# Extremely popular, or even legendary entertainers whose work you've never seen/heard **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 31, 2010, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-popular-or-even-legendary-entertainers-whose-work-youve-never-seen-heard/548654 "2010-07-31T04:18:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-popular-or-even-legendary-entertainers-whose-work-youve-never-seen-heard/548654/1 "2010-07-31T04:18:41Z")
I’ve heard of Frank Zappa. I know his band was the Mother’s of Invention. I know he has kids named Dweezil and Moon Unit. I know in the 80’s that he and other singers went to congress to testify against parental warning labels. I know he had an album called **Weasels Ripped My Flesh** , and I know he’s dead. As far as I know however, I have not ever heard a single song from him. And although he’s a megastar, I’ve also never heard a single Justin Timberlake song either. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-popular-or-even-legendary-entertainers-whose-work-youve-never-seen-heard/548654/2 "2010-07-31T04:24:14Z")
anything made after 1999 ---
**Author:** ![C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C.Montgomery_Burns)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-popular-or-even-legendary-entertainers-whose-work-youve-never-seen-heard/548654/3 "2010-07-31T14:54:55Z")
The one that comes to mind is The Grateful Dead. I know I’ve heard the song “Truckin’” over the credits of some TV show, and I remember the bit on MST3K where they dress up as them and Crow plays a neverending guitar solo, but that’s pretty much it. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-popular-or-even-legendary-entertainers-whose-work-youve-never-seen-heard/548654/4 "2010-07-31T14:59:35Z")
Justin Bieber, or however he spells his name. Probably true of any of the teen idol singers in the last 30 years, too. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-popular-or-even-legendary-entertainers-whose-work-youve-never-seen-heard/548654/5 "2010-07-31T15:19:51Z")
I have never read a James Bond book or seen a James Bond movie. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-popular-or-even-legendary-entertainers-whose-work-youve-never-seen-heard/548654/6 "2010-07-31T15:22:19Z")
Anything related to Twilight. I intend to keep it that way too. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-popular-or-even-legendary-entertainers-whose-work-youve-never-seen-heard/548654/7 "2010-07-31T15:27:50Z")
Frank Zappa is who I came in here to say. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything by him either. I remember going on iTunes once so I could hear samples of his music but he wasn’t listed on there (this was a few years ago, he might be on there now). And truth be told, I’m not sure I even know what he looks like. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-popular-or-even-legendary-entertainers-whose-work-youve-never-seen-heard/548654/8 "2010-07-31T15:31:56Z")
Anne Rice, J. K. Rowling, Robert Jordan, any Teen Idol since Frankie Avalon, anything Twilight, and anything musical from Britain since Jethro Tull. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-popular-or-even-legendary-entertainers-whose-work-youve-never-seen-heard/548654/9 "2010-07-31T15:42:46Z")
Mr. Sali has every album Frank Zappa ever made, on vinyl and CDs. But it’s all his, I couldn’t even name one song, much less recognize it. For me, the music seems to have stopped in the late 80’s. I recognize the names - Green Day, Oasis, Mariah Carey, Miley Cyrus, Justin Beeber - I know who most of them are in pictures - and I may have heard snippets here and there of their songs. Meh. Must not have impressed me much! ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-popular-or-even-legendary-entertainers-whose-work-youve-never-seen-heard/548654/10 "2010-07-31T16:14:01Z")
Grateful Dead actually had a top 40 hit but Zappa never did. I think it’s odd that people will ignore music after a certain date but they don’t seem to apply that same logic to movies , books ,etc. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-popular-or-even-legendary-entertainers-whose-work-youve-never-seen-heard/548654/11 "2010-07-31T16:21:35Z")
Well I’m 57 and so far the only posts I can agree with are: Twilight stuff and Robert Jordan??? The rest I know. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-popular-or-even-legendary-entertainers-whose-work-youve-never-seen-heard/548654/12 "2010-07-31T16:40:39Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > I think it’s odd that people will ignore music after a certain date but they don’t seem to apply that same logic to movies , books ,etc. How so? Books don’t change a whole lot. A western written in 1960 will be much like a western written in 2005. Some more swearing and sex, but that’s about it. Ditto movies. A 1940s romance will be very much like a 2000s romance. Music, however, will be quite different. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-popular-or-even-legendary-entertainers-whose-work-youve-never-seen-heard/548654/13 "2010-07-31T16:47:20Z")
Twilight, Robert Jordon, Uwe Boll (well, legendary), John Bunny/Max Linder (though I see they’re on Youtube, so I can catch up), and Josef von Sternberg For newer music, I don’t listen to much of it, but I’ll usually listen to one or two songs from anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Kiyoshi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e19adc/32.png) [@Kiyoshi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiyoshi)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-popular-or-even-legendary-entertainers-whose-work-youve-never-seen-heard/548654/14 "2010-07-31T16:59:26Z")
Bob Dylan. I know he was a hugely popular singer in the 60s, that there was outrage when he started to use electronic instruments, that he had a terrible singing voice and that his real name was Robert Zimmerman. But I couldn’t name any of his songs, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard any. I’m not even sure whether he’s dead or alive. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-popular-or-even-legendary-entertainers-whose-work-youve-never-seen-heard/548654/15 "2010-07-31T17:05:57Z")
Unless you’ve been under a rock for the last 40 years, you’ve heard his songs. They’re covered by…everybody, actually. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-popular-or-even-legendary-entertainers-whose-work-youve-never-seen-heard/548654/16 "2010-07-31T17:11:45Z")
Rush Even more embarrassing is the fact that I built a couple set pieces for them (our shop did) and have met them a few times. People insist I have heard them but didn’t know it…I’m not sure that’s true, but whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-popular-or-even-legendary-entertainers-whose-work-youve-never-seen-heard/548654/17 "2010-07-31T17:17:13Z")
Same with Frank Zappa. (Unless I have and just didn’t know it was by him.) Woody Allen. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-popular-or-even-legendary-entertainers-whose-work-youve-never-seen-heard/548654/18 "2010-07-31T19:39:01Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I have never read a James Bond book or seen a James Bond movie. Oh, good one. I saw about 10 minutes of one of the movies at a friends house once, but that was about it. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-popular-or-even-legendary-entertainers-whose-work-youve-never-seen-heard/548654/19 "2010-07-31T20:06:44Z")
As far as I can recall, I don’t think I have ever seen a movie with Humphrey Bogart, Marilyn Monroe or James Dean (though I have seen each on news clips or in magazines, and certainly recognize each of their images) Even though I am not a movie buff, I know that I really should watch Casablanca at some point, as it is widely held as one of the best films of all time… ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-popular-or-even-legendary-entertainers-whose-work-youve-never-seen-heard/548654/20 "2010-07-31T20:23:34Z")
Everything I know about Twilight is from internet synopses of how ridiculous it is. I might get around to seeing one some day, as long as whoever I’m watching it with doesn’t mind drunken snickers and outbursts. I have heard Justin Bieber. If our experience is similar, I’ll wager that some of you HAVE heard his music, but rightfully assumed that the singer was a 12-year old girl, and so didn’t make the connection. Phish is one culty band who I don’t know a song from and not sure if I care. There are some others who I know only one song from, but not anything else. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-popular-or-even-legendary-entertainers-whose-work-youve-never-seen-heard/548654.md?page=2)