The Number 1 Most Overrated Musical Act of All Time: The Beatles

Frankly, the entire British invasion could have stayed over there, with the exceptions of Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. The Beatles were a pop group every bit as vacuous as Elvis and the Spice Girls—insipid songs with a tiresome hook, minimal musical innovation or creativity, and lots and lots of media powering the whole thing. They didn’t change music. Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters and Elmore James changed music—and the Beatles tried to copy them. They were the British version of Pat Boone, recording Little Richard’s “Tooti-Fruity” for a white audience and thinking he was going to get away with that. The attraction to this band was more about their looks and their cultural zietgeist than their actual talent or musicianship. Worse, as the idiotic legend has been foisted on the next two generations, the Beatles are now a cultural shibboleth for millennials and Gen-Yers: you show your musical bona fides to one another by showing how “retro” you are in digging the Beatles. The writing was overwrought, the music was sub-par, and the path of musical creation in general was completely unaffected by these guys. While they were a “thing,” Coltrane was moving jazz from modal to free, Hendrix was transforming blues from the country to the arena, Kris Kristofferson was beginning to write actual lyrics that would help rescue country music from itself, Glen Campbell was reminding everyone that country music could have actual musical geniuses in it, and Pink Floyd was developing the idea of the full-length concept album. Actual music was in full flower, and the Beatles were no part of it. The only thing worse than their tiresome Ed Sullivan years was the post-TM years, in which they tried to reinvent themselves as “artistes” who could get high and write esoteric eastern stuff. Because they barely knew their three chords to begin with, Sgt Pepper was just awful. Period. It’s time someone finally said it. OVERRATED. 

Overratedness Rating: 7/5 John Mayers

Number 2 Most Overrated Musical Act of All Time: Dave Matthews Band and Selena (tie)

Dave Matthews: The earnest hipsterism and deadly serious expressiveness of this pork-pie-hat-wearing montage ruined it from the beginning. You will search in vain for true musical excellence here. Like with hip-hop, folk, and CCM, true music is sacrificed at the altar of some snappy esoteric-wanna-be lyrics. Actual guitar players have spent a good portion of the last 15 years wondering why Dave Matthews and John Mayer are still considered a “thing.”  Again, if you’re looking for a guitarist to “update” your truncated view of “guitaring,” there is no shortage of them all over the US, especially the south. Plenty of good ones, working right now. Why we keep buying records from these overrated folkies who managed to discover some electricity is beyond me. 

Selena: Same thing as with Cobain. Minimal musical talent—this was all about looks—and over-the-top help from the media. The media built this one into a “thing” pretty much overnight. I lived in San Antonio for 15 years, and you were definitely expected to light a candle for Selena as often as possible or else be considered a heathen. But for musicians, vocalists (even good-looking ones) are still vocalists. They’re unnecessary to make good music, and oftentimes a hindrance. Zero stars. 

Overratedness Rating: 2/5 John Mayers

Number 3 Most Overrated Musical Act of All Time: Rap/Hip Hop (the whole genre)

I realize this one will ruffle quite a few feathers, but the truth must be told. Here is a little rule that predates all of us: “music” is created and played by “musicians.” This is not a list of “overrated poets” or “overrated rhymers” or “overrated lyricists.” I have no doubt that many fine lyrics exist somewhere in the genre. But the genre simply doesn’t require musicians. Just like CCM from the 1980s on, musicians have been rendered unnecessary by this genre. All you need is the right lyrics, some computer-generated beat, and (as usual for overrated acts) the right dress code and “style.” This is not the same as “music.” It honestly doesn’t matter how many journalists and critics pile validation on the genre—if you’re not a jammer, you’re overrated in the category of “music.” Period. Nor is this a racial thing, for you lovers of the Straw Man Theory: from Louis Armstrong to Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Ray Charles, Jimi Hendrix, the Campbell Brothers and even today’s Robert Randolph, African-Americans have contributed mightily (if not outright shaped) American music for the past century or more. But rap and hip-hop simply aren’t music—it doesn’t require musicians or musicianship in order to make it, and the emphasis is on style rather than musical substance. It's an emblem; a virtue-signal; a "dog whistle" to show others how "relevant" you are .....it's not music. I would rather listen to that never-ending accordion solo in Tejano music than hip-hop—at least actual musicians are involved.  

Overratedness Rating: 4/5 John Mayers