I agree, it isn't. It's not even unusual. David Gilmour, as an individual, hasn't made it to being an icon known by everybody. If you asked the same question about people like Eric Clapton, and certainly Jimi Hendrix, then it would seem a little odd. The name Pink Floyd is very well known though, I would suggest. If I said Charlie Watts or John Bonham, there would be a vast swathe of people who wouldn't know who I was talking about. If I said Ringo Starr it would be very different. Mention Richard Starkey, and we'd be back into the confused faces area.
gona have the biggest bruise I bruise like a peach anyway!! does anyone else do that? Im always walking into my bed or walls/door frames, I think there is something seriously wrong with me (not blind and/or drunk)
A side effect of my medication is that I bruise massively...a bang on my arm that mildly hurt caused a bruise from shoulder to elbow. Don't try and out sick me, Jen
David's choice in fairness. He doesn't covet the limelight and he's probably visually the most famous not famous person out there (if that makes sense). But then if you asked people the top five guitarists of all time, he'd likely be in most lists (for me he's in the top two with Hendrix). He's also of course written/co-written some of the most iconic and best selling songs/albums of all time. Legend is a very overused term, but he is a legend.
I think with Clapton/Hendrix there's an element of the fact that they're best known as solo musicians, whereas David (until latterly) was very much part of a massive band so it's not quite the same. I wonder how many would know who Jimmy Page is. That would be a better one. I don't think it's a 'youth of today' thing either, it's more how many people have a genuine interest in musical history. The majority would recognise Comfortably Numb for instance, or Wish You Were Here. I'd suggest nearly everyone would know Another Brick In The Wall (Pt. 2) by tune. Only those who delve a little deeper might know him by name. Remember, Fable is only 19 years old, and I can assure you he (along with Bowie, Kate Bush, Bryan Ferry etc) are absolute musical heroes of hers, so I don't necessarily think it's age dependent.
You're right, it's entirely dependent on how interested you are in the history of popular music. I am of an age when all those iconic figures that you mention were being played all the time by myself and my friends, and even occasionally on the radio thanks to John Peel etc. The group I hung out with were also interested in the forerunners of that era, people like Bessie Smith, Billie Holliday, Robert Johnson, as well as the innovators who came up with rock 'n' roll, like Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry, and Elvis. Sometimes I am envious of young people today that they haven't yet heard a lot of the music I used to listen to, they still have those amazing experiences to look forward to. Edit: Of course nowadays we have the best radio station for musical education that has ever existed: BBC Radio 6 Music.
No, of course not. It's more interest dependant. Though I was agreeing with Pie! that it's not barmy that The Youth of Today shouldn't know David Gilmour. My blues lead guitar playing cousin often mentions good local musicians, guitarists, bassists, etc... from Southampton, who were notable in the 60's and 70's, and he spouts them out like I should know them. I should point out that if you go into a music shop in Bitterne you'll find the shop owner is a bass guitarist of the Hampshire circuit, who confirms that my cousin was in the top 6 lead guitarists in the south of England, back in the late 1960's [I was just a kid, so what did I know] so he and my cousin do know a few members of bands. When I point out that I vaguely have heard of these people, he looks at me questioningly, as if he can't believe anyone could be so uninformed. Incidentally, he tells a story about my immediate elder brother and him being in a borough of London one night. I think they'd attended the Hyde Park Blind Faith concert during the day, and they went back to a flat over a shop [may have been music, may have been fish & chips, I can't remember and it's not really important]. Anyway, they were all sat around exchanging views, having a smoke or two, when in walked a slender young lad who was quite wide eyed and looked slightly odd. My cousin said that he couldn't have been more than 17, but he had an acoustic guitar with him, and he had different coloured eyes... Now, you either get that true story or you don't. It may depend upon your age or your interest
PS - I wasn't disagreeing with your point above, just using your quote as it was the most 'encompassing' of the responses to the "they should know" point. What was lovely last night was Fable's astonished reaction to the fact that David Gilmour had listened to *her* music. That was a special moment for her, having grown up listening to him.
I think Kate Bush had the same reaction many years back. That must have been slightly mind blowing for her though.
She's absolutely fearless but that was the first time I've ever seen her a little skitty off the back of something!
