Among all the world’s confessional singer-songwriter-type numbers, which confession went too far, which confession do you regret having had to hear?

Which genre is more unfairly overlooked by rock scholars and other rock nerds, Heavy Metal or Disco?

It’s easy to tell the difference between a song sung by any of the four vocalists in The Beatles, but it’s not always that easy to tell who’s singing in a band with multiple vocalists. What band with multiple vocalists that you like is most difficult for you to distinguish among lead singers?

Who’s your second-favorite sitar artist?

Can you recall one of the first times you heard a song and incorrectly thought it was being performed by another artist? (For instance, I clearly recall hearing Andy Kim’s “Rock Me Gently” for the first time and being certain it was sung by Neil Diamond. Even when the DJ announed the artist, I thought there was a mistake.)

Is there a pretty cool offshoot band that you like better than that band’s critically cool predecessor (eg, you like New Order better than Joy Division)?

I look forward to your answers.

This old post never got as much play as I’d hoped. Perhaps people were simply turned off by my use of Jethro Tull as an example. As we revisit this topic, perhaps it will be helpful to think of what I’m getting at as a form of trash picking. There can be beauty in understandably discarded bands. There may be something to learn. See if this makes any sense a second time around. See if you haven’t identified the promise of greatness in a band or artist you don’t really like.

This post initially appeared 11/3/07.

The title of this entry about says it all. Here’s my example: I’ve always dug enough elements in Jethro Tull to think that they could be great…if only they didn’t go so wrong in a few key areas. If you could salvage all the good parts of Jethro Tull, I think, and start fresh, leaving out the bad bits, you’d have a very cool band. Do you have a band or artist you feel that way about?

Velv, don’t get any ideas from The Velvet Fog‘s move, beginning about 59 seconds into this clip!

Please closely examine both of these videos (make sure you watch the first one all the way through), then answer the questions. I look forward to your responses.

Question: every band has one — what’s YOUR drummer horror story?

Question: Please share the most heinous misappropriation of ethnic/multi-cultural music you can think of.

HVB