Who is the King of Rock n' Roll?

Prefab Sprout, mun.

Slim Whitman.

Tom Jones

Mister Jolly wrote: Prefab Sprout, mun.

Ha. Very good mun.

The question is, of course, impossible to answer - especially as people have different ideas about what 'rock and roll' actually is.

I'd rule out C&W singers (Orbison, Cash) as that's a different style; likewise soul singers (James Brown etc.). Elvis ruled himself out when he went to Las Vegas and started wearing white jump-suits covered in sequins!

In order to attempt an answer, I'll provide a purely personal definition: music with a clear, powerful beat which is not over-complicated, and a clothes style which (for the most part anyway) is not downright embarrasing. There also needs to be a fairly large and consistent body of work.

Applying these criteria, I can't look beyond the Rolling Stones, whose great R&R songs include: Satisfaction, Brown sugar, Sympathy for the devil, Start me up, Honky tonk women, Jumping Jack Flash, Street fighting man etc. etc.

IMHO, Hendrix was, and remains, the greatest rock guitarist of all time - but he didn't live long enough to produce a long catalogue, and was becoming increasingly experimental (more jazz-inclined) towards the end.

Groups and individuals from 1970 onwards are different again - Led Zeppelin are brilliant, but is their music R&R? For me, it's gone a bit beyond that. Some punk could, maybe, be described as R&R, but categorisation is tricky.

So there you have it - and at least some of the Stones not only lived the R&R lifestyle, but actually managed to survive it - so far, anyway!

lofty evans wrote: aber-fan wrote: The question is, of course, impossible to answer - especially as people have different ideas about what 'rock and roll' actually is. I'd rule out C&W singers (Orbison, Cash) as that's a different style; likewise soul singers (James Brown etc.). Elvis ruled himself out when he went to Las Vegas and started wearing white jump-suits covered in sequins! In order to attempt an answer, I'll provide a purely personal definition: music with a clear, powerful beat which is not over-complicated, and a clothes style which (for the most part anyway) is not downright embarrasing. There also needs to be a fairly large and consistent body of work. Applying these criteria, I can't look beyond the Rolling Stones, whose great R&R songs include: Satisfaction, Brown sugar, Sympathy for the devil, Start me up, Honky tonk women, Jumping Jack Flash, Street fighting man etc. etc. IMHO, Hendrix was, and remains, the greatest rock guitarist of all time - but he didn't live long enough to produce a long catalogue, and was becoming increasingly experimental (more jazz-inclined) towards the end. Groups and individuals from 1970 onwards are different again - Led Zeppelin are brilliant, but is their music R&R? For me, it's gone a bit beyond that. Some punk could, maybe, be described as R&R, but categorisation is tricky. So there you have it - and at least some of the Stones not only lived the R&R lifestyle, but actually managed to survive it - so far, anyway! Those white jump suits are something else.

They are indeed - and whatever it is, it definitely ISN'T 'rock and roll'!

holly johnson.

KID A wrote: What has dress sense got to do with it?

Cos if there too tight you can reach the higher notes.