Did people in the 70s find Bob Seger as annoying then as I find Kid Rock now?

"At night, he stayed up late listening to a faraway radio station. On a transistor radio and an earplug, he heard James Brown, Garnett Mimms, Little Richard, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding and others.

He liked James Brown more than the Beatles. His favorite album was James Brown Live at the Apollo, Volume 1.

He was a good student in high school and could run a 5:05 mile -- until he discovered rock and roll."

As a teenager in a Detroit suburb in the 70's, I liked Seger's stuff from that time. The thing about Seger is that you could see him in a local bar playing for 50 people and the next night he might be in the Silverdome or (the best) Cobo Hall.

I saw him at Cobo back then and his shows were always a good time. I was not a big fan of Against the Wind when it came out.

I don't pay attention to Kid Rock.

Get out of Denver.

Thanks Malmo -- no, doesn't get much better lyrically than Night Moves IMHO.

Seger is/was a better, less critically lauded, less pretentious version of Springsteen. (of course I am biased, being from Michigan!)

I don't get the connection at all. They are not similar artists in any sense of the word.

Bob Seger, Night Moves, Summer of 79 after my senior year of HS.

Wow. How to explain it to someone who probably wasn't born yet.

Kid Rock? Not in the same solar system.

As someone said earlier, if you grew up in that time in the blue collar Midwest, Seger was like Springsteen to NJ.

You don't get it? You aren't supposed to. You'll never get it, just like I'll never get the bands who are popular with 18 year olds now.

How could anyone, with the possible exception of Brett Michaels, who tries to come off as sensitive and thoughtful when he is best remembered for having skanks compete to humiliate themselves for his affections, be more annoying than Kid Rock? Maybe Hank Williams,Jr.

I never paid any attention to Kid Suck until he pulled off the amazing feat of denigrating two great songs at one time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOYmvJAREkM

this guy was pretty spot on. I'm from the midwest too, heck my dad saw Seger multiple times in small bars around the Columbus, Ohio area where Seger really rocked it in the late 60's. There is no comparison between the two, freaking Kid Rock hit it big mixing records in dance clubs! Listen to Live Bullet, it captures well the energy and good straight forward rock that Seger brought to the table in the 70's.

and now for something the same wrote:

As a native Michigander, I can attest that while Kid Rock is somewhat inexplicably popular up here, Seger is revered in Michigan like Springsteen is in Jersey. A lot of people don't realize it, but Seger actually had quite the string of hits over his career. His music isn't particularly complex, nor is it particularly innovative, but its simplicity and blue-collar sound is quite appealing to a lot of people in the Upper Midwest. Kid Rock really isn't my thing, but he is very loyal and devoted to his home town if nothing else. But around here, Kid Rock is popular. Seger is a God.

Always liked seger. Ever since i heard "2 + 2 = ?". I even bought the 45 rpm of it. In case you don't recognize the title, the refrain was, "Two plus two is on my mind." It was a vietnam war protest. I guess it only got regional play (e.g. Buffalo, another blue collar rust belt area)

Great song; i wonder why no one mentions it or plays it?

agip wrote:

I'll bite. I was a teenager in the 70s - just a few yrs younger than the Seger generation.

Seger's great appeal was his authenticity. In the face of gimmicky glam rocky effeminate europeans, gloopy Aerosmith types, disco guys who cared more for what they looked like than the songs, and punks who were just no fun, Seger stood out as an actual guy who liked blue collar rock.

No frills, just song writing, guitar and lotsa heartfelt.

sorta like Springsteen, but with a lot less songwriting talent.

I think the stuff has aged pretty well - probably because it hasn't been over played.

Yeah, Seger was authentic. Salt of the Earth. No Sell Out was he. He was Like A Rock.

missionary position. wrote:

One thing that always pissed me off (not really Seger's fault) was that his hit 'down on main street' was supposedly written about 1st avenue in Seattle in the 70's when every other storefront was a strip club. By the time I got here in the 90's the libs had run most of the strip clubs out of town. Only a tiny handful are left and I think only one left on 1st ave downtown. Everytime I hear that song it reminds me how I missed out.

Don't beat yourself up too bad. The song is in reference to Main Street in downtown Ann Arbor, Michigan - not far from where he lived.

and now for something the same wrote:

As a native Michigander, I can attest that while Kid Rock is somewhat inexplicably popular up here, Seger is revered in Michigan like Springsteen is in Jersey. A lot of people don't realize it, but Seger actually had quite the string of hits over his career. His music isn't particularly complex, nor is it particularly innovative, but its simplicity and blue-collar sound is quite appealing to a lot of people in the Upper Midwest. Kid Rock really isn't my thing, but he is very loyal and devoted to his home town if nothing else. But around here, Kid Rock is popular. Seger is a God.

Another Michigander here with similar thoughts. Seger was revered in northern Michigan. My friends and I thought there wasn't much good after the "Against the Wind" album, though. Still love Night Moves, though it's now become a little over-exposed. My fave remains "Til It Shines":

Tough to compare Bob Seger with Kid Rock, as how we get our music has changed so much in the last four decades. What is weirder is the comparison between the two artists is legitimate and speaks to more similarity in pop music from the present to the previous 35 years than from 1978 (top 100 songs included "Stayin' Alive" "Short People" "Hot Child In the City" "Peg" and "What's Your Name") to 1943 (top 100 songs included "Paper Doll" "Oklahoma!" "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" and "Zing! Went the Strings Of My Heart").

Seger is great. Night Moves is awesome, though (and I know I'm in the minority on this one), I HATE "Turn The Page"...one of my least favorite songs from any artist.

The Ghost of Harry Murphy wrote:

I don't get the connection at all. They are not similar artists in any sense of the word.

The connection is inferred in the first post - when I heard the KR song this morning, my first thought too was, "my God, that sounds just like Bob Seger". Beyond that, not sure there is any connection.

Kid Rock is a talentless piece of shit.

Bob Seger is no stellar musician but he's f***ing Mozart comnpared to Kid Rock.

Just so the younger guys do not get confused:1. As noted in a couple comments above, Bob Seger was not one of the "American, bluesy, Southern rock" guys--That would be Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Wet Willie, etc. 2. In addition to Southern blues, the above bands were also influenced by more white "country music," and other bands(many not Southern) even more so, such as the Flying Burrito Brothers, Little Feat, Mannassas (Stephen Stills' post-CSNY band), late Byrds, etc. The comment below that this was not going on in the 70s is wildly absurd, the 70's was the calsic era for all these above bands.

Longeivity wrote:

. . Country rock is kind of a newer phenomenon than the 70s. Rock was national and country music was folksier back then.

Kid Rock just finished a new album produced by rick rubin.. wonder what Rick'll get out of him.

This is particular Kid Rock song I was referencing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu3rsha1ZtI