# Which performer's physical appearance didn't match your mental image the most? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 18, 2012, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-performers-physical-appearance-didnt-match-your-mental-image-the-most/619193 "2012-04-18T18:41:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-performers-physical-appearance-didnt-match-your-mental-image-the-most/619193/21 "2012-04-18T23:36:31Z")
Joe Cocker. Not sure what I thought he’d look like, but wow. Not like that. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-performers-physical-appearance-didnt-match-your-mental-image-the-most/619193/22 "2012-04-18T23:57:32Z")
> [@koeeoaddi](#): > > [Johnny Rivers](http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00001NFO1.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg). Who knew? For some reason, I always pictured him more like [this](http://991.com/newgallery/Paul-Anka-Anka-458321.jpg). That is surprising to me too. I always pictured him like a more macho Frankie Avalon, which isn’t far from Paul Anka. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-performers-physical-appearance-didnt-match-your-mental-image-the-most/619193/23 "2012-04-19T00:00:54Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > Everyone’s always pretty surprised when they first see a picture of Kevin Clash, the puppeteer behind Elmo. > > –Cliffy [He relates an anecdote about that](http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-october-24-2011/kevin-clash). Starts at about 5:00, but the rest of the interview is good too. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-performers-physical-appearance-didnt-match-your-mental-image-the-most/619193/24 "2012-04-19T00:08:26Z")
13 year old me: “Hootie’s black? You’re making that up!” ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-performers-physical-appearance-didnt-match-your-mental-image-the-most/619193/25 "2012-04-19T00:42:38Z")
[Laura Brannigan.](http://idiotflashback.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/laura-branigan.jpg) Back when her first single came out (pre-video) we had pretty much immediately dropped her into the “scuzzy synthesizer dance queen” category. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-performers-physical-appearance-didnt-match-your-mental-image-the-most/619193/26 "2012-04-19T04:23:46Z")
Gabriella Cilmi singing “Sweet About Me.” I didn’t think she was a little white girl. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/qvuyYj5ROmk/maxresdefault.jpg "Gabriella Cilmi - Sweet About Me (Official Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvuyYj5ROmk) As a child I thought Creedence Clearwater Revival must have been black too. Does that make me terrible? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-performers-physical-appearance-didnt-match-your-mental-image-the-most/619193/27 "2012-04-19T04:52:46Z")
Aaron Neville. One of the sweetest male singing voices ever. I expected him to look something like Michael Jackson. [But he’s built like a longshoreman](http://www.listal.com/aaron-neville). ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-performers-physical-appearance-didnt-match-your-mental-image-the-most/619193/28 "2012-04-19T04:58:43Z")
I figured a group called The Troggs who sang a song like _Wild Thing_ would be from the psychedelic, scraggly-beard, 60’s, not the [clean-shaven, matching-suits](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9DVJE_bhVU) 60’s. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-performers-physical-appearance-didnt-match-your-mental-image-the-most/619193/29 "2012-04-19T05:50:08Z")
Anyone who listens to old time radio shows will have a lot of these. I was probably most surprised by Dennis Day, who didn’t look much like the naive adolescent he played on radio. See also Ezra Stone as Henry Aldrich. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-performers-physical-appearance-didnt-match-your-mental-image-the-most/619193/30 "2012-04-19T09:38:14Z")
If a radio DJ counts, then “Cousin Brucie” Morrow, who has appeared in a few films such as “Dirty dancing”. I had pictured him as a short, dark haired chubby guy, probably because a classmate named Bruce was such a body type. Morrow looks to be tall, lean, brown hair type. I remember my sister being shocked when she saw Gary Puckett of the Union Gap on TV—“But he’s so…ugly!!!”. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-performers-physical-appearance-didnt-match-your-mental-image-the-most/619193/31 "2012-04-19T10:15:05Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > _snip_ > > I was a little surprised to find that Johnny Nash of “I Can See Clearly Now the Rain is Gone” was African American. Is there a non-racist term/phrase for the opposite of “blue-eyed soul”? Well, maybe Brown-eyed Schmaltz, but it doesn’t have the same ring to it… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-performers-physical-appearance-didnt-match-your-mental-image-the-most/619193/32 "2012-04-19T12:36:48Z")
[Charlie Patton](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDeo8h9Ef00). How could that face, on that body, with that guitar, make those sounds? ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-performers-physical-appearance-didnt-match-your-mental-image-the-most/619193/33 "2012-04-19T12:39:57Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Hey, there’s Wayne Newton singing Danke Schoen a few years ago! > I wonder who sang the original version? > You know, the one from Ferris Buellers Day Off. > The one with the girl singing. > … > > WTF?? Fred Travalena used to have a joke where he’d imitate Wayne Newton. He’d sing a few lines of “Danke Schoen . . .” and sound just like Wayne. Then he’d announce his Brenda Lee imitation. “Danke Schoen . . .” ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-performers-physical-appearance-didnt-match-your-mental-image-the-most/619193/34 "2012-04-19T13:01:07Z")
Listening to “Into the Mystic” or even “Moondance”, even if you knew Van Morrison was Irish, you wouldn’t really picture a pastier, doughier, Meatloaf, would you? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-performers-physical-appearance-didnt-match-your-mental-image-the-most/619193/35 "2012-04-19T13:01:44Z")
My first awareness of these people was from the radio. When I first saw images of them, it was like “No way!” Gregg Allman Arthur Godfrey William Conrad (Gunsmoke) Frank Sinatra ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-performers-physical-appearance-didnt-match-your-mental-image-the-most/619193/36 "2012-04-19T13:26:02Z")
I don’t recall what my mental image was of the singer of “Karma Chameleon” back in 1983. But I know it wasn’t anything like the [reality](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a8/Nw171.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-performers-physical-appearance-didnt-match-your-mental-image-the-most/619193/37 "2012-04-19T13:29:16Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I don’t recall what my mental image was of the singer of “Karma Chameleon” back in 1983. But I know it wasn’t anything like the [reality](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a8/Nw171.jpg). It’s even harder to imagine [this guy](http://www.eringer33.com/2012/03/boy-george-another-star-for-monaco.html) singing it. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-performers-physical-appearance-didnt-match-your-mental-image-the-most/619193/38 "2012-04-19T13:42:54Z")
I remember my mom showing me a picture of Bonnie Tyler back in her “It’s a Heartache” days. [Not how I would have pictured her](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osqWXsEb5qE). ---
**Author:** ![Sandra\_Battye](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sandra_battye/32/552_2.png) [@Sandra\_Battye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sandra_Battye)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-performers-physical-appearance-didnt-match-your-mental-image-the-most/619193/39 "2012-04-19T15:02:18Z")
[Steve Tyrell](http://www.stevetyrell.com/2010/index.php) wasn’t what I was expecting after hearing him on the radio. ---
**Author:** ![QuarkChild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c5a1d2/32.png) [@QuarkChild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuarkChild)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-performers-physical-appearance-didnt-match-your-mental-image-the-most/619193/40 "2012-04-19T16:03:28Z")
I thought the lead singer of Rush was female until I looked them up on YouTube. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-performers-physical-appearance-didnt-match-your-mental-image-the-most/619193.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-performers-physical-appearance-didnt-match-your-mental-image-the-most/619193.md?page=3)