# So, who's the coolest band ever? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 12, 2002, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whos-the-coolest-band-ever/118584 "2002-07-12T07:34:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TridCloudwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TridCloudwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TridCloudwalker)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whos-the-coolest-band-ever/118584/41 "2002-07-13T16:18:31Z")
oh…how about Leonard Cohen? ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whos-the-coolest-band-ever/118584/42 "2002-07-13T17:59:39Z")
Etta James Billie Holiday Sam Cooke Lou Reed George Clinton Anne Clark Art of Noise Laurie Anderson Tom Waits Elvis Costello Phish Fatboy Slim Not everyone’s cup of tea musically, but very cool. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whos-the-coolest-band-ever/118584/43 "2002-07-13T18:30:04Z")
For me, as far as “cool”, I always felt that _Violator_-era **Depeche Mode** was the epitome. The band shots in the _Enjoy the Silence_ video are awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whos-the-coolest-band-ever/118584/44 "2002-07-13T18:56:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by A wizard song for thee \* > **Ukelele Ike, I agree that Chet Baker is cool. I thought of him and Charles Mingus after I posted the first one.** Well, I meant the entire ensemble (since you asked about _bands_), not just Baker. You saying Gerry is NOT cool? Incidentally, I wouldn’t comsider Mingus cool, either. Mingus is HOT. At the risk of offending **Eve** , I would say that Trumbauer’s band is hot, too. “Hot” in the archaic jazz sense, meaning burning with emotion and fervor. Musicians loaded on benzedrine, reefer, and/or bootleg hooch. The Mulligan/Baker quartet was COOL. Intellectual, complex, studied, heroin-fueled. ---
**Author:** ![Ripple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@Ripple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ripple)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whos-the-coolest-band-ever/118584/45 "2002-07-13T21:54:15Z")
How’s about **Pink Floyd** ---
**Author:** ![Lodrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@Lodrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lodrain)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whos-the-coolest-band-ever/118584/46 "2002-07-13T23:21:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by interface2x \* > **For me, as far as “cool”, I always felt that _Violator_-era Depeche Mode was the epitome. The band shots in the _Enjoy the Silence_ video are awesome.** I can’t _believe_ I forgot to mention how cool Depeche Mode was. I’ve been a fan since I was _six_, fer cryin’ out loud. I was around that age when _Violator_ came out. I must now pray to my shrine to David Gahan and flay the skin from by back with an enraged cat. ---
**Author:** ![WSLer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@WSLer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WSLer)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whos-the-coolest-band-ever/118584/47 "2002-07-13T23:27:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TridCloudwalker \* > \*\ ***WSLer** we’re stating our opinions, not blasting people for theirs. Kindly shut the hell up. Thank you. \*\* You’re so sexy when you’re pissed off. Your whole face just lights up. ---
**Author:** ![WSLer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@WSLer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WSLer)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whos-the-coolest-band-ever/118584/48 "2002-07-13T23:36:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by A wizard song for thee \* > \*\*I’m sorry, teen idols will never be cool. Tony Bennett has forty-five year old women throw their underwear at him. Someone who is dodging crusty D-cups and granny panties can’t be cool. Sorry. \*\* So, the Fonz was never cool? James Dean was never cool? **OH PLEASE.** As for the Tont Bennett comment, that’s quite possibly the stupidest and least informed comment I’ve heard about **ANYTHING** in the last two years. You obviously haven’t been to a Tony Bennett concert, not just in the past 8 years, but in your life. Also, your comment about forty-five year old women and crusty D-cups and granny panties is beyond asinine to say the least. I doubt that either Susan Sarandon OR Michelle Pheiffer wear granny panties. ---
**Author:** ![TridCloudwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TridCloudwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TridCloudwalker)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2002, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whos-the-coolest-band-ever/118584/49 "2002-07-14T00:43:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by WSLer \* > \*\* > > You’re so sexy when you’re pissed off. Your whole face just lights up. \*\* Why thank you. 😃 I guess other peoples’ ignorance brings out the best in me. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2002, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whos-the-coolest-band-ever/118584/50 "2002-07-14T04:11:51Z")
I’m with **TheBip** , Aerosmith it is. “Love in an elevatoer / Livin’ it up when I’m going down” Who else could pull that off? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2002, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whos-the-coolest-band-ever/118584/51 "2002-07-14T04:38:04Z")
At his peak, abolsutely no rock musician who has ever lived has ever been as cool as Elvis was. I’m not even an Elvis fan, but folks, NOBODY was as cool as Elvis. I’m appalled anyone would forget that. He was the absolute epitome of cool; really, really good at what he was doing but at the same time irreverent about it. That’s what cool IS. “Cool” is “irreverent competence.” Everyone is making the mistake of thinking “cool” means “really great music.” A cool band or artist must make at least decent music, but you can make great music and be decidedly uncool. REM makes great music but aren’t the least bit cool; they have always come off as shrill and faddish, and you cannot be cool while being shrill. Peter Gabriel has made some wonderful music but he’s pompous, and you absolutely cannot be pompous and be cool. The Doors were almost cool, but took themselves far too seriously, inasmuch as Jimbo could take himself seriously through his booze-addled brain. You cannot take yourself very seriously and be cool. Rush - way, way too serious about themselves. Midnight Oil? Forget it; they made great music but wouldn’t know cool if it hit them in the face. Pearl Jam is so uncool they’re blistering from the lack of coolness. Now, Elvis Costello is very cool, and I don’t even like his music. The Clash was cool. The Tragically Hip used to be incredibly cool but are very uncool now. Motorhead was cool. Nirvana was cool, although I never understood why people thought their music was very good. Aerosmith was cool, but are over the hill now. Velvet Underground was cool. CCR was cool. Aretha was so cool she was freezing. The Chili Peppers, tres cool. Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett, and Al Green were very cool, but James Brown was not as cool as he has been given credit for being. ---
**Author:** ![lokij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5e9695/32.png) [@lokij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lokij)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2002, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whos-the-coolest-band-ever/118584/52 "2002-07-14T06:13:49Z")
Some great suggestions so far, I’m just going to add one so far missing… How about Robert Johnson? King of Delta blues, sold his soul to the Devil (legendarily) and was killed over another man’s woman in a bar. Most of the bands and music I like are sorta Anti-Cool, they’re not popular… don’t really care to be and would never be anybody’s current idea of what’s ‘cool’. I recall a Simpson’s quote along those lines… ---
**Author:** ![A\_wizard\_song\_for\_thee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/46a35a/32.png) [@A\_wizard\_song\_for\_thee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_wizard_song_for_thee)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2002, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whos-the-coolest-band-ever/118584/53 "2002-07-14T07:46:33Z")
Umm, okay, **WSLer** , maybe I completely missed the point of Happy Days, but I really never thought The Fonz was _supposed_ to be cool. He seemed to me to be a parody of what coolness was supposed to be. Of course, I never saw the show until the late eighties, so maybe I missed the context of the times. See, there’s a huge difference between James Dean and Tony Bennett. James Dean, while a teen idol, died before he could become uncool. Dying young is practically a sure-fire ticket to perpetual coolness. Oh, and Susan Sarandon wears granny panties. You can see 'em in _The Rocky Horror Picture Show_😉 Anyway, while I have no idea how old you are, this is really starting to remind me of a conversation across the generation gap, so I’m gonna stop participating. We’ll just have to say that you have your cool, and I have mine. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2002, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whos-the-coolest-band-ever/118584/54 "2002-07-14T12:02:55Z")
Bands that do not produce really good music are not cool. Bands that do **are cool by definition**. The _purpose_ of a band is music! _That’s the **whole point**!_ So, the Beatles _were_ cool. Let’s face it-- the _appearance_ of a band is dictated by agents, promoters & fat cats. It’s an empty standard to like a band based on a phoney & synthetic image. :rolleyes: Ask the musicians–the _cool_ comes from the _sound_. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![irish\_bill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ac91a4/32.png) [@irish\_bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irish_bill)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2002, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whos-the-coolest-band-ever/118584/55 "2002-07-14T22:07:37Z")
IMHO, Disaster Area The concerts took place on a deserted planet, and the sound was mixed from a concrete bunker, 37 miles from the stage. Now that’s cool. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whos-the-coolest-band-ever/118584.md?page=2)