Frontmen

Frontmen come in all styles. I was just watching "Rock Around The Clock" (1956) with and about Bill Haley & the Comets. They had a scene where the Comets played two songs at a dance, and Alan Freed (played by Alan Freed) was seeing them for the first time. The comets were a septet, and tight as can be. They had a very Louis-Jordanesque jump element to their rock. I was ignoring the dancers that were featured in the shot and digging the band. Afterward Freed was talking to Haley and trying to convince him and the band to quit their day jobs and become full-time musicians. It was hokey, 50's-style cinema and dialog, but truly cool, daddy-o. But mostly I was thinking how weird Haley looks and how unlikely a frontman he seemed. He was not destined to become "The King." Maybe he needed a sneer.

On the other side of that argument, though...Van Morrison was no Jim Morrison - he's maybe 5 ft. 5 in. tall and kind of funny looking but that never stopped him.

(sidebar - The Platters did "Only You", all dressed up in white suits. Truly suave.)