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Apostate_Nate t1_j65jorc wrote

Reply to comment by [deleted] in 5 popular songs by solo artists that are your favorite? by [deleted]

Lmao you're weird.

I'm sorry but if Elton John (one of the solo acts you think is actually a band) goes out on tour with a different drummer, a different guitarist, a different set of backing vocalists, what have you, but is still the person singing lead and playing keyboards, it's still Elton John. That's because the backing band, while important, is entirely replaceable. That's because Elton John is a solo act.

That's not an opinion, man. That's a standard which you want to not be standard, but it is.

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[deleted] OP t1_j65krz9 wrote

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Apostate_Nate t1_j65lcw6 wrote

Cool, it's okay to have a bad take you won't drop, since it doesn't affect anyone else.

Who cares if Bernie Taupin co-wrote the songs with Elton John? He isn't a performing musician. You keep trying to say things that make no sense while presuming that others will agree. I don't. Others don't. The meaning of the words you're using don't agree with the intent you have given them.

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[deleted] OP t1_j65oh21 wrote

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Apostate_Nate t1_j65pfhe wrote

How lovely of you to presume.

I'm coming at this from the perspective of a multigenerational musician, who grew up with recording artists of various levels of popularity around the house, and who has both been the lead singer, the solo artist, and the writer who wasn't even on stage.

And I still disagree.

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[deleted] OP t1_j65pipn wrote

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Apostate_Nate t1_j65pm1b wrote

You're the one who came in to the post threads to deliberately poop all over what others were saying.

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[deleted] OP t1_j65rn38 wrote

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Apostate_Nate t1_j65skc4 wrote

I think in a lot of cases when it comes to bands, it really depends on how the group came into being. Were they a bunch of friends who decided to pick up instruments and make music, get popular, etc? Or was it a person putting together a group of musicians to back their work? Does the sound fall apart when you change one or more members? There's a lot of different little things that go toward making that determination.

As to single artists creating and releasing music under a 'band name' I think most of them should probably be considered solo acts.

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[deleted] OP t1_j65lqw6 wrote

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Apostate_Nate t1_j65mdx3 wrote

Lmao okay, so now another person wants to conflate 'solo act' with 'solely responsible'. That's fine, because just like with the other person, it doesn't change the definition for the rest of us, which is that a solo act is one that performs as the main interest, the reason the rest of the performers are even there.

Please, tell me about the Elton John concert you saw or heard about where Elton wasn't there lol.

Edit - or about any time an Elton John concert was postponed because Bernie Taupin had a head cold and couldn't sing.

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[deleted] OP t1_j65o1ib wrote

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Apostate_Nate t1_j65p11e wrote

And songwriting is not the same as performance. Never has been. Never will be.

Just off the names given you've said yourself that "+ The Machine" and also 'the Night Sweats" make 'Florence' and 'Nathaniel Rateliff' both members of bands instead of solo acts.

The White Stripes was a band (albeit with only two members) while Jack White as a solo artist is a different concept. He also made music with The Dead Weather and The Raconteurs, both bands in which he was a member.

Micheal Jackson was a member of the Jackson Five before becoming a solo artist. Nobody ever thought he wrote and performed all the music, but there really aren't many people (outside of those in this post fighting against gravity) who would say he wasn't a solo act.

If Nick Cave releases a song with The Bad Seeds it's a group effort, if it's released under his name alone it's as a solo artist.

There's thousands of examples.

Edit- and I really don't know much about Bon Iver, but I probably ought to.

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[deleted] OP t1_j65pc6h wrote

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Apostate_Nate t1_j65pxls wrote

Lol actually he's one I would have a difficult time placing because "The E Street Band" has seemed to have varying levels of importance throughout his career, instead of an either/or proposition. So yeah, sometimes I'd say he's a solo act and others very much the lead singer of a band.

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