Recording artists everyone made fun of at their peak of popularity

[bandit957]

How many singers, musicians, and groups were subjected to significant ridicule at the height of their popularity?

I don't mean acts who people made fun of once they were considered washed-up has-beens who hadn't had a hit record in years. I mean people who were ridiculed right when they were having big hit records.

People used to make fun of Phil Collins a lot even when he was most popular, but it was mostly pretty lighthearted. He was kind of a goofy guy, and didn't seem to always take himself too seriously, so I guess some ridicule was bound to happen.

But I can think of one and only one recording artist who everyone made fun of mercilessly even when they had a #1 record. The ridicule was absolutely merciless and endless. Can you guess who it is?

Here it comes...

Mr. Big.

[Rothman]

New Kids on the Block

[Scott5114]

NSYNC/Backstreet Boys

[hbelkins]

Air Supply.

Barry Manilow.

[Brandon]

New Kids on the Block

NSYNC/Backstreet Boys

That is pretty much SOP for any and all similar boy bands.

[NWI_Irish96]

I was 3 years old when Fleetwood Mac released Rumours and it seems like there are more people around my age who like them compared to people who were already adults in the late 70s.

[Rothman]

New Kids on the Block

NSYNC/Backstreet Boys

That is pretty much SOP for any and all similar boy bands.

I think NKOTB had a much higher level of mockery than 'NSync and Backstreet Boys.

The latter two have also enjoyed a rennaissance driven by nostalgia, but NKOTB's attempt went phttbbbbbt.

[Stephane Dumas]

New Kids on the Block

NSYNC/Backstreet Boys

That is pretty much SOP for any and all similar boy bands.

I think NKOTB had a much higher level of mockery than 'NSync and Backstreet Boys.

The latter two have also enjoyed a rennaissance driven by nostalgia, but NKOTB's attempt went phttbbbbbt.

Well, NKOTB did another attempt this time with Rick Astley, Salt-N-Pepa, En Vogue doing a tribute to the 1980s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulJBJYie0l8

[index]

Everyone was always talking about how much Primus sucked. They're not as popular as they were back then, but Primus still sucks.

[skluth]

Nickelback
Loverboy
Debby Boone
The Monkees
The Runaways
The Grateful Dead
Wayne Newton
Michael Jackson right after the Pepsi commercial

[Big John]

Wham

[GCrites]

Milli Vanilli

Vanilla Ice

Hanson

The Macarena (which ever release)

Nu Metal

All of these acts, along with the aforementioned Mr. Big, ran into trouble with their earnestness clashing with '90s sarcasm and cynicism. With the early '90s acts, they were coming off '80s optimism, positivity, earnestness and commercialism so the fact that the '90s dropped those things so quickly hit them and their management like a ton of bricks. Mr. Big being "Hippie Hair" rather than "Androgyny Hair" such as Motley Crue and Poison was supposed to help and Vanilla Ice being a little edgier than ordinary Novelty Rap was also supposed to mitigate things but at the end of the day they couldn't survive a decade that demanded edginess increase by the month until Peak Edge was reached sometime around 1997-1998. You could say that was Grindcore, Gangsta Rap, late Industrial, Marylin Manson or all of the above. You could tell Peak Edge was over when boy bands were allowed to come back and everything got really poppy by 2000 with Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, J.Lo, Mandy Moore, Jessica Simpson, New Radicals and Natalie Imbruglia who would have been shouted down in 1995.

[gonealookin]

I remember a lot of disdain for the Bee Gees when they were on top with Saturday Night Fever.  People my age (high school at the time) had definitely been moving away from disco, and the success of that movie and soundtrack sort of helped prolong disco past its expiration date.

[Rothman]

Everyone was always talking about how much Primus sucked. They're not as popular as they were back then, but Primus still sucks.

That was urged on by the band themselves.  Love Primus and Primus sucks.

[XamotCGC]

Billy Ray Cyrus

[JayhawkCO]

You could tell Peak Edge was over when boy bands were allowed to come back and everything got really poppy by 2000 with Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, J.Lo, Mandy Moore, Jessica Simpson, New Radicals and Natalie Imbruglia who would have been shouted down in 1995.

It's weird you included New Radicals and Natalie Imbruglia in that list. Those are clearly not like the others.



For this thread, I'll add Hanson and Creed.

[Rothman]

Yeah, Hanson's a good one.  They actually had some talent.

[JayhawkCO]

Yeah, Hanson's a good one.  They actually had some talent.

They can sing, but that Mmmbop shit was terrible.

[GCrites]

You could tell Peak Edge was over when boy bands were allowed to come back and everything got really poppy by 2000 with Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, J.Lo, Mandy Moore, Jessica Simpson, New Radicals and Natalie Imbruglia who would have been shouted down in 1995.

It's weird you included New Radicals and Natalie Imbruglia in that list. Those are clearly not like the others.

They had pop hits so they are in play.

[JayhawkCO]

You could tell Peak Edge was over when boy bands were allowed to come back and everything got really poppy by 2000 with Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, J.Lo, Mandy Moore, Jessica Simpson, New Radicals and Natalie Imbruglia who would have been shouted down in 1995.

It's weird you included New Radicals and Natalie Imbruglia in that list. Those are clearly not like the others.

They had pop hits so they are in play.

I mean, so did a million other artists. It doesn't mean that those two are similar to the others on your list. If you give me a task to come up with 100 artists during the 90's with pop hits, I'm very unlikely to come up with those two. "I'm Like a Bird" "Torn" wasn't 100% poppy and "You Get What You Give" isn't even the most poppy alt song of that era (think "Semi-Charmed Life" instead). I don't think ANYONE made fun of New Radicals nor Natalie Imbruglia.

[roadman65]

What about The Bee Gees and their Saturday Night Fever Falsetto gig.  Considering all of them proved in early years that they had normal voices, it made it more easy to poke fun at them.

[Rothman]

Yeah, Hanson's a good one.  They actually had some talent.

They can sing, but that Mmmbop shit was terrible.

Made them a lot of money.

[GCrites]

You could tell Peak Edge was over when boy bands were allowed to come back and everything got really poppy by 2000 with Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, J.Lo, Mandy Moore, Jessica Simpson, New Radicals and Natalie Imbruglia who would have been shouted down in 1995.

It's weird you included New Radicals and Natalie Imbruglia in that list. Those are clearly not like the others.

They had pop hits so they are in play.

I mean, so did a million other artists. It doesn't mean that those two are similar to the others on your list. If you give me a task to come up with 100 artists during the 90's with pop hits, I'm very unlikely to come up with those two. "I'm Like a Bird" wasn't 100% poppy and "You Get What You Give" isn't even the most poppy alt song of that era (think "Semi-Charmed Life" instead). I don't think ANYONE made fun of New Radicals nor Natalie Imbruglia.

Oh, I'm not saying anyone made fun of the acts I listed at the end. I was saying those acts were allowed to have success without mainstream ridicule in contrast to Milli Vanilli and Hanson.

[Takumi]

You could tell Peak Edge was over when boy bands were allowed to come back and everything got really poppy by 2000 with Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, J.Lo, Mandy Moore, Jessica Simpson, New Radicals and Natalie Imbruglia who would have been shouted down in 1995.

It's weird you included New Radicals and Natalie Imbruglia in that list. Those are clearly not like the others.

They had pop hits so they are in play.

I mean, so did a million other artists. It doesn't mean that those two are similar to the others on your list. If you give me a task to come up with 100 artists during the 90's with pop hits, I'm very unlikely to come up with those two. "I'm Like a Bird" wasn't 100% poppy and "You Get What You Give" isn't even the most poppy alt song of that era (think "Semi-Charmed Life" instead). I don't think ANYONE made fun of New Radicals nor Natalie Imbruglia.

"I'm Like A Bird"  was Nelly Furtado, not Natalie Imbruglia, but otherwise you're right. Never heard anyone making fun of them.

[JayhawkCO]

You could tell Peak Edge was over when boy bands were allowed to come back and everything got really poppy by 2000 with Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, J.Lo, Mandy Moore, Jessica Simpson, New Radicals and Natalie Imbruglia who would have been shouted down in 1995.

It's weird you included New Radicals and Natalie Imbruglia in that list. Those are clearly not like the others.

They had pop hits so they are in play.

I mean, so did a million other artists. It doesn't mean that those two are similar to the others on your list. If you give me a task to come up with 100 artists during the 90's with pop hits, I'm very unlikely to come up with those two. "I'm Like a Bird" wasn't 100% poppy and "You Get What You Give" isn't even the most poppy alt song of that era (think "Semi-Charmed Life" instead). I don't think ANYONE made fun of New Radicals nor Natalie Imbruglia.

"I'm Like A Bird"  was Nelly Furtado, not Natalie Imbruglia, but otherwise you're right. Never heard anyone making fun of them.

Whoops. "Torn" was what I meant.