President Bush and his iPod

[Pengwuino]

http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?NewsID=13388&Page=1&pagePos=1

Artists on the presidential shuffle include: The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Alan Jackson, Alison Krauss, The Archies, Aretha Franklin and Don McLean, apparently.

I can't believe I voted for this guy....

[Jelfish]

Aretha Franklin? Ha! That's Awesome!

I can't believe I didn't vote for this guy!! (well, not really)

[rachmaninoff]

Bush calls Don McLean, the singer songwriter behind classic track "American Pie", Dan McClean, until he is corrected.
Hehe!

Amazing, a Nixon-wannabe listens to the Beatles for fun. Am I the only person on the face of the earth who thinks they suck?

[Mk]

The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Alan Jackson, Alison Krauss, The Archies, Aretha Franklin and Don McLean, apparently.
I can't believe I voted for this guy
You expected him to be listening to Green Day, Audioslave, and Linkin Park?

I thought his playslists sounds pretty cool. In fact, I stole and hacked his ipod, now I have Dick Cheney's home number. Prank calling anyone?

[Jelfish]

I think the last thing we need is an 'emo' president. I personally think his taste isn't that bad.

[Mk]

Hehe!
Amazing, a Nixon-wannabe listens to the Beatles for fun.
Nixon-wannabe? Kind of harsh, and completely untrue, don't use such overexaggeration and facts to back up your statement, and you might not sound so ten-year-old.
Am I the only person on the face of the earth who thinks they suck?
Uhm, yes. They are arguably, the top selling artist in the world.

[Pengwuino]

Uhm, yes. They are arguably, the top selling artist in the world.

I hated the beatles :mad:

[rachmaninoff]

Hurrah, there are two of us!

[Pengwuino]

Is it just me or are people absolutely nuts with their music? I mean mp3s on their computer, ipods, in their cars.... the hells with people

[SpaceTiger]

Hehe!
Amazing, a Nixon-wannabe listens to the Beatles for fun. Am I the only person on the face of the earth who thinks they suck?

Yes, one person and one penguin.

It's a bit outdated, but Bush's music list ain't bad. If he ran again, I'd laugh less before voting for his opponent.

[rachmaninoff]

Seeing the reactions this is getting from all of you, I have to wonder if this was not some sort of PR stunt after all... if some guy with a degree in marketing prepared the iPod and trained the President how to pronounce all the proper names. The President still mispronounced some of them, though.

[Entropy]

I don't really care for the beatles either.

[Anttech]

Uhm, yes. They are arguably, the top selling artist in the world.

The beatles were a band not an artist, a very good one, but if you are also gonna make statements like that you should also back up your statement, but I think you will find it false regardless :-)

[The_Professional]

The beatles were a band not an artist, a very good one, but if you are also gonna make statements like that you should also back up your statement, but I think you will find it false regardless :-)

Well, technically they are artists.

[SpaceTiger]

Seeing the reactions this is getting from all of you, I have to wonder if this was not some sort of PR stunt after all...

What were you expecting him to listen to? Dying baby seals?

[SpaceTiger]

The beatles were a band not an artist, a very good one, but if you are also gonna make statements like that you should also back up your statement, but I think you will find it false regardless :-)

It's standard to refer to bands as artists in this context. The Beatles are the top-selling artist in the US:

Recording Industry Association of America (http://www.riaa.com/gp/bestsellers/topartists.asp)

I don't know how they stand worldwide. Last I'd heard, ABBA was outselling them, but I don't know if that's still true.

[Danger]

What were you expecting him to listen to? Dying baby seals?
If they were Iraqi baby seals, yes.
I don't know if there's any hard and fast rule about bands in general, but they're certainly categorized as 'artists' for indexing and reference purposes. And the Beatles were the best as far as I'm concerned. By that, I mean that if I could only listen to one artist for the rest of my life, there's no question that I would choose them. You can't possibly get bored of a selection that ranges from 'She Loves You' through 'Come Together' to 'Fool on the Hill'. Their variety was incredible. That's one reason why I also love Elton John's stuff.

[mattmns]

Yeah I have to agree with Danger here, I would choose the Beatles if I could only listen to one group/artist/band/whatever for the rest of my life.

[Anttech]

It's standard to refer to bands as artists in this context.

Yeh but it isnt standard to refer to a band as an artist (singular).

The Beatles are the top-selling artist in the US: Thats just wrong... How can a group of people be refered to in the singular?

[SpaceTiger]

Thats just wrong... How can a group of people be refered to in the singular?

I think you should write an angry email to the Recording Industry Association of America explaining why their use of the word "artist" is inappropriate.

[Jelfish]

Yeh but it isnt standard to refer to a band as an artist (singular).

Thats just wrong... How can a group of people be refered to in the singular?

I think it's more common to use singular tense of a verb in American English for band or group names, especially if the band name doesn't end with a plural word. I've read predominantly British-used message boards and had found that strange when reading it the other way. As far as calling them an artist, well I guess the implication could be that all their artistic talents combine to one distinguishable artistic output. Or, I'm just making things up.

[The_Professional]

I think you should write an angry email to the Recording Industry Association of America explaining why their use of the word "artist" is inappropriate.

Ha ha :tongue:

[Anttech]

I think you should write an angry email to the Recording Industry Association of America explaining why their use of the word "artist" is inappropriate
Why angry? I was just confused with you using singular where it would be better to use plural. And the fact you seem to justify it by sending me to a Recording Industry web site, which has nothing to do with English Grammer.

I think it's more common to use singular tense of a verb in American English for band or group names, especially if the band name doesn't end with a plural word.
Well that makes more sence.. In England (the place where english is from :eek: ) they wouldnt say that.

[SpaceTiger]

I was just confused with you using singular where it would be better to use plural. And the fact you seem to justify it by sending me to a Recording Industry web site, which has nothing to do with English Grammer...*snip*...In England (the place where english is from ) they wouldnt say that.

Urge to kill ... rising ...

[Mk]

What were you expecting him to listen to? Dying baby seals?
Am I the only one? :uhh:

[-Job-]

I think that's a band from Sweden.

[Pengwuino]

Am I the only one? :uhh:

I'd love it if he did.

[iamsharpie]

Well that makes more sence.. In England (the place where english is from :eek: ) they wouldnt say that.

Well, if we're going to be picky, then you better start making sense.

It isn't even odd to group people and refer to the group as a singular thing. The artists form a band. The bands form a label. The labels form an association. The association is protecting its copyright. The band is an artist. The band is made of artists.

Just because the name looks plural does not make it plural. The Beatles is a band. The charts show The Beatles as a high-ranking artist.

Us silly yanks want to making everything into groups that can be managed as singular people.

[TheStatutoryApe]

Lol... welcome to PF Sharpie.

[TheStatutoryApe]

Maybe people expected that he'd be a big Wagner fan like Hitler?
I really couldn't see him enjoying opera much.