Squandering The Legacy: Worst Artists' Kids

I know people think the Beatles invented the idea of pop groups writing their own material but pretty much all of the Four Seasons' early hits were written or co-written by Bob Gaudio, apart from the odd obvious cover version, like "Stay".

And the Beach Boys too

Been following this thread...Nancy seems pretty solid to me, for "Boots," "Some Velvet Morning," "Jackson," and, yes, especially "Sugar Town." Do they have to be pop musicians? Frank Jr. is the real culprit. He made a few albums, but his biggest claim to fame is a possibly fake kidnapping. (Also Dean Martin's son, of Dino, Desi, and Billy fame. They really didn't do a lot.)

Yes, Nancy was a good popstar, had a good cool/detached singing voice (a bit like a proto Debbie Harry) and a good image. And the songs when she'd hooked up with Lee Hazelwood.

Did we even mention Will Smith’s kids?

I mentioned them. FTR I think "Transparent Soul" is good not bad

Safe to say Willow is at least not squandering the allegedly brilliant lasting cultural legacy of (checks notes) the guy who did the "Men in Black" theme and (checks notes) the theme song of "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air."

I mean, one _could_ make the case that it's her father's oeuvre that is the drag on the legacy, and she's bringing something he didn't.

1. Really liked that Femi Kuti song posted up there!

2. Really like that "Family Tradition" includes calling a doctor "sawbones.

3. Julian's main prob seems to be that his voice begs comparison with his old man's, in creepy, watery clone combination w the lite toons I've heard

Adam Cohen's got this too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vvq1BiHLaW0

He also recorded "Summertime" and is an often terrific actor, c'mon now

xpost

Don't really want to diss Will, just saying that Willow isn't squandering a legacy - seems like a pretty confident artist charting her own path

X Æ A-Xii

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH8lwX6uYAM

Frank Jr. is the real culprit. He made a few albums, but his biggest claim to fame is a possibly fake kidnapping.

Frank Jr. ended up being his father's conductor on his later tours, and would also handle a good bit of onstage vocal doubling that covered the increasing deficiencies in the old man's voice.

Which seems like a path some of these kids end up following, taking over their parents' affairs, handling stuff on the road etc. Roky Erickson's son Jegar did a similar thing on his dad's last several tours.

Tony Bennett's son has been his manager for the past 40 years.

Terrific Sinatra Jr. story from '94, almost feels like the basis for a Scorsese film

https://deadspin.com/frank-sinatra-jr-is-worth-six-buddy-grecos-1000516479

Kelly Osborne clearly owns this if we are just going off the list available.

both sean and julian have recorded worthwhile music, in fact I like a fair amount of sean's output.
'one headlight' is a good song and that saves Jakob.

adam cohen seems like a good dude and his work on that final leonard cohen album is great.

Kelly is as much reality show cash-in as celebrity kid cash-in

+1

Ozzy chose to do the show, she just took advantage of it

not familiar w Kuti offspring but Hank Jr probably has the most bangers. I do love R Cash though. too bad (but not terribly surprising) he’s basically the celebrity ur-chud

pretty much all of the Four Seasons' early hits were written or co-written by Bob Gaudio

As was 1972's "The Night", to my mind their finest moment.

I'm really glad I started this poll because it reminds me once again that there is no song, album or artist so shitty that no one on ILM will rise in passionate defense. No matter how bad it is, there's someone around here who loves it.

lol

wait someone defended Kelly? if so, I missed it

She might be the only one. And there's still a possibility. Hell, I'll go; her second album was better than her first.

That's because Linda Perry made it for her.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

miccio no longer posts here; he'd defend Osbourne.

I will defend "One Word."

there is no song, album or artist so shitty that no one on ILM will rise in passionate defense. No matter how bad it is, there's someone around here who loves it. Just the opposite of Old ILM, as revivals of some olde threads still remind us.
Wait, does this mean Junior won votes of defenders, and/or those who think he's indefensible? I voted Jakob simply because he's the most boring choice (of the ones I've heard---has Wolfgang even released anything??)

Just the opposite of Old ILM

lol this is so true, no matter how good the band/artist there's always some long-gone poster saying how much they hate it/them in the first three posts

good question, dow!

i voted hank jr because his music is terrible, as is his personality.

if we were supposed to vote for the best of these choices, the kutis win easily. but that's not the topic title ("squandering the legacy" and whatnot), so i'm overthinking this.

xpost Wolfgang released an album last year as Mammoth WVH

has Wolfgang even released anything??

Mammoth WVH is the name of his band/project, and he topped the mainstream rock chart over the summer of 2021. It's pretty boilerplate stuff imo, but I follow Valerie Bertinelli on twitter and she's a proud mom.

Also, people are really shitty to him, so even though I don't like his music I don't think he deserves to be trapped in his dad's shadow.

Hank Jr. is a loud right wing dick, that is the reason he won this contest. As a country music artist, he's one of the most popular of the mid 70s to through the 80s. At his peak, he could sell out arenas - he's probably as 'popular' as all the rest of these people combined at least in the US.

More like BOGUScephus, amirite?

Hank Jr. is a loud right wing dick, that is the reason he won this contest.

I didn't vote for him but this is otm

Terrific Sinatra Jr. story from '94, almost feels like the basis for a Scorsese film

https://deadspin.com/frank-sinatra-jr-is-worth-six-buddy-grecos-1000516479

Reminds me of the Don Rickles story he told on Letterman, that Sinatra told him the kidnappers returned Jr. after they heard him "humming in the trunk"

Hank Jr. is a loud right wing dick, that is the reason he won this contest. As a country music artist, he's one of the most popular of the mid 70s to through the 80s.

Because being popular is always an indication of quality.

Mind you, I don't disagree that his personal convictions are why he so thoroughly dominated this poll, but saying he sold a lot of records doesn't hold a lot of sway for me.

Sean Lennon's politics aren't necessarily better than Hank Jr's!

Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound is a great album

or, put it this way, Hank Jr. has a shitload of fans that like him, because of his songs, that don't listen to his dad's music at all

Cherry (Neneh, Eagle Eye) 2

Two users need to stop huffing paint immediately, your friends are concerned about you. And I love don.

that's absurd lol for sure all the kids that were loving Buffalo Stance were like "did you hear??. she's DON CHERRY'S DAUGHTER how rad"

same with

Chappies banging dustbin lids together

(President Keyes) at 6:30 31 Dec 21

Missing option for Ravi Shankar-Norah Jones

also true for her, other than I'm assuming growing up affluent, she got no advantage from her dad's career, she didn't promote that fact and she works in a completely different

smh Roseanne Cash received the same amount of votes as Wolfgang Van Halen

This is ridiculous.

Rosanne Cash does not deserve inclusion. Who the fuck voted for her? Show yourselves.

Nor does Hank, Jr.

also true for her, other than I'm assuming growing up affluent, she got no advantage from her dad's career, she didn't promote that fact and she works in a completely different

Really? "Ravi Shankar's daughter" was one of the first things I heard any time someone mentioned her when her first big album came out. I might not be a representative listener, though.

Yeah, Marissa dot dot dot

Safe to say Willow is at least not squandering the allegedly brilliant lasting cultural legacy of (checks notes) the guy who did the "Men in Black" theme and (checks notes) the theme song of "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air."

the first two Fresh Prince/DJ Jazzy Jeff records are really charming and better than people give them credit for, they connected hip hop with an almost 50s everyteen aesthetic, think "Yakety Yak" etc, there's actually some really strong Run DMC era rapping on some album tracks

"Summertime" is obviously an all time classic, perfect song

"Gettin' Jiggy Wit It" is good if a bit corny

xpost sund4r I think that's not representative - she sold 12 million copies of that first album

either way she did it on her songs, her talent

I don't even think I knew who her dad was until way after she was famous

Interesting. It was mentioned in the AMG review but I fully acknowledge that my perception of it could have been slanted. In any case, I definitely don't think anyone listened to her adult contemporary/vocal jazz records and thought worse of her estranged father's sitar playing.

Of course not because “squandering the legacy” is not really a thing

come one we all know she coasted to fame on Ravi Shankars massive 2002-era popularity