Hugh Laurie - Emperor's New Clothes?

[andy-hughes]

Not heard HL sing and play before, but read all the hype about his first album, and even more about the new one and ...

what a load of rubbish! He plays with an average style, and sings like someone asked to do a tune in a pub on a Saturday night.

Were he not Hugh Laurie, ac-tor - he wouldn't get a look-in with any record label in the world - and as it is, no-one should be shelling out for music as bland and characterless as this, there seems to be no end to the level of hype fame in one art form can give, when someone tries to perform in another.

There is no earthly reason to assume that singers would be anything approaching watchable as actors - Madonna, David Bowie, Sting, Mick Jagger and so on ad nauseum, so why do we expect the same in reverse?

As Doctor Johnson would say - an actor singing is like a dog walking on its hind legs - it is not done well, but you are surprised to see it done at all.

[petal54]

must agree with you,he did better 'messing' in Jeeves & Wooster

[jno]

didn't see it but I think your statement is slightly sweeping. Sinatra turned out to be an excellent actor. Cher's not bad. Jagger's very good in Performance, though I suppose that was a tailormade role.

[FredPuli43]

Yes, he loves the idea of that music but isn't great at living and performing it. I'm sure he's perfectly sincere and wasn't looking to make money, but he had the chance to lay down a few tracks and enjoyed it. He might even be embarrassed by any hype it gets on account of his acting. It's his "violon d'Ingres" as the French neatly say.[ Ingres was a hugely successful artist but also a keen amateur violinist. Clients who came to his studio had to endure his violin playing first before they were allowed to see their pictures ]

[Lie-in King]

I thought he was excellent - nice tight band behind him as well.

He's bringing the blues (the best style of music there has ever been, IMO) back into the heads of the record-buying public & I salute him for doing it.

His style is - his style - why should he have to sound better or worse than anyone else? The fact that he made his name as an actor should be irrelevant - he can either cut the mustard or he can't. IMO, he does, with flair.

He plays & sings with an obvious love of the blues - no, he's not the greatest pianist/singer/composer, but I'd rather listen to him than most of the rubbish in "the charts".

"There are minds so impatient of inferiority that their gratitude is a species of revenge, and they return benefits, not because recompense is a pleasure, but because obligation is a pain" (Samuel Johnson)

[emmie]

i think he is great, he is passionate about the music and will buy the new album, as i did the first one.

[ummmm]

I only seen clips but I enjoyed watching him.

Music will always appeal to some and not others.

[woofgang]

its not like you to rant andy?

[andy-hughes]

woofgang - you're right, it just struck me that Laurie is really not that good a musician - and to my mind, passion does not equate with talent. There is no-one more passionate than me about music, but I can't carry a tune in a bucket.

However, I know a considerable about about music and the people who make it, and I know the difference between a hobby player and a genuinely innovative talent.

To be fair to HL, I think he has made his albums as a labour of love, but the hype round them is trying to set m up as Robert Johnson re-born, and he is a very very long way from that.

So my argument is not with HL or actors who sing, it is merely that people see a talent in one artistic area, and make an invalid transfer of that talent to another area. If appeals, great, but let's not have him marketed as the great white wonder - he is not.

[sunny-dave]

Agree entirely - and the bit I heard seems to have been tampered with (Auto Tuned?) to stop the pitch wobbling around too, Andy.

Not good at all.

[jno]

Laurie's gone from pleasant lightweight comedian to the highest-paid dramatic actor on TV, so people might well think "enough already!" But music's very much a matter of taste, and I dont' suppose his is any "better" than mine.

[doctordb]

If he wasn't already famous then he might just be able to get £200 for his band at the grapes in Swindon on a Saturday night. Went there years ago and it was cr@p.

[tiggerblue10]

Heard him singing and playing for the first time last night on Graham Norton. The music is definitely not my cup of tea but if he enjoys it and some people enjoy it then why not.

To me he will always be Prince and Lieutenant George :o)

[bazwillrun]

but then he is no different from artists that get airplay on previous releases and not on the merits of the current material itself.

in the past music/a song became a "hit" because the radio djs decided what you were going to listen to and there wasnt really any way of listening to anything else.

at least now with the internet that hold is being broken and hopefully destoyed.

i have friends and maybe even myself are far better musicians than laurie but as we dont already have a name in the media to trade on our music wont see the light of day.

as a musician he brings absolutely nothing to the table

[jno]

Kosmos, yes, it's been clinically proven and andy has a certificate.

[woofgang]

neither do many of the "new artists" who get airplay IMO. People who succeed in one area have always diversified and he will sink or swim on his merits as a musician.

[woofgang]

lol jno...a research based statement then? Personally I think that AH is having a grump and (like me in a non specific grump) needed something to pin it on.

[hellywelly4]

I always think it is 'just me' when I think someone isn't very good, and I suppose it is a matter of personal opinion, but I was slightly embarrassed for him when I watched him sing on the Graham Norton Show. There is no doubting his sincerity though.

[andy-hughes]

Thanks jno!!!

woofgang - I assure you this is not a grump!

bazwillrun - I entirely agree, and that is the thrust of my point. Laurie's 'hobby' music is being touted as something new and wonderful because he is Hugh Laurie, and the simple fact is, it is neither.

[Greedyfly]

I love Hugh Laurie but his singing really isn't up to scratch. For a man who claims to love the blues he sure ain't very good at them!