kimya dawson
― Kevin Keller, Monday, 10 November 2008 03:30 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― the table is the table, Monday, 10 November 2008 03:56 (fifteen years ago) link
luther vandross is rather white himself
― Kevin Keller, Monday, 10 November 2008 04:01 (fifteen years ago) link
i thought david sedaris was an 80 year old woman
― Pantheism F. Mohair (res), Monday, 10 November 2008 04:32 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― ILX MOD (musically), Monday, 10 November 2008 04:47 (fifteen years ago) link
I had no idea that Paul Wall was white for the first year that Still Tippin was on the radio.
― that song on a freebie compilation I got when I ordered a pizza. (Display Name), Monday, 10 November 2008 04:51 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― V. sorry I killed Jimmy Carl Black (the Indian of the group) (staggerlee), Monday, 10 November 2008 05:20 (fifteen years ago) link
o_O
wau
― Black Seinfeld (HI DERE), Monday, 10 November 2008 16:42 (fifteen years ago) link
Geddy Lee for the win.
― ablaeser, Monday, 10 November 2008 16:46 (fifteen years ago) link
awhile ago i thought bobby caldwell was black
― Jordan, Monday, 10 November 2008 16:49 (fifteen years ago) link
i wonder if he speaks like an ordinary guyxp
― Kevin Keller, Monday, 10 November 2008 16:49 (fifteen years ago) link
I was sure Ali Campbell of UB40 was black for a couple of years.
― Jazzbo, Monday, 10 November 2008 16:58 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― mizzell, Monday, 10 November 2008 17:13 (fifteen years ago) link
i know him and he does!xxp
― fact checking cuz, Monday, 10 November 2008 18:36 (fifteen years ago) link
lol
― jaymc, Monday, 10 November 2008 18:40 (fifteen years ago) link
jeff hanson owns this thread
― M@tt He1ges0n, Monday, 10 November 2008 18:43 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― snoball, Monday, 10 November 2008 18:44 (fifteen years ago) link
Trina. I listened to Diamond Princess on repeat for a month and assumed she was white from the get go.
― Owen Pallett, Monday, 10 November 2008 22:10 (fifteen years ago) link
Funny, I always thought your violin was a flugelhorn...
― V. sorry I killed Jimmy Carl Black (the Indian of the group) (staggerlee), Tuesday, 11 November 2008 02:51 (fifteen years ago) link
Wait! also, I know! Brett Dennen! That dude is a chick, and I won't hear any different.
― V. sorry I killed Jimmy Carl Black (the Indian of the group) (staggerlee), Tuesday, 11 November 2008 03:12 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― Hideous Lump, Tuesday, 11 November 2008 04:14 (fifteen years ago) link
― fact checking cuz, Monday, November 10, 2008 6:36 PM (Yesterday)
wow, that worked out rather nicely
― Kevin Keller, Tuesday, 11 November 2008 06:13 (fifteen years ago) link
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... :)
― Geir Hongro, Tuesday, 11 November 2008 09:12 (fifteen years ago) link
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. :)
― Geir Hongro, Tuesday, 11 November 2008 09:17 (fifteen years ago) link
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!
― Mark G, Tuesday, 11 November 2008 09:51 (fifteen years ago) link
do you know how long fact checking cuz has been waiting for someone, anyone, to make that Geddy Lee joke???
― I CRIED (G00blar), Tuesday, 11 November 2008 10:12 (fifteen years ago) link
tracy chapman yeah
― Funky Buddha Lounge (Curt1s Stephens), Tuesday, 11 November 2008 10:24 (fifteen years ago) link
think I've seen fcc feedline before
― you made my mum eat Pick Only One (sic), Tuesday, 11 November 2008 11:12 (fifteen years ago) link
Keith Jarrett to thread
― Ich Ber ein Binliner (Tom D.), Tuesday, 11 November 2008 11:14 (fifteen years ago) link
i thought beethoven was black for the longest time. turns out i was mixing him up with jesus christ.
― Shacknasty (Frogman Henry), Tuesday, 11 November 2008 11:21 (fifteen years ago) link
Nah, Haydn was the brother
― Ich Ber ein Binliner (Tom D.), Tuesday, 11 November 2008 11:22 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 11 November 2008 11:47 (fifteen years ago) link
― 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...
― Background Zombie (CharlieNo4), Tuesday, 11 November 2008 11:48 (fifteen years ago) link
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...
― Mark G, Tuesday, 11 November 2008 11:49 (fifteen years ago) link
turns out arthur russell was a white guy.
― m the g, Tuesday, 11 November 2008 11:50 (fifteen years ago) link
lol, of course, Dominque Leone!
― Ich Ber ein Binliner (Tom D.), Tuesday, 11 November 2008 11:52 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 11 November 2008 11:53 (fifteen years ago) link
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?)
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 11 November 2008 11:56 (fifteen years ago) link
My friend thought Nina Simone was a man
When I first heard Antony and the Johnsons I thought he was Nina Simone.
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 11 November 2008 12:00 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 11 November 2008 12:05 (fifteen years ago) link
When I first heard "Praise You", I thought it was The Eels, (i.e. Mark Edwards singing, not Cammille Yarbrough.)
― Mark G, Tuesday, 11 November 2008 12:07 (fifteen years ago) link
I initially thought it was Len Barry of "1-2-3" fame.
― the gaunty from the hilarious 'alan titchmarsh show' comics (Marcello Carlin), Tuesday, 11 November 2008 12:12 (fifteen years ago) link
(xxpost) Moby, that well known Persis Khambatta impersonator...
― snoball, Tuesday, 11 November 2008 12:14 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― Ich Ber ein Binliner (Tom D.), Tuesday, 11 November 2008 12:20 (fifteen years ago) link
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...
― m the g, Tuesday, 11 November 2008 12:37 (fifteen years ago) link
I think he was, or it was proposed that he be, Cultural Envoy in the Czech Republic?
― Ich Ber ein Binliner (Tom D.), Tuesday, 11 November 2008 12:39 (fifteen years ago) link
I heard a Ray LaMontagne song on the radio the other day and thought it was a woman.
― jaymc, Tuesday, 11 November 2008 14:51 (fifteen years ago) link
Nat Hentoff is white?
― Hoisin Murphy (jaymc), Thursday, 28 January 2010 21:02 (fourteen years ago) link
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
― Sit 'N Creep (tremendoid), Thursday, 28 January 2010 21:11 (fourteen years ago) link
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).
― Hoisin Murphy (jaymc), Thursday, 28 January 2010 21:16 (fourteen years ago) link