Thread: Biggest Musical Non-Sellouts of All Time

Skinny Puppy

Originally Posted by x-wingcamewest

Iggy Pop
Lou Reed
Steve Marriot
Alvin Lee

Not to be the sellout Police but remember back in the 80's when Lou Reed did a commercial / endorsement for Honda Mopeds?
Strictly speaking that was considered a sell out at the time .
Again I wouldn't say so as he needed to find a way to get in the public eye again to sell his new record.
Also I'm sure they paid him a ton of money (which he probably needed at the time) as he did TV and print ads.

Sorry I had some extra time this afternoon and too much coffee!

Originally Posted by Shackleford

Not to be the sellout Police but remember back in the 80's when Lou Reed did a commercial / endorsement for Honda Mopeds?
Strictly speaking that was considered a sell out at the time .
Again I wouldn't say so as he needed to find a way to get in the public eye again to sell his new record.
Also I'm sure they paid him a ton of money (which he probably needed at the time) as he did TV and print ads.

Sorry I had some extra time this afternoon and too much coffee!

I don't remember the commercial or ads. That, or I was to stoned to remember. But fair enough.

May I add, Brian Setzer ?

Here it is :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDLAM48TmJQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I think it was around 82 or 83 , they had a bunch of rock "personalities"
Adam Ant , Grace Jones etc on the ads

Los Lobos. For 40 years now.

Originally Posted by ChilledAgua

Los Lobos. For 40 years now.

Again not exactly true as they were the first to say they did commercials etc to pay for tours etc.
They did a bud light or miller light commercial around the time of the movie "La Bamba"
And NO ONE held it against them !
They needed the float to keep touring and recording and these commercials made it happen .

Do you think Slash records paid tour support , no , not really .
Slash would've paid some but Los Lobos were way beyond that by 1987.

Holy Crap, La Bamba is playing on the radio at work right now.

Originally Posted by x-wingcamewest

May I add, Brian Setzer ?

I'll see your Brian Setzer, and raise you one Dave Alvin.
I really have no idea if that's right, but it has to at least be a good guess.

Originally Posted by Shackleford

Again not exactly true as they were the first to say they did commercials etc to pay for tours etc.
They did a bud light or miller light commercial around the time of the movie "La Bamba"
And NO ONE held it against them !
They needed the float to keep touring and recording and these commercials made it happen .

Do you think Slash records paid tour support , no , not really .
Slash would've paid some but Los Lobos were way beyond that by 1987.

The term "sellout" also includes artists who change their music in an effort to increase record sales, popularity or visibility; if one looks at their discography, it's obvious that they've never, ever attempted to be the "flavor of the month". I couldn't care less about a few spots they may have made. They have been true to their musical vision their whole career regardless what the prevailing trends happened to be at the time.

To me, that is the antithesis of a "sellout".