THE SELL OUT THREAD!

The local Clear Channel Rock station ran a contest for the biggest sellout song song in rock. The contest was between three songs:

Queen - Another one Bites the Dust
Aerosmith - Walk this Way (Rap version with Run DMC)
Kiss - I Was Made for Loving You.

I didn't take part in the contest, because frankly I find it stupid, but I thought it interesting since we had been talking about "selling out" here.

If I am not mistaken, Kiss won, or lost depending on how you look at it.

ultmetal wrote:

The local Clear Channel Rock station ran a contest for the biggest sellout song song in rock. The contest was between three songs:

Queen - Another one Bites the Dust
Aerosmith - Walk this Way (Rap version with Run DMC)
Kiss - I Was Made for Loving You.

I didn't take part in the contest, because frankly I find it stupid, but I thought it interesting since we had been talking about "selling out" here.

If I am not mistaken, Kiss won, or lost depending on how you look at it.

i would pick that too out of those choices.

I would not consider anything KISS does musicially as a sell out since KISS have never claimed to be purist.

Well, Id go with Kiss too as it was the clear sell out of the bunch, everyone knows it was for money. "Walk This Way" was more for Run D.M.C. than Aerosmith. I dont know much about Queen, but I dont get how thats one of the choices, if anyone would mind shedding some light on that.

"Beth" and "Hard Luck Woman" were much worse sellouts than "I Was Made..." IMO. Two more reasons Peter Criss was terrible.

spectrefate wrote:

"Beth" and "Hard Luck Woman" were much worse sellouts than "I Was Made..." IMO. Two more reasons Peter Criss was terrible.

Id say its the better song. But I couldnt call "Beth" and "Hard Luck Woman" sellouts in good conscience. Because, even though they're not what you expect from Kiss regularly, thats more Peter's type of song as opossed to something ripped out to match a passing trend.

Prior to " Another one Bites the Dust" all Queen albums came with " No Synsthisers" printed on all of their albums, where " The Game" was the first album that Queen used them on certain tracks.

The sell out idea maybe due to disco/dance bassline and beat that drives that song, it was written by John Deacon, when this song became a hit in the States alot of Queen's hard rock fans started abandoning them.

manny wrote:

Prior to " Another one Bites the Dust" all Queen albums came with " No Synsthisers" printed on all of their albums, where " The Game" was the first album that Queen used them on certain tracks.

The sell out idea maybe due to disco/dance bassline and beat that drives that song, it was written by John Deacon, when this song became a hit in the States alot of Queen's hard rock fans started abandoning them.

Ah ok, interesting. Thanks manny.

manny wrote:

Prior to " Another one Bites the Dust" all Queen albums came with " No Synsthisers" printed on all of their albums, where " The Game" was the first album that Queen used them on certain tracks.

The sell out idea maybe due to disco/dance bassline and beat that drives that song, it was written by John Deacon, when this song became a hit in the States alot of Queen's hard rock fans started abandoning them.

Indeed.

manny wrote:

Prior to " Another one Bites the Dust" all Queen albums came with " No Synsthisers" printed on all of their albums, where " The Game" was the first album that Queen used them on certain tracks.

The sell out idea maybe due to disco/dance bassline and beat that drives that song, it was written by John Deacon, when this song became a hit in the States alot of Queen's hard rock fans started abandoning them.

thanks for the info, I always thought it was just a funky song

Personally this is the song that I think made hard rock/metal fans abandon the Queen boys in the early 80's, thankfully they returned to their hard rocking roots shortly after releasing this single.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqLyjg-klhE

Such a bad song, i like Queen a lot but thats just wrong..

Fascinating discussion...

I've read through all of the posts, and there are many well articulated thoughts and responses in what can only be considered a very gray area based on the interpretation of what determines a sell out. I can state this, my interpretation has changed ten fold over the years. I'm sure as a teenager and a young adult I was more than happy to apply that tag to a handful of bands. As I've gotten a little older, I've tried to look at the situation from both perspectives (the fan and the bands). I believe the ONE constant (that ULT touched on regarding a former Heavy Metal bassist) is when those in a certain genre go out of their way to distance themselves from that form of music that they were only so happy to embrace at one time (whatever the circumstances might have been).

I think when musicians/bands do this, they have lost TOTAL credibility. I was one who used to bemoan the fact that bands changed their sound, but over the years it's become such common practice that I just role with it. It doesn't mean that I will still buy that album, or not voice my discontent over the album. I guess I hope that whatever negative message (in regards to exploring these other outlets) is being sent to the band, that somehow those thoughts will resonate with the musician/band when they enter the studio again. Musicians/bands certainly don't like to admit it when negative responses aimed at their previous effort dictate what happens on the follow up album. It's the musicians/bands with financial security who tend to ride that musical exploration wave out the longest. Sometimes they revisit their roots (much to the delight of their fanbase), and in some instances they don't (to the utter disappointment of many).

To see Aerosmith's collaboration with Run-D.M.C. in the top 3 sell out's is crazy.

It was damn near commercial suicide to have the idea of getting an ageing 70's rock band seen as past it to collaborate with a rap group who hadn't even charted a single to that point. It was uncharted territory.

But it worked, broke Hip-Hop in the mainstream, resurrected Aerosmith's career etc. But it could easily have been a huge failed experiment.

rattpoison wrote:

To see Aerosmith's collaboration with Run-D.M.C. in the top 3 sell out's is crazy.

It was damn near commercial suicide to have the idea of getting an ageing 70's rock band seen as past it to collaborate with a rap group who hadn't even charted a single to that point. It was uncharted territory.

But it worked, broke Hip-Hop in the mainstream, resurrected Aerosmith's career etc. But it could easily have been a huge failed experiment.

Agreed.

Aerosmith wouldn't be around today without this collaboration. In 1986, the band's families and ult were the only people still listening to Aerosmith. Then the collaboration, a decent deal with Geffen and voila! Aerosmith are major players in the game again.

spectrefate wrote:

rattpoison wrote:

To see Aerosmith's collaboration with Run-D.M.C. in the top 3 sell out's is crazy.

It was damn near commercial suicide to have the idea of getting an ageing 70's rock band seen as past it to collaborate with a rap group who hadn't even charted a single to that point. It was uncharted territory.

But it worked, broke Hip-Hop in the mainstream, resurrected Aerosmith's career etc. But it could easily have been a huge failed experiment.

Agreed.

Aerosmith wouldn't be around today without this collaboration. In 1986, the band's families and ult were the only people still listening to Aerosmith.

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think as bands get older and have been around for a long time they can do as they please. What more can we ask for from bands who have been putting quality music out for 10 or more years. These same bands have all the right to experiment a little.

Saying that I think if you go from Slayer to Sum 41 thats not going to be taken well by your fan base and will probably be labeled sell outs. I also came to the conclusion that some bands and artists get desperate and have to choose between what will make there lives more comfortable.

I think some bands it would be commerical suicide to change their sound one iota. Slayer for example, out of the big four, it is always said that Slayer has been the only one that has never sold out. But unlike say Metallica, Megadeth or Anthrax, they could try ballads, explore a more commerical direction or go back to their thrash roots, and for the most part their fan base will go along with it.

Where if Slayer had attempted any of this avenues not only would they lose their hard core fans, but they would not attract any of the more commerical fans due to their previous image, sometimes your own image can keep your band from branching out to other avenues, I am glad Slayer did not follow those avenues, but I don't think they would have been available to them anyway.

This thread brings to mind Spinal Tap's jazz fusion show.

spectrefate wrote:

In 1986, the band's families and ult were the only people still listening to Aerosmith.

Required Fields wrote:

spectrefate wrote:

In 1986, the band's families and ult were the only people still listening to Aerosmith.

Just about true though. I was a die-hard in '79 and the 80's when the band seemed to lose their fan base. I thought albums like Night in the Ruts and Rock in a Hard Place were fantastic! Still do! Saw the band on the RiaHP tour. Their albums weren't selling but they weren't exactly unpopular. They sold out the Spectrum in Philly on that tour. Saw them again a couple years later on the Back in the Saddle reunion tour, again at the Spectrum. They sold it out again. Really wish I would have caught the Joe Perry Project at one of their many club shows.

I didn't mean that negatively, ult. I just know you were as die hard about them back then as well.

spectrefate wrote:

In 1986, the band's families and ult were the only people still listening to Aerosmith.

Count me in there with Ult and the band's families then... in 1986 I was listening to the then-current "comeback" album DONE WITH MIRRORS quite a bit...

Like ULT I was an Aerosmith fan back in 1982, and it was the first concert I ever saw. I never saw the Joe Perry Project live but I did get to Joe Perry when he first returned to Aerosmith m on their "Back in the Saddle" tour at Lakeland Civic Center with Black & Blue opening and it sold out ( it held about 2000) of course that is small potatoes compared to the 70's and their come back in 1987.

is selling out not when a band goes against it's views from the start? like if a band said they want their face on everything and then release rooster rings with said face is fine as long as they never said they would never do it?