# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/141 "2009-09-01T02:36:57Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Reportedly, Radiohead members hate that \*Creep \*has become a stoner anthem and don’t play it much. I think they’ve softened on this somewhat as the years have gone by, as artists often do, because the song is now so old that it doesn’t define them for many people. Wikipedia says they played on most of their shows in South and Central America this year. ---
**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, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/142 "2009-09-01T02:37:01Z")
> [@cosmosdan](#): > > 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. Screw “Do your job”? I beg to differ! Look, if you’re not gonna play it, then don’t play it. But if you’re gonna play it, then play it. I don’t care what your job is, if you’re getting paid good money, you deliver. Period, end of story. You don’t get cute and selfish and undercut the product. All those people out there who love his songs – and I like a good number of them, myself – are paying their discretionary cash to hear him put on a show. And if he can’t deliver a particular song, he should cut it from the playlist. But to kill it like that… that’s inexcusable, especially a love song! If you’re not willing to deliver, then refuse the project. But don’t accept the project and deliver a joke. ---
**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, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/143 "2009-09-01T02:39:29Z")
> [@TheFatKid](#): > > 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: > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhVLiHPUOIM&NR=1](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhVLiHPUOIM&NR=1) > > That’s how it’s done. That’s how editing is done. How many times in the last ten years or so do you think they’ve done that particular song? Not many. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/144 "2009-09-01T02:42:08Z")
I believe Chris DeBurgh hates singing _Lady In Red_. ---
**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, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/145 "2009-09-01T02:53:11Z")
> [@TheFatKid](#): > > Screw “Do your job”? > > I beg to differ! > > Look, if you’re not gonna play it, then don’t play it. But if you’re gonna play it, then play it. > > I don’t care what your job is, if you’re getting paid good money, you deliver. Period, end of story. > > You don’t get cute and selfish and undercut the product. > > All those people out there who love his songs – and I like a good number of them, myself – are paying their discretionary cash to hear him put on a show. And if he can’t deliver a particular song, he should cut it from the playlist. > > But to kill it like that… that’s inexcusable, especially a love song! > > If you’re not willing to deliver, then refuse the project. But don’t accept the project and deliver a joke. says you. And yet the person who went to the show referred to it as great stage patter. Although I see you’re point you’re being pretty unrealistic and a little idealistic. Maybe he’s expecting his audience to be mature enough to understand and be amused by his honesty. It might work for some and not on others. To quote a song. You see you can’t please everyone so you got to please yourself. ---
**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, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/146 "2009-09-01T02:56:33Z")
> [@TheFatKid](#): > > Screw “Do your job”? btw, what I meant by that was screw the audacity of people presuming to know how someone else ought to do their job, especially something as subjective as music. ---
**Author:** ![Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runs_With_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/147 "2009-09-01T04:35:56Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > Bobby McFerrin - Don’t Worry Be Happy I’ll bet ANYTHING he doesn’t hate it as much as I do. ---
**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, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/148 "2009-09-01T22:49:09Z")
> [@cosmosdan](#): > > btw, what I meant by that was screw the audacity of people presuming to know how someone else ought to do their job, especially something as subjective as music. When your job is delivering for the client, well, there you go. ---
**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, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/149 "2009-09-01T22:51:14Z")
> [@cosmosdan](#): > > That’s how editing is done. How many times in the last ten years or so do you think they’ve done that particular song? Not many. These guys have been putting on high-energy shows for how long now? ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/150 "2009-09-01T23:32:22Z")
> [@TheFatKid](#): > > When your job is delivering for the client, well, there you go. When you are one of several thousand in a stadium, you are not a “client”, you are an “audience member”. If Bill Gates ponies up $200K and asks Billy Joel to come sing at a Microsoft leadership retreat and explicitly creates a play list that he wants Joel to follow to the letter–then, yes, _ **HE** _ is a client. You? No. ---
**Author:** ![TheFatKid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@TheFatKid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFatKid)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/151 "2009-09-02T00:33:46Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > When you are one of several thousand in a stadium, you are not a “client”, you are an “audience member”. > > If Bill Gates ponies up $200K and asks Billy Joel to come sing at a Microsoft leadership retreat and explicitly creates a play list that he wants Joel to follow to the letter–then, yes, _ **HE** _ is a client. > > You? No. Music’s a business. Your audience are all clients. They don’t see it that way, but if you’re going to be professional about it, then you do. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/152 "2009-09-02T00:37:20Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > I saw him in concert once, and he had this great bit of stage patter about the song. He acknowledged the responsibility to perform the song, because it’s many people’s favorite song, and might be the song couples in the audience fell in love to, so even though he’s tired of it, he owes it to them to do that song. But as a performer, he’s singing about loving someone he’s long divorced from, and his mind wanders: > > _Don’t go changing_ > (What will I have for dinner?) > _To try and please me_ > (Steak or chicken?) > _You never let me down before…_ > (I really should eat more fish…) > > One time while playing it, his long time drummer Liberty DiVito shouted out right after Joel sang: > > _I just want someone that I can talk to…_ > **She got the house, she got the car!** > [@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. **gaffa** , I read your post as if he were thinking the parts in parentheses, not saying them out loud as he was singing. Was he really saying them as he was performing, or was this something he talked about before singing the song? ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/153 "2009-09-02T10:31:08Z")
> [@TheFatKid](#): > > When your job is delivering for the client, well, there you go. Except that’s not an accurate representation of a musician’s job. ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/154 "2009-09-02T10:35:49Z")
> [@TheFatKid](#): > > These guys have been putting on high-energy shows for how long now? They tour when they feel like it and they’ve earned it. So has Joel. Do you think they do every hit any fan wants to hear? ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/155 "2009-09-02T11:01:00Z")
> [@TheFatKid](#): > > Music’s a business. Your audience are all clients. They don’t see it that way, but if you’re going to be professional about it, then you do. Music is also art rather than making widgets. Hell even a man who makes widgets can decide one day he’s sick to death of making widgets and make something else. He doesn’t owe it to his clients to make the same widget. The thing is that Joel is doing that song because of his appreciation of his fans wishes and support. If he cared only about his own preference he probably wouldn’t do it at all. Even though the person who went to the concert saw it as enjoyable patter you still feel the need to bitch and criticize. A musician might decide to reinterpret an old song. One member of the audience says “that’s awesome” while another says “you ruined it” Which audience member should you try to please? Some club bands achieve success playing a certain list of cover tunes. Others have the courage to play originals and develop a following that likes their music. Neither is right or wrong from a business standpoint. It’s simply a choice. Either band might decide to change their format and adopt the others and it’s still not right or wrong as a business model. In any business you get to decide not only what is good business but what is personally rewarding to you. Artisic pursuits even more so. Out of curiosity, are you a musician? Have you ever been a working musician even part time? ---
**Author:** ![Hakuna\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hakuna\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakuna_Matata)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/156 "2009-09-02T12:27:27Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > **gaffa** , I read your post as if he were thinking the parts in parentheses, not saying them out loud as he was singing. Was he really saying them as he was performing, or was this something he talked about before singing the song? That is what I recall in an interview on him I saw on PBS. I also found this from this transcript with an interview with Katie Couric which reinforces that this is in his head while he plays this song–but that he plays the song straight. But I do think he isn’t overly fond of this song anymore: [billy joel interview](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3080039/) Katie Couric: “Why can’t you eat before a show?” Billy Joel: “Well, you don’t want to be digesting while you’re trying to sing, number one. Number two, it slows you down. So I’m hungry. And sometimes during a song like “Just the Way You Are,” my mind will wander. And I’ll think, ‘I wonder what’s on the room service menu in the hotel.’ ‘Don’t go changing to try and please me. Never let me down before.’ (Maybe a — I don’t know, a burger?) ‘Don’t imagine you’re too familiar.’ (No, it’ll be cold and congealed by the time it gets to the room.) ‘If I don’t see you anymore.’ (And the fries will be flat and dried out.) ‘Could not leave you in times of trouble.’” Katie Couric: “Maybe a Caesar salad?” Billy Joel: “Maybe a club sandwich. You know, because it’s toasted, and the bread won’t wilt. Yeah, a club.” Katie Couric: “I’ll never be able to listen to that song quite the same way.” Billy Joel: “I’m sorry, but it happens.” ---
**Author:** ![TheFatKid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@TheFatKid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFatKid)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/157 "2009-09-03T03:01:06Z")
> [@cosmosdan](#): > > They tour when they feel like it and they’ve earned it. So has Joel. Do you think they do every hit any fan wants to hear? Like I said, you do it or you don’t. ---
**Author:** ![TheFatKid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@TheFatKid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFatKid)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/158 "2009-09-03T03:02:54Z")
> [@cosmosdan](#): > > Except that’s not an accurate representation of a musician’s job. That’s everyone’s job who gets paid to do what they do. ---
**Author:** ![TheFatKid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@TheFatKid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFatKid)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/159 "2009-09-03T03:05:58Z")
> [@cosmosdan](#): > > Even though the person who went to the concert saw it as enjoyable patter you still feel the need to bitch and criticize. I don’t feel the need to bitch and criticize. I just call 'em like I see 'em. Doesn’t matter to me if half the audience enjoyed the “patter”. If there were just a dozen couples out there who thought that song was special – and I’ll bet good money there were more – or just one couple who first said “I love you” while dancing to it, then he should have kept his yap shut and either played it or not played it. You might see it different. That’s how I see it. ---
**Author:** ![TheFatKid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@TheFatKid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFatKid)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/160 "2009-09-03T03:07:36Z")
> [@Hakuna\_Matata](#): > > That is what I recall in an interview on him I saw on PBS. I also found this from this transcript with an interview with Katie Couric which reinforces that this is in his head while he plays this song–but that he plays the song straight. In that case I’ve been criticizing the man for nothing. Time for me to shut my own yap now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874.md?page=9)