Rock's Most Troubling Looks

By Mr. Moderator on Jul 12, 2009

When I asked myself which rockers possess rock's most troubling Look, the first three that came to mind were Phil Lynott, Sam Phillips (of Sun Records), and Tom Petty. I see these cats and want to reach over and show them what they're doing wrong.

Phil Lynott: Something's gotta give.

Thin Lizzy's Phil Lynott has long been dead, but his Look continues to trouble me. Something's gotta give, be it the part in his Afro, the mustache, or the leather jumpsuits. His issues with Bat Wing Syndrome and his death notwithstanding, Lynott's the first rocker I'd like to breakdown in front of a miror and recast in a less-sleazy, more powerful presence. Troubling.

Follow up:

Sam Phillips: Brett Favre gone to seed.

My main beef with perennially unretiring quarterback Brett Favre is his 1:1 hair-to-beard ratio. His hair and beard are always at the same length and flecked by the same amount of gray. I find the lack of contrast between head and facial hair highly disturbing. Likewise, the dyed beard that Sam Phillips favored always seemed to too closely match his dyed hair, in both color and length. It's a vision of Brett Favre, finally retired and gone to seed. Highly troubling!

Tom Petty: You've got to give it up.

What was once a cool display of '70s stoner chic, Tom Petty's receding hairline has made his center part untenable. It's more of a center sprout. Immediate action required.

Do you ever feel this way about the any rockers? I'm not taking rockers with a bad Look, necessarily, like Brett Michaels and his dual efforts at covering his baldness, but a Look that's in serious need of a makeover, a "wrong" Look, if you will, on a rocker who could easily do better.

Tags: style

25 comments

Comment from: Mr. Moderator [Member]

You're making me feel more petty than usual, Townspeople. None of you has ever had the impulse to save a rocker from his or her own misguided Look?

07/13/09 @ 09:02

Comment from: alexmagic [Member]

Everybody's waiting for you to notice that you put up a picture of Penny Marshall instead of Tom Petty.

07/13/09 @ 09:11

Comment from: Oats [Member]

I don't have a problem with Lynott's look. Looks a bit goofy now, but he pulled it off.

Petty managed to eek out a modicum of cool in his early days. Not bad for a fundamentally unattractive man. Time caught up with him. It happens.

Sam Phillips had a bad look, yes. But he was from a completely different time and region than me. I can't expect him to conform to my ideas of cool.

I hate Costello's current look -- something out of a Joel Schumacher Batman movie. And those hats -- ugh!

07/13/09 @ 09:56

Comment from: Mr. Moderator [Member]

To be clear, Oats, I think the young Petty's Look worked great. Time has caught up with it, and that's why I single him out in his current state as among the Looks that give me the most trouble.

I like the way you characterize Costello's present look! The way those Batman/Dick Tracy movie suits bunch up on him make me uncomfortable. This is exactly the sort of troubling Look I want to hear about from Townspeople.

07/13/09 @ 10:18

Comment from: BigSteve [Member]

I thought Petty's Look improved immensely when he was bearded and looked more grizzled, especially since he let the grey show in a surprisingly dark beard. Unfortunately he's reverted to clean-shaven and bottle blond. But Mike Campbell has even more issues these days with his 'are those dreads? seriously?' Look.

In general I think Dylan has earned the right to do whatever he wants to do, but he's had several troubling Look eras. The roving gypsy Look of the Desire era were the spangly entertainer of the Street Legal era were the most obviously problematical. I think he's done almost every Look except suit and tie, though in the 80s he did try the white sportjacket with the sleeves rolled up Look. On the other hand, he's always been about covering a lot of ground with various cultural reference points while still retaining his essential Dylanness, so the parade of Looks has a kind of logic. And whatever the Look, it generally reflects the music somehow, like the current riverboat gambler Look.

I probably like Bono a lot more than most people in these parts, but his current Look has reached a point of no return. He and Jeff Lynne need to be taken to eyewear counseling.

And Bono's short back and sides combined with excessive Just For Men use is wearing thin. My advice is low profile specs and letting the grey show. He's even got Joyce and Beckett giving him great role models for the artistic Irishman Look:

http://www.thesharkguys.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/james-joyce.jpg
http://www.arcadepub.com/resources/persons/338.gif

07/13/09 @ 10:40

Comment from: Mr. Moderator [Member]

Nice work, BigSteve! The Bearded Petty was definitely a promising revision to his Look. Maybe he'll see this thread and get back on track.

I'm with you on Dylan and Bono, too.

07/13/09 @ 10:58

Comment from: shawnkilroy [Member]

nobody has had bigger appearance problems than Lou Reed. The afro, dyed and undyed. The terrible leather jackets, The lame Oakley blade-ish sunglasses, SHORTS! Worst looking guitar collection ever witnessed. He looked allright inthe Velvets. Someone must have been picking out his clothes for him.

07/13/09 @ 11:10

Comment from: diskojoe [Member]

I actually met Sam Phillips on my Memphis trip many moons ago & didn't mind his look at all. It was sorta like a Hip Southern Prophet Look. Thank goodness he channeled his talents towards music instead of turning into Charles Manson.

EC's current Look is not as troubling as that bearded look he had circa 1991 which planted the 1st seeds of doubt in my fanhood.

Finally, here's a Look that's rather troubling. I can't believe that this group was popular in the UK back in the day. The song's actually not half bad, but the Look takes something away:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2sMuVPMkkk

07/13/09 @ 12:12

Comment from: Oats [Member]

EC's current Look is not as troubling as that bearded look he had circa 1991 which planted the 1st seeds of doubt in my fanhood.

I disagree. Can this be the new poll?

07/13/09 @ 12:37

Comment from: Mr. Moderator [Member]

I've liked everything I've heard by Mud, which admittedly is only about 4 songs. I've got to pick up a Best of Mud, if one exists. I can handle that Look; it's so goofy it can't be judged as "misguided."

07/13/09 @ 13:55

Comment from: diskojoe [Member]

Here's something I found at Amazon UK that may fit the bill for a Mud's Greatest Hits:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Greatest-Hits-Mud/dp/B00004SRK7/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1247509269&sr=8-1

07/13/09 @ 14:24

Comment from: Tvox [Member]

· http://www.myspace.com/thetrolleyvox

Petty's beard was a great getting older gracefully strategy. You don't think Petty could pull off Levon Helm's Spanish nobleman beard look, do you?

07/13/09 @ 15:02

Comment from: Oats [Member]

I also liked Petty's beard and mourn its demise. Probably 50% of my affection for Wildflowers is due to the beard.

07/13/09 @ 15:16

Comment from: Mr. Moderator [Member]

Oats, I wonder what other albums benefit to that degree by the band leader's facial hair.

07/13/09 @ 17:01

Comment from: Mr. Moderator [Member]

Tvox, I really hope Petty is reading this thread and sees your suggestion. That would definitely work for him!

07/13/09 @ 17:02