NationStates Jolt Archive


Favorite Singer/Songwriter

Imperial Evil Vertigo
23-03-2006, 02:46
My favorite is Bob Dylan. He did really good folk stuff that influenced The Beatles (You can see their change from boy meets girl songs to more surreal songs. In the Beatles Anthology, Paul Mcartney said it was because of Dylan) and everyone else around at that time. Then he did Rock, and one of his first rock songs, "Like A Rolling Stone" was the best song of all time, according to the famous magazine, Rolling Stone. His latest two albums got grammys.
However, there is alot of compitition up there.
Argesia
23-03-2006, 02:47
E.

(Mark Oliver Everett)


Out of the ones on the poll: David Bowie. But it was hard picking between him and Bob Dylan.
Whereyouthinkyougoing
23-03-2006, 02:55
E.

(Mark Oliver Everett)
I officially love you for that.


Hmm, maybe they're not exactly as seminal as those on the poll, but you asked for favourite, so I'll actually go with a nice mix of John Taylor, Simon & Garfunkel, Damien Rice, and Billy Joel, if the latter one counts as singer & song writer (I'm never really sure with that category).

ETA: And probably Rufus Wainwright. How could I forget the Gay Messiah?
Rangerville
23-03-2006, 02:59
I chose Bob Dylan, but i also love The Beatles and John Lennon, and Queen is my favorite band, i think they were good songwriters too.
Imperial Evil Vertigo
23-03-2006, 03:03
who chose david bowie? that gay ziggy has 3 good songs. It ends there.
Nadkor
23-03-2006, 03:05
Jeff Buckley.

One proper album, bit it's one of the best.
Imperial Evil Vertigo
23-03-2006, 03:09
Jeff Buckley.

One proper album, bit it's one of the best.
did you vote?
Bodies Without Organs
23-03-2006, 03:17
who chose david bowie? that gay ziggy has 2 good songs. It ends there.

And they are which two, pray tell?
Sona-Nyl
23-03-2006, 03:18
Frank Sinatra was not a singer/songwriter. He was certainly a great jazz vocalist, but if he ever wrote a song of his own then it never made it to record.

That said, I have to throw in a LOUD vote for Nick Drake. It took rather a long time (over two years) for me to realize that he wasn't contemporary; I think that speaks pretty favorably for the timelessness of his music.

Also, he has influenced scores of great musicians, including Jeff Buckley, Richard Thompson, Damien Jurado, Elliott Smith...the list goes on. A huge number of greats have either been influenced by Drake or by others who bore his mark strongly.

Paul Simon also deserves a spot on the list.
New Stalinberg
23-03-2006, 03:38
Electric Light Orchestra.
AB Again
23-03-2006, 03:39
Paul Simon
Keruvalia
23-03-2006, 04:02
Prince
Imperial Dark Rome
23-03-2006, 04:18
My favorite solo songwriters...

1.Kurt Cobain
2.Johnny Cash
3.Bob Dylan
4.Steve Winwood
5.Van Morrison

~Satanic Reverend Medivh~
Peisandros
23-03-2006, 09:00
Bob Marley
Demented Hamsters
23-03-2006, 09:04
Beck, just cause no-one's mentioned him yet.
Also Leonard Cohen and Cats Steven.
Sarkhaan
23-03-2006, 09:42
Billy Joel.

skipping that, I'll say Dylan or Elton
The Half-Hidden
23-03-2006, 11:42
Elton John or maybe Bowie on the poll. I like Dylan too, Leonard Cohen and Neil Young. As for contemporaries I like Devendra Banheart, Tori Amos, Bjork, Fiona Apple and Sufjan Stevens.
Markiria
23-03-2006, 11:47
Madonna!
Whereyouthinkyougoing
23-03-2006, 11:49
Forgot Cat Stevens & Leonard Cohen. *curses*

And I really have to get that new Fiona Apple album & see if she doesn't merit a mention after all.
Soviet Haaregrad
23-03-2006, 12:12
Well, Ol' Dirty Bastard is interesting, but Will from Orchid/Bucket Full of Teeth/Ampere has been in three of the most important hardcore bands ever...
The UN abassadorship
23-03-2006, 12:22
Toby Keith, that boys American!
Exochina
23-03-2006, 12:35
1.Thom Yorke
2.Nick Drake
3.Bob Dylan (best lyrics)
4.Morrisey/Marr (ya cant have one without the other)
5.Tim Buckley(more of a performer than a songwriter but some really beautiful songs)
6.Neil Young (can be a bit tactless but he knows how to tug yr strings)
7.Elvis Costello (personally i think costello is the greatest songwriter of all time)
8.Tom Waits
9.Frank Black (weird)

Not someone who i really listen to but someone who definitely deserves a mention: leonard cohen.
Adriatica II
23-03-2006, 12:53
Tom Lerher

But on a more contemporary note Katie Melua

Go Croydons own!
Jello Biafra
23-03-2006, 13:34
Kurt Cobain, with Billy Corgan being my favorite living singer/songwriter.
For women, the choice is more difficult, but I'd have to say Diamanda Galas or Jarboe.
Curious Inquiry
23-03-2006, 15:55
My favorite is Bob Dylan. He did really good folk stuff that influenced The Beatles (You can see their change from boy meets girl songs to more surreal songs. In the Beatles Anthology, Paul Mcartney said it was because of Dylan) . . .

However, that influence was not from Dylan's music, rather from introducing the Beatles to his good friend Mary Jane ;)
Drunk commies deleted
23-03-2006, 15:56
Paul Simon
Good pick. For me it's a toss up between him and Suzanne Vega.
Rhursbourg
23-03-2006, 16:32
John Tams,Woody Guthrie, Noel Coward
Daistallia 2104
23-03-2006, 17:12
Hank Williams Sr.

http://www.hank3.com/imag3s/papers/nosize/hank_sr_obey.jpg
Potarius
23-03-2006, 17:44
Bob Mould.

http://idisk.mac.com/granarymusic/Public/bobpride1.jpg

Second to him is Billy Joel.
Sona-Nyl
23-03-2006, 18:33
And I really have to get that new Fiona Apple album & see if she doesn't merit a mention after all.

It's good. I'd say better than either of her others.
Imperial Evil Vertigo
24-03-2006, 01:24
Hmm. I knew I was missing many people from the start, good people yet small-time. :headbang: :headbang: Kurt Cobain is not really solo, and David Bowie's only good songs are Changes, Rebel, Rebel, and Space Oddity.
Terrorist Cakes
24-03-2006, 01:30
Morrissey. He's not only a genius, but probably also God.
Timmikistan
24-03-2006, 01:37
the best thing about morrissey is that i think he is both a twat and a genius. ever seen him in an interview; so stuck up his own arse that he can tickle his own nose. but at the same tame so cool that he would make me swoon;

his best lyric. hang the dj, hang the dj...
cause the music that they constantly play
sings nothing to me about my life
Drunk Crackheads
24-03-2006, 01:43
one name, Ronnie Van Zant, Of Lynyrd Skynyrd, greatest band, singer and songwriter of all time


also john melloncamp, queen, hank williams jr, johnny cash,
Imperial Evil Vertigo
24-03-2006, 01:46
Frank Sinatra was not a singer/songwriter. He was certainly a great jazz vocalist, but if he ever wrote a song of his own then it never made it to record.

That said, I have to throw in a LOUD vote for Nick Drake. It took rather a long time (over two years) for me to realize that he wasn't contemporary; I think that speaks pretty favorably for the timelessness of his music.

Also, he has influenced scores of great musicians, including Jeff Buckley, Richard Thompson, Damien Jurado, Elliott Smith...the list goes on. A huge number of greats have either been influenced by Drake or by others who bore his mark strongly.

Paul Simon also deserves a spot on the list.

I want everyone after this to follow this example:
1.) Denounce a choice on the list, EXPLAIN WHY.
2.) Say your fav. gay, EXPLAIN WHY
3.) tell us a little about your favorite.
Breitenburg
24-03-2006, 01:52
I have three. Syd Barrett, Roger Waters, and David Gilmour, all of Pink Floyd. Barrett wrote and sang amazingly psychotic and psychodelic lyrics, much to his character. Waters kept the mental theme, and he has amazingly ifferent voices. Gilmour, though a better guitar player, was still amazing, and his voice is distinctive and great, especially in Comfortably Numb. It's a shame that these guys don't get the respect they deserve.
Timmikistan
24-03-2006, 02:00
I want everyone after this to follow this example:
1.) Denounce a choice on the list, EXPLAIN WHY.
2.) Say your fav. gay, EXPLAIN WHY
3.) tell us a little about your favorite.

okay ill give it a go;

1) Denounce ; Other, never heard anything good from this singer songwriter. And who in their right mind would call their child other, or who would change their name to other?

2.) Joy Division (Ian Curtis) lyrics alone can cut your heart in two and reduce you a heaping mess of lonelyness. the music on the other hand fills me with transendent joy emploring me to hear more more more. more over joy division later in new order ushered in the new post punk era etc. Ian Curtis artistic suicide influenced many artists of which Kurt Cobain is a follower.
to learn more kids rush out and buy all joy division cds, and buy the film 24 hour party people.

sorry for the flippant answer to numer 1. from the list though 50 cent (not tupac though)
Terrorist Cakes
24-03-2006, 02:01
the best thing about morrissey is that i think he is both a twat and a genius. ever seen him in an interview; so stuck up his own arse that he can tickle his own nose. but at the same tame so cool that he would make me swoon;

his best lyric. hang the dj, hang the dj...
cause the music that they constantly play
sings nothing to me about my life

Well, he certainly knows he's a genius. But I'm a soprano, so I admire unrelenting arrogance.
Imperial Evil Vertigo
24-03-2006, 03:41
I have three. Syd Barrett, Roger Waters, and David Gilmour, all of Pink Floyd. Barrett wrote and sang amazingly psychotic and psychodelic lyrics, much to his character. Waters kept the mental theme, and he has amazingly ifferent voices. Gilmour, though a better guitar player, was still amazing, and his voice is distinctive and great, especially in Comfortably Numb. It's a shame that these guys don't get the respect they deserve.
I think they did.
Megaloria
24-03-2006, 03:42
Electric Light Orchestra.

Thanks for filling that quota for me!
Megaloria
24-03-2006, 03:46
David Bowie's only good songs are Changes, Rebel, Rebel, and Space Oddity.

Can you name any others, or is that just what you glean from the radio?
Kinda Sensible people
24-03-2006, 03:51
1. Peter, Paul, and Mary
2. Ian Mackaye
3. Bob Dylan
4. Whoever writes for Stratovarius
5. Johann Sebastian Brahms
Jello Biafra
24-03-2006, 11:30
Hmm. I knew I was missing many people from the start, good people yet small-time. :headbang: :headbang: Kurt Cobain is not really solo, The OP doesn't say solo artist.

and David Bowie's only good songs are Changes, Rebel, Rebel, and Space Oddity.What about "Ziggy Stardust" and "The Man Who Sold the World"?
Imperial Evil Vertigo
27-03-2006, 00:40
The OP doesn't say solo artist.

What about "Ziggy Stardust" and "The Man Who Sold the World"?
those songs SUCK ASS. And it does say solo.
Potarius
27-03-2006, 00:50
I'm surprised that I'm the only one who's said Bob Mould.
Imperial Evil Vertigo
27-03-2006, 00:57
I'm surprised that I'm the only one who's said Bob Mould.
Your not, some one mentioned him before. . . .
Potarius
27-03-2006, 01:01
Your not, some one mentioned him before. . . .

That would be me on Post #29.
Imperial Evil Vertigo
27-03-2006, 01:14
That would be me on Post #29.
oops.
The lime green pandas
27-03-2006, 01:15
Well, my favorite singer is Amy Lee, of Evanescence. Her voice is BEAUTIFUL! And she is very inspiring, I can really relate to Evanescence's songs and such!! :D Lol.

<3's Nikki
Homovox
27-03-2006, 04:16
who chose david bowie? that gay ziggy has 3 good songs. It ends there.

you are an idiot. David Bowie is responsible for the advent of punk rock, post-punk, new wave, new romantic, synth pop, electronica, and general experimentalism in pop music. he's probably the most versatile artist in the history of rock and roll and a cultural icon.