# what bands/singers so you mistake for others? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 11, 2009, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bands-singers-so-you-mistake-for-others/499432 "2009-06-11T09:46:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bands-singers-so-you-mistake-for-others/499432/21 "2009-06-11T20:50:15Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > I still don’t know who sang _Eighteen_, but I also thought _that_ was the Rolling Stones. Alice Cooper. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bands-singers-so-you-mistake-for-others/499432/22 "2009-06-11T21:39:27Z")
The first few times I heard Coldplay’s “Vida La Viva” (or whatever it’s called) I thought to myself “Wow! U2 finally have the jumped the shark.” I used to get UB40 and English Beat confused a lot. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bands-singers-so-you-mistake-for-others/499432/23 "2009-06-11T21:54:21Z")
> [@The New and Improved Superman](#): > > The first few times I heard Coldplay’s “Vida La Viva” (or whatever it’s called) I thought to myself “Wow! U2 finally have the jumped the shark.” I don’t listen to Coldplay very much, but, more than once, they’ve struck me as sounding like U2 at first blush. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bands-singers-so-you-mistake-for-others/499432/24 "2009-06-11T22:21:20Z")
> [@The New and Improved Superman](#): > > The first few times I heard Coldplay’s “Vida La Viva” (or whatever it’s called) I thought to myself “Wow! U2 finally have the jumped the shark.” Early (pre-Unforgettable Fire) U2 and Simple Minds sound incredibly similar. I blame Steve Lillywhite. But it’s a great sound. > [@](#): > > I used to get UB40 and English Beat confused a lot. I can see The Selecter and The Specials possibly conflated with The Beat. But I find UB40 very roots reggae-oriented, while the other bands are really more ska. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bands-singers-so-you-mistake-for-others/499432/25 "2009-06-11T22:28:02Z")
Interpol and Editors. So much so that I looked like heck for that Editors song that had the line about “…three stowaways…” only to discover it was by Interpol. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bands-singers-so-you-mistake-for-others/499432/26 "2009-06-12T02:36:49Z")
Off the top of my head: I thought the first few times I heard it that “Why I’m Here” by Oleander was a previously unreleased Nirvana track. The singer for **Meg and Dia** sounds a hell of a lot like the singer for **Flyleaf**. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bands-singers-so-you-mistake-for-others/499432/27 "2009-06-12T03:28:56Z")
I lost $20 betting that “In the Still of the Night” was sung by Robert Plant. Turns out it was David Coverdale doing his damnedest to be Robert Plant. ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bands-singers-so-you-mistake-for-others/499432/28 "2009-06-12T08:28:50Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I think Kansas and Boston are the same band. > [@Snooooopy](#): > > For years, I thought of “Peace of Mind” by Boston as “that song by Kansas whose title momentarily escapes me.” Finally, I got around to Googling a snippet of the lyrics and found out whose song it is. Wow. Boston is light, simple, melodic rock. Kansas is heavier, intricate, semi-progressive rock. I don’t understand how these two bands could be confused - they sound nothing alike. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bands-singers-so-you-mistake-for-others/499432/29 "2009-06-12T08:53:14Z")
I thought the last Katy Perry singles (_Thinking of You_) sounded exactly like Alanis Morisette, which was surprisingly unlike _Kissed A Girl_. Then I found out the [connection](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_Ballard). Sometimes, the producer is very influential, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bands-singers-so-you-mistake-for-others/499432/30 "2009-06-12T09:21:49Z")
> [@GESancMan](#): > > Wow. > > Boston is light, simple, melodic rock. Kansas is heavier, intricate, semi-progressive rock. > > I don’t understand how these two bands could be confused - they sound nothing alike. If anything, I always thought Little River Band’s “Lonesome Loser” sounded an awful lot like Kansas’ “Carry On Wayward Son”, at least as far as the vocal harmonies. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bands-singers-so-you-mistake-for-others/499432/31 "2009-06-12T09:41:08Z")
Muse sound just like Radiohead. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bands-singers-so-you-mistake-for-others/499432/32 "2009-06-12T09:58:10Z")
I was absolutely certain- for years, in fact- that _Come Up And See Me (Make Me Smile)_ was by Bob Dylan and not Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel (of whom I’d never heard until a radio DJ back-announced the song and I looked it up on Wikipedia). ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bands-singers-so-you-mistake-for-others/499432/33 "2009-06-12T13:51:52Z")
> [@GESancMan](#): > > Wow. > > Boston is light, simple, melodic rock. Kansas is heavier, intricate, semi-progressive rock. > > I don’t understand how these two bands could be confused - they sound nothing alike. I’m not either of the people you’re replying to, but I tend to lump most bands with geographic names together. ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bands-singers-so-you-mistake-for-others/499432/34 "2009-06-12T14:41:42Z")
Back in the late-90’s in high school, I could not for the life of me tell one nu-metal band from the other. I’m sure there are all kinds of nuances that fans pick up on easily, but the whole nu-metal craze was essentially one big band for me. There are a _lot_ of minor groups who I just lump under the general label of “Nickelback.” The most recent examples are Shinedown and Theory of a Deadman. Past offenders are The Calling, Staind, and Puddle of Mudd. ---
**Author:** ![Shecky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@Shecky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shecky)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bands-singers-so-you-mistake-for-others/499432/35 "2009-06-12T14:53:45Z")
the lead singer from Green Day calls them Cher-Bands (while doing a Cher impression, he sings out the names) i.e. Stain’d Nickelbaaack… ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bands-singers-so-you-mistake-for-others/499432/36 "2009-06-12T16:32:51Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > I’m not either of the people you’re replying to, but I tend to lump most bands with geographic names together. When we were growing up, my teenybopper, Rick Springfield-loving sister dismissively referred to most music she didn’t like as “beard music”…her criterion for a band being “beard music” was “they have beards.” Thus, ZZ Top and ELO were lumped in this rather broad category. Not too long after, my sister’s beloved Rick Springfield showed up on a TV show wearing a beard. I laughed and laughed… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bands-singers-so-you-mistake-for-others/499432/37 "2009-06-12T16:42:48Z")
Lead singer of Journey and Rod Stewart sound the same. Before I realized the differences between their styles, I couldn’t tell them apart. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bands-singers-so-you-mistake-for-others/499432/38 "2009-06-12T17:54:40Z")
I think Steely Dan and Van Morrison are the same (sucky) band. 😉 “Black Betty” by Ram Jam always seemed like a Lynyrd Skynyrd song. “Walk of Life” by Dire Straits sounds like a Bruce Springstein song. Some of the 70’s David Bowie songs and 70’s Rod Stewart songs are pretty similar. A lot of the old Doo Wop bands like the Platters, Penguins, and the Coasters are largely interchangable, same sort of sound and music. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bands-singers-so-you-mistake-for-others/499432/39 "2009-06-12T18:36:49Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > Wow, really? Their respective singers sound nothing like each other (Foreigner’s Lou Gramm: raspy-voiced, similar to Bob Seger; Journey’s Steve Perry: clear-voiced tenor crooner; REO’s Kevin Cronin: no rasp, extreme enunciation, somewhat nasal). The three bands had distinctly different styles as well (Foreigner was straight up hard rock, REO Speedwagon was guitar- & piano-driven party rock, and Journey was more jazz-influenced rock. Of course, MTV turned all three into power ballad bands (and thus ruined them all), so if all you’ve heard is their MTV-era stuff, I can sort of understand your confusion. > . I’ll admit, I don’t know all the songs or their whole catalogues. I’ve never even listened to an entire album by any of the three. But all of their “power ballad” stuff sounds more or less the same to me. I eventually remembered that “I Want to Know What Love Is” is **REO Speedwagon** (God, I hope that’s right). Sometimes, if I’m paying attention, I can pick out Steve Perry’s voice, but I can’t always remember if he’s with **Journey**. For awhile, I couldn’t tell the difference between Moody Blues and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Which is utterly ridiculous, I know. I blame **Knights in White Satin** and **Lucky Man** , which, for a short time, seemed like the same song to me (which is also utterly ridiculous. Stupid brain!). ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bands-singers-so-you-mistake-for-others/499432/40 "2009-06-12T18:49:06Z")
> [@toadspittle](#): > > Interpol and Editors. So much so that I looked like heck for that Editors song that had the line about “…three stowaways…” only to discover it was by Interpol. I would add She Wants Revenge to these two bands. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bands-singers-so-you-mistake-for-others/499432.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bands-singers-so-you-mistake-for-others/499432.md?page=3)