"The egomaniacal frontman is dead – at last" - Telegraph article about frontmen and women in rock, including Morrissey (February 14, 2022)

An interesting article yesterday in the Telegraph by Ed Power, charting the (alleged) changes in how lead singers see their role.

It's behind a paywall, but the relevant sections are below:

It’s hard to understate how seismic a shift this represents. In the alternative milieu where Wolf Alice and Black Country, New Road operate, the cult of the front person has long reigned unchallenged. Mention The Smiths and nobody thinks of Johnny Marr’s dexterous riffs. They think of Morrissey on Top of the Pops waving shrubbery over his head...

That’s because Stipe’s duties went beyond merely singing. As with Morrissey and other great frontmen and women, the job, above all, was to be an embodiment of the band. The music, rightly or wrongly, was seen as an extension of their personality. Its angst was their angst, its euphoria theirs.
 
the wildest thing dave ever did was die on the operating table after a drugs overdose,suppose that makes him the wildest of the wild,apart from that he has never said anything of note over the last 40 years and im saying this as a very early fan of depeche mode.
I'm a DM fan up to and including Playing The Angel. I saw them once in concert and it was so obviously a concert by numbers. Dave almost had to glance at the ink on his hand to say "Hello Dublin!". <insert city name here>.
 
I'm a DM fan up to and including Playing The Angel. I saw them once in concert and it was so obviously a concert by numbers. Dave almost had to glance at the ink on his hand to say "Hello Dublin!". <insert city name here>.
thats what happens acton when they were just about the biggest band in the world with huge world tours,think thats why dave took to the demon drugs.
 
the wildest thing dave ever did was die on the operating table after a drugs overdose,suppose that makes him the wildest of the wild,apart from that he has never said anything of note over the last 40 years and im saying this as a very early fan of depeche mode.
I didn't mean that Gahan was a spokesperson for the band or one that pontificates philosophy, but as the frontman of the band; him holding microphone stand and spinning to "A Question of Time".

You don't picture Gore, mohawk beanie on his down turned head playing the intro to "Personal Jesus".
 
I always ask younger people "name some things about the musicians in the bands you like"

they cant

no one obsesses much over music anymore because it no longer has the same cultural relevance anymore

There are plenty of "talented" new musicians and great songs...but no one cares about the musician anymore. Gone are the days of bands and the music you listened to being a large part of your personality, group or passion.

Its all been replaced with streamers and online personalities who instead of learning to take their vanity or ego or pain and create art with it....can now just play fortnite and yell in front of a camera and create nothing.
 
Wow! Frontmen/women...it doesn't have to be gone forever. We are more of a culture (globally) of followers now than ever before. We need innovative people who aren't afraid to display their true inner nature in front of total strangers, in order for them to share their own beliefs with/inspire us. The people of this world still need inspiration. "Woah! You should see THAT guy" or "Oh man! I went to such-and-such and saw this female vocalist in this group that was unreal" - once performances start up everywhere again (from all kinds of bands/venues at any level), you'll probably see the front-person come back.

You're right though in that music has moved into a different era - unfortunately, it's not one where musicians are revered or have myths associated with them or that they are a huge part of culture anymore like they were for 60 out of the last 75 years. Like we don't need 'heroes' like that anymore because we can stream any song we want by them whenever and not have to contribute monetarily to their careers. It's sad, and the quality of the musical output we're hearing from many many new artists is carbon-copied and old sounding, yet it's brand new. We rely too much on Pro Tools and Autotune, and just like the internet in general killing the need for newspapers, various department stores, etc. - an automated recording process has over time (just the last 20 years) killed much of the 'soul' in recordings.

Dave Gahan is an amazing frontman btw. He's older now, like everyone else, but in his youth nobody was a frontman like Dave - the fact that he was the only one in the group 'performing' in that way because everybody else was standing behind boards and couldn't move (sometimes Martin brought his guitar out front or sang lead, but he never captivated like Dave - just in terms of stage presence I mean, not vocally). Dave Gahan could really grab your attention and had lots of heart and soul in his performances.
 
and why is that? What do they fear?

OR

maybe this culture is no longer able to produce people with character.

Where are the Lou Reeds? the Patti Smiths? the Iggy Pops? the Mark E Smiths? the Nicos?


There was something in the water, that’s no longer there.

Both!

They fear being hated, losing work & dying alone.

And the mix of producers having more power, social media being a blood sport & a lack of money & venues is severely inhibiting.
 
"The band frontmen of the past, who were historically
idmaniacally driven (pleasure) and egomaniacally driven
(reality), have been replaced by the modern day frontmen
who are superegomaniacally driven (morality). That's why
ya got a much more borin' music bein' made these days".

- Turkmund Freud

LOL True.
 
Like most modern "journalism," for this article to make any sense it needs to be seen through the far left lens from which it was written.

"Egomaniacal" frontmen are bad because ego is bad. Ego is bad because it is defined as a separate concept of "self," and "self" is by definition distinct from the sum "whole" i.e. the proletariat crowd that must at all times be monitored and kept in check by The State. A concept of "self" therefore causes one to stand out, and anyone that stands out is bad or "maniacal" because by defying the mandated order imposed by the state, they are dissidents and could cause an anti-authoritarian revolt.

To put it another way, "ego" can additionally be interpreted here as analogous to personality, and personality is bad because personality implies an acceptance of one's individuality, and the concept of individuality is antithetical to the notion of a homogenized, faceless populace.

Furthermore, expressive or outspoken people are dangerous because not only do they manifest individuality but they do so in a way that can sway others and pull them out of groupthink.

Personality and self expression are only permitted to exist within an ideological framework. It becomes a self-replenishing ferris wheel, going round and round, feeding and sustaining itself, with the motion of the circular trajectory construed as movement.

Everyone must obey The Rules because The Rules are what determine and maintain the communistic structure.

...it's very basic stuff. Poorly written and not original. Then again we are living in a world where grammar is seen as unimportant because proper grammar is a symptom of systemic white supremacy principles hardbaked into the education system.
Very true
It's the same reason why the left never gets anywhere, in the UK.
They do not understand hierarchy. They hate it , they hate it as that would mean people aren't all "equal" it goes against everything they stand for
so they are a shambles of backbiting, meanwhile the right understand deeply and are nearly always in power.
 
Very true
It's the same reason why the left never gets anywhere, in the UK.
They do not understand hierarchy. They hate it , they hate it as that would mean people aren't all "equal" it goes against everything they stand for
so they are a shambles of backbiting, meanwhile the right understand deeply and are nearly always in power.
Yes, well, right now in the U.S. things are pretty bleak. Not sure that's gonna change anytime soon, if ever.
 
Very true
It's the same reason why the left never gets anywhere, in the UK.
They do not understand hierarchy. They hate it , they hate it as that would mean people aren't all "equal" it goes against everything they stand for
so they are a shambles of backbiting, meanwhile the right understand deeply and are nearly always in power.

correct. LePepe hates hierarchy, however aly and ory have a LePepe is God FB bot page👁️‍🗨️ if that is not hypocritical enough he makes "LePepe f***en Pew" tshirts and actually wears them FFS📢
yet he makes dumb podcasts where he talks pap about how when he sings smiths songs 'he feels' the songs 'belong to everyone'/ of course, since he didnt write them Moz did.
Notice he wont say that about the Mouse or Crib songs because that Mouse nutter is a bit dangerous. But Moz who is noble, he wants to give away the songs....all the while aly an ory have him as GOD⚧

if the Pep is God Im Aristotle Onassis FFS🎴

shanda

:hammer:
 
Like most modern "journalism," for this article to make any sense it needs to be seen through the far left lens from which it was written.

"Egomaniacal" frontmen are bad because ego is bad. Ego is bad because it is defined as a separate concept of "self," and "self" is by definition distinct from the sum "whole" i.e. the proletariat crowd that must at all times be monitored and kept in check by The State. A concept of "self" therefore causes one to stand out, and anyone that stands out is bad or "maniacal" because by defying the mandated order imposed by the state, they are dissidents and could cause an anti-authoritarian revolt.

To put it another way, "ego" can additionally be interpreted here as analogous to personality, and personality is bad because personality implies an acceptance of one's individuality, and the concept of individuality is antithetical to the notion of a homogenized, faceless populace.

Furthermore, expressive or outspoken people are dangerous because not only do they manifest individuality but they do so in a way that can sway others and pull them out of groupthink.

Personality and self expression are only permitted to exist within an ideological framework. It becomes a self-replenishing ferris wheel, going round and round, feeding and sustaining itself, with the motion of the circular trajectory construed as movement.

Everyone must obey The Rules because The Rules are what determine and maintain the communistic structure.

...it's very basic stuff. Poorly written and not original. Then again we are living in a world where grammar is seen as unimportant because proper grammar is a symptom of systemic white supremacy principles hardbaked into the education system.
"Far left lens"? It was published in the Telegraph, you raving idiot. They used to employ Boris Johnson ffs.

What is this modern obsession with labelling anything you don't like 'far left'? It borders on paranoia. It's just a think-piece, it's not written through any kind of 'lens'. Jeez.
 
"Far left lens"? It was published in the Telegraph, you raving idiot. They used to employ Boris Johnson ffs.

What is this modern obsession with labelling anything you don't like 'far left'? It borders on paranoia. It's just a think-piece, it's not written through any kind of 'lens'. Jeez.
Get thee behind me, Satan.
 
the wildest thing dave ever did was die on the operating table after a drugs overdose,suppose that makes him the wildest of the wild,apart from that he has never said anything of note over the last 40 years and im saying this as a very early fan of depeche mode.
You're a "very early fan of DM" and you say this....
If you been a fan of DM, you'd know he didn't die on the operating table
 
thats what happens acton when they were just about the biggest band in the world with huge world tours,think thats why dave took to the demon drugs.
Again, from a so-called "very early fan of DM", you don't know ANYTHING about DM.
I doubt you've ever bought DM records. Or to have seen them in concert.
Very pathetic
 
I'm a DM fan up to and including Playing The Angel. I saw them once in concert and it was so obviously a concert by numbers. Dave almost had to glance at the ink on his hand to say "Hello Dublin!". <insert city name here>.
You saw them once in concert!!!!! Waouuu, you are the biggest fan of DM in the world!!!!!
And this famous urban legend about the name of the city written on the singer's hand....
Please don't talk about things you don't know.
 
said the exact same thing on hear years ago,true originals are gone,they wouldnt even get through the revolving door of a record company these days as they would be seen as troublemakers and people who couldnt be moulded and controlled.
Have you forgotten that we still
Have Chris Martin 😎
 
"Far left lens"? It was published in the Telegraph, you raving idiot. They used to employ Boris Johnson ffs.

What is this modern obsession with labelling anything you don't like 'far left'? It borders on paranoia. It's just a think-piece, it's not written through any kind of 'lens'. Jeez.

Absolutely right!
 
You saw them once in concert!!!!! Waouuu, you are the biggest fan of DM in the world!!!!!
And this famous urban legend about the name of the city written on the singer's hand....
Please don't talk about things you don't know.
I never claimed to be the biggest DM fan. If I lived in England I'd have seen them more than once. I have all their albums on CD and most on vinyl. Yes I'm a fan. And you're a twat.
 
You're a "very early fan of DM" and you say this....
If you been a fan of DM, you'd know he didn't die on the operating table
Actually, in Dave’s own words, he “died” on the operating table. Chump.
 

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