Who's the best front man, or woman, of all time?

fandango

prowla said:

Phil_aka_Pip said:

Neill said:

Yay.. let's hear it for John Otway, I'll never forget the night he almost knocked himself unconscious at the Doncaster Outlook club, where the stage has a notoriously low ceiling...

Oh yes. I had the pleasure of meeting him when he gigged at the local arts centre and it was my job to run the (fairly basic) sound system and look after the artist(s) ie buy them a drink in the interval. Nice guy, larger than life on stage.

I saw Otway & Barrett back in the 70s and Otway jumped of a speaker and landed on his head.
It didn't seem to affect the performance.

John Otway indeed!!! Seen him live a few times over the years. With and without his band. Gotta say they were prob the most entertaining gigs I’ve ever been to.

If you haven’t been to one of his shows, you have definitely missed out.

But back to the op... I also suggest Brian Setzer, Jerry Lee Lewis and Gloria Estefan to add to my earlier nominations.

However the smart money for female lead has got to be Tina Turner.

Considering the number of male names mentioned, it’s a harder call. Surprised no one has mentioned Jim Morrison, and (forgive me if I’ve not seen his name noted in this thread) Frank Zappa.

ourmaninthenorth

SteveRobinson said:

Steve Marriott

That's a great shout...

EricTheWeary

Surprisingly no mentions for George Formby yet, the original rock star. 

'With my little stick of Blackpool what? C'mon I can't hear you! Everyone  at the back join in. With my little stick of Blackpool what?'
'Rock!'
'Champion. Eeh, turned out nice again.' 

Genius at work. 

Clarky

DiscoStu said:

Freddie Mercury

I was at the gig at Wembley Stadium, Magic Tour, July 12, 1986
he had the place in the palm of his hand...
and he totally dominated that giant stage..

I've always quite liked Queen, but never really been an avid fan
but they were absolutely superb

Clarky

musteatbrain said:

It’s David Lee Roth for both.
close thread

no matter if folks like him or not, DLR is a superb showman
the only down side is that he talks too much on stage..

Clarky

surprised no one has mentioned Hendrix, Peter Gabriel, Rob Halford

Sassafras

I love the Stones and Jagger's a great singer but when he starts prancing and mincing around on stage a huge wave of revulsion sweeps over me.
I've never been that impressed by the exhibitionist type of front man. Most of them are a bit revolting.

ICBM

fandango said:

Surprised no one has mentioned Jim Morrison

Page 1, post 3 .

For what it's worth, the reason I picked him and not Freddie is because great though he was, Freddie hasn't really had much of a lasting influence in terms of being emulated. Maybe he was just too unique, or too over the top...

But Morrison is the template for the archetypal rock frontman.

Sassafras

James Brown.
Little Richard.
Chuck Berry.

Liberace.

Handsome_Chris

Clarky said:

surprised no one has mentioned Hendrix, Peter Gabriel, Rob Halford

Because, @Clarky , a lot of the people on here would just not understand.

scrumhalf

Why limit this to the big bands? I've seen lots of smaller bands over the years with great frontmen.

Steve Waller (Steve Waller's Overload). possibly certifiable, but very entertaining.
Brian Bond (Punishment of Luxury)
Seymour Bybuss (The Shapes) I've never seen the frontman of a support band at the Marquee use the limited stage space so well.

kjdowd

Prince for me, every time. 

On the smaller bands point, Oli Brown of Raveneye is worth a mention (and also an enthusiastic @thorpyfx fallout cloud user!). Bit too early to be the greatest (!) but very, very good. 

Saw them last week. Great energy and showmanship, all sorts going on (crowd surfing solo, excursion into audience on bass player’s shoulders, lots of left hand legato riffing while holding the mic and singing) and just a great rock n roll attitude without being a prick. Highly recommend them live. 

ZenOvertone

David Lee Roth - great frontman but like most, repeats himself ("look at all the people here tonight") most of it stolen from Jim Dandy of Black Oak Arkansas.  The boxing ring at Wembley in 88 was a great example of his showmanship (the Skyscraper tour).

Freddie - a one off (sadly never saw Queen though) 

Steve Marriott - a big regret that I was often asked if I wanted to go and see the "Packet of three" and declined each time, powerhouse voice and guitar playing.

Jagger - stole some moves form Tina I think from the 69 US tour but a great frontman if a little odd now watching a 70+ year old still bouncing around shouting "well, alright".  Twickenham 2006, he bounced on stage and shouted "Awwww Twickenham, y'alright" (it could have been Phil Cornwell!!)

Someone mentioned Jerry Lee Lewis, way before my time and not a fan but he was destroying instruments way before the 60's (I think he burned a piano on stage?).

Neil

ourmaninthenorth said:

SteveRobinson said:

Steve Marriott

That's a great shout...

Yes it is. 

LuttiS

Blues Brothers?

Neil

Clarky said:

surprised no one has mentioned Hendrix, Peter Gabriel, Rob Halford

God like status though I attach to Jimi aside I just don't see him as the archetypal front man.

Unlike Gabriel and Halford et al Jimi played an instrument albeit with such wonderfulness he couldn't really prance around too much although of course he was the main man in The Experience. 

Fretwired

ICBM said:

fandango said:

Surprised no one has mentioned Jim Morrison

Page 1, post 3 .

For what it's worth, the reason I picked him and not Freddie is because great though he was, Freddie hasn't really had much of a lasting influence in terms of being emulated. Maybe he was just too unique, or too over the top...

But Morrison is the template for the archetypal rock frontman.

I'd agree with you there .. I'm a Doors fan

proggy

Either Mick Jagger or Robert Plant.

Not sure about female front person........Tina Turner maybe!

Clarky

Handsome_Chris said:

Clarky said:

surprised no one has mentioned Hendrix, Peter Gabriel, Rob Halford

Because, @Clarky , a lot of the people on here would just not understand.

is that because they are Spice Girls fans?

Philly_Q

I'm trying to think of people I've actually seen who were exceptionally charismatic, not many spring to mind although I have seen quite a lot of (mostly 1980s/90s) rock bands.

Fish was quite a presence with Marillion in the early 80s.

Alex Harvey?  I'm pretty sure I saw him although I'm now not 100% sure whether I saw Alex without SAHB or SAHB without Alex....