Ask 411 Music 06.08.09: Top 100 Worst Rock 'n Roll List, Top 5 Musicals, and Poe

Posted by Joshua George on 06.08.2009

Who made the Top 100 Worst Rock 'n Roll Artists list? What are Joshua's Top 5 Musicals of all time? What ever happened to Poe? Is opera music dying? Get the answers to all of these questions and more in this, the newest edition of Ask 411 Music with Joshua George!

Welcome to our early June edition of Ask 411 Music! I have plenty of bullshit in the column to follow, so let's not put too much here. If you want to have your questions answered or your reader mail published in the column, all you have to do is SEND THEM IN NOW!

Here come the...

Ask 411 Music Reader Questions

From Lexibug,

Do you think that opera music will ever die out completely?

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Lexibug,

This is a really difficult question for you to ask to be honest. The real question I think that you have to ask is, "has opera music already died out completely?" If you're asking me, I would say that in the form of samples for modern-day music, and background for movies with heavy orchestral scores and such, no. If you're asking in the form of stage shows, full on "everyone let's go to the opera"... unfortunately, my answer for you is going to be yes with a couple exceptions. Sadly, with the world heading in the direction it's heading in, I don't see people being willing to take a night out to the opera nearly as much as they used to. I think another problem is that eventually because of the decrease in people willing to spend money on the tickets, the divas requiring a ton of money (no offense), the slow extinction of the "opera generation", and the cost of maintaining an opera house these days... we'll eventually see this art form slide off into the distance.

Now... there are a few exceptions. I speak of the slow extinction of the "opera generation" because there have been many many older people (usually 60+) that devote their lives to the arts. They donate year after year, sometimes enough from one person to keep an entire season running. Unfortunately, the younger generation isn't being taught enough about the arts because the music programs are being cut from schools and our kids are suffering because of that. Our kids are our future, and if we're not teaching them about the importance of the arts and composers such as Wagner, Handel, and many many others, then opera will start seeing a slow and total death, other than in Music History courses. If we can bring up the education of this generation's children in the arts, then there's a chance that opera will survive.

Another exception is that there's the extreme possibility that opera will simply "evolve". Many art forms and musical forms find a way to evolve and change to keep them alive. There's an entire possibility that opera is another one of those forms that will figure out a way to continue. Perhaps it'll become less classical opera and more modern-day progressive operas. Who knows, we might see a revival of the "rock opera" which I personally think would be fucking badass. There are many things that can happen and unfortunately without a crystal ball, and someone that can see into it, we'll never know until we get there.

Bottom line, if things continue like they have been, it'll be only a matter of time before operatic music is just another art form that falls to the wayside. The education of our children is the most important thing in keeping this alive and if we can all take part responsibility in that by either writing to the superintendents of your school districts, writing to state representatives, and/or taking the musical education into our own hands... MAYBE we can save the arts as a whole, including opera. Hopefully that gives you a good enough spread on how I feel about it. Thanks for writing in!

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From Eric Whitesides,

In the same article where I sent you the list about the Top 100, they also ranked the Worst 100 RnR Artists. They are:

1. The Brady Kids	26. The Darlings	51. Donny	76. The Bee Gees
2. Ricky Ricardo	27. The Archies	52. David Hasselhoff	77. Andy Gibb
3. Yoko Ono	28. Meneudo	53. Frank Stallone	78. Anson Williams
4. Josie & The Pussycats	29. John Tesh	54. The Plastic Ono Band	79. Los del Rio
5. Garfunkel	30. Leo Sayer	55. Ed Grimly	80. Plasmatics
6. Wyld Stallyns	31. M.C. Hammer	56. Latoya Jackson	81. The Partridge Family
7. KC and The Sunshine Band	32. The Singing Schmelmans	57. Leif Garrett	82. Schroeder
8. Jim Nabors	33. Any former and future former Van Halen singer	58. Barney	83. Donnie and Marie Osmond
9. Zamfir King of the Pan-Flute	34. Celine Dion	59. Jimmy Osmond	84. T. Rex
10. Jerry Van Dyke	35. Bay City Rollers	60. Hanson	85. The Other 9999 Maniacs
11. Milli	36. Poison	61. Joani & Chachi	86. Tanya Harding
12. Vanilli	37. New Kids on the Block	62. Linda McCartney	87. Alan Thick
13. Richard Simmons	38. Michael Jackson	63. Rick Springfield	88. Gloria Gainer
14. Kenny G	39. Kenny Loggins	64. Wayne Campbell	89. Captain & Tennille
15. Tony Orlando and Dawn	40. Wilson Phillips	65. Bugaloos	90. Slaughter
16. The Village People	41. William Shatner	66. Dennis DeYoung	91. Ratt
17. The Banana Splits	42. Don Johnson	67. Wayne Newton, Wayne Fontana and the MindBenders, Wayne Gretzky ,or Wayne Anybody	92. Marky Mark
18. Vanilla Ice	43. Spin Doctors	68. Blues Brothers 2000	93. Kathy Lee Gifford
19. Pat Boone	44. Michael Bolton	69. Bon Jovi	94. Leonard Nimoy
20. Debbie Boone	45. Lawrence Welk	70. Billy Ray Cyrus	95. Backstreet Boys
21. Alvin and The Chipmunks	46. Cinderella (The Group)	71. Oscar the Grouch	96. Samantha Fox
22. Puff Daddy	47. Murph and The Murphtones	72. Debbie Gibson	97. Animal
23. The Spice Girls	48. Guy Lombardo	73. Twisted Sister	98. Kingdom Kome
24. Boxcar Willie	49. The DeFranco Family	74. Mr. Rogers	99. Buster Poindexter
25. Winger	50. Yanni	75. The Cowsills	100. Roseanne Barr

Do you agree, or disagree? Would you make any changes?

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Eric,

Let me tell you at this point that I think this list is complete bullshit. I have a few issues with this list, the least of which being that there are a few artists on this list that were on the TOP 100 RnR Artists list. How can you be on the Top 100 list and also on the Worst 100 list? Secondly, the poor poor Backstreet fanboys/girls are going to die knowing that they're on this list, but even worse than them being on the list, is WTF are they on a RnR list in the first place? I never really put The Backstreet Boys in the Rock and Roll genre... ever. Thirdly, aren't these lists supposed to be realistic and non-biased? Why would you put things like "Any former and future former Van Halen singer" or "Wayne Newton, Wayne Fontana and the MindBenders, Wayne Gretzky ,or Wayne Anybody" on a list that you were trying to make credible. I hope the list was meant to be a joke, because that's all this list is to me. You can't put a lot of the actual RnR artists on this list on this list with a clear conscience. Fuck VH1 and the people that got together to make this list.

How about you, readers? Sound off in the comments section on this list. Tell me what you think.

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More and more questions are trickling in from new question-askers. If you want to have your questions answered, it's easy. The best way to do it is to SEND YOUR QUESTIONS IN NOW!

From Lexibug,

What ever happened to the singer Poe? I've been wondering about that for a while now, so I figured I'd write you and see if you could help. Thanks!

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Lexi,

Poe aka Annie Decatur Danielewski (if that was my real name I would've changed it too) is actually expected to be releasing a new CD and/or touring again sometime within the next couple years. She has two studio albums under her belt, one in 1995 entitled Hello and one in 2000 entitled Haunted. Since late 2007, she has been collecting people recording themselves re-counting their dreams, or simply saying "I can't remember the dream I had" in mp3 format. What she's going to use that for, we may never know, or perhaps she'll be capitalizing on other people's dreams for songs on her new album. I wonder how many people will come out of the woodwork screaming for royalties if she does that. Anyway, she lends her voice to the musical "Repo! The Genetic Opera" as the "Single Mother", and she has also been a voice in the Playstation game Apocalypse.

If you'd like to keep track of her, you can do so either at her official website or you can check her out over on her official MySpace. Thanks for writing Lexibug!

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I'm getting more and more reader questions, so don't be left out! Let's get some more questions from you, the readers. I like to have reader mail and things to post, so all you have to do is SEND YOUR QUESTIONS IN NOW!

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It's time for...


Joshua's Top 5

I think this week, with the opera question and talking about theatrical stuff, we should do my Top 5 musicals.

Honorable Mention goes to: "Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical", "Guys and Dolls", "Songs for a New World", "Ragtime", and "Jekyll & Hyde".

5. "Les Miserables" - This is one of the more cliche musicals for people to like, but this was actually one of the first musicals I ever listened to, and so it has always stuck with me. With people like Colm Wilkinson and Linda Eder this musical has been amazing for years and years and years.


4. "Jesus Christ Superstar" - This is another one of the musicals that I first listened to. I'm not an extremely religious kind of guy, but this musical or "Rock Opera" was something that I definitely still listen to and sing to this day. If you ever get a chance to see this live, it's another one I highly recommend. I had the ability to see this live with Ted Neely and it was just as amazing now as I'm sure he was back in 1973. Carl Anderson held down the role of Judas Iscariot like none other:


3. "Little Shop of Horrors" - Where else can you find Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene (Who coincidentally played the role of Sylar's mom in "Heroes"), Steve Martin, James Belushi, John Candy, and Bill Murray singing and acting out a hilarious musical? "Little Shop of Horrors" has everything: suspense, drama, comedy, romance... what else can you ask for?


2. "The Last Five Years" - This musical, a one-act show with a two person cast is one that will make a tremendous impact. The concept is that the guy and girl sing about their past five year relationship. They trade off songs with her starting at the end of the relationship and coming backwards, then he starts at the beginning and works forward. The only time you really get the two together is during a striking duet at the middle. A must hear for anyone that likes musicals.


1. "RENT" - I didn't like this musical when I first heard it. However, over the years, it's grown on me, and I used to hate the stage version (as I preferred the movie version), but now I'm perfectly happy and content with both. There is a significant difference between the stage show and the movie, and if you ever have a chance to see it live, you'd be missing out on something major if you didn't go. I've seen it live twice, once with Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal and the other with Wilson Jermaine Heredia. If you don't see it, you're robbing yourself of an incredible experience.


And that's it! Let me know what your top 5 is in the comments section. Also, if you want me to listen to something feel free to hit us up with a youtube link either at my e-mail address, or in the comments section!

Would you like me to reply to your e-mail in the column? Do you have a rant on a certain music related topic that you'd like to share? All you have to do is Send your shit to me NOW!

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Who wants to hear something new???


Things You Should Hear

1. If you haven't heard this, I don't know where you're from, but I'm having a great day, so I want you to hear Journey - "Don't Stop Believin'":


2. Great song, with Tech N9ne, Krizz Kaliko, and Kutt Calhoun - "Ghetto Love":


3. Let's get some more a cappella. Here is Voices Unlimited singing Paul Simon and Graceland's hit - "Homeless":


4. Keep some comedy rolling. Here's Stephen Lynch called "She Gotta Smile":


5. Here's another fun one. From "Charlie the Unicorn" - "Candy Mountain Song":


6. I'm a pretty big fan of Saving Abel so here's "Addicted":



If you'd like me to post your band or a band that you particularly love, all you have to do is Send me the YouTube link NOW! I'd like to start including some of your personal bands clips, or other bands that you think people should be hearing.

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So who wants to get pimped? If you have a website that your band hosts, or something that you think the general public would enjoy checking out, please send me a link and a SHORT description and I may include it in the pimping section of next week's column!

The StumbleUpon Link of the Week is Gay Penguin Couple Adopts Egg in German Zoo and it is SFW.

Make sure you check out my reviews. You can see my profile with my blog and all of my reviews/columns here.

Also I'm a co-host and co-founder of a professional wrestling podcast. My friend and I have been running this show and our website for a little over three years now, and we'd love to have more listeners and since I get my own column now, I feel good about pimping it out. If you want to listen to the most recent show, you can usually find it (along with the most recent news which we get from a variety of other sites MOST NOTABLY the amazing 411Mania Wrestling News Section) at www.pinfallrecall.com. If you'd like to spend your days on our forums talking about how this Extreme Rules PPV is basically a repackaged One Night Stand, like all of us, you can do that on The Pinfall Recall Forums.

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Peace!