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Anderson III
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Topic: Of public image... Posted: September 10 2008 at 15:24 |
In prog history there has been many strange ways of presenting oneself to the public eye. Some of them are quite peculiar, some are a bit more usual. Which of these classic prog performers entertains you by just beeing (more or less) what they are? Feel free to bring other musicians into the discussion if I failed to give them a mention, and you think they have an interesting stage persona.
Robert Fripp - The puppet master of prog. A quiet man controlling his art from behind the scenes?
Ian Anderson - A musician gone truly insane. A maniac who's always jumping around and when he finally stands, he prefers to do it on one feet?
Peter Gabriel - The shapeshifting narrator from a surreal world?
Jon Anderson - The one who embodies everything that's good and pure in humanity. He is hope, peace, warmth and love. A musician who's past immortal?
Rick Wakeman - Jon's caped sidekick. He is the only superhero in the world who can play 400 notes per minute and command the wind to blow his hair back while doing so!
Frank Zappa - The eccentric. Speaking weird things, looking bizarre, and basicly doing everything that's somehow alien. The mad scientist of prog with no limitations to what he could create?
Syd Barrett - A tragic figure of the psychedelic era. An artist who gave a face to the dangers of hallusinogenic drugs after becoming mentally ill. A brokedown man who spent the majority of his life as a recluse?
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"Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and cannot remain silent" - Victor Hugo
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Toaster Mantis
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Posted: September 10 2008 at 15:32 |
Tough choice... I'll have to go with Ian Anderson. I quite like that "medieval jester" thing he's got going on.
Edited by Toaster Mantis - September 10 2008 at 15:33
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"The past is not some static being, it is not a previous present, nor a present that has passed away; the past has its own dynamic being which is constantly renewed and renewing." - Claire Colebrook
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crimhead
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Posted: September 10 2008 at 15:35 |
Of this group the only one that I haven't seen perform is Syd. Of them I would say Frank would the one. He was always pushing the envelope and didn't care about public perception or corporate types. He stood up in Congress to push for freedom in music. Right or wrong he stood by his convictions.
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MovingPictures07
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Posted: September 10 2008 at 15:40 |
Robert Fripp is probably the closest to my personality, so I'll go with him.
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Finnforest
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Posted: September 10 2008 at 15:43 |
I appreciate Jon Anderson for his warmth, Zappa for his brains, and Barrett for his creativity and freedom. And I should say that I have a completely different "image" of Barrett than the one you note here, the one so often presented to the public, the one refuted by those who actually knew him well in his later years (ie...not Waters and Gilmour). But I'm done having that debate.
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Epignosis
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Posted: September 10 2008 at 15:44 |
Of Yes, I'd actually have to say that it's sheer fun to watch Chris Squire. His constant grin or pursed lips make him seem a little drunk. He acknowledges the crowd. He spins around. He stands on one leg. HE USES A PICK INSTEAD OF HIS FINGERS!
The man's a real bass-playing circus. So much so that it's too bad that the recent Montreux DVD shows so very little of him.
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harmonium.ro
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Posted: September 10 2008 at 15:54 |
Gotta be... the Gabe.
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Syzygy
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Posted: September 10 2008 at 16:26 |
From that list, Ian Anderson - his image is probably the most contrived of any of those listed, but he's got his tongue planted firmly in his cheek most of the time and he's always entertaining.
The greatest public image of any artist on the site has to be The Residents, though, with Kraftwerk in second place.
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'Like so many of you I've got my doubts about how much to contribute to the already rich among us...' Robert Wyatt, Gloria Gloom
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Toaster Mantis
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Posted: September 10 2008 at 16:37 |
Syzygy wrote:
From that list, Ian Anderson - his image is probably the most contrived of any of those listed, but he's got his tongue planted firmly in his cheek most of the time and he's always entertaining. |
I thought that an artist's public persona had to be somewhat deliberately cultivated/constructed to some extent to qualify as an "image" in the first place...
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"The past is not some static being, it is not a previous present, nor a present that has passed away; the past has its own dynamic being which is constantly renewed and renewing." - Claire Colebrook
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Syzygy
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Posted: September 10 2008 at 16:46 |
Toaster Mantis wrote:
Syzygy wrote:
From that list, Ian Anderson - his image is probably the most contrived of any of those listed, but he's got his tongue planted firmly in his cheek most of the time and he's always entertaining. |
I thought that an artist's public persona had to be somewhat deliberately cultivated/constructed to some extent to qualify as an "image" in the first place...
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Absolutely, which is why I referred to his image as 'the most' contrived. To put it another way, I think that Anderson's private persona is probably the furthest removed from his public image compared with the others, whereas with Robert Fripp (from what I can discern) what you see is pretty much what you get; an incredible musician, but you wouldn't want to be trapped in a lift with him.
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'Like so many of you I've got my doubts about how much to contribute to the already rich among us...' Robert Wyatt, Gloria Gloom
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splyu
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Posted: September 10 2008 at 16:59 |
Syzygy wrote:
The greatest public image of any artist on the site has to be The Residents, though, with Kraftwerk in second place. |
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puma
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Posted: September 10 2008 at 17:04 |
Ian Anderson definitely, he's so eccentric and fun to watch onstage. Every word he says, he really MEANS it.
But along those same lines, Roger Waters completely owned the stage when I saw him last summer. He spoke and you listened. I really liked that. If there was a choice for him, I'd vote for him.
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BroSpence
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Posted: September 11 2008 at 00:41 |
Frank Zappa. He always seemed serious, but was always making a joke or being goofy. And at the same time always saying something meaningful and intelligent. And his music is good.
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Jozef
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Posted: September 11 2008 at 02:58 |
Peter Gabriel has always been one of my favorite frontmen and Genesis is one of my favorite bands. He's always put on a great theatrical show and has always been so energetic onstage.
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Toaster Mantis
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Posted: September 11 2008 at 04:01 |
Syzygy wrote:
To put it another way, I think that Anderson's private persona is probably the furthest removed from his public image compared with the others |
Ain't nothing wrong with that in my book. I've noticed that a lot of people seem to have a stigma against musicians who put a lot of effort into their image, but if you really think about how art works it becomes obvious that this is only a problem when the image doesn't suit the music. It's like there's some prejudice that a well-considered image necessarily is a sign that the music won't have any substance, which a listen to Jethro Tull exposes as quite the leap in logic!
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"The past is not some static being, it is not a previous present, nor a present that has passed away; the past has its own dynamic being which is constantly renewed and renewing." - Claire Colebrook
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Anderson III
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Posted: September 11 2008 at 16:35 |
That's actually a good point! But I feel that people can be prejudice against artists without a carefully constructed image too. For instance in hip hop and pop music* it seems that if an artist doesn't have a certain kind of image the music will likely meet a poor reception. * pop music in a narrow sense. You know, the stuff MTV playes ?
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"Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and cannot remain silent" - Victor Hugo
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Alberto Muņoz
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Posted: September 11 2008 at 18:17 |
Anderson Ian
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Bitterblogger
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Posted: September 11 2008 at 18:46 |
Rick...back when he was -ing out on the brewskis...
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Dr. Occulator
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Posted: September 11 2008 at 20:26 |
Peter Gabriel always seemed to take himself & his music quiet seriously and with good reason and was more choreographed in his stage shows where Ian Anderson seemed more at ease with having fun entertaining with almost a Monty Python type humor knowing the music was killer anyway. Both great entertainers in my book.
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My Doc Told Me I Have Doggie Head.
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Philip
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Posted: September 12 2008 at 11:34 |
Peter Gabriel.
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