>i remember george clinton used to mock the four tops four
>dancing and singing for a whole show but never sweating,
>i.e. being a tad 'too cool' for their own good. but werent
>the JBs all about coolness too?

the JBs were but James himself i'm not sure about. he used to bug out on stage a little bit...he'd sweat and mess his hair up. but he'd fine the band if they played a wrong note and i suspect his dances were tightly controlled and planned ahead of time. i think he was about cool, yeah.

isnt prince all about being
>cool too? he never really goes crazy on stage, as such. its
>all very controlled. (again, GC used to mock prince too,
>saying even his improvisations were meticulously rehearsed).

early Prince wasn't as cool as latter/current Prince. i have a tape of a 1983 show where-in he goes into these...almost convulsions on stage and i bet he rehearsed them. he looked quite un-cool when he danced in this show but never really out of control. being that he was a student of James Brown it wouldn't surprise me if he had all his moves planned before he got on stage, even the 1s that look spontaneous. him going around in those outrageous outfits in the Dirty Mind era & simulating masturbation w/the microphone & making out w/Gail on stage was probably as far out and freaked out as he got and that all had to be planned.

>hendrix used to take the piss out of R&B musicians of his
>time for being immaculately groomed and suited and booted
>etc, like george did, except he seemed to do it with more
>bitterness.
>
>i think this post should discuss 'musical coolness' as much
>as visual coolness.