Entertainment For Lively Minds
100% Singer
Posted by Simon Moffatt on 16 February 2009 - 10:16pm.
I suppose there are lots of ways in which you might call Morrissey unique. Here's one that occurred to me today: How many singers can you name who have never ever played an instrument. Obviously, most singers strap on a guitar occasionally or have the odd thoughtful piano moment. Even the ones who clearly can't play will do the odd axe pose.
Other than Morrissey, I can only think of, erm, Tony Hadley out of Spandau Ballet. (I'm talking 'rock bands' here, we never expect to see Kylie with a gob-iron.)
I'm no Stones expert - does Jagger 'play'? (I'm not counting tambourines)
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Jagger plays guitar, piano, harmonica...
I'm not sure how well, but he is one half of one of the greatest songwriting partnerships of all time and it certainly wasn't as simple as "Mick does the words, Keith does the music".
I thought so
Stupid suggestion really. I was scratching around for another 100% singer.
Maybe?
Michael Stipe, although I recall he tried to play a song on the guitar when I saw the Up tour. I could be making that up.
I've never seen it live...
...but he plays a bit on I Took Your Name on the Rough Cut documentary, and it's Stipe playing the lead part on Why Not Smile from Up.
john Lydon?
Dave Vanian?
Michael Stipe?
Ian Brown?
Liam Gallagher?
Roger Daltrey?
I've seen Daltrey with...
...an acoustic guitar. Lead Guitarist in the Detours before Townshend came along, too.
Sort of on-topic. I have memories of seeing Robert Plant play a blinding solo on his Manic Nirvana tour - have I made them up?
Only time I remember seeing
Plant playing guitar was when Zep were inducted into the RnR Hall Of Fame and it looked very odd.
Anniversary
He did indeed, for I was there (at the Newport Centre in late 1990)
Incidentally and coincidentally, I was listening to this rather fine bootleg from that tour only yesterday
Liam
Liam at least pretended to play piano on totp
All the best frontmen don't
The most iconic frontmen don't tend to play instruments onstage for the most part. There aren't many exceptions. Something to do with not being able to engage with the audience if you are using an instrument as a shield.
Jim
Morrison?
Sparks
Does Russell Mael count?
Well
At the 21 albums concert last May for Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins, the world shifted on its axis as during Tsui Hark Ron came out front and did vocals and Russell plinked away on keyboards. Needless to say, crowd went nuts. Sparks audiences are hugely joyous and friendly.
Tsui Hark
Is the song named after, or about, the Hong Kong director?
Yes
It's not only about him, but features him talking. Result! At the gig, Ron performed the part of Tsui Hark.
iTunes link, it's not on Spotify...
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?i=137100563&...
Ozzy..
Ian Gillan (Unmiked congas don't count)
Someone always...
...thrusts a tambourine into the hands of an otherwise instrument-less lead singer. What about Ian Curtis - was he sans instrument or did he play a guitar for show, now and then?
Doesn't he play a Vox teardrop
in the "Love will tear us apart" video?
Indeed he did
Notably a leftie, too, if memory serves.
Apart from air guitar
how about the father and son from Sheffield, Joe and Jarvis Cocker?
Jarvis
Has Jarvis been 'guilty' of playing one of those little toy keyboards (or even a stylophone)? That'd put paid to his credentials.
The same may be true of Mark E Smith - who some may say hasn't even been singing.
Dunno about Joe
but Jarvis sometimes played guitar live with Pulp.
Solo Too
I've seen him touring his solo record, he still plays an acoustic on a couple of songs.
David Lee Roth
has never picked up an instrument on stage to my knowledge.
I was fortunate to be at Donington in 1984 to see Van Halen blow headliners AC/DC into the weeds. At one point during the traditional hail of piss filled bottles, DLR turned to the crowd and said something along the lines of "Quit throwing that sh*t at me or I'll f*ck your girlfriend".
Nope
Saw DLR with Steve Vai and the Bissonette brothers at Wembley and he played acoustic guitar for the first couple of verses of "Ice cream man". Great gig actually. A boxing ring was involved.
Nope
Saw DLR with Steve Vai and the Bissonette brothers at Wembley and he played acoustic guitar for the first couple of verses of "Ice cream man". Great gig actually. A boxing ring was involved.
Nope
Saw DLR with Steve Vai and the Bissonette brothers at Wembley and he played acoustic guitar for the first couple of verses of "Ice cream man". Great gig actually. A boxing ring was involved.
So good he named it thrice!
They played Wembley? Who woulda thunk it?
Just goes to show...
I was also there that night and don't remember that at all - the guitar, not the boxing ring. Still, hardly surprising given the amount and quality of showbiz involved in that show. I'm still giddy from the huge inflatable legs that came over the backline during California Girls.
Boxing ring
The boxing ring came out of the floor, DLR abseiled down a rope into the ring and sang "Hot for teacher", then leapt out of the ring onto a surf board mounted on a buggy and "surfed" back to the stage. I remember no legs though! Are we sure this was the same gig? This would have been 1988. Fantastic though!!
Front Men
I'm not sure about the theory that front men don't play instruments on stage, although I'd acknowledge that those who do, tend not to do it on every song.
I think Jagger is reasonably proficient on guitar, piano and harmonica. In fact I'm pretty sure the keyboard motif on Continental Drift, one of the last really interesting things the Stones did, was down to him. And when I saw them live, he was playing guitar on quite a few songs.
Jarvis Cocker can play guitar pretty well, as his appearances on Later with Pulp attest.
Robert Plant blows a mean harmonica, as does Roger Daltrey - his replacement of the fiddle on Baba O'Reilly with harmonica, as played on Later, was bloody impressive.
I think even the many people who loathe Queen would have to admit that Freddie was a pretty nifty pianist. David Bowie is a very versatile and resourceful player.
Michael Stipe seems to be a genuine non-instrumentalist, as is Morrissey.
Stipey as the Reverend Bingo
Played the keyboards (sometimes in a delightfully Les Dawson type fashion) when the band played at the Borderline in 1991. I have the film somewhere
Ian
Dury?
You may be right
I don't remember him playing anything. Stretching the rock boundaries a bit, I don't remember Maddy Prior ever picking up a dulcimer or whatever.
On a similar theme...
Suggs?
And Shaun Ryder comes to mind too.
Is it a peculiarly 80's phenomenon?
Simon Le Bon
Boy George
Martin Fry
Phil Oakey
Glenn Gregory
Limahl
Dave Gahan
Adam Ant
Holly Johnson
Morten Harket
I'm very sorry - I appear to have turned into the 1984 Smash Hits yearbook.
Good point
Posing became as important as musical ability in the 80s. Say no more, looking at your list.
Colin
Blunstone - but with a voice like his, why would he need to play? - still going very strong.
Morrissey - Piano on one song!
Morrissey does have one musical credit I am aware of: on the sleevenotes for Strangeways Here We Come he is credited with piano on Death Of A Disco Dancer.
Paul Heaton plays guitar on Freedom by The Housemartins, but I'm not sure if he's credited as playing on any other recordings. He doesn't pick one up live, though he mimes one in the video for Me And The Farmer and is at the piano in the Song For Whoever promo.
Ian Brown is something of a multi-instrumentalist (check out some of the credits on Unfinished Monkey Business) but never plays guitar live. Just Harmonica I believe.
Did not Gene Vincent
let the Blue Caps do the honours so that he could concentrate on his singing and staying upright? He did sometimes pose with a battered guitar in photos but I don't believe he ever played one.