform live, I remember seeing a televised performance of his after Sept. 11th – he was surrounded by other famous singers and movie stars, and they all just seemed awestruck by ol’ Willie.
Having just read Ceth’s comment, Garth Brooks is another good one. I’m not a huge Garth Brooks fan, but to be fair, there aren’t many people who give to a performance what he gives.
Good Top 10 List, Jason. I was (of course) awfully glad to see Elvis on your list!
Jason’s Momma
I have to completely agree with the Willie being top notch. If for nothing else than he is one of the greatest story tellers of the day, he just happens to tell those stories with a guitar in hand. Good recommendation.
Well the only interesting movement I can think of in recent years would be the garage rock movement. Brands like The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, The White Stripes are all pretty interesting bands. Kind of sloppy garage rock... BUT it's certainly not revolutionary like a Nirvana.
Good pick on the Willie Nelson. One person I regret not getting in my list is David Bowie.
What about Mike Patton from Mr Bungle and Faith No More Fame?? He was an excellent front man...Knew how to work the crowd and his voice was great for his genre.....Plus he was with Mike Bordin.....
What about Mike Patton from Mr Bungle and Faith No More Fame?? He was an excellent front man...Knew how to work the crowd and his voice was great for his genre.....Plus he was with Mike Bordin.....
That was me above...
Duncan
I'm pretty sure that the younger kids think that Radiohead and Coldplay are redefining music. Bands like Muse, Death Cab for Cutie and the Killers among many others are biting their style. Jae, you mentioned the Strokes and the White Stripes. It may be good music and all, but you're right, isn't that pretty much the same music as we listened to in the 80's and 90's. To use the term "redefine" that means the music HAS to evolve somewhere else, whether we like it or not!
Ceth
Roger Daltrey?
I'm disapointed. Where is Jesse James Dupree from Jackyl? Their concert in a parking lot in Bricktown was the best concert experience I ever had. ;-)
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