Yusuf's Cafe

[stogie bear]

I would hesitate to say he appears to be a far better man than many of us from what he has devoted his life to...

I would hesitate to say that too. Whilst his sing-a-long ditties are 'positive' and harmless he's not what I would call a gifted songwriter. His life has been better led than mine under his set of criteria only! Personally I'd have killed myself a long time ago if I'd been forced to do the stuff that he has so willingly embraced in the last 25 years.

I've got nothing against Cat Stevens and I know he's given pleasure and hope to many millions of fans as have The Monkees and David Cassidy. But let's be honest... his greatest attribute was a cool sounding name.

[Guest]

The 60 million people who bought his albums might disagree.

[stogie bear]

(ziggystardust @ Sep. 09 2007,19:06) The 60 million people who bought his albums might disagree.

Well - you've got me there. There are a lot more impressionable fools and suckers for a half decent advertising campaign than I can compete with!

Popular music is popular because it is the widest possible option available... NOT because it's good.

60 million people (or more) probably spent their hard earned disposable income on that tart who sings that annoying song about an umbrella... that doesn't make it good music... it makes it popular!

I'd say that 'The Ketchup Song' has had more impact on anyone under the age of thirty than anything that Yusef can summon up with his limited range of platitudes about how we are all headed in the wrong direction, but there is hope if we listen to him! Yawn...

Not picking on Cat... Loads of singers assume that they know something that the rest of us don't just because we listen to them!

My choices of music usually corroborate what I already know or believe. I don't need a melodic maestro to 'show me the way!' I'm looking for someone to confirm and emphathise with what I already know.