# “Whitest” music you can think of that’s still cool? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 24, 2017, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitest-music-you-can-think-of-that-s-still-cool/799666 "2017-10-24T00:12:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitest-music-you-can-think-of-that-s-still-cool/799666/81 "2017-10-24T17:52:50Z")
[Leroy Anderson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leroy_Anderson) for the win. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitest-music-you-can-think-of-that-s-still-cool/799666/82 "2017-10-24T17:56:54Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Lou Reed is kind of known for singing blackly. All those street songs didn’t come from white cultural traditions. OK, fair enough. But I can’t think of _what_ cultural tradition a song like The Gift or The Black Angel’s Death Song comes from. ---
**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:** [October 24, 2017, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitest-music-you-can-think-of-that-s-still-cool/799666/83 "2017-10-24T18:08:57Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > OK, fair enough. But I can’t think of _what_ cultural tradition a song like The Gift or The Black Angel’s Death Song comes from. It was complicated for sure. Maybe this has some clues in it? Lou Reed \_ I Wanna Be Black ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitest-music-you-can-think-of-that-s-still-cool/799666/84 "2017-10-24T18:13:55Z")
Anything from the catalogue of [J. S. Bach](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis). Ridiculous “no pre-20th Century” hypothetical notwithstanding. Cool doesn’t care 'bout your rules ---
**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:** [October 24, 2017, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitest-music-you-can-think-of-that-s-still-cool/799666/85 "2017-10-24T18:18:43Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > OK, fair enough. But I can’t think of _what_ cultural tradition a song like The Gift or The Black Angel’s Death Song comes from. I’ll give you Black Angel’s Death Song, but The Gift definitely has blues influence running along with the guitar line (especially when it gets to three minutes and it’s just riffing completely on the blues scale) and perhaps the chord progression. Plus the beat. It all depends on how granular you want to get with finding music with the least non-Western European influence in it. I would argue that while Rodrigo y Gabriela tend not to show that much blues and jazz influence in their music, flamenco itself is a bit of a hodgepodge of European and non-European (North African, Arabic, Gypsy) influences. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitest-music-you-can-think-of-that-s-still-cool/799666/86 "2017-10-24T19:53:58Z")
The Decemberists - cool in the English major working at Starbuck’s sort of way. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitest-music-you-can-think-of-that-s-still-cool/799666/87 "2017-10-24T20:00:25Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Edith Piaf is a great choice; my Edith Piaf Pandora station is great for cooking leisurely summer meals. While quickly scanning through this thread, my eyes report this as “my Pia Zadora station.” Yikes. ---
**Author:** ![SykoSkotty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SykoSkotty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SykoSkotty)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitest-music-you-can-think-of-that-s-still-cool/799666/88 "2017-10-24T20:13:02Z")
Hall & Oates? ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitest-music-you-can-think-of-that-s-still-cool/799666/89 "2017-10-24T20:32:14Z")
> [@SykoSkotty](#): > > Hall & Oates? They are known as a “rock and soul” group. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitest-music-you-can-think-of-that-s-still-cool/799666/90 "2017-10-24T20:36:03Z")
80s Metallica Sex Pistols Devo ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitest-music-you-can-think-of-that-s-still-cool/799666/91 "2017-10-24T20:53:33Z")
Tom Lehrer Honorable mention to Sarah McLachlan, but she may not be cool… ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitest-music-you-can-think-of-that-s-still-cool/799666/92 "2017-10-24T20:59:40Z")
Isn’t punk kind of the whitest genre? I am not a punk expert but didn’t it ditch the musicality and soulfulness of the rock that came before it in exchange for bland chords and screaming? Or would you say it still has an element of blues or jazz to it? ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitest-music-you-can-think-of-that-s-still-cool/799666/93 "2017-10-24T23:05:44Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > Tom Lehrer I think Tom Lehrer would be _horrified_ to be considered cool… ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitest-music-you-can-think-of-that-s-still-cool/799666/94 "2017-10-24T23:31:11Z")
The Decemberists. That is some nerdy, hipster, white people shit right there but they still have a real following. It is hard to tell they are American. The Beatles sounded more American than they do. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/88sbbIX07Qg/maxresdefault.jpg "The Decemberists - The Sporting Life (from Picaresque)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88sbbIX07Qg) ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitest-music-you-can-think-of-that-s-still-cool/799666/95 "2017-10-24T23:45:23Z")
Bela Fleck. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitest-music-you-can-think-of-that-s-still-cool/799666/96 "2017-10-24T23:57:13Z")
Astrud Gilberto. ---
**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:** [October 25, 2017, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitest-music-you-can-think-of-that-s-still-cool/799666/97 "2017-10-25T01:42:42Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’ll give you Black Angel’s Death Song, but The Gift definitely has blues influence running along with the guitar line (especially when it gets to three minutes and it’s just riffing completely on the blues scale) and perhaps the chord progression. Plus the beat. > > It all depends on how granular you want to get with finding music with the least non-Western European influence in it. I would argue that while Rodrigo y Gabriela tend not to show that much blues and jazz influence in their music, flamenco itself is a bit of a hodgepodge of European and non-European (North African, Arabic, Gypsy) influences. It was Lou’s talent for singing off the cuff rock, which I think you may read as “black,” which so impressed John Cale, who was actually previously training to be the ideal of the OP. I would think that the velvets would not want to be considered for this honor, even Cale. He came on board. The vernacular of their music was not white. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitest-music-you-can-think-of-that-s-still-cool/799666/98 "2017-10-25T02:03:45Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > The Indigo Girls are pretty damm white. They both had college degrees, one in theology, and one in English, and their music was full of all sorts of literary and historical references, but I thought they were pretty cool. They were also lesbians during that really brief “lesbian-chic” thing. Did they wear Birkenstocks and eat cardboard boxes? ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitest-music-you-can-think-of-that-s-still-cool/799666/99 "2017-10-25T02:08:32Z")
In all seriousness, White Zombie and White Wizzard. ETA: And The Darkness I swear the puns aren’t (totally) intentional. These are all white boy, white bread bands unless you want to start throwing the blues around as the base for pretty much any rock music. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitest-music-you-can-think-of-that-s-still-cool/799666/100 "2017-10-25T02:54:18Z")
> [@Grumbacher\_Red](#): > > Is Classic Country off the table? I see you said yes to Johnny Cash. Dammit, _I_ say no to Johnny Cash. If he’s even in the running, the whole question morphs into “Who’s a white singer that white people listen to?” Cash is heavily, HEAVILY influenced not only by blues, but also by gospel music, two genres heavily rooted in African American traditions. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitest-music-you-can-think-of-that-s-still-cool/799666.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitest-music-you-can-think-of-that-s-still-cool/799666.md?page=6)