Well, one that I definately have to nominate are the many die-hard followers of “Weird Al” Yankovic. Most of them are over-weight women in their 40’s, although there are quite the share of kids and … well, overweight guys & girls in their 20’s and 30’s. Anyway, that’s not the point. I used to be a huge huge fan of his music, and thought he did some brilliant stuff (and he DOES have an extremely talented band, resulting in a very decent live show), but it’s the friggin fans who drove me away from him. They turn his show into an interactive Rocky Horror Picture Show, complete with hand motions, props, and yelling the right line at the right moment. You wouldn’t believe the number of accordion-tattooed people who follow him around the country, going to show after show (and every show is exactly the same). I guess that isn’t so bad either, but it’s the attitude they have that other artists only exist to write songs so that Al can write them better, and if they don’t want Al to parody their work (Prince, Coolio, etc) then they totally suck and should be boycotted. Oh yeah, and the big rule is that you aren’t supposed to like his parodies as much as his original songs (yes, he writes original songs), and are obligated to spread the word that he writes original stuff, which is better than his parodies. And of course, nothing he does can be mediocre. Alapalooza…Poodle Hat…it’s all gold material. Whatever, there can’t be a second most liked band. It’s all Al, all the time, because he covers every genre there is. Spend 5 minutes reading http://www.weirdalforum.com and you will see what I mean.
I could go onto a whole 'nother seperate rant about the die-hard They Might Be Giants fans, but let me just say one thing - try going up to a TMBG fan and calling their music “quirky” and see if you live to see tomorrow.
and anu-la1979, totally agree with you on the Neutral Milk Hotel comment. They recorded two great albums, but many of their fans (at least the ones I’ve encountered) seem to take a huge pride in knowing about a band which never became mainstream (and like Nirvana fans, bragging that they knew about the band while it still existed), and always choose to either pick their worst songs (i.e. Pree Sisters Eating A Donkey’s Eye - a 13 minute song which is mostly low-pitched hums) or a rare, unreleased song which no casual fan would have ever heard of, as their favorite.
Grateful Dead fans I think should be the example by which all others are judged.
Next to Rush fans, any fans of prog rock in general are some of the most annoying people I have ever dealt with. Not only does someone who does not understand the sheer profoundity of prog rock not understand music, they don’t understand anything at all.
Tori Amos apparently (according to a friend) has quite a faithful little legion of bitter, my-childhood-was-worse-than-your-childhood followers.
John Mayer. What is it with that guy? Me, I like men who can actually sing, but apparently that’s not why people are obsessed with him. What? The lyrics? Aren’t all of his songs just about being desparate over some girl? No? Really?
Wilco. Man, living in Chicago, you’d think that it’s required by law or something to be a Wilco fan. I pride myself on how, if I was hearing a Wilco song somewhere, I wouldn’t know who it was.
Tortoise. Another band Chicago has dibs on, and legions of rabid geek fans. Or at least used to. I haven’t been paying that much attention of late.
Bright Eyes. Ugh. Emo kids and pretend emo kids and I don’t even want to hear about it. All hail Conor Oberst and the triumph of whiny indie rock.
Bruce Springsteen: Despite rumors to the contrary, he is not God. He is also not the greatest guitar player, songwriter, singer, etc. He is very talented and gives his audience their money’s worth in concert, but he ain’t all that.
REM: It’s not that I don’t “get” them. I “get” them and I’m not impressed.
The Beatles. Yes, they were a good band. Yes, they wrote some great songs. No, they weren’t visionaries, seers, saints, geniuses or the greatest thing ever to happen to recorded music. Stop going on about the fucking Beatles as if they were the only band that ever mattered, and no, insisting on playing Side 2 of Rubber Soul ad infinitum and pointing out all the clever bits that I obviously missed isn’t going to convert me; it’s only going to piss me off more. God, I hate Beatles bores.
I came in here, fusoya, to mention They Might Be Giants fans. Many are geeks, and I loves me some geeks, but… Maybe I’m wrong, but I see TMBG as novelty, as “weird for weird’s sake.” That bugs me, and it bugs me even more when people try to pass it off as True Individuality. They’re all, “TMBG is the only band that’s like, original!” OK, so I’ll start writing repetitive songs about nerdy things and pretend it makes me all special too…
I am guilty of being a pre-the-latest-Liz Phair album fan. But I am not among those fans that think that every album after Exile in Guyville was crap…I liked Whitechocolatespaceegg as well as that 2nd one and didn’t give a frick that she toured with Lillith Fair. But honestly, girlfriend has a lot more talent than was exhibited on the last one.
I think this gets said in every thread, but I might as well do it: don’t like them if you want, I don’t care. I’m not the biggest fan in the world. Deny their impact or place in music history and you’re wrong. There’s really nothing to debate about that.
The greatest thing ever to happen to recorded music? Maybe, maybe not. The most important? There is no debate. Lennon McCartney and Harrison were all geniuses as well.
I’m going to have to third ICP. I’ve not even thought of these guys since high school but, god, I remember my friends being so into them and I was thoroughly confused by it. It probably didn’t help that, at the time, I was listening to Garth Brooks and the Dixie Chicks (I was seventeen and didn’t know any better. Shut up!) but even now, after I’ve become a fan of similar genres, I ***STILL ***don’t get them.
Postal Service. A very dear friend of mine is obsessed, OBSESSED with Ben Gibbard. I’ve been subjected to several enforced listenings of “Transatlantism”. The guy can’t even freaking rhyme! My 3-year-old cousin can rhyme. Granted, it’d still be sh!t even if he could, but if he could rhyme I’d at least give him a point for that. Right now he is negative points, negative. But all these adolescent-early twenties girls sighing over how deep he is and how much they want to give him a hug. Bleh.
I have to defend ICP a bit. Yeah, their fans are morons but some of their songs are comedy gold (“Hellejullah” is just about the funniest thing ever). I think people take them way too seriously. They’re purposefully over-the-top and ridiculous, ICP is two middle-aged white guys dressed in clown makeup rapping about boogey-monsters and gameshows. Anyone who takes them seriously deserves all the derision he/she receives.
I’ll have to make a fourth on ICP.
Anecdote time:
About two years ago, I was in the PS lounge off Colfax in Denver (real dive, not faux dive) when one of the Roadies for ICP was hitting on my friend, Anika, the bartender. When asked what his specific job was, he proudly asserted that he was in charge of spraying the crowd with some imorted from the East Coast rootbeer several times during the show. My friend politely asked…“doesn’t that get stickey?” To which the roadie replied…“naw, I use diet rootbeer.”
First one that springs to mind is a bit on the obscure side, but still…
The Used.
They’re one of these nu-metal bands, but they seem to attract an even more pathetic, woe-is-me, let’s talk about me and my problems all evening long, (mostly female) following than any of the others. If you meet someone and they admit they’re a Used fan, think of it as a big “Beware” sign. Honestly.
I caught a live set of theirs at a festival once, and it seemed to consist of one long swearing competition interspersed by generic nu-metal noise.
Amazed no-one’s mentioned U2 yet. Another band whose ‘genius’ has clearly passed me by.
Can’t think of any more offhand. There’s lots of bands I dislike that other people I know like–but that’s not really what the thread’s about.
PS Some of you can probably tell which of the suggestions already posted on here I disagree with
Probably Faygo, which I mentioned in my post. My friends that were really into them would go to Chattanooga (since it wasn’t sold in Cleveland, the city we lived in) and buy case upon case of the stuff because ICP liked it or something. They were cool guys otherwise but gah. I still shake my head over that.
Except I said myself that I’m not one and don’t care if you like them, think they’re not geniuses, boring, or whatever. Don’t listen, it makes no impact on my life. Deny that they were important and innovative and you’re wrong. Sorry if you don’t like it or are (as appears to be the case) sensitive about it. You’re still wrong.
