UK vindicates #1 "good taste in music" reputation

[MajGenl.Meade]

SINGER-songwriter Leonard Cohen is the most popular artist among commuters in Oxfordshire, according to new research. The study conducted by Vodafone and Spotify found that Cohen was the most popular artist streamed during commuting hours. Data recorded in September, locating commuters by their IP (Internet Protocol) addresses, showed the county’s commuters also enjoyed listening to hard rock. Australian rock band Hands Like Houses and American rockers Shinedown came in second and third on the county’s playlist.

http://www.heraldseries.co.uk/news/1157 ... favourite/

[Gob]

But! John Otway for Xmas No1!!!!

[MajGenl.Meade]

No way he can beat "Don't they know this is crap?" this year.

[Gob]

Just another example of his perfect(ly bad,) timing.

[MajGenl.Meade]

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2 ... .html#more

[Lord Jim]

SINGER-songwriter Leonard Cohen is the most popular artist among commuters in Oxfordshire

So who's this singer songwriter who has the misfortune to have the same name as the better known guy who isn't either? He must be really good to have overcome having that name. You'd think that he'd have changed it...

[MajGenl.Meade]

[Lord Jim]

Upon further investigation, I have to admit I was mistaken...

It was The Late Leonard Cohen who was referenced in that article (given the description, "singer songwriter" you can understand my confusion)

As a matter of fact, I've actually been able to find a group photo of those "Oxfordshire commuters" who were polled...

Here they are, setting out on their morning commute:

[Guinevere]

I see you one:

And raise you one:

[MajGenl.Meade]

I know that foot! He is the king! Just today I posted this on Faecesbook:

[Lord Jim]

[Guinevere]

Foot? I see an entire gorgeous Swiss boyfriend!

[MajGenl.Meade]

Ah! If I take my screen zoom down to 50% then the full picture is visible. Mine's usually set on 125% with the laptop hooked up to the TV. Greater magnification allows me to sit 5 yards away and read everything clearly. I use remote mouse and keyboard so distance is of no significance.

But thanks. There are a lot of pics posted that I can't see - too wide. Now I've learned that 50% zoom will show all!

[Sue U]

gorgeous Swiss boyfriend!

Three words that, for some reason, sound entirely incongruous when assembled thus.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Could be worse

[MajGenl.Meade]

Top 10 Leonard songs (as voted by readers of Rolling Stone):

10 I'm your man
09 Anthem
08 Tower of song
07 Dance me to the end of love
06 So long, Marianne
05 Bird on a wire
04 Everybody knows
03 Famous blue raincoat
02 Suzanne
01 Hallelujah

Re the last, the rag comments:

The year 1984 was a pretty amazing time for pop music, with new releases by Prince, Bruce Springsteen, Madonna and Van Halen filling the airwaves. Amidst all that greatness came Leonard Cohen's Various Positions, which landed with a thud towards the end of the year. Interest in Cohen was so low that Columbia initially refused to even release it, figuring it wouldn't be worth the effort of printing copies and sending them to stores. Virtually nobody paid attention to a little song called "Hallelujah" that kicked off the second side of the LP.

Cohen, however, knew he had something special. He spent an unusually long time on the lyrics, obsessing over every word and going through 80 different drafts. When the Velvet Underground's John Cale asked him to send over the lyrics so he could cover it, he received a 15-page fax full of discarded verses. Cale cobbled together a new version of the song, which he recorded on the piano. It was that version that Jeff Buckley covered on his 1994 LP Grace, and slowly the song became an absolute sensation, covered so many times that Adam Sandler spoofed the practice at the 12/12/12 charity show at Madison Square Garden.

By now, people that have never even heard the name "Leonard Cohen" know "Hallelujah." It's become a modern-day hymn, performed everywhere from street corners to American Idol. Even people that feel they could go the rest of their lives without hearing it again get a lump in their throats when the spotlight hits Cohen at his shows and he begins singing, "I've heard there was a secret chord that David played and it pleased the Lord..."

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists ... z3KCsH7Hx6

Do you get a lump your throat, LJ?

[Big RR]

Even if you don't like Cohen (and I think his voice is interesting), his music has been so extensively covered that it's hard to ignore; I've heard many versions of Suzanne, e.g., and really like the Joan Baez version. Jim--does your hatred of him extend even to the covers of his music?

[Lord Jim]

your hatred of him

Well, "hatred" is a little harsh....

I don't know the man, I've never met him....I wouldn't say I hate him...He's not a serial killer or a pedophile...(as far as I know)

He may very well be a splendid fellow, who engages in charitable acts and loves children...

But as an "artist"...

I view the body of his "artistic work" as essentially insipid maudlin dreck,...I think "Suzanne" is the worst of the lot...(To answer your question, let me say that I am astonished to learn that someone would actually perform a "cover" of a Leonard Cohen "song"...let alone that trite, angst filled navel gazing piece of trash)

On a good day Cohen's "music" is insipid, maudlin dreck; on a bad day it's borderline incoherent gibberish...

Calling this man a "songwriter" commits a violence on the language...

It perverts the meaning of the term...

And referring to him as a "singer" is even worse...

(And I say that as one who considers Randy Newman and John Prine accomplished balladeers... )

I think Cohen has been very effective at conning a certain demographic into believing that he's an enormously talented and "important musical artist" when in point of fact he is a talentless fraud....

The ability to pull that off requires a certain skill, and I respect him for that...

But I have absolutely no regard whatsoever for his "musical talent" because he has none; neither as a songwriter or as a musician.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Knowledgeable music experts: 5,382

Know-nothing ignoranuses: 1

[Sue U]

Count me as "not a fan" or "know-nothing ignoramus" (your choice), too. I don't claim to be a "knowledgeable music expert," but I just find Leonard Cohen dull as dishwater. Don't care for covers of his songs, either. I'm not saying he's not an artist of some sort -- he appeals to someone, obviously -- but he's certainly not my cuppa.