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Greatest American Entertainer of the 20th Century

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Insider Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-06-04 09:42 AM
Original message
Greatest American Entertainer of the 20th Century
overall? michael jackson. it could be cultural or generational or both, but this guy has been singing, dancing, writing, producing, performing like nobody i've ever heard/seen. he went from entertaining detroit to america to the world. yeah, his marketing was phenomenal, and changed how superstars are made and maintained. but underneath it all was a great talent, in the studio and on stage.

so who is it, DU: sammy davis? frank sinatra? madonna? bob hope? judy garland? other? this could be interesting.
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tjdee Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-06-04 09:45 AM
Response to Original message
1. It's Michael Jackson, and too bad he's a psycho.
Hard to say though, because if everyone had had a TV in the forties it may have been someone else.
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CO Liberal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-06-04 09:47 AM
Response to Original message
2. Bob Hope
He was a top atraction in vaudeville, radio, movies, TV, records ("Thanks for the Memories" was a million-seller), and put on USO shows for the troops from WWII to the first Gulf War. His career went from the '20s through the Early '90s. I don't think any entertainer will ever match his record.
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alwynsw Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-06-04 01:29 PM
Response to Reply #2
23. Do you mean ....
Godd ol' Bob Hope ...REPUBLICAN stalwart?
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CO Liberal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-06-04 01:37 PM
Response to Reply #23
25. He May Have Been a Republican.....
...but I think he had a greater impact on more aspects of American entertainment than anyone else listed in this thread.
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gordianot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-06-04 09:48 AM
Response to Original message
3. Elvis he took and redefined Rock and Roll.
Edited on Sat Nov-06-04 09:50 AM by gordianot
They still come to Graceland to the tomb.

HE HAS STAYING POWER THEY STILL SELL HIS RECORDINGS.
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UB4Me Donating Member (22 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-06-04 09:49 AM
Response to Original message
4. Chaplin
and he was a liberal too.
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alwynsw Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-06-04 01:26 PM
Response to Reply #4
21. Chaplin was a Socialist
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gmoney Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-06-04 01:28 PM
Response to Reply #4
22. Chaplin was British
And so was Bob Hope... at least born in England
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BuelahWitch Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-06-04 01:40 PM
Response to Reply #4
27. Chalk up another vote for Chaplin
Wrote, produced, directed, starred in and scored all his films from 1917
onward.
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chiburb Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-06-04 09:49 AM
Response to Original message
5. Al Jolson...
This website is dedicated to the man who was known as The World's Greatest Entertainer, a superstar before the word was coined, and whose musical heritage created much of the entertainment industry we know today. With text, photos, music and more, here is the source to learn about Al Jolson, the master showman of American theatre, whose career spanned fifty years of American Music history. If you have never heard Jolson, you are in for a treat, as many of these pages contain excerpts from some of his most popular or memorable songs. As Jolie would have said,
"You ain't heard nothin' yet!"

http://www.jolson.org/
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Insider Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-06-04 10:07 AM
Response to Reply #5
7. peeked at the site
will listen later. thanks for adding a new name to the list.
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progressivejazz Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-06-04 10:03 AM
Response to Original message
6. Louis Armstrong
His musical phrasing strongly influenced EVERYBODY who came after him. EVERYBODY.
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OneBlueSky Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-06-04 10:07 AM
Response to Reply #6
8. absolutely, positively, without a doubt . . .
without Pops, there's no jazz, no pop, no blues, no big band, even no rock . . . the entire history of popular music rests on is shoulders . . . and he was a great guy to boot . . .
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gordianot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-06-04 10:15 AM
Response to Reply #8
10. I recast my vote. Absolutely right.
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starroute Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-06-04 10:36 AM
Response to Reply #6
16. My first thought as well
The early 20th century saw multiple revolutions in popular culture. Elvis was the last of the great innovators, not the first, and even he merely tweaked what had come before.

Louis was the most radical of the radicals. We are all his children.
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WI_DEM Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-06-04 10:12 AM
Response to Original message
9. Frank Sinatra (male) and Judy Garland (female)
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zinsky Donating Member (178 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-06-04 10:16 AM
Response to Original message
11. Bruce Springsteen

At least for live acts in the post-1960's era....
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Insider Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-06-04 10:19 AM
Response to Reply #11
12. never seen him
will make a point of it now tho. thanks
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short bus president Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-06-04 10:20 AM
Response to Original message
13. Well, of course
we can't pick just one. They're all equally great in their own way. Everyone from Elvis to Sinatra to Tony Danza to that guy who played Joe Isuzu. Why do we feel this insatiable need to declare a winner?

</psychopcpissmeoffwankerflarn>
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Insider Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-06-04 10:27 AM
Response to Reply #13
14. just watching michael jackson videos
and it caused me to reflect deeply. actually reflected on the whole family.

anyhoo, that's why i didn't do a poll. i had an insatiable desire to hear other people's opinions.

<kumbayah>
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short bus president Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-06-04 10:41 AM
Response to Reply #14
17. you funny!
I just dunno how to pick a "greatest." Archers of Loaf had an EP many years ago called "AOL vs the Greatest of All Time." 5 or 6 songs that lasted 2 or 3 minutes each and blew out lots of speakers. But according to the album cover, they thought some friggin hockey player was the greatest. :shrug:

;-)
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BuelahWitch Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-06-04 01:42 PM
Response to Reply #13
28. Tony Danza!
(smacks forehead) Damn, I knew there was someone I was forgetting!
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underpants Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-06-04 10:34 AM
Response to Original message
15. Neil Diamond
Inside joke here. One of my best friend's parents went to see Neil Diamond in Norfolk and his dad came home all fired up. We were watching a football game at their house and he burst in "WHO IS THE GREATEST ENTERTAINER OF ALL TIME???" Another friend immediately said "Sammy Davis Jr." "NO! Neil Diamond!!!" said the father.

I would go with Ray Charles if I had to pick.
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carnie_sf Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-06-04 12:07 PM
Response to Original message
18. Bill Monroe
without Bill and his bluegrass boys there would have been no rock & roll. Look it up. Google Sun Records Elvis Presley Carl Perkins
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jdots Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-06-04 12:14 PM
Response to Original message
19. SHECKY DEPTUNA
wake up you guys Shecky is GOD
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lpbk2713 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-06-04 01:13 PM
Response to Original message
20. One can't really say Michael Jackson is a fair answer.
He was extremely popular but that doesn't necessarily mean he was all that talented. He had the benefit of mass media and marketing pros creating marketing blitzes on everything that he did. Basically he benefitted from a trail that Elvis blazed. Who is to say if something similar to MTV was around when Crosby or Sinatra or Valentino were in the prime that most people would say they were the best? I think Elvis would have had more popularity if he had had the same exposure (no pun intended) that Jacko had in the way of videos and concert tours etc.
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alwynsw Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-06-04 01:34 PM
Response to Original message
24. I have to throw my vote to Will Rogers
A true humanist and genuinely gentle kind of humor that made important points everyone could understand.
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Robeson Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-06-04 01:39 PM
Response to Reply #24
26. Good Answer
:thumbsup:
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