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Underground > Radio & Music >

Judging a Band by the Fans.

17:05 / 29.09.02

If this has been dealt with previously, and I think it has, please feel free to delete this thread, or move it to the Conversation.

Here in Canada there is a band called the Tragically Hip. Many of my closest friends hate this band with a passion. So far, over many years of hearing just how bad they are, I have never heard even one of their critics talk about the music. It's always about their perception of the fans of the Hip. They're jocks. They like hockey. They're rude. They're idiots. And if you like the Hip, you share these traits.

I enjoy the Tragically Hip. I couldn't say I'm a fan, mainly because I'm only a casual music listener so I'm not really a fan of anything. Still, I resent this kind of attitude. It seems to me that many of these supposedly intelligent critics of this music might enjoy it if they looked past their own snobbery and actually listened to the music on its own merit.

It's not just the Hip, of course. I have a friend who won't date anyone who doesn't listen to "good music." If they like Weezer or any indie rock, they're out. If they listen to Steve Vai and Joe Satriani, they're in. As you can imagine, this attitude isn't pulling in very many dates. I actually tried to set him up with a nice indie girl, which was not only a disaster, but also revealed to me that she also hates anyone who doesn't listen to extrememly obscure music. I still think in some ways they were made for each other.

Actually, I'm coming to the realization that I need different friends.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

19:11 / 29.09.02

Judging a band by the fans? Hmmm... New Model Army spring to mind.
I LOVE them. (sorry). I have personally never had too much trouble with the cloggies/militia/whatever they call themselves now. (Hey, at least if they smack you in the face they have the decency to pick you up again afterwards). I do, however, know many people who like the music (or did), wouldn't go to the gigs because of the fans (fair enough, I suppose), but had then decided that, despite their earlier taste for the music, the band MUST be shit because their fans were wankers. Didn't follow the logic, personally...

22:56 / 29.09.02

I wasn't aware that there was a stereotype for fans of the Tragically Hip. Maybe different parts of Canada? I personally find the lead singer's voice annoying as Hell, but I have a few friends who are in love with them, and they don't even come close to being jocks. I always saw the Tragically Hip as a band that appeals to the yuppie crowd. But as I said, could just be different parts of Canada.

02:48 / 30.09.02

Man, I'm so culpable of this that it's not even funny. And yeah, it's one of the reasons I'm still single.

04:50 / 30.09.02

i think that music snobery is fairly common. to a degree it's a way of identifying yourself. to seek out people like you, you judge their musical tastes, and all that. on the surface it seems reasonable to reject what is associated with a sort of person that you might want to reject. i suspect that most people don't analyze the logic behind their motivations.

i know lots of level headed people who do this. i wouldn't want to know anyone who listens to limp bizkit. *que gag reflex*

07:07 / 30.09.02

i've done that... i used to do it A LOT... but have changed my outlook, i took it way down, to where it's almost unnoticable... certain bands attract a crowd that i don't mix well w/ but if the band is good, i'll prolly still buy the music but skip the shows, or stand in the back rather than dance in the front... i get burned by a lot of folk for still listening to ska cuz i hang w/ the same indie crowd i always have... but yeah it's a stupid thing to do, i've tried to stop it myself, i still have thoughts but don't voice them... it's just no polite

09:33 / 30.09.02

Musical snobbery gets such a bad rep. I say just go with it.

Don't you just hate it when you're chatting to someone you don't know very well, and they reveal that their favourite band/singer is someone impossibly shit, and then solicit your opinion on the subject? What can you say that won't make you a)a liar, b)a stuck-up music snob?

Don't get me wrong, some of my best friends have crap music taste, but we just tend to avoid the subject like the plague..

Our Lady of The Two Towers

11:36 / 30.09.02

I like to think I hate the band before I hate the fans, Limp Bizkit being the prime example, the music's dire and Fred always sounds like he's about to burst in to tears. AND the fans are jocks too.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

16:32 / 30.09.02

And don't EVER make the mistake of pretending to be really into a band just cos the person you fancy loves 'em... if it turns into a rewarding relationship, then at some point, for the sake of honesty, you have to admit to having been talking crap. And that's always awkward.

Murray Hamhandler

16:45 / 30.09.02

"i think that music snobery is fairly common. to a degree it's a way of identifying yourself. to seek out people like you, you judge their musical tastes, and all that."

Then why is it that pretty much everyone I meet who listens to the same music as I do is a total snob towards me? Oh, yeah. Because I don't wear the uniform...

If I judged most of the music that I like by the fans, I wager that I'd like the bands in question a whole lot less. Whereas I know people who are fans of crap music and yet who are still wholly decent people. Hippies, for example. So, if it needs to be said, the route of judging a band by their fans, and vice versa, is kind of a spurious one.

09:56 / 01.10.02

I've never actually met one of these mystical "jocks" are they as bad as Marilyn Manson tells me?

I'm sure a listen to music people on here would class as terrible.

I just hate music snobbery and I don't know why, I think something must have happened when I was a child, maybe my father laughed when I said I liked listening to "Two Little Boys" by Rolf.

18:02 / 01.10.02

I think the "anti-tragically-hip" movement may be kept to Ontario. The prime example of a 'hip' fan is the average person in a Canadian beer commercial or, a 'frosh' student at Western, Queens, or York.

Of course, I have to fight this. I actually like their music. I don't own any of their CDs, and probably never will, but they're not bad.

I believe the American equivalent are fans of Dave Matthews,

18:19 / 01.10.02

Oi! bands get a bad rep because of the fans quite often, and some of the time, they aren't that bad politically and the music can sometimes be fucking awesome, but there's a lot of people that wouldn't listen to skinhead music. I used to never wanna date anyone that didn't have comparable musical taste to me, but now I find myself in a relationship with a girl who likes complete shit (Blink 182, Good Charolete, a lot of that pop crap that somehow calls itself punk), hates metal, doesn't understand how I can like the Jesus Lizard or Arab on Radar, and thinks that Fugazi and the Minutemen suck; but, I've never been more in love.

The resistable rise of Reidcourchie

18:57 / 01.10.02

Well my two favorite bands are the Tragically Hip (I'm going to see them in november, I'm very ridiculously excited) & new Model Army, as you can imagine being clog wearing, jock, yuppie that I am, I'm thoroughly enjoying this thread. Surely it can only be a matter of time before Tool or NIN is mentioned.

Canadian Jocks must be er... different the Hip's lyrics are pretty weird.

20:58 / 01.10.02

If you find someone's musical tastes incomprehensible, say so, but
also aver that such mysteries add spice to life...

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

08:26 / 02.10.02

Aaahhh! No! You did it! You mentioned Tool - IN A THREAD ABOUT MUSIC SNOBBERY! We're in for a roasting now...

The resistable rise of Reidcourchie

16:31 / 02.10.02

It was inevitable, though I'd get it out of the way quickly.

I'm begining to wonder if there's some sort of psychological problem with me that forces me to seek out the bands that others hate. Some kind of musical masochism.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

22:03 / 02.10.02

Yes, reid, but... DON'T YOU SEE WHAT YOU'VE DONE? You've brought the wrath of the Tool-haters down on us all!

Personally, I'm hoarding beans.

03:52 / 03.10.02

Well, since the toolbelt has come out, I'll mention the other two:

Phish. The Grateful Dead.

Don't like either band, or group of fans. Who's with me?

(*crickets*)

The resistable rise of Reidcourchie

14:59 / 05.10.02

Well just before I get tarred, feathered and run out of town on a rail (which always seemed to be more trouble that it's worth) I'd just like to point out I like Pink Floyd as well.

Is that a full house.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

16:26 / 05.10.02

Dunno, Reid- where'd'ya stand on Hawkwind?

(For the record, I love Hawkwind. I'm sorry, everyone).

NewPickettywitch

22:40 / 05.10.02

Here I am in America, and I'm a big fan of Hawkwind! It shouldn't be as strange a situation as it is to like bands like them, Ozric Tentacles, Gong, Robyn Hitchcock, Ange, Dodgy, The Residents... right on through to Stockhausen... and on out to Sandra Collins... I've been a record collector since I was twelve and I'm in my mid-forties now, and all along the way, I've been accused of musical snobbery simply, it seems, because I didn't "take" to what everyone around was listening to, so I was shunned for this affront to good taste, which in turn only lead me to seek out not simply the obscurest things I could turn up - but rather what I felt I really loved listening to with all the hype excised. Of course, it seems many folks do this now, but there are still as many who would just as soon do as their radio commands.

14:25 / 06.10.02

..there are people who don't like Hawkwind??..

Regrettable Juvenilia

14:30 / 06.10.02

Hang on - if I judged Tool by their fans, I'd think they were great, because I know some fantastic people who are into Tool...

In fact I'm sure that this theory applies across the board - if I judged bands on their fans I'd probably be much *less* of a music snob than I am.

NewPickettywitch

15:20 / 06.10.02

..there are people who don't like Hawkwind??..

I have friends in Brighton who assured me years ago that Hawkwind are indeed a fixture in UK, but here in Amerika, while I know there are Hawkfans here and there, I've rarely met anyone who has ever heard of them (including musicians), and if they have, it's usually of the "Oh, you mean Motorhead!" type. I've been collecting Hawkwind music since "In Search of Space" was a new album!! I still think they're great; their newest, "Spacebrock", will take you right out there in no time at all...

The resistable rise of Reidcourchie

16:47 / 07.10.02

I like what I've heard of of Hawkwind but I can't believe people don't like Hawkwind because of their fans, strikes me as a little bit like kicking puppies. On the other hand I have an irrational hatred of Ozric's Testicles but I've always assumed that's my problem and not the fans of the band if you see what I mean.

Anyway I think I've done enough damage to this thread. Shall we try and get it back on track. This has been discussed before (quite often centring around Tool), one of the reasons suggested was proslytising (sp?) fans. Is their a particular kind of band that evangelical fan boys seem drawn to? Looking at the bands mentioned above you could extrapolate progressive rock into them one way or another.

What about when the band hates their own fans? Like Pearl Jam, who tried to pull back from the lime light, or Roger waters, who then went on to write about how he hated everyone.

There's no genre of music that I've heard to date where I haven't been able to find stuff I like (though garage is still something of a mystery to me and I think another mod revival will kill me), I understand that there are some people who don't like specific genres. Why is that? What is it about the genre that get's on your nerves? Is it just the sound it makes or something else?

(Musical Sign of Age:- Last week on never mind the buzzcocks I heard Nickleback described as grunge revivalists. I am too young to be involved in a revival of something I was involved with the first time around. If you see what I mean.)