Feel free to suggest your own typical publicity shot poses, but the ones that first come to mind for me are as follows:
I’ve always been pulled in by Rotten’s sinister stare no matter how much of a put-on it’s been. On the other hand, Prince’s doe-eyed Look is no more promising for me than the same Look Susanna Hoffs abused. Wonder if her mom ever said, “Susanna, your eyes are going to stick that way if you keep it up!”
The following publicity shot pose, however, is the one that has the greatest effect on me:
Despite not liking the band’s poor man’s Queen (at best) and proto-Pet Shop Boys (at worst) music, this Mael guy’s Look is a dealbreaker of major proportions. I don’t know if there’s a dealbreaker in rock more severe for me that his publicity shot pose, not even Bob Stinson‘s role in The Replacements nor the dreaded headless guitar and longcoat combo. And trust me, I’ve got no beef with the Hitler mustache itself.
Then there’s The King, an artist who may owe as much as 15% of his legendary career to the curled lip he whipped into action whenever a camera was around.
Brilliant!
O, Mod. Haven’t the “Sparks Guys” paid enough for this particular sin, with a lifetime’s career of Eurobliviocrity? Do they keep getting your goat with their ubiquity on radio, cable and the internets? This poor man has, as far as I am aware *still* not changed his look, which, granted, was aimed at assisted living from the get go. It is a pathology, and as such, is beyond the pale of ridicule by now. Like the kooky guy from Cheap trick – no, the other kooky guy – the guitarist: there is a small island near Tasmania where these men are allowed to roam unmolested for the rest of their days. Sleeping fitfully amid the constant murmur of other inmates whose trademark was a sound bite rather than a look. It’s to cry, Mod. To cry.
Thanks for reminding me of the guitar-playing kooky guy from Cheap Trick, General. Yes, I can envision the island you describe.
I think that look works for some reason. Maybe it wouldn’t if he wasn’t standing next to his Classic Rocker looking brother, but the contrast between the two is eye catching. I’m basing this strictly on looks, too, because the only thing that I’ve ever heard from these guys is the song that they play live in that amusement park disaster movie with Timothy Bottoms and George Segal from the 70s.
See the photo I attached on this thread: https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/index.php/2007/09/14/the_iconography_of_cool.
So many John Lydon pics screams “douchebag” at me. Also, I often feel like I can smell him just from this pic, and that’s not a whole lot of fun.
(Lest I come off like a total dick here, I will preemptively say that Lydon does come across sympathetically in The Filth and the Fury.)
Not sure it has “the greatest” negative effect, but Phil Lynott’s later Spandau Ballet-meets-bohemian-alcoholic Look was a particularly bad one. I mean, who exactly was his come-hither stare targeting?
http://content.answers.com/main/content/img/amg/pop_albums/4/8/p/f48474fzop0.jpg
I assume (ok, I’m certain) that there has been prior Spark’s conversations here (I know I’m not the only fan here). Mod, Is there a tweaking at play here in your comment? 🙂
But Mr. Mod, “at best a poor man’s Queen”. Come now. I think they were very original. Put on Kimono My House, Propaganda, or their earlier albums even. How many other groups in their early 70’s were singing in THAT fast of a style or in THAT high of a falsetto? How many even could? Freddy would have sprained himself trying. I can appreciate that some people here would HATE Sparks but I don’t understand one considering them a total knock off band. Love them or hat them, Sparks were and remain VERY original it seems to me.
Also, and I could be wrong here but…
I’ve heard that Ron’s moustache was in homage to Charlie Chaplain not Hitler. Yes, I’m sure one could argue that is a safer thing for him to say in hindsite (this was his reference point). But, given his stage persona, Chaplain makes sense to me. It’s the fan’s/press that assumed Hitler. At least that the story I’ve heard. Someone here will correct me, I’m guessing?
underfloat, here’s another Sparks fan & you’re right about Ron comparing his moustache to Charlie Chaplin, although to me he looks more like Fritz Von Papen than Charlie or Adolph.
Billy Corgan’s bald look sort of creeped me out.
Now that’s a disclaimer.
Are there rock figures who could subtly pull off the Hitler moustache? I think Charlie Watts could grow a Hitler and people would just shrug it off. I also think Adam Clayton from U2 could very slowly phase a Hitler moustache in and kind of pull it off.
Oddly, if Prince traded in his Little Richard for a Hitler, he would pretty much look just like a hatless Chaplin.
Thank you for recognizing my disclaimer, Alexmagic. It’s the “Do I shock you!” pose that really grates on me, even more than the band’s music. Your Prince/Chaplin comparison is spot on. Prince needs to grow that ‘stache before I start listening to my assigned Hear Factor CD (about half have been distributed, by the way; the rest will be sent out tomorrow or Saturday).
Underthefloat, within this piece I set a link to an earlier discussion we had on Sparks. I tried those earlier albums. The only thing I could compare them to was Queen. I don’t know who influenced who or if the relationships were just coincidental, but I will grant you they were HIGHLY original. Liver, for comparison, has a highloy original taste, but it makes me want to vomit as soon as it hits my tongue!
The Bald Corgan certainly is a freakout for me as well.
When Stipe first went bald I was taken aback. Shortly thereafter, a friend in the Philly music scene shaved his thinning curly locks, and I was even more taken aback. Then, over time, as the trend for guys with thinning hair to just shave it off grew, I realized that Stipe was as influential among white guys for spreading this excellent fashion move as Michael Jordan was among African American guys and society at large. I believe that right next to his mad hoops skillz, Jordan’s greatest contribution to humankind was opening our eyes to the possibilities of the bald head.
Mod: I’ll check out the link. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. Hey, I respect your right to hate them. I was listening to them recently and my daughter wondered if I was serious in that I liked them. 🙂
But..you said..
Thank you for recognizing my disclaimer, Alexmagic. It’s the “Do I shock you!” pose that really grates on me, even more than the band’s music.
See to me Sparks has always been much more about humor, silliness then shock. The photos too. Honestly, I’ve never thought of them as going for shock. Just my take.
But, back to the original question. I thought early Elvis Costello promo pictures worked quite well.
Yes, how many copies of My Aim Is True were sold based on that cover shot!
While a big fan of Prince, I agree that his look, especially as packaged in photos and videos, is pretty offputting, giving a distinct sense of narcissism, self importance and bad taste all rolled into one. In spots his records and definitely his live performances provide a glimpse of self awareness and a sense of humor. I took me forever to get him because of the media image he projected. It probably wasn’t until “Around the World in a Day” that I could get past the image and appreciate what he does.
Are there rock figures who could subtly pull off the Hitler moustache?
i saw Frampton for free on the parkway in the early 00’s on 4th of July and he was rockin a grey crewcut and a hitler moustache. He walked up to the mic and without a hint of irony said, “Ellow Phiwadewphia!!! ‘appy independence!!!
2-3-4 wa…..wa wa wa wa wa (showmetheway)
Those 80s’ albums with spandex outfits featured somehow – well, if they wore a cape, perhaps I could buy one. Nah, I kinda like the warning involved in that look. If the look featured a rickenbacker guitar, I would probably have gotten interested. Very silly indeed. I don’t really remember receiving or seeking publicity stills. I never worked for Joe Franklin.
A really fat guy could try the hidden philtrum experiment; perhaps achieving an Oliver Hardy look. But they’d have to wear a derby, and have a skinny band member next to them in my opinion. Otherwise, they have to come up with a harelip or motorcycle accident story. Actually, has anyone applied a mohawk haircut all the way down their body? Now THAT’S a look I’ve not seen! Shave everything you’ve got except for an inch down the middle.
Further, I also went to that damned Susannah Hoffs movie, and you can be pretty sure I didn’t wait on line for it. It was some kind of band member self-torture thing. The one line I remember from it occurs when some beefy clod friend of hers is being put in jail and hollers completely out of moronic character, “Fascist martinet!” at the officer locking him in, which became a useful college phrase for us for a few weeks. It seems appropriate to the Hitler moustache discussions somehow.