Artists with Credibility

[PlanktonSideburns]

I thought Kiss had no credibility because they inherently have no credibility from the very start to the end, side to side, straight up and down and inside and out. Just a 100% complete and utter lack of credibility for everyone ever for all time in perpetuity in all corners of the universe for ever and ever in any situation with no exceptions.

you mean to say that the starchild isnt an actuall starchild?!

[bgmnts]

Goldie Lookin' Chain.

[PlanktonSideburns]

yea GLC have been a fucking good bunch of lads fair doos

[Gripperstebson]

There's an element of being good ahead of being credible.

[Sin Agog]

Oh yes, of course. He's had a couple of brushes with mainstream fame - Egyptian Reggae was a fluke hit, and millions of people saw him in those Farrelly films - but it probably never even occurred to him to capitalise on that. He's quite happy in his niche little bubble.

I've seen him play a few times over the years, and he's bawled like a baby every single gig.  I really hope the heart-on-sleeve man-child thing isn't a role, as I do love the idea of someone remaining that innocent and open even after being in the industry since the early '70s.  Can't find it online, but I remember him once appearing on the Marc and Lard show and them not gelling at all- he seemed really surly and grumpy, prob 'cause he's a somewhat recalcitrant shy sort forced to deal with these brash, bantersome Mancs.  Might not have been as spiky as my memory's making it, but it felt like a bit of a car crash while I was listening.

Donovan is a very different kind of man-child.  He's like one of those old children at the end of Akira.  Always yelling at someone in his entourage (usually a beleaguered nephew) about some trifling shite, gracelessly flirting with the wimmens, and acting generally brattish in a way unbecoming to his age.  Do love the old get, though.

[Brundle-Fly]

Artist credibility does make me slightly nauseous though.  On whose terms?

[easytarget]

Pearl Jam? (not 100% sure on this because I don't like Pearl Jam), same line up(?), good environmental politics, seem like nice lads.

In fact the 80s/90s alt scene on the west coast of America is probably a good source for 'credible bands'. Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney, Melvins.

[magval]

Artist credibility does make me slightly nauseous though.  On whose terms?

What I had in mind when I started the thread was less about judgment and more about general perception. While I think that judgment is an inherent and sometimes unfortunate part of passionate music fandom, what I'm on about here is more 'artists less likely to be slagged off by their critics and their fans than other artists'.

Some interesting notions about arbitration of credibility have come up over the last couple of pages though, but I'm still thinking along the lines of those less in need of caveats.

Spent a lot of time listening to Miles Davis yesterday, so here's another. Miles Davis - gas trumpet player, but violent. Knocking his wife about tempers the greatness somewhat. Not of the music itself, but of the artist.

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

Surprised Mark E Smith hasn't been mentioned so far. There. I said it.

That would be a very bad choice for an example of an artist with credibility. I remember being embarrassed upon seeing him being interviewed by Channel 4 news ( in the pub, inevitably), looking and sounding like the grizzled old Jakey you avoid in your local. Channel 4 news are not unguilty of being cunts, mind, it seems the only reason they did the interview was for " fucking state of this feller" reasons.

[mobias]

Robert Smith has never let me down.

I don't mind it if an artist does loose credibility now and again. You don't have to agree with someone on everything. Its ok to not always be perfect in everyones eyes, it shows character sometimes I think. There's lots of artists out there who have never lost credibility but there's lots of artists out there who are maybe just a little bit dull as a result.

Artist credibility does make me slightly nauseous though.  On whose terms?

Exactly.

[Shit Good Nose]

Robert Smith has never let me down.

He is solely responsible for The Dredd Song.  Although to be fair he quickly made up for it with his appearance in South Park a year or so later.

[the science eel]

That would be a very bad choice for an example of an artist with credibility. I remember being embarrassed upon seeing him being interviewed by Channel 4 news ( in the pub, inevitably), looking and sounding like the grizzled old Jakey you avoid in your local. Channel 4 news are not unguilty of being cunts, mind, it seems the only reason they did the interview was for " fucking state of this feller" reasons.

I always thought the reaction to that was a bit OTT. He mentioned something about Syrian men leaving their women to fight, something like that, and it cause a minor fuss on social media and on Fall fan boards. The rest of the interview was the usual stuff about the band.

If we're talking about artistic integrity rather than credibility, then MES is yer man.

[The Crumb]

Pearl Jam? (not 100% sure on this because I don't like Pearl Jam), same line up(?), good environmental politics, seem like nice lads.

In fact the 80s/90s alt scene on the west coast of America is probably a good source for 'credible bands'. Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney, Melvins.

Feel like Sleater Kinney would have been a great answer til they completely fucked it with their last album and their most credible member quit.

The National and their many collaborators and side projects are a web of modern US Indie credibility. Not that it always leads to thrilling results.

[holyzombiejesus]

If we're talking about artistic integrity rather than credibility, then MES is yer man.

Is recording a string of cover versions in order to get in the charts particularly integral showing integrity? Hawking little boxed 7"s with mock up Victoria Cross badges or 'hologram' sleeves just strikes me as a bit tacky and something that anyone on this list shouldn't really be doing.

Can't believe that someone mentioned the Velvet Underground either. It's a bit of a daft term but I think the definition that someone gave of putting the art above money is a good idea of what we're looking at.

I think Kevin Rowland definitely had it to the point where it made him a bit ill.

[thecuriousorange]

John Cooper Clarke

If you don't mind the TV ads for Sugar Puffs and oven chips.

(I don't)

[Sin Agog]

I once saw John Cooper Clarke do a set consisting of nothing but street gags and a couple of old poems.  I suspected there was something off about his choice of jokes- they weren't really in his cadence at all- and googled two or three of them.  He'd lifted his whole set wholesale off of one page of an internet joke site.

[the science eel]

He's my hero. You see him on panel shows sometimes and as soon as he opens his gob you hear a bit of nervous laughter from the audience. Totally his own man.

'get back on drugs ya fat fuck'

[Jockice]

I once saw John Cooper Clarke do a set consisting of nothing but street gags and a couple of old poems.  I suspected there was something off about his choice of jokes- they weren't really in his cadence at all- and googled two or three of them.  He'd lifted his whole set wholesale off of one page of an internet joke site.

I once saw a bloke called Jegsy Dodd perform live in Liverpool. One of his poems was directly ripped off from JCC's The Day My Pad Went Mad. Only he'd called it The Day My Flat Went Weird, obviously in the hope that those watching would think it was an original.

[Jockice]

imo they lost a bit of credibility when they went ahead with their Israel gig and Thom Yorke's response to criticism was "why are people telling us what to do?!" I'm not nearly informed enough to have an opinion on the rightness or wrongness of that decision but it seemed like a completely inept response to a pretty valid set of objections.

isn't that because Israel was the first place they had a hit? if it hadn't been for that and Gary Davies playing them on Radio One they could have vanished without trace.

[McChesney Duntz]

Not an especially well-known band, I guess, but a great one - Sloan from Nova Scotia, Canada. Together for almost thirty years now, same four members all of whom share the singing and songwriting, signed to DGC during the grunge gold rush but refused to capitalize on it to their commercial detriment, and from all accounts a really swell bunch of guys.

If you like guitar pop, they're unimpeachable - all their albums are high-quality, but their second and third releases, Twice Removed and One Chord to Another are damn near perfect. First tracks from each:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXgLzlRJRYI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qffy6uHkcTU

[sutin]

Jello Biafra has done a damn good job of sticking to his principles. He turned down an insane amount of money to reunite with Dead Kennedys for that festival that Danzig reunited with the Misfits for. I imagine he really could have done with that money as he's lost two massive court cases in his life and Alternative Tentacles can no longer can put out DK or NoMeansNo records (historically their two best selling artists), so fair fucks.

[The Mollusk]

Jello Biafra has done a damn good job of sticking to his principles. He turned down an insane amount of money to reunite with Dead Kennedys for that festival that Danzig reunited with the Misfits for. I imagine he really could have done with that money as he's lost two massive court cases in his life and Alternative Tentacles can no longer can put out DK or NoMeansNo records (historically their two best selling artists), so fair fucks.

DKs were mentioned back on the first page but I think my response to that went unnoticed:

Their significantly weaker last two albums notwithstanding, DK don't qualify for this thread at all due to their various embittered money squabbles which continue to this day. The courts ruled against Jello and Alternative Tentacles after the band split up, since he was found to be paying less in royalties to his former band mates (and himself, it should be noted) for DK sales than to any other band on his label, without bothering to inform them. He has also claimed they wanted to sell the rights to Levi's to use one of their songs in an advert, but they denied it.

The three other members of the band have been performing under the same name without Jello for many years now. Regardless of the history that preceded this, and the fact that Jello embodies outspoken punk values almost to a fault, I still think he's the only one left with any credibility and the other three just come off as sloppy, petty and a greedy legacy act who seem to think the ends justify the means which is complete and utter bollocks for a band as fiery and passionate as they once were.

Anyway I agree, dude's a hero to me.

[Dr Syntax Head]

Pearl Jam deffo (one of the drummers was a bit 'gunny' so they got rid of him for instance and the constant moral causes they support) credible.

Manic Street Preachers? I'd say so

NIN. Deffo

Jason Peirce?

Jack White?

L7?

What is credible in music anyway?

[Twonty Gostelow]

No nomination yet for Van Morrison? Because Van Morrison definitely thinks it's Van Morrison.

[sutin]

Their significantly weaker last two albums notwithstanding

I can't let this lie. Frankenchrist, their absolute masterpiece and one of the best albums of the '80s, is 'signficantly weaker' than their first two?! That's crazy talk! It was a huge step forward and a startlingly original piece of work in the identikit world of punk! Any song from that LP stands up to their hits and classics.

But yeah, Bedtime For Democracy was a damp squib conclusion to an otherwise incredible catalogue. Except Cesspools In Eden.

[The Mollusk]

Hehe, sorry. My relationship with punk (and a lot of metal) is very rough and ready. I like things to sound more raw, frenetic and unpolished. Despite it being the most well-realised and ambitious of their albums, it just isn't for me. Plastic Surgery Disasters, on the other hand, is as perfect as punk could ever hope to be. Total snarling sardonic mayhem.

[PlanktonSideburns]

i prefer incredible bands thanks

[Ornlu]

Oxbow.

[The Mollusk]

i prefer incredible bands thanks

With string or not?

[idunnosomename]

Wilko Johnson