Common misconceptions about artists or albums?

A misconception I have often held about some albums is that I viewed the complete work as having some kind of mystical influence which the band were all tuned into at the time of making. Maybe this applies mostly to prog or space rock and ambient styles. I guess that’s the sign of a band gelling together in their aims and influences (maybe they were all on the same drugs! ).
However, the truth is often quite different and the tracks or songs came about by coincidence and through disparate needs influences and timings. Maybe it’s best not to dig too deeply into how your favourite albums were conceived and just let yourself go along for the ride.

 

We've discussed this elsewhere, but IMO, there's literal OHWs and figurative OHWs.

Literal = really did have only one hit.

Figurative = had more than one hit... but only one hit remains remembered by most people.

Examples of figurative that we recently went over: Vanilla Ice and Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, both of whom had 2nd hits... that hardly anyone remembers.

I viewed those artists' second hits as "coattails hits": they got play/sales because the 1st hit was so big but were never really that popular independent of the prior hit.

I never would've placed Rafferty and Human League in the "figurative" category because it feels to me that "Right Down the Line" (GR) and both "Human" and "Fascination" (HL) remain pretty well remembered...

 

Totally agree, the name and images also made me think they were heavy metal.

 

That Mark E Smith sacked dozens of people from The Fall - the vast majority of ex-members left voluntarily. The myth largely evolved due to only MES having the ear of the press and his being a wholly unreliable witness.

 

...and regardless of genre, their comically fanatical following would lead one to believe that they were actually a semi-decent band worth listening to.

 

My in-laws first song at their wedding was R.E.M.'s The One I Love. Ouch. They're only really into the chorus and I've never tried to explain. I just let it go...

 

In pop music, the earliest albums started as collections of three to four singles. And to some extent, that's what they remain.

The vast majority of albums are anywhere from (usually) 10 to 14 songs that just happen to be what an artist and/or his/her/their management came up with at the time. Very few albums have any "concept" whatsoever.

Exceptions include:
-- Christmas albums
-- albums of hymns
-- tributes to a particular artist / songwriter / style

 

Right. Those tracks are well-known, though it did seem like they're overlooked in comparison with Baker Street and Don't You Want Me. Blind Melon might also qualify.

 

"Oliver Stone" and "biopic" in the same sentence are an oxymoron.

 

Phil ruined Genesis.

 

Hoagy Carmichael performed his own compositions too.

 

Indeed. It's a constant source of frustration. The mop tops always inspired fanaticism where logic doesn't rule.

 

That they contain "filler"!

No album exists that has songs on it that were put there randomly, unintentionally or by accident. All music on an album is "filler". As should be obvious, this is a good thing.

 

Ok then, why have they been so popular, since the late 60's? Seeing as how they're not even semi-decent, what's their gimmick? Great marketing and top 40 radio airplay? Cute boy-band image? Studio musicians actually playing?

 

And a SHF thread with like 6000 or more posts so far?

 

I agree that "Baker Street" and "Don't You Want Me" overshadow the others, just like "Never Gonna Give You Up" overshadows the rest of Astley's catalog.

But I still think the other hits remain remembered in a way some "2nd hits" aren't.

Using the Vanilla Ice and Marky Mark examples, I was into top 40 when their 2nd hits came out but I have zero recognition of them.

I think the Human League and Rafferty followups got enough play over the years to remain in the public mindset, whereas the VI and MM tracks just vanished like they never existed...

 

Perhaps a better term would be "inessential" tracks?

 

One that gets on my tits is how The Byrds' Dr Byrds & Mr Hyde album was a massive commercial flop, a disaster, cos it reached only no. 153 in the US. Well yeah the US is a big market, but it's not the only market and the album reached no. 15 here in the UK, higher than Fifth Dimension, Younger than Yesterday and Sweetheart of the Rodeo. So no, it wasn't a commercial failure from where I'm sitting.

 

Wait, the chorus goes "Fire!" - Is that really what you wanted to explain?

 

Ah, no, it wasn't what I wanted to explain. I think you know that though. Congratulations on calling me out for describing it wrong. Top marks to you, you clever swine. You'll be the toast of your town tonight.

 

I definitely wouldn’t use the length of a SHF thread as evidence of anything. The “Pink Floyd Animals in 5.1” thread has topped 5900 posts and it’s about a product that doesn’t even have a scheduled release date yet!

 

Very funny show,

Poor Robert Powell though. From the Son Of God to Jasper Carrott's sidekick is one hell of a downward career trajectory.

 

Perhaps. But then the question ends up "Inessential how?" or "Inessential to who?"

 

Rap is probably unfairly stereotyped more than any other genre. People judge the entire genre by the worst mainstream stuff as if it's all like that. Country music as well.

 

That the "Final Countdown" was Europe's biggest hit.