# Artists who hate their biggest hit **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 31, 2009, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874 "2009-07-31T15:33:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![DZedNConfused](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dzednconfused/32/15991_2.png) [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/121 "2009-08-17T01:20:41Z")
> [@Claire\_Beauchamp](#): > > _sigh_ > > What I was pointing out is the alarming trend, witnessed multiple times per day on this board, of people being almost willfully ignorant of anything that happened before they were approximately 6 years old, whether it’s history or high culture or pop culture. I love _Star Wars_. I was a young teen when it came out. I knew at the time that Alec Guiness was a famous actor. As a kid and teen and young adult, I was fully aware of music, tv, and movies that were made long before I was born, and that wasn’t anything that unusual among my family or the other people I knew, and we were just working-class suburbanites. > > So yes, I feel justified in calling someone who only knows Alec Guiness as Obi-Wan _culturally illiterate_. I’ll join the chorus “huh?” I’m offended to think that I am culturally illiterate because I know very little about modern pop culture. Apparently that I know quite a bit on history, literature, have been reading non stop since age 5, 39 yrs ago, have studied Renaissance art and architecture, read Chaucer in the original but am culturally illiterate because I always think of Obi Wan in conjunction with Sir Alec Guinness. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/122 "2009-08-17T01:50:23Z")
> [@fuzzypickles](#): > > Considering Pete’s recent brush with pedophilia allegations (which were total B.S. IMO) he probably wants to distance himself from the lyrics _“See me, feel me, touch me…”_ Actually, if I were him, I wouldn’t be singing “Don’t Try to Make me Real”, or at least I’d change this part… > [@](#): > > Make me of shit in a two-teenier deal > Make me of pornography in a pedophile wheel > Whatever I do, whatever I feel > By your double standard I will never be real ---
**Author:** ![DZedNConfused](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dzednconfused/32/15991_2.png) [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/123 "2009-08-17T02:07:27Z")
I remember watching a special about Rocky Horror Picture Show and being amused by Tim Curry’s obvoius embarrassment and desire to sweep that piece of movie culture under the rug. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/124 "2009-08-17T04:01:39Z")
I think the end conclusion is that people who think of themselves as artists tend to create the most enduring pieces of popular culture. They then find themselves in the place of craftsmen, who are expected to recreate the same piece of work about 1000 times. They hate this. OTOH, this is about 100,000 better than someone who’s drilling oil or threading pipe. Get some bit of perspective. Although I admit that there are different mindsets and intelligences. Some of the pipe threaders I sold insurance to didn’t seem to mind the monotony. I suspect they kind of liked knowing what was coming. If I had to do that job, I would cause some huge industrial accident. I stocked dog food for two days, and that was enough of the unthinking work for me. I suspected my cow-orkers thought that reading Sports Illustrated at lunch was close to putting on airs (if they’d known the phrase). ---
**Author:** ![TheFatKid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@TheFatKid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFatKid)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/125 "2009-08-17T10:36:44Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > Actually, if I were him, I wouldn’t be singing “Don’t Try to Make me Real”, or at least I’d change this part… Yeah, after the bust, “Behind Blue Eyes” took on a whole new meaning… makes me think of a molestation victim now furious at his molester, who he can’t publicly accuse without revealing his own past, and ashamed of his own urges in that direction, knowing he’d reviled by everyone if they knew and probably hating himself for it too, and having to lie about his past and his orientation: > [@](#): > > No one knows what it’s like > To be the bad man, > To be the sad man > Behind blue eyes. > > No one knows what it’s like > To be hated, > To be fated > To telling only lies. > > But my dreams, > They aren’t as empty > As my conscience seems to be. > > I have hours, only lonely. > My love is vengeance > That’s never free. > > No one knows what it’s like > To feel these feelings > Like I do, > And I blame you. > > No one bites back as hard > On their anger. > None of my pain and woe > Can show through. > > But my dreams, > They aren’t as empty > As my conscience seems to be. > > I have hours, only lonely. > My love is vengeance > That’s never free. ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/126 "2009-08-17T11:06:00Z")
I remember reading a story about David Schwimmer giving a lecture at Northwestern while _Friends_ was still in production, _An Evening With Mr. Serious Actor, David Schwimmer_ or something. After an hour or so of talking about Serious Actor stuff, he opens it up for questions and the very first question was some airhead asking “When are Ross and Rachel gonna do it?”. He said he almost burst into tears it so upset him that he would forever be remembered for that role. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/127 "2009-08-17T17:35:07Z")
I can’t imagine it hasn’t been posted yet, but I could have missed it, but Louis Armstrong was sick of “When the Saints Go Marching in” early in his career. I remember a photograph of him and his band with a sign reading something to the effect of “Requests 5 cents per song - ‘When the Saints Go Marching in’ $1.00”. Also Leonardo (the painter/inventor guy not the actor [or ninja turtle for that matter]) never really felt that the Mona Lisa was right and that was one of the reasons he lost the commission and he dragged the thing around for so long and it ended up in France. Has anyone mentioned Leonard Nemoy and Spock yet? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/128 "2009-08-17T18:09:00Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > Vanilla Ice grew to rue ever recording “Ice Ice Baby.” Lawsuits will do that. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/129 "2009-08-17T19:23:16Z")
> [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](#): > > I remember reading a story about David Schwimmer giving a lecture at Northwestern while _Friends_ was still in production, _An Evening With Mr. Serious Actor, David Schwimmer_ or something. After an hour or so of talking about Serious Actor stuff, he opens it up for questions and the very first question was some airhead asking “When are Ross and Rachel gonna do it?”. He said he almost burst into tears it so upset him that he would forever be remembered for that role. To be fair though, there are 236 episodes of “Friends”, presumably with some amount of difference between them (I never watched the show). To compare to a songwriter with a huge catalog, would be like people wanting to hear him do lines from a single episode over and over again, like “Dude! Do ‘The One With The Monkey!’” I’m a person who sees a huge number of movies. I saw 160 films in the theater last year. I can’t remember the last film I saw featuring Mr. Serious Actor. Oh, wait…_Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa_. Serious Actor Johnny Depp was the kid from _[21 Jump Street](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092312/)_. Serious Actor Tom Hanks was the guy in a dress in _[Bosom Buddies](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080202/)_. Serious Actors become Serious Actors by doing Serious Work…and they keep doing Serious Work until other people think they’re a Serious Actor. Mr. Schwimmer is being a whiny little turd. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/130 "2009-08-17T19:51:00Z")
> [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](#): > > I remember reading a story about David Schwimmer giving a lecture at Northwestern while _Friends_ was still in production, _An Evening With Mr. Serious Actor, David Schwimmer_ or something. After an hour or so of talking about Serious Actor stuff, he opens it up for questions and the very first question was some airhead asking “When are Ross and Rachel gonna do it?”. He said he almost burst into tears it so upset him that he would forever be remembered for that role. I remember him as Capt. Promoted-Ahead-of-His-Ability Sobel. ---
**Author:** ![TheFatKid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@TheFatKid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFatKid)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/131 "2009-08-18T01:30:08Z")
> [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](#): > > He said he almost burst into tears it so upset him that he would forever be remembered for that role. Not me, man. To me, he’ll always be Kevin’s sister’s boyfriend. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/132 "2009-08-18T09:33:28Z")
Could be worse - he could be remembered for _Breast Men_. ---
**Author:** ![TheFatKid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@TheFatKid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFatKid)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/133 "2009-08-29T22:54:21Z")
Anybody who thinks it’s ok for high-paid musicians to slack off on songs they have to play over and over, just take a look at these guys performing a tune they must have done God only knows how many times by now: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/EhVLiHPUOIM/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AG-AoAC8AGKAgwIABABGFYgZShIMA8=&rs=AOn4CLCLkeUaJ3lF3Jb6wY0fYd6p896RAw "Wild Horses - The Rolling Stones 1995") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhVLiHPUOIM) That’s how it’s done. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/134 "2009-08-30T01:06:38Z")
> [@TV\_time](#): > > Has anyone mentioned Leonard Nemoy and Spock yet? It seems to me that Nimoy has reversed himself in distancing himself from Spock, as evidenced by his book “I Am Spock” and by his appearance in the most recent “Star Trek” movie. When Nimoy had written “I Am Not Spock,” people incorrectly assumed that Nimoy was distancing himself from the Spock character. However, Nimoy’s stated intention was to remind the public at large that Spock and Nimoy were not the same person. In “I Am Spock,” Nimoy meant to communicate that he finally realized his years of portraying the Spock character had led to a much greater identification between the fictional character and the real person. Nimoy had much input into how Spock would act in certain situations, and conversely, Nimoy’s contemplation of how Spock acted gave him cause to think about things in a way that he never would have thought if he had not portrayed this character. ---
**Author:** ![dehacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbe5ce/32.png) [@dehacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dehacker)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/135 "2009-08-30T06:39:55Z")
Sting hates to perform Roxanne, it seems. As fate would have it, I happened to attend 2 consecutive shows by Sting while on tour in his “jazz” phase, about the time of the Bring on the Night CD. The first show was in Houston, and the second in Dallas a night or two later. The Houston show was very loud and exciting, and Sting did 2 encores, yet had still not played Roxanne. The crowd cheered wildly as he left the stage after the 2nd encore, and Sting returned shortly and asked the crowd what they wanted to hear. Approximately 20,000 people screamed in unison “ROXANNE”, he asked “what?” a few times only to have it yelled louder each time, then he stated something like “Please… I’ve done that song practically every night for 10 years. Give me a break!”. The crowd roared, he launched into a wonderful acoustic version of the song, and Branford Marsalis joined him sometime around the first verse. It was awesome, and then the show was over. Thinking it was all just a bit of cute banter, I mentioned it to my buddies in Dallas as we were going to the show. Of course the set list was virtually identical to the one in Houston, but the crowd was much more subdued for whatever reason. Sting did both encores, just as in the show in Houston, but after the 2nd encore the lights came on and the show was over. At that point, I had to admit that maybe he was telling the truth when he said he didn’t like performing the song. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/136 "2009-08-30T13:56:28Z")
Lemmy of Motörhead has repeatedly said that he can’t stand their most famous song (_Ace of Spades_) anymore, but that he keeps playing it at every concert because the fans expect it. Reportedly, Radiohead members hate that \*Creep \*has become a stoner anthem and don’t play it much. ---
**Author:** ![TheFatKid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@TheFatKid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFatKid)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/137 "2009-09-01T01:14:52Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Reportedly, Radiohead members hate that \*Creep \*has become a stoner anthem and don’t play it much. Really? That’s a shame. That song pretty much sums up my entire middle/high school life. ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/138 "2009-09-01T02:00:32Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > _What?_ Please explain to me how that is an insult because I literally don’t get it. I am 100% confident that you misinterpreted what I said, but I can’t figure out how you read it as a personal insult. Please explain. If you really didn’t get it then you must be one very ,…wait. What forum is this? ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/139 "2009-09-01T02:27:11Z")
> [@TheFatKid](#): > > Y’know, that’s really… I don’t know the word for it… around here we’d call it “sorry”. > > I mean, hey, you got the big houses and the cars and the good life. And you got it by playing songs. People who don’t have that life pay you good money to hear you perform. And you’re gonna ruin it like that? > > That’s the most selfish thing I ever heard of. > > Do your job. Play it. And play it like you love it. > > If you’re not willing to do that, get off the stage. This is bullshit. No artist owes it to his audience to play their favorite songs. If you are lucky enough to have one or two hits and it gives you a good life, {see the Don McClean post} then it’s good business to play the songs with a certain enthusiasm but any artist is free to decide from an artistic and a business pov what they want to do next. An artist like Joel who has so many hits can certainly leave out the ones he doesn’t prefer to play if he wants to. Having said that although as a musician who played a lot of covers in 25 years I can understand getting freakin sick of a song, there are times when it’s good policy to smile and play the one you’re sick of. But “Do your job” screw that. ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/140 "2009-09-01T02:29:42Z")
I remember hearing Sheryl Crow comment on all I wanna do while it was still getting air play. She said the song was a last minute space filler for the album and they never expected it to be a hit. She was already sick of it. I ave her points for honesty and nerve. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874.md?page=8)