I thought he/she was black/male/female/white etc..

Also, I thought Rick Astley was butch.

i remember hearing Rick Astley for the first time and assuming he was a Luther Vandross typa guy, that was a real eye-opener

Sorry, someone had to say it.

I've said it before I'll say it again, my friends from NB were blown away by Dave the former guitarist in Mean Red Spiders when one of them uttered "He's like the black Jimi Hendrix man."

Ugly Ducklings, on the other hand, I had to go see in concert before I found out they were crackaz.

And Dave Fuczinski (however you spell it), the guitarist from Screaming Headless Torsoes...totally black, to my surprise.

The dude from Sigur Ros? I was certain he was a little girl for at least the first two entire spins of Agaetis Birjun.

I still can't tell about Tom Morello. What's up with his ethnicity? Anyone know?

Some examples of partially-Lebanese folks: Salma Hayek, Shakira, Shannon Elizabeth, Ralph Nader, Dick Dale, nickalicious, Frank Zappa...is it generally only when mixed with other non-white ethnicities (such as Salma Hayek or Shakira, both Lebanese-Latin hybrids of the highest caliber...YOWZA!), or does it apply to the basically-a-honky Lebanese mutts like Nader or myself?

also, whats with the dudes from System Of A Down - i've heard the singer's from the Lebanon but also from Albania - clarify?

All of System of a Down are Armenian-American. Glendale represent, and all that.

Cher's background is Armenian-American as well, I believe.

Terminator X's mom is German.

Speaking of which, I was never fooled a bit by Third Bass, because I saw the "Gas Face" video before I heard the song. But I know some radio-lovin' friends who were snookered on that one.

hahahahahahahaha.

http://www.vh1.com/shared/media/images/sn_legacy/addict/AMG_images/artists/P08619.JPG

i did not know that

now i'm confused.
the double-neck guitar sportin' David Fiuczynski that i was occasionally staring at -- from the radio booth, doing a live broadcast from a jazz fest in 2000, where D.F. was perfroming with Victor Bailey's group (and wadda a shite group, except for most of Kenny Garrett's contribution) -- well, that guitar man was anything but black...

Once I played Fishbone for my uncle, and about three-quarters-way through the album (it was Truth and Soul) he saw the album cover and was like "No way! These dudes are black?" and I'm like "Have you been listening? Did you miss that song that went 'when you're a fly in the buttermilk, they chase ya all through the night'!?!"

Prediction: This thread will soon turn into a discussion of "what is white anyway?" Which is a good question.

I guess I'm helping it along, aren't I?

and a white one at that! which the singer is not.
i thought the singer for cha cha cohen was a guy, but am only going on the word of my ex who claims it's a girl (never seen a pic).

Frank Zappa? Italian.

(i might be wrong but it seems appropriate.)

thought randy newman was black

last time I quote "The Golden Girls", I swear.

hahahahahaha, classic!

I remember being shocked to discover that Billie Myers (of Kiss The Rain fame) was a woman.

Oh, yeah: First few times I heard "Old Time Rock And Roll" I thought Bob Seger was black. Hard to believe there was ever a "first time" for hearing that song - one of the most tiresomely over-played ever. In fact, it's hard to recall a time when it wasn't associated with the nauseating sight of Tom Cruise dancing in his underwear. But I'm getting off the subject...

I know most of this thread is going on voice, but the first time I saw Brother Ali at First Ave I was standing way in the back and thought "OK, burly bald white dude with formidable mic skills. Yay, Mpls has a Bubba Sparxxx!" Then I found out he's an albino African-American.

that's what Chris Evans said, drumroll

a couple years back someone played me a song from Fever by Kylie Minogue and I asked if it was something from the new Saint Etienne.

Some time in about 1988 I was under the impression the Pixies had one female singer with a very strange voice. I guess I only heard "Gigantic" and a bunch of Black Francis' shriekier moments before I saw a photo. Boy was my face red!

Hanson totally own, though.

I still don't know if Pat Place is a man or woman. The photos I've seen make him/her look very androgynous.

Also, I know Dave Brubeck is white, but I've never seen photos of the backing band. Are Paul Desmond and the rest of the group black or white?

Paul Desmond is white. If you're talking about Brubeck's group circa "Time Out", the bassist Eugene Wright is black and the drummer Joe Morello is white. The latter has the same last name as that Rage Against the Machine guitarist, don't know if they're related.

When I first heard "Son of a Preacher Man", I thought Dusty Springfield was black.

Before I found out her name, I thought Tanita Tikaram was a man. And I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one.

I thought Company Flow was all-white, because they sounded like that.

When I first heard Slug, the Athmosphere rapper, featuring on an All Natural track, I thought he was black. Then I bought an Athmosphere LP, and changed my mind, I thought this dude has to be white. However, according to AMG he's mulatto.

http://massimobernardi.blogs.it/Immagini/lewistaylor.jpg

Whoops.

ask Larry David!

wow, I thought Rick Astley was a large black man as well.

lol raceroll

kimya dawson

well, it wasn't a race or gender thing, but i could have sworn to god that Jana Hunter was a wispy woman with long, stringy hair, her eyes always sort of sleepy.

anyway... i also thought that about rick astley. perhaps because they always used to play the single close to Luther Vandross.

luther vandross is rather white himself

i thought david sedaris was an 80 year old woman

I thought Steve Winwood (circa 60s) was black.

I'm not even going to say how old I was when I finally determined Tracy Chapman's gender.

I had no idea that Paul Wall was white for the first year that Still Tippin was on the radio.

The first time I heard "Californication" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers I thought, "Oh, Tracy Chapman's got a comeback single!" Which is a nice yin to the yang of my -- and a lotta people's -- first Tracy Chapman exposure.

o_O

wau

Geddy Lee for the win.

awhile ago i thought bobby caldwell was black

i wonder if he speaks like an ordinary guy
xp

I was sure Ali Campbell of UB40 was black for a couple of years.

even though the first time i heard the dude from death vessel i was watching him perform live, i was still convinced there was a woman backstage who was really singing.

i know him and he does!
xxp

lol

jeff hanson owns this thread

I'm still not entirely convinced that Jermaine Stewart was a man.

I remember watching the video for "We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off", trying to figure out if he was a man or a woman.

Trina. I listened to Diamond Princess on repeat for a month and assumed she was white from the get go.

Funny, I always thought your violin was a flugelhorn...

Wait! also, I know! Brett Dennen! That dude is a chick, and I won't hear any different.

I also thought Boy George was a woman the first time I heard "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me," except in my case, I was watching the video. So I thought he was a particularly homely woman.

I may be dreaming, but I seem to remember some review of "Sign O the Times" where the reviewer didn't realize that Camille was Prince sped-up.

i know him and he does!
xxp

― fact checking cuz, Monday, November 10, 2008 6:36 PM (Yesterday)

wow, that worked out rather nicely

When I first heard Andy Bell I didn't just think he was a she, I thought he was Allison Moyet. (I think this mistake hinges on the particular early-ish track I heard, but I don't remember which one it was.)

I did too. On the other hand, I first thought that Alison Moyet was a guy, so go figure... :)

The first time I heard Michael Jackson was "The Girl Is Mine", whose lyrics kind of made it obvious that he must indeed have been a guy. But I still found it a bit puzzling.. I mean, he just couldn't be...?

Listening to the "Grafitti Bridge" soundtrack by Prince I also thought this Tevin Campbell must be a girl. Of course, mixing him up was a bit more logical as, at 14, he did indeed sound like a woman although it wouldn't last. :)

When I heard Milli Vanilli's "Girl I'm gonna miss you" I thought it was a girl.

Years later, found out I was right!

do you know how long fact checking cuz has been waiting for someone, anyone, to make that Geddy Lee joke???

tracy chapman yeah

think I've seen fcc feedline before

Keith Jarrett to thread

i thought beethoven was black for the longest time. turns out i was mixing him up with jesus christ.

Nah, Haydn was the brother

Listening to the "Grafitti Bridge" soundtrack by Prince I also thought this Tevin Campbell must be a girl. Of course, mixing him up was a bit more logical as, at 14, he did indeed sound like a woman although it wouldn't last. :)

I thought this too for a long time. His voice is (obviously) quite high, there's no picture of him in the record sleeve, and I had no idea "Tevin" is a male name.

tracy chapman yeah

― Funky Buddha Lounge (Curt1s Stephens), Tuesday, 11 November 2008 10:24

came on to say this (though she was a fella), somebody already did, ah well.

unless curt1s thought she was white, of course, in which case...

Dominique Leone's "Uncover yourself", I thought he'd got a female to sing, even though I can (just about) sing along to it myself...

turns out arthur russell was a white guy.

lol, of course, Dominque Leone!

Before I came across her solo album, I thought Rah Digga of The Flipmode Squad was a somewhat high-voiced man. I think this is because The Flipmode Squad had some male member with a similar voice to hers.

My wife thought Insane Clown Posse was black. (She also thought B Real from Cypress Hill was black.)

Maybe this is because B Real uses the word "nigga" quite often? (Is it okay for Latinos to use it?)

My friend thought Nina Simone was a man

When I first heard Antony and the Johnsons I thought he was Nina Simone.

Final, definitive word on Frank Zappa's heritage: "My ancestry is Sicilian, Greek, Arabic and French."

Weird, I thought he had some roots in Lithuania, because there's a statue of him in Vilnius.

I can't remember why, but up until Everything Is Wrong came out I used to think Moby was a bald woman.

When I first heard "Praise You", I thought it was The Eels, (i.e. Mark Edwards singing, not Cammille Yarbrough.)

I initially thought it was Len Barry of "1-2-3" fame.

(xxpost) Moby, that well known Persis Khambatta impersonator...

Weird, I thought he had some roots in Lithuania, because there's a statue of him in Vilnius.

He has fans there. Both his parents were Italian or of Italian stock, I think? That bit about Arabic and French and Greek seems a bit stereotypically American for Frank.

I have a vague recollection that the statue in vilnius was at least in part due to some work he did as a cultural envoy, or something else equally unlikely...

I think he was, or it was proposed that he be, Cultural Envoy in the Czech Republic?

I heard a Ray LaMontagne song on the radio the other day and thought it was a woman.

Nat Hentoff is white?

do you only know him from liner notes? i would say the vast majority of his articles i've come across have his picture beside them

I don't really know him much at all. I hate to say it, but I think I thought he was black because he writes about jazz and his name is Nat (viz. Turner, King Cole).

short for "Natalie" iirc

Someone seven years ago mentioned thinking Eminem was black. Me too - he sounded like Del Tha Funky Homosapien on My Name Is... to my ears then.

More recently when I heard the Memory Cassette singles I thought he was a she.

I'd sort of pictured Hentoff as an Ishmael Reed/Cornel West kind of dude.

I knew a girl in school who, based on their name alone, thought Pearl Jam were a black female vocal duo.

Also I thought Sting was black first time I heard a Police record. I must've been about five.

Someone upthread mentioned him before, but I used to think Bob Seger was black and more specifically I thought he was Sherman Helmsley. I would always picture Mr. Jefferson when "Night Moves" came on the radio when I was a kid.

damn

I'd sort of pictured Hentoff as an Ishmael Reed/Cornel West kind of dude.

fwiw from some pictures he could def. pass as light-skinned, when placed next to an article about jazz ;)

Chaka Khan... is this person a man, a woman, black, white, Middle Eastern? Who knows.

one of the biggest disappointments in my life was finding out Todd Edwards is white

this was a shock to me as well!

Does it count if you forget someone is black? In that case, Chris Matthews to thread.

Was totally thrown off when I found out Edan was white.

I only knew “Cover of the Rolling Stone”, but I thought until very recently that Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show were black.

I first thought both Babe Ruth and Amon Duul II were fronted by men singing in Plant/Anderson/Lee register.

I thought for the longest time that Chuck E. Weiss was black, based on the assumption he was the other guy on this album cover:

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51scsNPYGmL.jpg

I thought Chuck E. Cheese was a rat, but turns out he was retconned into a mouse.

i really don't understand how people thought Tracy Chapman was a dude? Like ... her voice sounds totally feminine to me, idk. Same with Nina Simone.

I can understand thinking Allison Moyet is a dude if you confuse her with Andy Bell, which ok sure

some of y'all had some weird instincts in terms of what are or aren't women's voices

Thought Les Claypool was a tall weasel. Turns out he's just a human man.

Had always assumed Alicia Bridges of I Love the Nightlife fame was black until I googled the video the other day.

Jónsi Birgisson is one I thought was female on first hearing.

Pre-internet, I had a song on tape by Chunky, Novi and Ernie with a completely androgynous lead vocal. The singer being named "Chunky" didn't provide a lot of guidance either.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4JQ37KsdAs

I would have seen this video in 1984, and apparently I thought it was more likely that a man would perform in a dress (and, um, have breasts) than that a woman would be "allowed" to sing a song about another woman being her "gal".

Keith Jarrett tells a great story of how Ornette Coleman says to him "you just have to be black" and Jarrett replies, "I'm working on it."

I used to think Nellee Hooper was a woman.

I first thought both Babe Ruth and Amon Duul II were fronted by men singing in Plant/Anderson/Lee register.

I thought for the longest time that Sandy Denny's parts in "Battle of Evermore" were a second Plant track, and I still have a bit of difficulty not hearing it that way.

Also like many people, I assumed Nick Gilder was a woman when listening to "Hot Child in the City".

For many years, I thought Irene Cara was white, and while posting this I figured out I've been wrong for many years further in assuming she was black - she's biracial!

I thought for the longest time that Sandy Denny's parts in "Battle of Evermore" were a second Plant track, and I still have a bit of difficulty not hearing it that way.

Haha I think I heard it that way until I read otherwise at 13 or so. It was a little disappointing; I'd been really impressed by how he could just flip into such a pure tone in that register. Conversely, my friend asked "who's the babe?" when Peter Hamill switched to his pure falsetto voice on "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" (ironically, first on the line "I am a lonely man").

lol Sund4r ...

xp re kd lang : definitely heteronormativity probably plays a major role in some of this for when we were kids and mis-gendering based on lyrics

None of my friends believe me that “goodbye horses” was sung by a woman.

Conversely, my friend asked "who's the babe?" when Peter Hamill switched to his pure falsetto voice on "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" (ironically, first on the line "I am a lonely man").

this part always confounds me too, his falsetto never sounds that uh...pure elsewhere

Peter Hamill switched to his pure falsetto voice

My friend didn't believe that Hammill was doing the high background vocals on "Hemlock".

Keith Jarrett tells a great story of how Ornette Coleman says to him "you just have to be black" and Jarrett replies, "I'm working on it."

― joni mitchell jarre (anagram), Saturday, May 21, 2022 8:43 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

holy shit. i have seen many pictures of keith jarrett for many years and STILL thought he was black. i am in serious shock.

I always thought the lead singer on the We Five version of "You Were On My Mind" was a man...but it was Beverly Bivens.

I still hear her voice on that song as "male" somehow.

Been listening a lot to an album by an artist with what seems like a normal woman’s first and last name. Just found out it’s a trio of dudes. The music is still excellent but can we stop doing this?

— clipping. (@clppng) May 22, 2022

That woman’s name: Zeze Topp

Alice Cooper