Mastodon Music Hall of Fame

Hannah Howe

I’ll start with Dusty Springfield. The reasons for my nomination:

She possessed a wide range including blue-eyed soul, pop, powerful ballads, country, and jazz.

In the 1960s, she was one of the most successful female performers in Britain and America.

A trendsetter in fashion.

Gerard van Oel 🍋

Em-squared

@gevoel @HannahHowe Zappa's a good one. Not always my cuppa but recognise his vast talent (even I can be challenged once we get to Jazz from hell).

Em-squared

@HannahHowe Few cons to Dusty other than being under appreciated and a perfectionism that made her challenging to work with (or so I read).

Em-squared

@HannahHowe Always going to be obvious inclusions:Bowie (only cons being his, in his own words Phil Collins period circa mid 80s and Tin Machine).
More Marmite is maybe John Lennon (Epic in the Beatles, winging it towards the end. Antagonistic behaviour-his own worst enemy? Self indulgence & mediocrity in solo years. Died too young)

Rage Rumbles 🏴‍☠️ 🏳️‍🌈 🔞

@emsquared @HannahHowe Is this a music Hall of Fame or a place to criticise people's character because I always hated Lennon lying in bed, a millionaire, and singing about giving peas a chance.

Em-squared

@Black_Flag @HannahHowe I'm pretty much with you on that. A deeply damaged human being for sure (tried to wreck Harry Nilsson's voice just out of jealousy though admitedly Nilsson could've easily wrecked his own career) but have to recognise his huge contribution to music if only for being the counter balance to Macca within the Beatles.

Rage Rumbles 🏴‍☠️ 🏳️‍🌈 🔞

@emsquared @HannahHowe I also liked his final output. Just Like Starting Over and Woman are cracking tunes. Lennon and McCartney would walk into any such Hall of Fame anyway. The Beatles invented music, right?

Em-squared

@Black_Flag @HannahHowe Big up the peas obviously. Bed-isn for peas.

Em-squared

@Black_Flag @HannahHowe Did you? I just couldn't get into Double Fantasy at all. Heaven help me but the last thing he played on before is tragic assassination (that very day) was Yoko Ono's walking on thin ice. Would that he'd felt brave enough to make something like that.

Sue Briccay :verifiedace:

@emsquared

Strange how that one is usually brought up about women in the music business, but rarely about men. ‍️

@HannahHowe

Rage Rumbles 🏴‍☠️ 🏳️‍🌈 🔞

@emsquared @HannahHowe Well let's put it this way. If this Hall of Fame was set up and anyone suggested Macca I;d say they had to listen to The Frog Chorus on a loop for all eternity to demonstrate that they were being serious.

Em-squared

@essjayjay @HannahHowe True. Sadly men get more leeway in society in terms of unacceptae behaviour. Bad of me to mention it.

Em-squared

@Black_Flag I could grit my teeth through the Frog Chorus. Say, say, say or Spies like us or no more lonely nights would be more of a challenge.

Sue Briccay :verifiedace:

@emsquared

It certainly wasn't a criticism of you at all, but a criticism of the toxic boys' club that is the music business.

I've never heard James Brown (who used to fine his musicians if they played a bum note or made a mistake) or Don Van Vliet (Captn. Beefheart who used to abuse, bully and assault his band) described as being 'difficult to work with'.

The list is endless.

@HannahHowe

Rage Rumbles 🏴‍☠️ 🏳️‍🌈 🔞

@emsquared Is this where I bring up that the Beatle who wrote the best songs was George Harrison?

Sue Briccay :verifiedace:

@Black_Flag

Not to mention that he had the best solo career of all the Beatles.

"All Things Must Pass" outsold all the other ex Beatles' albums.

@emsquared

Hannah Howe

@essjayjay @emsquared This invites a broader question: is a “suspect temperament” an essential for creativity?

Sue Briccay :verifiedace:

@emsquared

Even worse; 'Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time' ...

AFAIC the only decent song he wrote as a solo artist was "Let 'em In".

Even then, Billy Paul's version was better than the original.

@Black_Flag

Rage Rumbles 🏴‍☠️ 🏳️‍🌈 🔞

@essjayjay @emsquared I like Live and Let Die.