# Which musical artist attains your highest score? (explanation in OP) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 18, 2017, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-artist-attains-your-highest-score-explanation-in-op/780132 "2017-02-18T02:56:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-artist-attains-your-highest-score-explanation-in-op/780132/81 "2017-02-20T15:37:27Z")
Only on SDMB (I hope) would you find Jimmy Buffet’s “work” equated with that of John Lennon. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-artist-attains-your-highest-score-explanation-in-op/780132/82 "2017-02-20T16:26:09Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I just realized that we are leaving out Jimmy Buffet in this thread. Granted, he is not the best singer in the world but he has his own style and is a great songwriter. He can still more than sell out very large arenas well past middle-age. He is also an extremely good businessman but I am told that it is out of bounds for this thread. There is no other person that could turn a one-hit wonder (Margaritaville) into a business empire that spans decades. He also has a dedicated channel on XM radio and a chain of restaurants. That isn’t bad for someone that sings like a drunk uncle at a wedding reception (that isn’t a criticism - Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan can’t sing very well either). > > 1. Popularity - 9 > 2. Musical ability/talent - 8 (because of his songwriting and live performance experience) > 3. Lowest percentage of people who hate their work - 10 Jimmy Buffet is a punchline. I don’t know where you got those numbers. Maybe where you got that Lennon was not very popular and that he isn’t heard much these days and that he was an appendage on the Beatles? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-artist-attains-your-highest-score-explanation-in-op/780132/83 "2017-02-20T16:50:02Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Jimmy Buffet is a punchline. I don’t know where you got those numbers. Maybe where you got that Lennon was not very popular and that he isn’t heard much these days and that he was an appendage on the Beatles? Jimmy Buffet has his own Sirius XM channel and an army of Parrotheads. Lennon has knockoff sunglasses. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-artist-attains-your-highest-score-explanation-in-op/780132/84 "2017-02-20T17:55:28Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > As for #3, I know he has created his own industry; even his fans have a name for themselves. But I think he has plenty of loathers too, me among them. His whole deal feels so (skillfully) manufactured to me. Yeah, I really can’t think of anyone in my circle of friends who would admit to being a Jimmy Buffet fan (and they’re not snooty music hipsters, if that’s what you’re thinking—well, not the large majority of them), and plenty who actively loathe him. There is absolutely no way in any objective measure that he is a “10” on this scale. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-artist-attains-your-highest-score-explanation-in-op/780132/85 "2017-02-20T18:22:20Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Jimmy Buffet has his own Sirius XM channel and an army of Parrotheads. . . . And Christopher Cross has an armful of Grammys. Yippy skippy. ---
**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:** [February 20, 2017, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-artist-attains-your-highest-score-explanation-in-op/780132/86 "2017-02-20T18:48:11Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, I really can’t think of anyone in my circle of friends who would admit to being a Jimmy Buffet fan (and they’re not snooty music hipsters, if that’s what you’re thinking—well, not the large majority of them), and plenty who actively loathe him. There is absolutely no way in any objective measure that he is a “10” on this scale. My wife and I used to socialize with a couple who were Parrotheads (the wife of the couple headed up the Chicago Parrothead group for a while), and we went to a few of their social events. Buffet has a group of very loyal fans who have kept him living very comfortably for decades, but I think that, outside of the Parrothead community, his popularity and recognizability is pretty thin. The broader audience probably knows Buffet for a forty-year-old song (Margaritaville), may know that he still tours and has some restaurants, and that’s about it. From that standpoint, I think of Buffet sort of like the Grateful Dead – incredible loyalty among their core fan base, and their own SiriusXM channel, too, but not really terribly well-known or popular outside of the Deadhead community. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-artist-attains-your-highest-score-explanation-in-op/780132/87 "2017-02-20T19:26:18Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > This day and age? **Dave Grohl** across **Nirvana** , **Foo Fighters** , side bands, his documentaries Sound City and Sonic Highways, etc. > > Respected, liked, popular. I can get behind this. Coolest dude in Rock 'n Roll. > [@White SIFL](#): > > I think a strong case could be made for Elvis. > > Almost $60 million dollars posthumously (second only to Michael Jackson - and that includes his Cirque du Soleil numbers) and he’s been dead for 40 years! > > Not a lot of haters and his talent is unquestionable. This is the answer. I’m surprised it took 42 posts to get to him. I was afraid that he had left the building. > [@jaycat](#): > > Only on SDMB (I hope) would you find Jimmy Buffet’s “work” equated with that of John Lennon. Both are equally craptastic pop music. Just little songs. Nothing to see here. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-artist-attains-your-highest-score-explanation-in-op/780132/88 "2017-02-20T21:29:50Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Jimmy Buffet has his own Sirius XM channel and an army of Parrotheads. Lennon has knockoff sunglasses. Oh well why didn’t you say that to begin with? Shrewd analysis. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-artist-attains-your-highest-score-explanation-in-op/780132/89 "2017-02-21T03:51:24Z")
> [@White SIFL](#): > > I think a strong case could be made for Elvis. > > Almost $60 million dollars posthumously (second only to Michael Jackson - and that includes his Cirque du Soleil numbers) and he’s been dead for 40 years! > > Not a lot of haters and his talent is unquestionable. I threw out some oddball nominations because Elvis is too easy but I think he is the overall winner. I stand behind my Louis Armstrong nomination but Elvis was extremely innovative too. He can beat almost anyone including the Beatles on the three measures given and I think he is a perfect 30. Fun fact, my family opened a hardware store in the early 1950’s and they wanted to have a truly “grand opening” so they called the now legendary [Louisiana Hayride](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Hayride) to send them a gig singer for the day. They sent a young Elvis Presley to do his thing and he did it extremely well. My uncle had had the signed check for a very long time until it was destroyed in a fire. The Beatles are fine as the original boy band and later experimental musicians but they aren’t the ones that have lots of professional impersonators and shrines like Graceland and everything else decades later. ---
**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:** [February 21, 2017, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-artist-attains-your-highest-score-explanation-in-op/780132/90 "2017-02-21T06:39:13Z")
Just a data point, but (just like Rush) Jimmy Buffet is _completely_ unknown to the South African rock fan (whereas Lennon is well-known). I have never heard a Buffet song that I can recall, I only know about _Margaritaville_ as a running gag in _Sluggy Freelance_ a while back. But then, judging by the average South African fan, Bob Marley and Neil Diamond are huge… ---
**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:** [February 21, 2017, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-artist-attains-your-highest-score-explanation-in-op/780132/91 "2017-02-21T06:48:46Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > The Beatles are fine as the original boy band and later experimental musicians but they aren’t the ones that have lots of professional impersonators and shrines like Graceland and everything else decades later. Abbey Road is the Beatles’ Graceland. and did Elvis ever have impersonators/parodiers as ‘professional’ (or successful) as the Rutles (last album out in 2014, still going strong)? Do Elvis fans still do anything like recreating the iconic Abbey Road cover? Even the RHCP got into that action. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-artist-attains-your-highest-score-explanation-in-op/780132/92 "2017-02-21T08:09:58Z")
If we’re going to go back as far as Louis Armstrong, I think we should also include Duke Ellington. Duke wrote (and, with Billy Strayhorn, co-wrote) a huge amount of music that is at the core of jazz repertoire. His bands were consistently great over the years, even with changes in personnel. He kept going through different eras - traditional, swing and modern - possibly because he didn’t try to sound like anyone else. Even people who have little interest in jazz would recognize and like some of his music (e.g. Mood Indigo, Take the A Train, Don’t Get Around Much Any More, It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing, Perdido. . .). I don’t think there are many people who dislike his stuff. Louis Armstrong is an interesting case. When I was a kid, I thought he was an old man who would go on the Ed Sullivan show and sing things like “Hello, Dolly!” His reputation has deservedly grown in recent years, because people look at his whole career, and not just the mushy pop stuff he did when he got old. At the height of his powers he was a lion. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-artist-attains-your-highest-score-explanation-in-op/780132/93 "2017-02-21T12:24:11Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > The Beatles are fine as the original boy band and later experimental musicians but they aren’t the ones that have lots of professional impersonators and shrines like Graceland and everything else decades later. This is simply incorrect on many levels. Not worth hijacking the thread but I didn’t want it just sitting there. **Shagnasty** , you really haven’t looked around. Louis Armstrong is a great choice, as would be Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, etc. I’ve mostly been considering the modern era, around 1954 or so on. ---
**Author:** ![2Bits](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e95f7d/32.png) [@2Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2Bits)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-artist-attains-your-highest-score-explanation-in-op/780132/94 "2017-02-21T16:00:24Z")
[QUOTE=3. Lowest percentage of people who hate their work: 9.0 Hard to judge but I’ve met very few Who haters. [/QUOTE] I’m a fan but have run into many people who can’t stand Roger Daltrey’s voice. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-artist-attains-your-highest-score-explanation-in-op/780132/95 "2017-02-21T16:52:56Z")
Elvis made generic to bad music for huge swaths of his career. He seems to have coasted a lot on the fact that he was “KING” Even he himself wasn’t shooting for quality or immortality. Why am I going to impute it to him? I can’t see how you can ignore that. Not a composer either. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-artist-attains-your-highest-score-explanation-in-op/780132/96 "2017-02-21T16:54:48Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Just a data point, but (just like Rush) Jimmy Buffet is _completely_ unknown to the South African rock fan (whereas Lennon is well-known). I have never heard a Buffet song that I can recall, I only know about _Margaritaville_ as a running gag in _Sluggy Freelance_ a while back. > > But then, judging by the average South African fan, Bob Marley and Neil Diamond are huge… But Sixto Rodriguez is the champ. We have a winner. (;0) ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-artist-attains-your-highest-score-explanation-in-op/780132/97 "2017-02-21T18:24:19Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > **Adele** > > **Beyonce** Put me in the ranks of those who can’t stand (hate is too strong for this) any of the current female pop stars. Autotuned yodeling just doesn’t do it for me. I think Frank Sinatra is a pretty good choice, despite his not being a post-70s rock act. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-artist-attains-your-highest-score-explanation-in-op/780132/98 "2017-02-21T18:26:35Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > My wife and I used to socialize with a couple who were Parrotheads (the wife of the couple headed up the Chicago Parrothead group for a while), and we went to a few of their social events. Buffet has a group of very loyal fans who have kept him living very comfortably for decades, but I think that, outside of the Parrothead community, his popularity and recognizability is pretty thin. The broader audience probably knows Buffet for a forty-year-old song (Margaritaville), may know that he still tours and has some restaurants, and that’s about it. Just noting that his net worth is estimated to be in the $500M range, and that I got out of anything like fandom when the Parrothead thing came along. So there are outliers here. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-artist-attains-your-highest-score-explanation-in-op/780132/99 "2017-02-24T04:40:07Z")
I’ve got to go with Beethoven. His appeal extends further than multiple generations in Western Society—it extends deeply into [Eastern](http://www.stanforddaily.com/2016/05/17/beethoven-in-china-traces-chinese-affinity-for-beethoven/) [Society](http://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2016/08/25/491353170/tracing-the-peoples-republic-of-beethoven) as [well](http://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/29/arts/japan-sings-along-with-beethoven.html). He has at least two of the top 10 most recognizable melodies known globally (perhaps even throughout the TRAPPIST-1 star system). Not many folks cannot identify his 5th symphony from just the opening four notes. …and, he created arguably the [greatest musical composition](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOjHhS5MtvA) known to mankind. #2 musical artist? That would of course be [this guy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ). …just kidding! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-artist-attains-your-highest-score-explanation-in-op/780132.md?page=4)