Who are the coolest band that ever walked?

Not necessarily the best, but the coolest?

Motörhead?

Having spent many years giving it undue weight, I’ve rejected “cool” as a concept.

https://y.yarn.co/8555ebcf-1c22-434d-9d2b-df630a4f517e_text.gif

https://media.ntslive.co.uk/crop/770x770/6b2fd821-f24a-4a69-85ce-b3977e823eb7_1453479141.jpg

My guess:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/The_Specials_crop.jpg

...which I'm trying hard to top really

One of Miles' electric bands maybe? If not giving a fuck = cool, that is.

VU imo

Bad Seeds until Bargeld and Harvey left.

Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem

that Japanese band Ars Nova that are like heavy ELP worship

when the sugarcubes came out there was a lot of lamestain "coolest band on earth" stuff, like in Rolling Stone.

Having spent many years giving it undue weight, I’ve rejected “cool” as a concept.

― mike t-diva, Monday, August 12, 2024 2:44 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

nice to see someone else here. illusion is basically baked into the word to the point where it's meaningless to me. it also tends to exclude older people. it feels good to use other words. i like ya dl but ilm has done soooo much "cool discourse" over the years, and it's always a drag imo.

i certainly don't cAre about coolness anymore either -- still, i think VU were the coolest band who ever was for a number of reasons, not the least of which was Moe Tucker.

https://hoppinjohns.net/WP_Johns/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/a-b54.jpg

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CQCoqempnYg/VycsD8sNi_I/AAAAAAAAEm8/P2HSvtNnAIMI3AFGBliof0dh2Li1sWtRgCLcB/s1600/05.jpg

It’s obviously completely silly and subjective, like I doubt very many young people in my neighborhood would think Motörhead were a “cool” band if they knew who they were

lol now that i've expressed my disdain for "cool" as a concept i have to admit i still think of certain bands as cool. and the coolest band to me is sade. for personal and idiosyncratic reasons that are impossible to apply coherently. some of which are that they started from a relatively humble place, ended up owning the 80s, then took their sweet time making a handful of pop songbook masterpiece albums that are on a shakespearian level as far as humanistic artistic achievement is concerned.

correct answer is outkast, aka the coolest mother-phonkers on the planet

the sky is falling ain't no need to panic

Hey I didn't mean to rock any boats or retread played-out discussions. It was just meant as a fun discussion. I do get that "cool" and ideas of "cool" are a bit daft, especially these days in our overstuffed, oversaturated world

We should maybe attempt a discussion of what is "cool" w/r/t bands, and whether there's an opposite side — "hot" bands. Not "hot" as in "sexy" but "hot" in terms of their energy/vibe, like if "cool" implies a certain innate calm and operating at a slight remove, good examples would be Steely Dan or Kraftwerk, whereas "hot" would imply that the band is fully engaged at all times and leaping up in your face, so like the MC5 or Slipknot.

i don't think either steely dan or kraftwerk were removed at all from what they were doing. i do think that "cool" makes sense as like a sound palette or general energy level descriptor though. there's definitely a spectrum of energy in music that feels akin to the electromagnetic spectrum.

my personal definition of "cool" conveniently aligns with stuff i'm most impressed with about a band.

Africa 70
The Cramps
Public Enemy (early years)
YMO

very often in culture "cool" is associated with not caring, or not trying very hard--which is not usually what I look for in music.

like those rappers with croaky voices who sound like they just woke up are very cool I guess, but fuck 'em

JAMC in 1985
Saada Bonaire

The Proclaimers

https://scontent-lga3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/454717477_1359543764967360_6852455853818614164_n.jpg?_nc_cat=107&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=833d8c&_nc_ohc=UAnztGWjCW0Q7kNvgHqpxGj&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-2.xx&oh=00_AYCRAXNSQdf9h_L1UERAQhXjWy0yLA1lC-5v0uL0nU9IeQ&oe=66BFED69

i don't think either steely dan or kraftwerk were removed at all from what they were doing.

Not removed from what they were doing but removed from the broader showbiz apparatus. They seemed to be keeping their distance and if you found out about them some way, great, but they weren't going to glad-hand you or even necessarily invite you to the party. You had to find your own way there.

This is, of course, an image all its own, and a carefully crafted one, but it's a cooler image than "Hey! We're _____________, and we're your new favorite band! We're sexy, and fun, and our songs totally rock!"

stereolab were pretty cool

very often in culture "cool" is associated with not caring, or not trying very hard--which is not usually what I look for in music.

― There’s a Monster in my Vance (President Keyes), Monday, August 12, 2024 5:17 PM (two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

"cool" for me is rooted in artistic achievement. mostly in recorded output. the band live is a factor but not as important to me. i do think there's an element in "not trying very hard" that's very germane to artistic achievement. for instance taylor swift is the most try-hard pop star of all time, and i think she has her moments but is uncool overall.

xxp yeah i agree they were forging their own path "to the side" of the dumbest parts of the industry.

though i'm not actually that familiar with kraftwerk's story and who they were working with.

pfunk were highly cool imo

yeah boring answer is Funkadelic

more than 4 very cool people involved

Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem

― nashwan

Cooler than the Riverbottom Nightmare Band?

esp as i age part of the definition of cool for me is watching how artists navigate / come to terms with being older while they still stay in the game and create. lifelong musicians, or people who don't give up on their need to create music even if it's necessarily in a small way due to circumstances beyond their control, are way cooler to me than people who leave it behind.

so like druggies can be cool early on but transitioning out of that while staying vital is the coolest. lou reed is kind of a no brainer answer to me as far as solo artists go, even if i'm not personally a huge fan of the music.

personal life is a factor for me though. when i found out john cale is a scum ass wifebeater, he lost a lot of his cool to me, even though on a gut level i like his music more than lou's.

and moe is obviously very cool on an artistic level, and i like her solo albums quite a bit, but like .. can you be a cool conservative??? idk about that.

finding your soulmate and being a power couple like lou reed and laurie anderson did is the coolest

Electric Mayhem

the coolest bands for me have a confident semi-dorkiness, but not so much that they tip over into being a joke, maybe a bit of humor but not too much. B-52s are a good answer, Stereolab too. Steely Dan is a solid answer in a lot of ways and i love them but they're actually not what i think of when i think of cool. though they got cooler as they went along.

at this point a lot of the bands that really try very hard to be cool come off for me like absolute dbags even if they're not, but frequently they are. the narcissism really shines thru with a lot of acts, too much for me to give them a chance in some cases for better or worse. i'm probably not being fair.

i think one band that pulled off being a cool superstar rock band was Thin Lizzy, maybe also because they never quite broke through to the absolute top level, but just stayed the course.

i definitely like so many musicians that don't come within a mile of being cool in any way, U2 fan here btw.

if your singer is like a respected poet that definitely ups the cool factor in my view xp

as far as new bands go, i've been trying to figure out if the 1975 is cool or not. nb i'm listening to them for the first time lately. i think paramore are pretty cool. my beloved high on fire are obviously the coolest dudes on the planet.

robert wyatt is at the tippy top of the cool list for me. omg i am on one this morning lol.

The Whispers

i think there are artists who are too cool for their own good, and the good of the people around them. prince and van morrison are examples.

Cool is not really a word I associate with Van Morrison tbh.

Mike Ratledge looked extremely cool in the 60s too. Pre-droopy moustache and with leather coat.

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/r72Br6RQ4bLEmqnerNpUDX-1200-80.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/J3bVchB.jpeg

xp Supergrass's Gaz Coombes definitely cool

Robert Wyatt is indeed one of the coolest musicians who ever walked.

― Sam Weller, Wednesday, August 14, 2024 11:34 AM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

oh god very guilty lol

just cuz the real lies thread is up right now i think real lies are extremely cool.

Funny that there's little mention of shoegaze bands, since shoegazing was a tactic deployed to look cool.

they just stood there tho

If it was a tactic deployed to look cool - which I don't think it was - it failed miserably.

Hang on, Slowdive were pretty damn cool back in the day.

https://consequence.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/slowdive.jpg

https://media.soundoflife.com/34/resources/xT45PKPeNkBcOf6aQckwQ08r8CM69Ehll4Z4f11G.jpg

i still stand by VU as the coolest band -- it's 1967 and these people are playing their weird music at The Factory, the coolest place in NYC, the coolest city in the USA. Before Moe became conservative and John Cale committed domestic violence, they were the pinnacle of cool. I honestly don't think a rock band could be cooler than VU at the Factory.

or at least not at that time

where is this Cale DV stuff from? I can't find anything about it online.

something map mentioned -- i have no idea what it is either but i think it was mentioned in the John Cale thread? i did not read his book either, maybe it's in there.

I hope someone isn't confusing John Cale with Lou Reed there.

First time hearing about JC being physically abusive? Lou Reed on the other hand:

https://amp.theguardian.com/music/2015/oct/13/lou-reed-new-biography-domestic-violence-abuse-women

found it (it's in the hidden text and it's really gross!!) John Cale S/D

sorry guys i recall reading some allegations somewhere on ilm in the last few years, definitely about cale, enough to make me think it was fairly well known. i'll be damned if i can find where now and obviously happy if i'm wrong.

xp

i would never confuse Lou Reed and John Cale btw

God bless Sterling Morrison (and Doug Yule) I say.

... the two least cool VU members of course.

i mean Nico was awful -- I read a book about her too -- but that doesn't stop her from being cool as a member of VU in 1967.
you give people enough time in the public eye and they will inevitably do something you think is wack.

cale mentions his DV and shitty behavior in his autobiography “what’s welsh for zen”

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/peel/images/6/63/Chicory_Tip.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20160613123809

i'm having problems with photos...

i need a flickr account apparently.

haha, i still have a flickr account. last used in 2007.

i am totally on board re the VU at their peak.

but as a man of a certain age then yeah, for me, the coolest band has to be this lot of course :

https://louderthanwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/earl_brutus1.jpg

miles davis sextet

https://www.prettythingsandcoolstuff.com/cdn/shop/products/Miles_Davis_at_Newport_1958_2_600x.jpg

https://i0.wp.com/www.michigandaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/yellowmagicorch.jpg?w=465&ssl=1

it's The Specials

I met Sterling, he's definitely cool.

i mean Nico was awful … you give people enough time in the public eye and they will inevitably do something you think is wack.

Yes I agree. After reading the book I decided she was a truly awful person.

The bit about Nico that made me sympathetic toward her was when she talked about how her extreme polyglot status made it difficult for her to express herself effectively in any language. I can't even imagine trying to think through things without at least one language on my side. Doesn't excuse "giving heroin to your kid", but it did make me more sympathetic to her

I have no mouth and I must hook my child on heroin.

That sounds like utter nonsense to me, tbh. Had she forgotten how to speak and think in German?

I can't express myself so I must stab a black woman in the face with a wine glass, requiring 20 stitches, while screaming "I'll show you what suffering is!"

she also said "I hate black people" while doing it but perhaps something got lost in translation

I feel like the thing about being cool is that it doesn’t protect you from being a gigantic asshole — if you can be cool and not be a massive assmonster you have won some kind of life lottery.

I feel like the thing about being cool is that it doesn’t protect you from being a gigantic asshole — if you can be cool and not be a massive assmonster you have won some kind of life lottery.

Woops sorry

Woops sorry

Woops sorry

Wow

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

I mean, were they trying to sound like Roxy Music on that?

I remember one of those music mags had asked the question of Roxy Music's office, and got a fairly miffed "No, it bloody well isn't Bryan Ferry singing!" in reply.

the mummies