# Self-declared Music Snobs - a challenge **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 9, 2004, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-declared-music-snobs-a-challenge/223732 "2004-01-09T22:45:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-declared-music-snobs-a-challenge/223732/41 "2004-01-11T17:51:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MrVisible \* > \*\* > > Finally, I submit this challenge. If you don’t already have it, get a copy of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Do a few missions. Get a nice car. Tune the radio to Wave 103. Drive around until **Dolby** ’s _Hyperactive_ comes on. Watch yourself start driving at an absolutely insane pace, careeening into any inanimate object around you. Note your reluctance to abandon the vehicle while the song is still on, even when flames start pouring out of the hood. > > Any music you’d risk being blown up to listen to is good music. \*\* I second this song’s nomination. One of the great forgotten classics of the 80s ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-declared-music-snobs-a-challenge/223732/42 "2004-01-11T18:39:57Z")
**Treviathan** , if you like Semisonic, be sure to track down anything you can find by Trip Shakespeare, the band that 2/3 of them were in before (and, incidentally, part of the great tradition of Musical Groups With Wilson Siblings)—especially _Lulu_, one of my favorite pop albums ever. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-declared-music-snobs-a-challenge/223732/43 "2004-01-11T18:39:57Z")
**Treviathan** , if you like Semisonic, be sure to track down anything you can find by Trip Shakespeare, the band that 2/3 of them were in before (and, incidentally, part of the great tradition of Musical Groups With Wilson Siblings)—especially _Lulu_, one of my favorite pop albums ever. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-declared-music-snobs-a-challenge/223732/44 "2004-01-11T19:31:51Z")
**Hanson** - At a time when most popular youth acts are studio-packaged, playing whatever the suits tell them to play (and usually just singing and not capable of playing instruments at all), Hanson is the real deal. Those kids can play, and their music comes from the heart. And “mmbop” had a real Jackson-5 thing about it. Word is, their new album coming out this year is supposed to be very good. **The Eagles** - For some reason, a lot of music snobs really diss this band, but no one ever did harmonies better, their musicianship is absolutely top notch, and they’ve written a lot of great songs. “Desperado” is a great album. So are “Hotel California” and “The Long Run”. As they’ve aged, they’ve gotten a little shmaltzier, but their early stuff is very good. ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-declared-music-snobs-a-challenge/223732/45 "2004-01-11T20:21:30Z")
Duran Duran’s first two albums. I think they get dismissed by a lot of music snobs becuase they were wildly popular and they were pretty boys. I admit their work started going downhill around the time they released Seven and The Ragged Tiger, but their S/T first album, and Rio are both just peachy with me. Great great pop songs and John Taylor could play the shit out of his bass. There are a truckfull of great songs contained in these albums: Girls on Film, Is there something I should know, Rio, Save a Prayer, Hungry Like the Wolf. They see a lot of action in my CD player. ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-declared-music-snobs-a-challenge/223732/46 "2004-01-11T20:27:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Live Better Electrically! \* > \*\ ***Milli Vanilli** ’s _Girl You Know It’s True_. A pretty good album after all. Sounds like a cross between old school hip hop and new wave. It doesn’t matter who sang it. \*\* That, my friend, took guts. I disagree but applaud your bravery. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-declared-music-snobs-a-challenge/223732/47 "2004-01-11T20:32:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mouthbreather \* > \*\*That, my friend, took guts. I disagree but applaud your bravery. \*\* I looked up their album and see that it was #1 for eight weeks, sold over 6 million copies and spawned three #1, one #2, and one #4 hit singles. Obviously, SOMEBODY liked it. At first. I wonder how many people still like knowing what they know about its creation? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-declared-music-snobs-a-challenge/223732/48 "2004-01-11T21:44:14Z")
**Mr. Blue Sky** , popularity is a separate and distinct criteria from the quality of the music. Can you say boy bands? The fact that Milli Vanilli was popular says nothing about whether it was good or not. It was decently produced - decently - and that is ALL I am willing to say positively about MV. **Sam Stone** - the Eagles - you’re right in everything you say - MSnobs dis them and they are incredibly talented. I find myself thinking of them as more of a guilty pleasure - I wish I could explain why. When I hear Hotel California, I really don’t like it, but Life in the Fast Lane or the solo in Victim of Love are really really good, but I am never quite willing to voluteer that information. I am much more inclined to say I think they are only okay… ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-declared-music-snobs-a-challenge/223732/49 "2004-01-11T22:16:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eonwe \* > \*\*[MUSIC SNOB] > _Anji_ off of Sounds of Silence isn’t a guitar duet, AFAIK, it’s a solo, and Simon didn’t write it. It is, from what I understand, a pretty classic finger-picker’s tune that Simon recorded. Art Garfunkel didn’t play guitar, he just sang. > > Carry on. > [/MUSIC SNOB] \*\* Wow, thanks. The last time I listened to it was before I started playing guitar, so I was probably fooled… Good stuff… Now I gotta find the tab for it 🙂 > [@](#): > > Windwalker - Don’t most music snobs like S&G? I mean, Paul Simon writes great songs! I am not a fan of the singer/songwriter or folk genres, but I love their stuff. Does it need defending? Perhaps it’s because I don’t really hang around many music snobs. One of my music snob friends doesn’t like them at all (though he’s more into classical stuff, he still does appreciate stuff in other genres), and the other kinda likes S&G but doesn’t think their compositions are anything to write home about (he admires their voices, but that’s all). ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-declared-music-snobs-a-challenge/223732/50 "2004-01-11T22:44:02Z")
I’ll back up Duran Duran, and their British contemporaries Spandau Ballet, who never made it as big in America. They WERE pretty-boys, no doubt about that, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that they crafted some fantastic pop songs. (And the Spandau guys looked awesome in their sharp suits, I can’t fault them for that.) Nick Rhodes’ keyboard work in Duran Duran was very simple and minimalistic, but he created those highly memorable lines from songs like “Rio” that just sum up the early '80s every time you hear them. On one of those VH1 “I Love the '80s” shows, someone in a more recent band made fun of Nick for “only playing with two fingers,” but damn, he did quite well with only two fingers. All those Taylors formed a fantastically tight rhythm section, and Simon LeBon’s vocals finished the package. Like **mouthbreather** mentioned, they came out with several enduring classics back-to-back in the '80s, and even their early '90s comeback album featured some great songs in the ballad “Ordinary World” and the haunting “Come Undone.” I’d rank Duran Duran right below U2 and REM as bands that have been huge for over 20 years because they’re just THAT DAMN GOOD, and deserving of their success. And again, Spandau Ballet had the beautiful ballad “True,” which would have cemented their reputations by itself, but they scored some other hits across the pond: “Gold” and “Only When You Leave” are damn catchy, well-crafted, danceable pop classics that never climbed the charts in America like they should have. Singer Tony Hadley and brothers Gary and Martin Kemp just had a really great chemistry together. Oh yeah, and “True” was expertly sampled to create “Set Adrift On Memory Bliss,” a smooth, mellow early '90s hip-hop song by the underrated P.M. Dawn. ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-declared-music-snobs-a-challenge/223732/51 "2004-01-11T23:43:50Z")
**Live Better Electrically** , I applaud your bravery with some of your selections, and almost suspect that we are being whooshed, I mean… who wouldn’t want to drop the giant turd of **Donny Osmond** in the midst of a bunch of music snobs? I agree with you on **The Monkees** and **The Partridge Family** , though. _Headquarters_ and _The Partridge Family Album_, respectively, are fine albums, and well worth checking out. Hell, _The Best of the Monkees_ contains some great, great songs, such as _Pleasant Valley Sunday_, _Last Train To Clarksville_ and \*(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone. If any of you has never seen their movie, _Head_, it’s well worth seeing, although I would suggest some kind of mood altering substances to go with it. ---
**Author:** ![Hugh\_Jass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4da419/32.png) [@Hugh\_Jass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hugh_Jass)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2004, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-declared-music-snobs-a-challenge/223732/52 "2004-01-12T00:32:15Z")
Snobs advocating for the Paul McCartney, Eagles, Monkees, and Donny Osmond? We are the worst music snobs ever. Where’s the Zappa fans? Television, anyone? Just to try and get this thing back on track, I’d like to nominate the Pretenders as a woefully unrecognized band. Yes, they’ve had hits, and Chrissy Hynde is famous, but I don’t think the quality of their tunes gets proper respect. Brass in Pocket, to me, is the greatest female empowerment song ever. And James Honeyman-Scott was one of the greats. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2004, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-declared-music-snobs-a-challenge/223732/53 "2004-01-12T05:57:58Z")
**Huey Lewis and the News** I admit that all I have to base this opinion on is their hits that get air play and the album _Sports_, but based on _Sports_ alone, that band deserves serious recognition. Wonderful orchestration, catchy tunes, smart and funny lyrics, and first rate musicianship all around. They’ve put down a sound that is distinctly their own and do it with finese and humor. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2004, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-declared-music-snobs-a-challenge/223732/54 "2004-01-12T13:35:19Z")
**Hugh Jass** - the whole point to the thread is to _avoid_ mentioning the music snob cliche choices like Zappa and Television. I may disagree with your nomination of Silly Love Songs by McCartney, but it fit the criteria of the OP - some music not normally considered worthy, but you assert should be. It’s just that in that case, you’re wrong. 😃 And while I am gettin’ my Snob on, **Eonwe** - Huey Lewis and the News??? Look, I am an SF native, root for the boys and agree that they are all talented musicians and the arrangements are catchy, but their music is commercial pap, nothing more…I would rate them a guilty pleasure at best, IMHO… **BBVLou** - Duran Duran - wow, I would interested in hearing what other MSnobs think. I am really not sure - I agree with your summation of points and some songs are really good, I just never listened to them enough to argue one way or another. Same with Spandau Ballet - I wasn’t big into the New Romantics - ABC anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Ass\_For\_A\_Hat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Ass\_For\_A\_Hat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ass_For_A_Hat)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2004, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-declared-music-snobs-a-challenge/223732/55 "2004-01-12T15:17:40Z")
Earlier in the post I dumped on Fleetwood Mac, and I feel the same way about the Eagles. Safe, bland… In fairness, I felt that I should throw out one of my own for the group’s derision. Duran Duran was a pretty good choice for reasons already mentioned. The other thing I’ll toss out there is very early Billy Joel. I can’t defend too much of his work after Turnstiles (maybe The Stranger), but those first few albums had some nice piano based singer/songwriter type of stuff. After that, things like Still Rock and Roll To Me and My Life sullied things quite a bit from my perspective. But some of his earliest work I can still stomach and can be fit into the Quality Music category…it’s a tight squeeze though. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-declared-music-snobs-a-challenge/223732/56 "2004-01-13T14:55:02Z")
_bump_ just to give it a chance after the downtime yesterday… ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-declared-music-snobs-a-challenge/223732/57 "2004-01-13T19:11:08Z")
Ummm…Semisonic? I’m sorry, the only people I know who like this ARE music snobs. I didn’t see them get much of a popular following. And I have heard stuff by them ever since they were (basically) Trip Shakespeare, and still haven’t heard anything noteworthy out of them, except “Chemistry”, which rocked. I’d like to second Justin Timberlake, at least in as much as I’ve heard stuff by him (which isn’t a lot.) Seems rather old-school techno. My nomination: Heart. Okay, _some_ of their stuff is a guilty pleasure to me, and for a long time all of it was…until I found out that, contrary to my prior belief, “Dreamboat Annie” was _not_ a compilation album! There isn’t a single bad song on that album. They show an incredible writing range, singing talent, and musicianship on that album. Okay, some of their Led Zep covers are sort of cheesy, but what finally nailed the “guilty pleasure” theory into the coffin for me was when I heard them cover “Battle of Evermore” live. Better than the original, even if they didn’t do the climactic howl as good (although that was not entirely Led Zep, of course.) ---
**Author:** ![riserius1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ab992/32.png) [@riserius1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/riserius1)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-declared-music-snobs-a-challenge/223732/58 "2004-01-14T06:16:23Z")
For my part, I’d like to nominate/snobbify **The Carpenters**. IMHO, they are absolutely incredible to listen to. Richard was an absolute genius at song arrangements, Karen had a voice that was as mellow and rich as your favorite cognac. They had great songwritng from Paul Williams, Leon Russell and many others. I think the main reason they are so bad-mouthed is the elitist rock and roll press is still mad because Karen Carpenter actually beat John Bonham in a Best Drummer poll. Guilty pleasure? Hell, there’s nothing guilty about it for me. One can only imagine what they would have come up with had Karen lived. Chris W ---
**Author:** ![Junior\_Spaceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Junior\_Spaceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Junior_Spaceman)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-declared-music-snobs-a-challenge/223732/59 "2004-01-14T07:23:08Z")
**Iron Maiden** are my nomination for a band that always get overlooked or laughed at by so called music snobs, for the most unfortunate of reasons - countless current ‘music snobs’ grew up loving them, and are now so ashamed of their teenage tastes that they knock them at every opportunity. I know - I used to suffer from this affliction myself! I’m talking about a specific time when they travelled side by side with the mainstream, always seeming to get into the charts, but never actually picking up many fans from the pop world. They produced, during the 1980s, a series of records which made you bang your head, made you think, and even made you search out the obscure books and films they were referencing. Their music, unlike so much heavy metal, _swings_, and is great for singing along to. Sure they were cheesy at times, but any band which has released more than a few records has had some embarrassing moments. I certainly think that in a world in which disco, eighties bubblegum and Fleetwood Mac are given reassessments, Iron Maiden are more than worthy of being pulled out of their ghetto and placed up top of the slagheap, at least for a few minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-declared-music-snobs-a-challenge/223732/60 "2004-01-14T17:39:52Z")
Let me first say that I cannot believe a poster named **Mr. Blue Sky** has failed to mention **Electric Light Orchestra**. Now _there_ was some of the finest Pop of the 70’s. Covered the range of emotions from ecstatically happy (“Mr. Blue Sky”) to angsty and longing (“Telephone Line”). Poetic lyrics, with great hook after great hook after great hook. “Strange Magic.” “Can’t Get it Out of My Head.” “Livin’ Thing.” Not a dud in the bunch. And I’m also in here to second (or fourth) **The Monkees** , especially with Mike Nesmith at the helm. Track down “You Just May Be the One” and give it a listen. Marvel as Mike gives us a brilliant pop song in _5/4 time_ (at least partly). That song is genius! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-declared-music-snobs-a-challenge/223732.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-declared-music-snobs-a-challenge/223732.md?page=4)