Adjectival artists
Posted by Archie Valparaiso on 3 April 2008 - 7:22pm.
Prince is always "multitalented". Amy Winehouse is forever "troubled". Regina Spektor is invariably "quirky". . . .
Can we put together a list of artists and the adjectives that journalists are apparently under contract to use when referring to them?
Bookmark/Search this post with:
- More from Archie Valparaiso.
- Login or register to post comments
Curmudgeon Mark E.
Curmudgeon Mark E. Smith
Potty Pete Docherty
Hellraiser Tommy Lee
There is too many to list who's names are preceded by "Tatooed Rocker".
Gravel voiced...
...Tom Waits.
Yep
That's four
In the past
that epithet was always applied to Rod Stewart. I suppose there are so many more labels to attach to him now.
Boring
Radiohead
RH on JR
I thought I'd give them another try when they were on J Ross last night. Nothing in their performance suggested to me that your concise summary was anything less than 100% accurate.
Can't disagree
I used to really like them but the combination of all the hype surrounding the release of In Rainbows (just more of the same musically as the last few albums) and Thom 'Twat' Yorke's pathetic sixth form politics has turned me right off
Miserable Bugger...
Van Morrison
surely that acolade goes to
surely that acolade goes to the lead singer of the Smiths
isn't he "the legally
isn't he "the legally astute" one?
Wrinkly Rockers
The Rolling Stones... whose age is always "combined".
Richard Thompson
underrated
Ex public school boy....
Joe Strummer.
And ex-choirboy Shane MacGowan.
Vicars son Lemmy.
Thirsty John Martyn.
Vicar's son
Quentin "fatboy slim"
Witty, urbane, generous, forgiving.....
Oh, sorry, forgot, we aren't meant to mention him.
David Bowie
"Chameleon-like".
and...
'influential'
Surely that's. . .
The Velvet Underground. Googling:
+"velvet underground" +influential
123,000 hits
Just did it with Bowie...
124,000!
Lou Reed *isn't* important, see
And we have the statistics to prove it.
That's because they are all the same people
It's that Velvets/Bowie/glam/Roxy etc etc bunch. Interesting there are so few of them.
Beatles + Influential
Got 305,000 hits though. Who will win this one?
Bob Dylan
172,000
Elvis Presley 121,000
Rubbish+"he who cannot be named"
76,000
Richard Thompson Influential
154000
Google decides
This could be new idea - eg name + overrated. Might have possibilities?
Stop it!
I'm supposed to be working!
There are
any number of comedians described as 'troubled funnyman'
all except Jim Davidson.
all except Jim Davidson. He's not funny and we're troubled
Yep...
...I'll go with that.
Tom Robinson Band
"Overtly political".
And also/or "gay activist"
And also/or "gay activist" (till marriage and kids got in the way...)
Alice Cooper
"Theatrical".
Boy George
"Gender-bending".
Because
of 'Let me entertain you' it appears to be an unwritten law to describe Robbie Williams as an 'entertainer'.
I thought he was the singer
I thought he was the singer of the Milleneum. A poll said so.
No,
he was the singer of "Millennium". And it was a Pole who said so.
Polish bloke goes to the opticians
Optician says, "The top line, can you read it?" Polish bloke says, "Read it? I know him!"
- John Cooper Clarke.
Don't make me...
bring out Jeremy Hardy's pole vaulter joke.
Kate Bush
reclusive
Björk
"Enigmatic".
quirky
plus quirky
Quriky's been baggsed. . .
for Regina Spektor, so she's back to enigmatic now, I think.
Bjork ?
How about, " Away with the Fairies "
Chirpy
Macca (perhaps less so recently).
Dapper, sorry, nazi: Bryan Ferry (how the haughty have fallen)
Mr Thumbs Aloft
didnt that used to Macca's Smash Hits nickname?
Anarchist collective and/or one hit wonders
Chumbawamba.
Bob Geldof
"Outspoken".
Lippy
gets used as often
XTC
from Swindon
Sade
"Sultry" (optional: "velvety").
euphenism
Isn't this just a differnt way of saying "not white"
Ozzy Osbourne
"Notorious" (extra points if followed by "wild man of rock").
Elliott Smith...
'tortured'
Phil Collins - 'irritating'... sorry, couldn't help myself!
Legendary/Iconic
Anybody who's been around for over 20 years. Their albums are quite often seminal.
Seminal.
When stated I always find that hard to swallow.
Just spit it, than. Too far?
Just spit it, than.
Too far?
The ever-prolific...
The ever-prolific Elvis Costello
Renaissance man
Applied to anyone who has written a book, a classical piece etc etc. Roll up the aforementioned Elvis Costello, Nick Cave, Sir Paul McCartney, chap from Saxon who fences etc etc
Maybe not the fella from Motley Crue
... eh...
don't think you mean Saxon, you're getting your NWOBHM acts mixed up.
You're most likely after that "boss eyed" Dick(inson), formerly of Samson now with Iron Midden.
{insert Monty Python Australians sketch}
Correct, that man.
Wasn't sure, couldn't be arsed to check.
Mick Jagger
He's a megastar so he gets two: "wiry" and "spry".
noun alert
does goat count
I like high domed...
.....usually applicable to supposedly intellectuals rather than mere baldies. So it's Howard DeVoto and Joe Jackson, the latter,of course, another renaissance man.
Bookish: any female artist wearing spectacles, viz Laura Veirs.
"Great voice"
Any female singer who was considered not very attractive by letharios Blackburn, Edmunds or DLT on Top of the Pops.
Alf
"Big-voiced".
Statuesque, but not in that way
I get so tired of anybody with wrinkles and/or strong jaw line (Johnny Cash, Keith Richards, take your pick) being likened to one of the faces on Mount Rushmore. Beyond cliche.
Charlie Watts
"Stone-faced" (geddit?)
Anyone rumoured to do shovel-loads of cocaine
"Irrepressible".
Rod Stewart
"Ever-youthful".
Coldplay's music is reckoned to be....
Anthemic....
[Hoping this will incite more creative adjectives]
There's no t or h in...
...anemic.
Anthemic...
That has to be the one word which immedietly turns me off ever wanting to listen to the artists in question. Another horrible word that gets bandied about too much is 'melodic'. Urrrrgghhh!
Marilyn Manson
"Cadaverous".
"Real name...
...Brian Warner"
As if we didn't all know that by now.
Mick Jagger
"Ageing".
As if that didn't apply to everyone else.....
Wrinkly rocker?
Wrinkly rocker?
That reminds me
I found myself writing "time was limited" the other day, and then I realised that it tends to be, by its very nature.
Not always
If you're at Waterloo having missed your bi-hourly train by 30 bloody seconds, you seem to have all the darn time in the world. (I know what your'e saying though)
Laughing...
...Leonard Cohen
You missed out hipster,
You cannot be ageing unless you are a hipster.
Hipster II
You can't be a hipster unless you're aging either!
Takes one to know one......
....so how could we possibly know!
Guilty
...m'lud ;-)
Scott Walker is...
Challenging
...and
...reclusive.
How come this day and age.....
......so many black singers voices are described as "smoky" - all except the lead singer of the Miracles
Richard Thompson's guitar solos are....
"Spidery"
Spidery?
I didn't believe you, but a tap of spidery guitar and thompson into google brings up 4 on the first page alone, from different sources, so you may have a point.
I see the hand of allmusicgroup who seem to rent out their reviews to many sites, including amazon and e music.
And, backwards7, they were looking to hire some british staff writers recently.....
www.allmusic.com
Quite interesting yankee stance reviews.
madonna
it's noun but "re-invention" as in "the queen of" ie she's a women who has her hair cut from time to time.
They died 'tragically' young
Anyone who died before the age of ? thirty ? without a back catalogue of loads of albums particularly;
Ian Curtis, Buddy Holly,Nick Drake, the bloke from The Ruts, etc etc. usually followed by 'who knows what the might have achieved had they not died so tragically young..' The best one of these is that Ian Curtis is always described as dying 'On the eve of the band's first US tour' as if, had he got that plane, he'd have been enjoying stadium shows, an LA pad, supermodel girlfriends and rehab within the year.
does anyone not die
does anyone not die tragically?
Barrel chested
...meatloaf, frank black..
polymath
... Brian eno he doesn't just make music.
Late
Jim Morrison, Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix .......
I've never really got this one...
I mean - when you consider the phrase, "written by the late Marc Bolan," it sounds so wrong. Never mind the crap pun; to me, it sounds like there's an implication the damn song was written by a corpse.
A slight tangent
Whenever someone dies, the BBC - and probably others - refer to tributes as "pouring" in. Why do they have to pour, or flood, or anything that makes them sound like gushing? Why can't they just come in, or arrive, or something?
we could get into words..
only used in media here I'm afraid as in 72 hour bedroom "romp" and people who drink being refered to as "revellers" it's a long list.
Nah, revellers......
...is what goes to gla(r)stonbury
And the verb associated with them. . .
is "trudge".
-tastic!
use that suffix for irony
chav-tastic, groove-tastic etc
wild man
Any guitarist with a lot of hair who runs about, c/f Jimi Hendrix, Ted Nugent, Pete Townsend (who also features under "troubled...)
Lantern jawed bigot
Steven P. ...um, I mean Joe Meek (not sure about the `bigoted`. Best err on the side of caution)Lantern jawed landlady murderer fave of the vicious old Thatch; Joe MeekEquine faced (Celine Dion, Nick Cave, Todd Rungdren)Mad Dicky AshcroftSelf confessed homosexual ( any light footed "fanny fearer" (copyright Garry Bushell) from Elton John via Jimmy Somerville to Will Young)
Political and Vulgar
126,000 and 10,200 respectively for Steve Earle.
Can't think of an adjective for "often married".
Er...
Multispousal?
Shimmering
Anything from the 80s with guitars that have chorus and/or too much reverb (Cocteau Twins, etc).
I think it is.....
oft-married.
"Serial-spliced". . .
sounds more redtop.
Felt, Belle & Seb, Orange Juice
'cult' and 'fey'
"Fey. . .
and winsome", even.
Frontmen (maybe women too, couldn't think of any)
Charismatic
Can string two words together,between song banter, throws strange shapes on-stage and warbles in front of serious muso types staring at instruments/floor:
Bono, Jim Morrison, P Gabriel w Genesis, Michael Stipe, Shaun Ryder and Bez, Ian Brown in the Roses, Bobby Gillespie etc
Enigmatic
Throws strange shapes/freaky dancing etc but may write lyrics with subjects beyond girls and cars, wear make-up;
Mr Stipe again
As in 'the enigmatic/charismatic frontman of REM/Doors etc'
Bass Players and Backbone
John Entwhistle, Mani etc always described as the 'backbone of the band' - any equivalent words for keyboard players?
No keys, but...
those drummers who aren't wildmen (Moon, Bonham) are the rhythmic pulse. Or Ringo.
Menopausal
Stephen P....oh no sorry scrub that
I think you'll find. . .
It's spelled Fry, not Phry.
Oh yes
Didn't he have a really talented musician partner.....what was his name? Oh Yes - Hugh Laurie
Firstly
Here's me defending Fry's honor. Secondly...it's Stephen Patrick Morrissey.
What?
Fry's partner was Morrissey? - I thought it was Johnny Marr
Or rather...
it's Steven Patrick Morrissey
Stone Faced
John Entwhistle
Cyndi Lauper
"Kooky".
also
'ex-boxer'
Ex boxer.....
Billy Joel also.
And another..
Terence Trent D'arby
Everlasting
Sting (reference his Tantric sex claims)
See also. . .
"multifaceted".
Acerbic
Elvis Costello
Moronic
Pete Doherty
Debauched
Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, in their heyday anyway. Maybe swaggering also.
Has someone done "Disgraced"?
Gary Glitter, Jonathan King.
Intelligent
Talking Heads
Status Quo
"Infectious, boogie-based"
The Cure
"Doom-laden".
The onetime.....
as in a previously pseudonymous disgraced individual or otherwise down on his uppers......
As in: Stuart Goddard, the onetime Adam Ant, was today committed etc etc, Paul Gadd, the onetime Gary Glitter,was today convicted etc etc, Archie Valparaiso, the onetime......
Can't I be "the erstwhile"?
It sounds a bit less humiliating somehow.
Bested me there, Archie
Have a good w/e
Kraftwerk
"Pioneering"
Hell-raising
as in Keith Moon, Liam Gallagher (punched a few people and stuck the v's up once upon a time)
Spokesman for a generation
Bob Dylan, Joe Strummer, Paul Weller, blah, blah, blah
"Grizzled"
cf Neil Young, Kris Kristofferson, John Prine.
Also "Oh, I think I'll just nip to the toilet, it's..." which invariably precedes any performance by Mitch Benn.
oh I don't know....
'everything sounds like coldplay now' made me laugh like a drain
Wacky
As well as being "Kooky" Cyndi Lauper is also "Wacky." 33,000 hits in google.
The only music mag cliche I ever frown at is when a cd is referred to as "Essential."
Do they mean essential like food or oxygen? Wow! I'd better get it!
Depraved, raw and primal
Iggy Pop
also
Sneering - Johnny Rotten
what did he/ she/ they sing again
Most, if not all the adjectives mentioned are written for (and sometimes by) the proles that don`t listen to or know much about music, hence sweeping generalisations that you want to be sick. Having said that.. Bono is `campaigning`,`Moby is a `vegan raver`, Oasis are `laddish`, Mick Hucknall is `ginger` and `crap`, Primal Scream are `hell raising` and anyone/ anything northern is `dour`.
the 'ethereal' Liz Frazer
the 'hoary old rockers' - ZZ Top, The Stones, Led Zep etc etc
calling Cliff the 'peter pan of pop'
the 'toothsome' Marti Pellow
or just described any female or gay singer as 'divalike' especially if its Diana Ross.
Leonard Cohen
is always 'lugubrious'
And don't you just get hacked off with all those articles that describe an arena act's sound as 'majestic'?
The Godfather of...
... fill in yer own blanks
Nick Drake
sensitive
depressed
Very slighty
...wet?
(runs for cover)
very slightly
...dead?
Jackson Browne
is always youthful looking.
There don't seem to be any around these days who get publicity but we regularly would read about "ace sessioneer" and this would apply to Chris Spedding, Herbie Flowers, Madeleine Bell, Lesley Duncan (can't think of any drummers at the moment but there must have been at least one) while Elton John, John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page were "former ace sessioneers".