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15 March 2008
Most underrated famous awesome person?→[More:]I vote Stevie Wonder.
See, Price, Hicks, Manitoba, and maybe Kaye strike me as underfamous, underappreciated, rather than underrated. A distinction that might be meaningful to me alone. Elvis Costello is right on that line, to me.
Too many people my age think of "Part Time Lovers" era Stevie. But around 1970, Wonder underwent an astounding evolution from a teen sensation into a legendary singer/songwriter/instrumentalist.
On random, Elvis Costello's collaboration with Paul McCartney just came up (which you've never heard, if you're never heard the demos). It is amazingly good. So, maybe I am biased towards cheese.
jonmc, I love that ansewr. Ruby Baby, Runaround Sue... what else had he done that makes a big impact? (Little Richard might qualify, too).
Hmmm, now Stiff Little Fingers is playing. They're right on that line, too.
Ruby Baby, Runaround Sue... what else had he done that makes a big impact?
Well, 'The Wanderer,' obviously, but he also did 'Abraham Martin & John' (which had a harrowing bluesy b-side called "Daddy Rollin'" ) an astonishing cover of Tom Waits' 'Heart Of Saturday Night' (self-link, streaming audio included), recently did a live album of almost all new material with ex-Dictator and Del-Lord (and fellow Bronx Boy) Scott 'Top ten' Kempner, inspired Richard price's first novel, The Wanderers, wrote a good autobiography, and recorded the killer 'King Of The New York Streets' on his 'comeback' album Yo Frankie.
I'm also a huge Stevie Wonder fan, but it's become clear to me over the years that I have no idea how the general public thinks about things (example: I would've thought the general public thought of Innervisions Stevie before they thought of the Cosby Show one), and so I don't really feel well equipped for this discussion.
Hey, maybe I am well-equipped for this thing. KRS? You're goddamn joking. If it wasn't for Tupac, Kris Parker would be the most overrated figure in the history of hip-hop. Underground and backpacker types give him some props because he's one of the few people with his name on a record who wouldn't completely embarrass himself in a cipher or a battle, and I give him plenty of credit for supporting the old-school and the culture and whatnot, but he just doesn't belong on anybody's top-emcee list--there are too many better ones.
On preview, that's a lot harsher than I usually am. Wouldn't've thought KRS would be the one to bring it out, especially since I'm something of a fan.
And here's one of those what-the-fuck posse cuts. The central conceit is weed. (DJ Premier did the beat. This song came out in 1999, a few years after that 'I'm a blunt gettin' smoked and I can't wake up' song. It's also the one where he says your lyrics are stiff like David Koppel, as noted in the Ego Trip book.)
Definitely Vincent Price, and while we're in that genre, Peter Cushing. Oliver Reed, God rest his drunken imploding trainwreck of a soul.
Prince is an interesting suggestion. He's famous and beloved worldwide, but I don't think his significance is fully appreciated. Good call.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt (you first saw him as the kid on "3rd Rock from the Sun" if you're in the US) has proven himself in recent years to be one of the best film actors of his generation, and he's still not known for it yet. His performances in "Brick" and "The Lookout" alone are not to be missed.
Alban Berg, but that may just be because I'm listening to Wozzeck for the first time in years right now (because it's vinyl ripping day), and I'm really digging it.
Fred Willard. Nobody else does what Fred Willard does.
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