News1 min ago
Hugh Laurie - Emperor's New Clothes?
20 Answers
Not heard HL sing and play before, but read all the hype about his first album, and even more about the new one and ...
what a load of rubbish! He plays with an average style, and sings like someone asked to do a tune in a pub on a Saturday night.
Were he not Hugh Laurie, ac-tor - he wouldn't get a look-in with any record label in the world - and as it is, no-one should be shelling out for music as bland and characterless as this, there seems to be no end to the level of hype fame in one art form can give, when someone tries to perform in another.
There is no earthly reason to assume that singers would be anything approaching watchable as actors - Madonna, David Bowie, Sting, Mick Jagger and so on ad nauseum, so why do we expect the same in reverse?
As Doctor Johnson would say - an actor singing is like a dog walking on its hind legs - it is not done well, but you are surprised to see it done at all.
what a load of rubbish! He plays with an average style, and sings like someone asked to do a tune in a pub on a Saturday night.
Were he not Hugh Laurie, ac-tor - he wouldn't get a look-in with any record label in the world - and as it is, no-one should be shelling out for music as bland and characterless as this, there seems to be no end to the level of hype fame in one art form can give, when someone tries to perform in another.
There is no earthly reason to assume that singers would be anything approaching watchable as actors - Madonna, David Bowie, Sting, Mick Jagger and so on ad nauseum, so why do we expect the same in reverse?
As Doctor Johnson would say - an actor singing is like a dog walking on its hind legs - it is not done well, but you are surprised to see it done at all.
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Yes, he loves the idea of that music but isn't great at living and performing it. I'm sure he's perfectly sincere and wasn't looking to make money, but he had the chance to lay down a few tracks and enjoyed it. He might even be embarrassed by any hype it gets on account of his acting. It's his "violon d'Ingres" as the French neatly say.[ Ingres was a hugely successful artist but also a keen amateur violinist. Clients who came to his studio had to endure his violin playing first before they were allowed to see their pictures ]
I thought he was excellent - nice tight band behind him as well.
He's bringing the blues (the best style of music there has ever been, IMO) back into the heads of the record-buying public & I salute him for doing it.
His style is - his style - why should he have to sound better or worse than anyone else? The fact that he made his name as an actor should be irrelevant - he can either cut the mustard or he can't. IMO, he does, with flair.
He plays & sings with an obvious love of the blues - no, he's not the greatest pianist/singer/composer, but I'd rather listen to him than most of the rubbish in "the charts".
"There are minds so impatient of inferiority that their gratitude is a species of revenge, and they return benefits, not because recompense is a pleasure, but because obligation is a pain" (Samuel Johnson)
He's bringing the blues (the best style of music there has ever been, IMO) back into the heads of the record-buying public & I salute him for doing it.
His style is - his style - why should he have to sound better or worse than anyone else? The fact that he made his name as an actor should be irrelevant - he can either cut the mustard or he can't. IMO, he does, with flair.
He plays & sings with an obvious love of the blues - no, he's not the greatest pianist/singer/composer, but I'd rather listen to him than most of the rubbish in "the charts".
"There are minds so impatient of inferiority that their gratitude is a species of revenge, and they return benefits, not because recompense is a pleasure, but because obligation is a pain" (Samuel Johnson)
woofgang - you're right, it just struck me that Laurie is really not that good a musician - and to my mind, passion does not equate with talent. There is no-one more passionate than me about music, but I can't carry a tune in a bucket.
However, I know a considerable about about music and the people who make it, and I know the difference between a hobby player and a genuinely innovative talent.
To be fair to HL, I think he has made his albums as a labour of love, but the hype round them is trying to set m up as Robert Johnson re-born, and he is a very very long way from that.
So my argument is not with HL or actors who sing, it is merely that people see a talent in one artistic area, and make an invalid transfer of that talent to another area. If appeals, great, but let's not have him marketed as the great white wonder - he is not.
However, I know a considerable about about music and the people who make it, and I know the difference between a hobby player and a genuinely innovative talent.
To be fair to HL, I think he has made his albums as a labour of love, but the hype round them is trying to set m up as Robert Johnson re-born, and he is a very very long way from that.
So my argument is not with HL or actors who sing, it is merely that people see a talent in one artistic area, and make an invalid transfer of that talent to another area. If appeals, great, but let's not have him marketed as the great white wonder - he is not.
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but then he is no different from artists that get airplay on previous releases and not on the merits of the current material itself.
in the past music/a song became a "hit" because the radio djs decided what you were going to listen to and there wasnt really any way of listening to anything else.
at least now with the internet that hold is being broken and hopefully destoyed.
i have friends and maybe even myself are far better musicians than laurie but as we dont already have a name in the media to trade on our music wont see the light of day.
as a musician he brings absolutely nothing to the table
in the past music/a song became a "hit" because the radio djs decided what you were going to listen to and there wasnt really any way of listening to anything else.
at least now with the internet that hold is being broken and hopefully destoyed.
i have friends and maybe even myself are far better musicians than laurie but as we dont already have a name in the media to trade on our music wont see the light of day.
as a musician he brings absolutely nothing to the table
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