Recording artists everyone made fun of at their peak of popularity

[GCrites]

^ I get the feeling people he played with did considering how poorly he got along with many people he played with.

[Mr_Northside]

Kenny G?

[bandit957]

Another act that's sort of like this is Milli Vanilli, but they were already in decline a little bit when they were found to be fake. But I think it had been rumored for a while.

When Donny Osmond had his comeback in 1989, people made fun of him a lot, but he was actually more popular in the early '70s.

[JayhawkCO]

Kenny G?

Good call. There's a whole documentary about him and getting ridiculed.

[bandit957]

Others people made fun of were Nelson and Kevin Paige.

[Rothman]

Others people made fun of were Nelson and Kevin Paige.

Ha.  Nelson deserved it.  Keenan Ivory-Wayans at the American Music Awards said something like, "Are those the whitest people you've ever seen or what?"

[hbelkins]

Then you don't want to hear that both Iron Maiden and Def Leppard are NWOBHM bands but Iron Maiden is the biggest NWOBHM band even though technically Def Leppard is a bigger band but as a Hair band.

Iron Maiden came along a little later than the initial wave of NWOBHM, didn't they? I have a two-CD compilation of NWOBHM bands and while I have no idea where it is at the moment, this looks familiar.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Wave_of_British_Heavy_Metal_%2779_Revisited

I remembered "Rocks Off" being on this, but not Iron Maiden's "Sanctuary."

[GCrites]

I have the cassette version and "Sanctuary" (which is not the album version from the first Iron Maiden record) is definitely on there. I think if the tape was any longer it would break but it doesn't have about 5 of the songs on the double CD.

Maiden was definitely around for the entirety of the NWOBHM period. Their first couple of demos were big by 1979 and they were on the radio around London a lot.

[ethanhopkin14]

I think this conversation about hair metal vs. New Wave British Heavy Metal is really no different between basically the BeeGees.  They had several hits in the late 60s, long before the disco days that put them on the map as a singer/songwriter pop band.  Did they also evolve into a disco band?  Yes they did, but that's not where they started.  At the end of the day though, they are labeled and known mostly for their disco work, so that's what they became.  Same can be said about Def Leopard or Iron Maiden.  They may have started as British Heavy Metal, but they did evolve into the hair metal phase.  Even big fans of Iron Maiden acknowledge them as a hair band. 

[GCrites]

That's the very broad definition of Hair that includes Ozzy solo, Judas Priest, Dio, and Van Halen but not anything as heavy as a Thrash band. It's the "do they play this on Dee Snider's House of Hair radio show" definition. I'd say most people don't think of Maiden and Priest first or even third when they think of Hair. Most times it's going to be Bon Jovi, Poison, Def Leppard, Ratt, or even something like Winger or Kix before their head goes to Dio or Ozzy.

[Brian556]

New Kids on the Block

I was in elementary school at the time. A kid in my class made fun of them by altering a folder adorned with their image. He drew mustaches on their faces, and scratched out "New Kids On The Block", and wrote "Nerdy Kids On The Toilet"

[webny99]

No mention of Justin Bieber? That's the first one that comes to my mind.

Oh, hadn't thought of him but that's a good one.

[tchafe1978]

Limp Bizkit. They were cool for about 2 years, and then Nu Metal quickly wore out its welcome.

[amroad17]

Village People.  They were ridiculed by some because of their disco songs, and by others because of some of the members that are/were gay.  Now, whenever "YMCA" is played, most everyone spells out the letters with their arms.

BTW, between my wife and myself, we have their first two albums--vinyl!🙂👍

[bandit957]

Now, whenever "YMCA" is played, most everyone spells out the letters with their arms.

Everyone used to do this with "C-I-T-Y" by John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band.