Why do so many DU'ers dislike Cat Stevens? I was surprised with the

[KoKo]

posts against the guy. I find it hard to believe someone who wrote these songs would be plotting to blow us up. Is this some kind of vendetta against 60's Folks? Are we now going after Carly Simon and James Taylor and Simon and Garfinkle because the same folks who bought Stevens on AMAZON bought Simon and Taylor and the rest....Who is next?

1. Wild World
2. Oh Very Young
3. Can't Keep It In
4. Hard Headed Woman
5. Moonshadow
6. Two Fine People
7. Peace Train
8. Ready
9. Father and Son
10. Sitting
11. Morning Has Broken
12. Another Saturday Night

Customers who bought this title also bought:

* Footsteps in the Dark: Greatest Hits 2 ~ Cat Stevens (Rate it)
* The Very Best of Cat Stevens ~ Cat Stevens (Rate it)
* Tea for Tillerman ~ Cat Stevens (Rate it)
* James Taylor: Greatest Hits ~ James Taylor (Rate it)
* Best of Simon & Garfunkel ~ Simon & Garfunkel (Rate it)
* Photographs & Memories ~ Jim Croce (Rate it)
* The Best of Carly Simon ~ Carly Simon (Rate it)
* Teaser & The Firecat ~ Cat Stevens (Rate it)


Amazon.com
Before Cat Stevens changed his name to Yusef Islam, he had a slew of hits built around his soft, yet sometimes coarse, vocals. Stevens utilized a variety of instrumentation and rhythms in his predominantly acoustic arrangements, and songs like "Peace Train," and "Another Saturday Night" had a multi-cultural feel to them. Greatest Hits provides a decent overview of his more popular work, including the poignant "Oh Very Young" and "Father & Son." Unfortunately, the delightful yet brief "Tea for the Tillerman" is not present. The lovely "Morning Has Broken" has elements of Stevens's growing concern with religion, philosophy, and the relationship between the cerebral and the spiritual. In the early 1980s, Stevens, now Yusef, "retired" from the music profession because of his new beliefs. --Steve Gdula --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00004YNGK/ref=pd_sim_music_3/103-2069839-1470204?v=glance&s=music

[HEyHEY]

1. It's called a band-wagon

[JitterbugPerfume]

5. yes______

jump right on No thinking required

[Zeke]

8. Love

Love your bear picture.

Love it, eh.

[Trajan]

2. Love Cat Stevens now ...

Even if I didnt like him so much then ....

But honestly? .... I generally dislike religious extremists of all sects .... and though I cannot directly quote him: he has said some rather extreme things regarding Islam and mankind ....

I reject muslim extremists as I would christian extremists as I would hindu extremists as I would ...... etc ....

[WinterStorm]

43. He wasn't a religious person back in the 70's & early 80's

We lost a great singer and song writer when he quit the music business as Cat Stevens.

[hlthe2b]

3. Not me... 'bought his DVD the day it was released.

I'd been really looking forward to it.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

4. They hate him because he said Islamic law would call for Rushdie to die

Rushdie is basically a PNAC asshat....Satanic Verses was hardly a fair assessment of the Muslim religion and created a great deal of the irrational fear and dehumanizing attitudes toward the Muslim world.

[KoKo]

6. How did Rushdie get banned in the US if PNAC has been sitting there

waiting to strike for decades, though? Link to Rushdie and PNAC? This is interesting.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

16. And he deserves the fatwa, how?

Come on, fair game you don't like Rushdie (neither do I), but I am consistent in my opposition to death threats and the death penalty.

[Zeke]

7. State the Obvious...

Because his music SUCKS !!!

VOTE KERRY.

VOTE OFTEN.

[KoKo]

12. But what is your criticism? It sucks to you but what about those of us it

doesn't suck to? Look, there's lots of music I might not buy or want to listen to...but I don't go looking to trash the musical artist or performer for his or her beliefs.

Is it his MUSIC to you...or HIM? :shrug:

[JimmyJazz]

9. I think some of the posts were sarcastic

as in "yeah, this guy is such a threat." I know mine was. I don't think people believe he's a threat and they think it's ridiculous for him to be detained. We really need a sarcastic smiley. I was sure everyone would know a suggestion to "steamroll his cd's" was TOTALLY sarcastic and something Repubs would do.

[KoKo]

13. Oh...maybe I read the posts wrong then. There just seemed to be so

many trashing him, I didn't pick up on the sarcasm. Sorry...

It's hard on DU lately to tell the sarcasm from the cynicism from the disillusioned...

:shrug:

[JimmyJazz]

26. See, we need a symbol for sarcasm. I suggest:

[KoKo]

36. No a weirdie "sarcasm" emoticom...but what could it be? Agree it's

needed in heated arguments. Often what seems a trash is really just sarcasm or irony and the poster gets "tombstoned."

An "emoticom" would be helpful...but it's a difficult subtle emotion to express in a little character...

[lazarus]

39. A sarcasm emoticon?

never happen. :eyes:

[JimmyJazz]

40. are you rolling your eyes at me?

:7

[wyldwolf]

10. easy - because he was commercially successful

Some on DU find that unbearable.

[matcom]

11. the man wrote fucking "PEACE TRAIN!"

now, IMHO Richie PERFORMED it better but *sheesh*

PEACE TRAIN!!!!!

[Taverner]

14. Who? Nicole Richie?

Does she have a recording contract now????

[Screaming Lord Byron]

15. His songs are atrocious.

That's my reason.

They rely on platitudes and simplistic reasoning. They have no edge, and they do not challenge the listener. They're smug, self-congratulatory, tedious and pompous.

He had the worst, absolute worst album art ever.

[KoKo]

22. I don't know about his "album art" but you know you gotta have big backing

to get the best "graphic designers" and that means "commericial like Brittany" where the "Go Guys" are funding your cover graphics.

When "Cat" was producing his songs it was about his "Sound & Lyrics" and the CD or Album Cover...just wasn't the thingy that would sell..

Maybe we were "Purists" or naive to the "whole package with graphics before we bought....but lots of us bought "Cat" because of his Sentiment and Sound. :shrug: Whatever....who knows...:shrug:

[asthmaticeog]

52. You just rattled off a LONG list of the man's HUGE hits

but now he's not "commercial like Britney?" In his day, yes, he was.

[spooky3]

53. Cat Stevens did his own art for the albums, at least the early ones.

I always liked his gentle tunes and his gentle art.

[tigereye]

44. aw Byron

some of his songs are wonderful. Guess you had to be there - his and Don McLean's songs ( vincent) were the only ones when I was in high school that really seemed to have their finger on the pulse. C'mon, have you seen Harold and Maude? His songs are so wonderful in that. ( or are you being sarcastic... usually I can tell) Oops maybe you are. Oh, well, just ignore this then.

[spooky3]

54. Mona Bone Jakon--I liked that album; lots of feeling in the music.

[tigereye]

60. we pretty much liked all his albums back then

Teaser and the Firecat, Tea for the Tillerman, etc.

[Trajan]

49. There is no accounting for taste .....

Even as one who wasn't a Cat Stevens fan (because his song forms were simplistic and 'soft'), there is NO DOUBT that his compositions are artful and sophisticated in their simplicity ... The chord progressions and key modulations on "Morning has Broken" are absolutely beautiful, and very emotionally effective in transporting the listener to feelings that are relevant to the lyrics ....

I am not a big fan of his, and shunned his work .... but to deny his artistic ability is myopic ....

Again: there is no accounting for taste ....

[Screaming Lord Byron]

17. Also, the entire seventies singer-songwriter genre is the dullest

genre known to man.

People like Cat Stevens came along in the wake of the genuinely stratospheric artists of the 1960's with reactionary, naive songs that you could not dance to and had the artistic depth of a puddle. They are the self-congratulatory anthems of a smug generation of artists who threw away the possibilities of the mid-60's in a canon of self-indulgence, navel gazing and self-absorption.

[jpgray]

19. You need more 'self's with hyphens after them in that tirade

Being correct is no excuse. :P

[Screaming Lord Byron]

20. Thank you.

Terrible music.

[KoKo]

24. GACK! trashing the 70's Music Scene? Who are you? THE AUTHORITY?

What one or two tunes might you have liked from that era...were their any? Did you grow up then...what's your dig from where you were observing that 70's music wasn't "up to your personal taste."

Now...Me...after you leave the 50's and early 60's music wise, I skip to the 80's Music Scene...because it was so "eclectic" that there was something good and at many times "GREAT" for every genre of music lover.

I can't get enough of the 80's Music. When I go back I discover stuff I didn't even SEE THEN that these recording artists were trying to tell us...

So...your post kind of sucked to me...sorry...:shrug:

[Screaming Lord Byron]

25. Why would I be an authority? I never claimed to be an authority.

It has however, been scientifically proven that all those artists suck. :evilgrin:

Also, I'm not writing off the entire 70's music scene, just the majority of a particular genre.

[KoKo]

27. ROFL...Scientifically Proven? Geeze...when were Scientists in to music to

approve or disapprove....WHERE AND WHAT are you talking about!...:shrug:

Out to Lunch?

[Screaming Lord Byron]

37. No. That was a joke.

[tigereye]

45. ah he's young

he's usually right, but not in this case. :)

[Screaming Lord Byron]

50. And I thought you were supposed to be Punk?

:cry:

[tigereye]

51. I am punk - how do you think I got that way? All that 70s stuff!

But, listen, my dear, there was no punk ( well, I didn't know about what was happening in NYC and England til I got to college) when I was in high school. Yes, I had to experience 70s music in the FLESH, up close and personal. And believe me Byron, there is MUCH ( mush?) that is worse than Cat Stevens and Don McLean.

and again, if you haven't seen Harold and Maude, Cat goes down a lot (that sounds bad, not what I meant ;)) easier in that context, too.

[KoKo]

30. Maybe I could accept your "total trash" if you gave examples and

critiques. But you are "lumping" with your own view the works of hundreds of recording artists into your "personal taste" in music.

As I said...there's folks I like and dislike....but I try not to find a hook to hang them on. And, my taste tends to run with "music for the masses" and what's now called "pop" than what you might like as hard hitting, cutting edge music that breaks barriers into the "unknown."

I think you have to put music into the context of the "ERA" it was written and recorded for...and then go back in a new decade and revisit before you criticize whether it was forward or bakward leaning. What cut the edge of each decade will be different according to the listener.

But, Music is GOOD...and unless it's Brittany Spears or the Monkees...which was a "mass produced Corpratist thing to suck us in" then those who did write and produce or find folks who they felt would uphold their works in the style they wanted deserve more "looksee" than what I'm reading on this thread..

:shrug:

[tigereye]

47. dear there are so many worse than him, trust me

I was there. Listen to your old Auntie Tigereye. :)

[BlueStateGirl]

18. Except for a sentimental attachment to "Wild World", I don't

care for his music. On a personal level, I have no interest in him.

Feel the same way abut James Taylor, Carly Simon, James Croce etc...

And except for Harry Chapin, I tend not to like singer-songwriters from the 1970's.

[redqueen]

23. Kudos to you for excepting HC

He was truly an exceptional human being. :)

[KoKo]

29. Harry Chapin was a good guy...and he died too soon..but there was

other stuff, that deserves a relook. :shrug:

[LiviaOlivia]

21. I listened to nothing but Cat Stevens when I was in High School.

Familiarity breeds contempt. I don't give a fuck about his religion.

[KoKo]

28. Did you rebel because you heard so much of him that he became Pop

Boring...because it was "crammed down your throat?" Or, did you base you opinion on the lyrics and back up of his songs?

Which? :shrug:

[LiviaOlivia]

32. I cannot

stand the sound of his voice. And for God's sake, no it was not crammed down my throat. He was a fad like Brittany.

I don't like his music. Why can't you deal with that? I have a right
to my opinion and I will not nor do I need to justify or explain anything to you.

Cat Stevens sucks.

[KoKo]

33. Okay...I get that. There are certain James Taylor songs that I find

whiney...so I get where you're coming from. But, it's amazing...those same James Taylor songs I hated because of the Whine..sort of hit me now that I've relistened.

I think lots has to do with where you are and your own mindset when you hear the voice...but there are singers I still can't stand no matter how many folks love them and say they are great...the voice just leaves me cold and grates...Nat King Cole...for me...

So...I get it...:-)'s

[LiviaOlivia]

35. Yes

I agree with you on JT. I admit to worshiping Joni Mitchell and Neil Young. They are practically the lone survivors of my youth.

Jeff Buckley is on CD player.

[greatauntoftriplets]

31. I STILL listen to Cat Stevens....

"Cerebral and spiritual" are apt descriptions of his songs. Perhaps having lived through that era as a young adult makes me understand how his songs fit the times. During a time of such youthful alienation, his music was refreshing.

Certainly better than yo-yo publicity hounds like Britney Spears -- whatever to hell name she has now that she has either married or not.

[Mortos]

34. I am going to sing some Cat Stevens songs tonight

I will go out into my party barn, fire up the karaoke machine and sing "Father and Son" at the top of my lungs. I love Cat Stevens and think that all of you people who are bashing him are wankers. His songs are simple and often touching. His songs made the movie "Harold and Maude". I think many of you are music dorks like that Jack Black character in High Fidelity that just beat up artist who don't fit into your narrow ideal of "artistic" and "hip". You know who else rocks from that era? David Alan Coe.

[Cha]

38. Sing "Moonshadow" for me!

I didn't analyse the hell out of Cat Stevens' songs..we just mellowed out to them in the '70's and I don't care who doesn't like them ..I remember them with great fondness!

[WinterStorm]

41. Some of them play follow the leader

Who the leader is I don't know but Cat Stevens was one of the best artists of his time.

The crap that they claim for music today sucks!

[Ilsa]

42. Moonshadow was my favorite.

I think it is upsetting that he gave away his career to study religion.

The terrorist watch list thing is a mess, IMO. Huge over-reaction. If they have something definitive on him, they should act on it, but this stuff is BS.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

46. Peter, Paul, and Mary will be on the 10 Most Wanted list

[NightTrain]

48. I've nothing against him as a person. I've just never cared for his music.

Same with James Taylor and Carly Simon. It's all a matter of personal taste in music, that's all.

[ProfessorGAC]

56. Same Here, Train

The whole singer/songwriter thing seemed a little forced. The introspection and pensiveness always seemed faked to me. Sure, there were some heartfelt songs, but a lot of it was just marketing. Croce, Nyro, Simon, King, Taylor, Stevens, etc. It was just as formulaic as Britney, Jessica, Christina, et al, are now.
The Professor

[Screaming Lord Byron]

57. The Professor expresses how I feel about the genre expertly.

[Rambis]

55. I bought Cat Stevens at a sale for a nickle

The art caught my eye and I loved the music. I have no problem with Yusef Islam. He said his book was like a stab in the heart of Islam. I do have a problem with GWB killing thousands of people for no reason at all.

[Zookeeper]

58. IMHO, his music is too sentimental...

but, you're probably not as grumpy as Zookeeper. ;-)

[RedEarth]

59. I happen to like Cat Stevens, James Taylor , Carly Simon, Jim Croce,

Simon & Garfunkel, Phoebe Snow, Laura Nero(sp), Judy Collins, Carole King, plus many more from the sixties and seventies......I enjoyed their music then and enjoy it now :)