History SmallReferencePools / Music

* In the heyday of [=P2P=] services, if you were to search up "Music/WeirdAlYankovic", you'd be bound to find scores of parody songs with his name on them that [[MisattributedSong he didn't write]]. Apparently, people have never heard of Bob Rivers or Cledus T. Judd -- not to mention earlier practitioners of this art such as Spike Jones, Allan Sherman, Victor Borge, Music/TomLehrer, [[Music/PDQBach Peter Schickele]], and Stan Freberg. It's particularly unfortunate when this happens with songs about subjects the artist it's attributed to would never touch. The fairly family-friendly artists have had their names attached to stuff they'd never have written in a million years.

* Accordionists? Astor Piazzolla and Music/WeirdAlYankovic

* Richard Strauss's ''Music/AlsoSprachZarathustra'' also known as that music from ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'' and Wrestling/RicFlair's Entrance Music -- which is only about two minutes long, for all most people know of the piece.

* Music/GeorgeGershwin either didn't write any classical music (only showtunes) or only wrote "Rhapsody in Blue" (and we only know that one because United Airlines uses it as their theme song).

* When a radio station claims to play "Top 40" music, it's highly unlikely that they'll play every song that's in the Top 40. Adult Contemporary stations in particular rarely ever play any song that features rapping or hip-hop style production (often cutting [[AWildRapperAppears guest rap verses]]). Mainstream Top 40 stations on the other hand are more likely play rap songs and leave guest rap verses intact, but not if they're "too urban". Also, despite their claim that they play "Top 40" music, the bulk of their airplay consists of songs that reached the Top 20 (with maaaaybe some songs in the upper-Top 30). Urban stations on the other hand focus mostly on HipHop and RAndB, but they exclude anything that doesn't "blend in" with the rest. As for rock songs that make the lower-end of the Top 40, well... airplay is scarce at best.

** Rock bassists: [[Music/{{Primus}} Les Claypool]] and [[Music/RushBand Geddy Lee]]. [[Music/RedHotChiliPeppers Flea]], [[Music/LedZeppelin John Paul Jones]], [[Music/{{Metallica}} Cliff Burton, Jason Newsted, Robert Trujillo]], [[Music/PinkFloyd Roger Waters]], [[Music/{{Motorhead}} Lemmy]], [[Music/{{KISS}} Gene Simmons]], [[Music/TheWho John Entwistle]], [[Music/VanHalen Michael Anthony]], and [[Music/BlackSabbath Geezer Butler]] are also commonly mentioned and you ''might'' find [[Music/{{Yes}} Chris Squire]], [[Music/IronMaiden Steve Harris]], [[Music/DreamTheater John Myung]], [[Music/{{Cream}} Jack Bruce]], [[Music/QueenBand John Deacon]], [[Music/{{Rancid}} Matt Freeman]], [[Music/{{Korn}} Fieldy]], [[Music/{{Tool}} Justin Chancellor]], or [[Music/{{Mudvayne}} Ryan Martinie]] getting namedropped every once in a blue moon. Despite being objectively one of the most famous musicians in history, Music/PaulMcCartney will likely not be mentioned despite being a trailblazing figure in rock bass. [[Music/{{Slipknot}} Paul Gray]] may also get a mention by way of DeadArtistsAreBetter.

** Rock and metal guitarists? Music/JimiHendrix, first and foremost (at least for the rock side of things). Others that remain legendary are Music/ChuckBerry, Music/JeffBeck, Music/EricClapton, [[Music/TheRollingStonesBand Keith Richards]], [[Music/LedZeppelin Jimmy Page]], [[Music/VanHalen Eddie Van Halen]], [[Music/GunsNRoses Slash]], [[Music/RageAgainstTheMachine Tom]] [[Music/{{Audioslave}} Morello]], [[Music/{{ACDC}} Angus Young]], [[Music/BlackSabbath Tony Iommi]], [[Music/{{Metallica}} Kirk Hammett]], [[Music/RushBand Alex Lifeson]], [[Music/QueenBand Brian May]], [[Music/{{Aerosmith}} Joe Perry]], [[Music/{{KISS}} Ace Frehley]], [[Music/{{UFO}} Michael Schenker]], [[Music/TheAllmanBrothersBand Duane Allman]], [[Music/JourneyBand Neal Schon]], [[Music/{{Santana}} Carlos Santana]], [[Music/RedHotChiliPeppers John Frusciante]], [[Music/AliceInChains Jerry Cantrell]], [[Music/DeepPurple Ritchie]] [[Music/{{Rainbow}} Blackmore]], [[Music/OzzyOsbourne Randy Rhoads]], [[Music/{{Dokken}} George Lynch]], [[Music/{{Pantera}} Dimebag Darrell]], [[Music/BlackLabelSociety Zakk Wylde]], [[Music/CreedBand Mark]] [[Music/AlterBridge Tremonti]], [[Music/{{Megadeth}} Marty Friedman]], Music/SteveVai, Music/JoeSatriani, Music/YngwieMalmsteen, [[Music/{{Testament}} Alex Skolnick]], [[Music/DreamTheater John Petrucci]], and [[Music/{{Korn}} Brian "Head" Welch]].

** Classical pianists? Glenn Gould and Arthur Rubinstein, most likely. Maybe Vladimir Horowitz or Liberace as well.
** Jazz pianists? Music/DukeEllington and Count Basie. Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, and Hiromi Uehara may also receive a mention, as will Art Tatum and Thelonious Monk if they're trying to impress. Finally, Norah Jones may get an occasional mention, mostly if they're talking about her smash hit debut ''Come Away with Me'' (or even rarely, her other work, which wasn't as successful as her debut).
** Rock pianists? Music/FatsDomino, Music/JerryLeeLewis, Music/LittleRichard, Music/EltonJohn, Music/StevieWonder, and Music/BillyJoel. [[Music/EmersonLakeAndPalmer Keith Emerson]], [[Music/DeepPurple Jon Lord]], [[Music/{{Yes}} Rick Wakeman]], and [[Music/TheDoors Ray Manzarek]] are also likely to get mentions here and there despite all being organists.

* Violinists? Yehudi Menuhin, Itzhak Perlman, and Jean-Luc Ponty are most likely. Maybe Niccolo Paganini if you're going waaaaaay back. Jascha Heifetz, Isaac Stern, or Fritz Kreisler might get a mention as well.

* '90s RAndB singers? Music/MariahCarey is usually the first to come up. Other names you might hear are Toni Braxton, Music/WhitneyHouston, Boyz II Men, Music/{{TLC}}, Music/RKelly, Music/MaryJBlige, Music/JanetJackson, and Music/{{Aaliyah}}, along with rare mentions of SWV and En Vogue. Brits may also name Gabrielle and Des'ree as well.

* The only song Wiz Khalifa made is "See You Again". It is also the only song from [[Music/Furious7Soundtrack the soundtrack of Furious 7]] (or for that matter, the ''Fast and Furious'' soundtrack as a whole), despite there being a wide variety of other songs.

* Christmas music can be prone to this. Unless they're over 60 years old, can anyone name a song by Brenda Lee besides "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", by the Ronettes besides "Sleigh Ride" (or "Be My Baby", which isn't even a Christmas song), by Bobby Helms besides "Jingle Bell Rock", by Gene Autry besides "Here Comes Santa Claus" or "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer", by Burl Ives besides "A Holly Jolly Christmas", by Perry Como besides "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas", by Vaughn Monroe besides "Let It Snow", by Jose Feliciano besides "Feliz Navidad" (though his cover of "[[Music/TheDoors Light My Fire]]" ''might'' get brought up now and again), or by Andy Williams besides "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year", even though none of those artists was a OneHitWonder in their heyday?

* Heartland rock artists? Music/BruceSpringsteen, Music/TomPetty and [[Music/JohnMellencamp John Cougar Mellencamp]] are the only ones who get brought up. Bruce Hornsby ''might'' get a mention, but he's best known outside of the heartland rock fandom for the fact that his sole #1 hit "The Way It Is" was sampled in Music/TupacShakur's "Changes".

** Australian rock? Music/{{ACDC}}, Music/{{Inxs}}, Music/MenAtWork, Music/MidnightOil, Music/LittleRiverBand, Music/ParkwayDrive, and Music/TameImpala (Music/CrowdedHouse are more associated with New Zealand).

** Australian Christian music? Music/{{Hillsong}}. Some older fans of the Music/{{Newsboys}} may be able to remember that the group originally formed in Queensland (though they did not become successful until they moved to the US).

* Canada: Music/BryanAdams, Music/{{Rush|Band}} and Music/MenWithoutHats in the '80s, "Informer", Music/AlanisMorissette, Music/CelineDion, Music/SarahMcLachlan and Music/ShaniaTwain in the '90s, Music/{{Nickelback}}, Music/{{Sum 41}}, Music/ThreeDaysGrace, Music/AvrilLavigne and Music/SimplePlan in the '00s, and Music/JustinBieber, Music/{{Drake}} and Music/TheWeeknd in the '10s (as well as Music/ArcadeFire, Music/{{Deadmau5}}, Music/CarlyRaeJepsen and "Rude" in the ''very'' early half of the '10s -- though [=Deadmau5=] is still a major figure in the [=EDM=] scene and Arcade Fire and Jepsen maintain cult followings)

* France: Music/EdithPiaf or Music/DaftPunk. Or maybe Music/DavidGuetta

** Finnish electronic music? [=Darude=], and only for one song ("Sandstorm").

** German pop: Nena (who only seems to be remembered for "99 Luftbaloons/99 Red Balloons") and Music/BoneyM.

** New Zealand rock? Music/CrowdedHouse (even though they were formed in Australia (Neil and Tim Finn were born in New Zealand), and a number of their members throughout their history have been Australian or American). Music/SplitEnz, which the Finn brothers were also part of, may get an occasional mention.

* North Pole: Tuvan throat singing.

** Swedish pop: Music/{{ABBA}} and Music/{{Robyn}}. Maybe Music/{{Roxette}} as well if you're lucky, as well as a rare mention of Music/ATeens.

** Jazz bassists: Jaco Pastorius and Victor Wooten, sometimes also Stanley Clarke, Michael Manring, John Patitucci, Esperanza Spalding, and Marcus Miller. There may be an ''extremely'' rare mention of Hadrien Feraud, Jonas Hellborg, or Steve Bailey as well.

* Conductors? Arturo Toscanini, Leonard Bernstein, and Herbert von Karajan will be the only ones the general public may be able to name. And Leopold Stokowski, but only because of ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}''.

** Ballet dancers will always be female. Anna Pavlova and Margot Fonteyn will be the only ones most people remember. The only male ones are Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov. Creator/SummerGlau was originally a ballerina, but don't expect anyone to remember that anymore.

** Tap dancers? Creator/FredAstaire, Creator/GingerRogers and Creator/GeneKelly. If black tap dancers are remembered it will be The Nicholas Brothers or Bojangles Robinson.

* Trumpet players? Music/LouisArmstrong and Music/MilesDavis. Music/DizzyGillespie can be referenced as well, because of his swollen cheeks whenever he blew the horn.

* White rappers? Music/{{Eminem}} will always come to mind first. The only other names likely to be brought up are the Music/BeastieBoys, Music/VanillaIce, Music/HouseOfPain (though they'll probably forget about Danny Boy due to Everlast's solo career and DJ Lethal's work as the turntablist for Music/LimpBizkit), Music/{{Macklemore}} (Ryan Lewis? Never heard of him), Music/PostMalone, Music/KidRock, the Music/InsaneClownPosse, Lil Peep (due to DeadArtistsAreBetter), Machine Gun Kelly (MGK), The Kid Laroi and Music/IggyAzalea, the latter being the only white female rapper. Music/AesopRock, Action Bronson, Music/ElP, 3rd Bass (aside from DJ Richie Rich, who was black), Asher Roth, Yung Lean, Yelawolf, Jedi Mind Tricks (aside from Jus Allah, who is black), 7L & Esoteric (who nowadays are far more likely to be known as part of Czarface), Jelly Roll, Ghostemane, $uicideboy$, Stitches, Music/MacMiller, [=RiFF=] RAFF, Cage, Necro (''maybe'' also Ill Bill, his brother, but it's unlikely), R.A. the Rugged Man, Slaine, Kno, Mickey Avalon, Bubba Sparxxx and Music/GEazy might get a weak token mention, and there may also be a ''very'' rare Eyedea mention that is almost entirely due to DeadArtistsAreBetter (and if they do, they'll probably also mention his friend/protege Sadistik as well). Slug of Music/{{Atmosphere}} (who is sometimes mistakenly called "[[IAmNotShazam Atmosphere]]") is often lumped together in this category, though he's actually of mixed ancestry. The others remain virtually unheard of.

* Black rock and punk musicians? Music/JimiHendrix is usually the first that comes to mind. Others who might get mentioned are Clarence Clemons of [[Music/BruceSpringsteen The E Street Band]], Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson of Music/TheAllmanBrothersBand, Carter Beauford, Boyd Tinsley, Rashawn Ross, and the late [=LeRoi=] Moore of the Music/DaveMatthewsBand, Lenny Kravitz, Tom Morello of Music/RageAgainstTheMachine and Music/{{Audioslave}} (though his mother was white), William [=DuVall=] of Music/AliceInChains (though, expect him to be referred to as "that black guy who replaced Layne Staley after he died"), Clive "Benji" Webbe of Dub War and Music/{{Skindred}}, Tunde Adebimpe, Kyp Malone, Jaleel Bunton, and the late Gerard Smith of Music/TVOnTheRadio, Kele Okereke of Music/BlocParty, Tony [=MacAlpine=], Lajon Witherspoon of Music/{{Sevendust}}, Craig "DJ Homicide" Bullock of Music/SugarRay (who breaks the norm in that he was their turntablist, given the band's history with the NuMetal genre), the members of Music/BadBrains, and the members of Music/LivingColour (or, at the very least, Vernon Reid). Doug Pinnick of Music/KingsX, Josh Travis of Music/{{Emmure}}, The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza, and Glass Cloud, Myke Terry of Music/{{Volumes}}, Aaron Heard of Jesus Piece and Nothing, Jason Butler and Stephen Harrison of Fever 333, Skin and Cass of Music/SkunkAnansie, Diamond Rowe of Tetrarch, De'Mar Hamilton of Plain White T's, Traa Daniels of Music/{{POD}}, and Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes ''might'' get a weak mention. At least one or two members of Music/{{Fishbone}} may get a mention, likely Angelo Moore and probably Rocky George as well (primarily due to his involvement with Suicidal Tendencies). Darryl Jones may get a mention, mainly for having been Music/TheRollingStones' session and backing band bassist since Bill Wyman's departure. Prince should really be on the list, but he's usually considered rap/R&B, and only "rock" during the ''Music/{{Purple Rain|Album}}'' era; [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking plus, his mother was white]]. Michael Jackson could also be counted if you focused on "Beat It" and a handful of others. Music/DariusRucker of Music/HootieAndTheBlowfish might've gotten a mention as well, but lately he's known more for his fruitful CountryMusic career in TheNewTens. Music/IceT might get a mention due to Music/BodyCount. Lastly, while Phil Lynott of Music/ThinLizzy, Slash of Music/GunsNRoses, Pete Wentz of Music/FallOutBoy, and Tommy "Vext" Cummings of Bad Wolves are well-known figures, it is highly unlikely that they will be mentioned despite all four being mixed-race.

* Crooners are Music/FrankSinatra, Music/DeanMartin, or Music/BingCrosby. Tom Jones or Tony Bennett might be thrown in there too.

* When it comes to rock music, this is -- notoriously -- an EnforcedTrope. Criticism of the genre has long been dominated by Baby Boomers with a heavy '60s (and, to a lesser extent, '70s) bias. So lists of the "best bands/artists ever" can be an extremely short one: The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Beatles (but only their post-1966 material), The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band -- all guaranteed to be on the list. Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Eagles usually on the list too. The Beach Boys, Queen, Frank Zappa ''might'' manage to sneak on there. Black Sabbath are almost always slighted, despite being contemporaries of many of the above bands. With the exception of Springsteen, if you gained popularity at any time after 1975, then forget it. The irony is, most of these "classic" bands aren't getting imitated much anymore, which erodes their so-called classic status a great deal. And if you define "classic rock" broadly as "blues- or psychedelia-inspired hard rock that isn't metal", then a number of more contemporary rock bands -- AC/DC, Guns 'N' Roses, Oingo Boingo -- are "classic" in all but era.

** Along that note, Bob's GreatestHitsAlbum Legend is often treated as his only album by both the buying public and the media, to the point where it has had specials made on it despite being a posthumous compilation. This is a BerserkButton for many fans. For many of the general public it's the only reggae album they own.
* In the heyday of [=P2P=] services, if you were to search up "Music/WeirdAlYankovic", you'd be bound to find scores of parody songs with his name on them that [[MisattributedSong he didn't write]]. Apparently, people have never heard of Bob Rivers or Cledus T. Judd -- not to mention earlier practitioners of this art such as Spike Jones, Allan Sherman, Victor Borge, Tom Lehrer, Peter Schickele, and Stan Freberg. It's particularly unfortunate when this happens with songs about subjects the artist it's attributed to would never touch. The fairly family-friendly artists have had their names attached to stuff they'd never have written in a million years.

* Irish musician Enya, who does neo-Celtic new age music, will sometimes get credit for anything that vaguely resembles her work. Somewhat understandable for works by her sister Moya Breannan or her former band Clannad, but stranger when it's actually, say, Loreena [=McKennitt=], a Canadian musician who sounds nothing like her apart from working in more or less the same genre. Karl Jenkins Adeimus is attributed to her too.

* Apparently, some people believe ''Music/TheDarkSideOfTheMoon'' was Music/PinkFloyd's debut or only album; It was their eighth. For double bonus amusement, ask them to name a Pink Floyd ''song''. It will be "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2" (and maybe Part's 1 & 3), and it'll often be described as a track on ''Dark Side'' rather than ''Music/Thewall''. Music/RogerWaters will always be referred to as Pink Floyd in these conversations.

* The only progressive rock bands are Music/KingCrimson, Music/{{Yes}}, Music/{{Genesis|Band}}, Music/PinkFloyd, and maybe Music/JethroTull. And sometimes not even all of them -- lots of people only know Genesis for their more pop-oriented 80s material and have no idea they ever did prog rock or had Peter Gabriel as a member. To a lesser extent, Yes and Tull sometimes gets the same treatment from people who only know the songs that show up on the radio. And King Crimson suffer a ''severe'' case of MainstreamObscurity -- lots of people have heard the name and are vaguely aware that they're an influential band, few are versed in their output beyond ''Music/InTheCourtOfTheCrimsonKing'', if at all.
* Good luck on anyone knowing any song by Chris de Burgh except "The Lady in Red", his BlackSheepHit. (In December only, people may also recall [[ChristmasSongs "A Spaceman Came Travelling"]].) Honourable mention goes to ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' for referencing "Don't Pay the Ferryman" in at least two different episodes.

** To many people, their only songs are "Stayin' Alive", "Night Fever" and "Tragedy". (and maybe "You Should be Dancing", "Too Much Heaven" and "You Win Again").
* Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks are founding members of Music/FleetwoodMac.

* Most people associate New Wave music with a limited selection of music from the latter era of New Wave and the synthpop era. Not a lot of people know New Wave existed in 1975-76 or that it originated as a subgenre of punk rock (with both terms actually being used interchangebly for a very brief period). Or that a lot of punk rockers morphed into more conventional New Wave acts (cf. Classix Nouveaux, Lords of the New Church). New Wave itself had several substyles, and most of the best-remembered groups- The Knack, The Go-Gos, Cyndi Lauper, The Bangles; suspiciously almost all Los Angeles bands- were highly-commercial Power Pop acts who had little or no connection to the earlier ones who gave the movement its name. Some people believe the 4 groups only had like 2-3 songs each. Most of these people only know 1 song by The Knack. Part of the problem is that many of the original and/or most famous New Wave acts (The Cars, Dire Straits, Talking Heads) [[UnbuiltTrope didn't comfortably fit the stereotype]], as they performed music in a variety of styles and sometimes even genres. The Cars, for example, tend to be remembered for their '80s hits ("Shake It Up", "Drive", etc.), but their career actually took off in the late '70s. Their first big hit was "Just What I Needed" -- but since its synths aren't quite as [[{{Flanderization}} exaggerated]] as on later Cars songs, people can be surprised when they find out who it's by.
* Punk itself gets treated this way. Ask most people over the age of 30 or so to name the first punk band that comes to mind, and you'll probably get one of only five examples: Music/TheRamones, Music/TheSexPistols, Music/TheClash (who weren't even purely punk rock), Music/{{Blondie|Band}} (who was barely punk at all), or Music/GreenDay. Nobody remembers the Dictators. Or the Circle Jerks. Or Black Flag. Or...

** Thrash metal? Aside from the Big Four, Music/{{Testament}}, [[Music/ExodusBand Exodus]], Music/{{Sepultura}}, Music/{{Overkill}}, and Music/{{Kreator}} are almost guaranteed to receive mentions. Music/{{Destruction}}, Music/{{Sodom}}, Music/DeathAngel, and Music/{{Annihilator}} (especially among [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff Europeans]]) will likely also be mentioned, and Flotsam & Jetsam, Sacred Reich, Music/{{Forbidden}}, Music/DarkAngel, Music/{{Tankard}} and Music/{{Coroner}} may get rare mentions. Modern acts will likely be limited to Music/{{Evile}}, Music/PowerTrip, Music/{{Havok}}, Music/{{Warbringer}}, and Music/MunicipalWaste, plus the occasional mention of Music/LichKing, Music/{{Vektor}} and/or Nervosa.

** If the Gypsy Kings exist, then they are singing in Spanish.

* If you look at many of the more commonplace [[TheEighties 1980s]] "various artists" compilations you'll find a rotating lineup of twenty-to-thirty songs, usually written around 1981-1986, that ''all'' of them will have a chunk of. "Jessie's Girl", "[[LandDownUnder Down Under]]", "The Safety Dance", "Come On Eileen", "[[Music/TearsForFears Everybody Wants To Rule The World]]", "[[Music/DuranDuran Hungry Like The Wolf]]", "Somebody's Watching Me", "RockMeAmadeus", etc. Most of those songs are white HairMetal, ArenaRock or [[NewWaveMusic New Wave]] pop, usually with an iconic video, and maybe 30% of them are {{one hit wonder}}s or novelty songs. Few dance, rap, country or R&B numbers will be included. Made worse by the fact that many major 1980s artists, including Music/MichaelJackson, Music/{{Prince}}, Music/{{Madonna}}, and Creator/GeorgeMichael refuse(d) to license their songs to such best-of's.

* British boy bands? Obviously you mean Music/OneDirection. Apparently, nobody's ever heard of Music/TakeThatBand, Five, JLS, or Music/TheWanted (who are mostly known for their so-called "[[CurbStompBattle rivalry]]" with One Direction).

* Similar to the other one, the only rappers that most people will be able to name are Music/JayZ, Music/{{Eminem}} (largely because he's one of the few white rappers to avert the PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy stereotype), Music/FiftyCent, Music/SnoopDogg, Dr. Dre (largely because of his headphones), Music/LilWayne, Music/NickiMinaj, Music/{{Drake}}, Music/KendrickLamar, Diddy, Music/CardiB, Music/PostMalone, Music/TupacShakur, Music/TheNotoriousBIG (the previous two largely thanks to DeadArtistsAreBetter), and Music/KanyeWest, though he is more known for his [[OvershadowedByControversy many personal issues]] than he is for his music these days. Music/TylerTheCreator, Music/TravisScott, Music/{{Future}}, and Music/MachineGunKelly are also likely to get a mention. Music/{{DMX}} is also likely to get a DeadArtistsAreBetter mention. Music/OutKast might receive a rare mention, but only for "Hey Ya!", which is hardly representative of their style. Music/LilJon may get mentioned due to meme recognition. Music/TechN9ne ''might'' also come up, but [[MainstreamObscurity don't expect anyone to be able to name one of his songs]]. They may also be able to name Music/IceCube and Music/IceT, but odds are that they will only know them as actors and not as rappers (though, with the success of ''Film/StraightOuttaCompton'', this may be changing for the former).

* According to millions of Baby Boomers (and Generation X'ers and Generation Y'ers), the only song Music/{{Kiss}} ever recorded was "Rock 'N' Roll All Nite", or maybe "Shout It Out Loud" or "Love Gun." Which means you can forget about "Deuce," "Detroit Rock City" (although that one ''has'' resurged in popularity due to the 1999 movie of the same name), "Christine Sixteen," "I Was Made For Loving You," "I Love It Loud," "Lick It Up," "Heaven's On Fire," "Tears Are Falling," etc. The songs from their concept album ''Music From the Elder'' are so obscure that ''the band members themselves'' can't remember them.

* Lampshaded in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' where Homer attends a Bachman-Turner Overdrive concert, demands to hear "Takin' Care of Business", and when they start playing it, yells for them to "Get to the 'workin' overtime' part!"
** Notably, "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet" was actually a much bigger hit than "Takin' Care of Business," but your mileage will vary on which one is more remembered.

* Music/CarlosSantana wrote three songs: "Evil Ways", "Black Magic Woman"[[note]]which was actually a cover version of a Music/FleetwoodMac song written by Peter Green[[/note]] and "Oye Como Va." If you are listening to a classic rock station he also wrote "No One To Depend On". If you remember Woodstock, the band also did "Soul Sacrifice". Everyone has also heard "Smooth", "The Game of Love", and probably "Why Don't You & I" as well thanks to their heavy longstanding presence on pop radio and in-store PA soundtracks, but it's unlikely that most of them would be able to name Santana as the main artist.

* Most people associate New Wave music with a limited selection of music from the latter era of New Wave and the synthpop era. Not a lot of people know New Wave existed in 1975 -- 76 or that it originated as a subgenre of punk rock. Or that a lot of punk rockers morphed into more conventional New Wave acts (cf. Classix Nouveaux, Lords of the New Church). New Wave itself had several substyles, and most of the best-remembered groups- The Knack, The Go-Gos, Cyndi Lauper, The Bangles; suspiciously almost all Los Angeles bands- were highly-commercial Power Pop acts who had little or no connection to the earlier ones who gave the movement its name. Some people believe the 4 groups only had like 2-3 songs each. Most of these people only know 1 song by The Knack. Part of the problem is that many of the original and/or most famous New Wave acts (The Cars, Dire Straits, Talking Heads) [[UnbuiltTrope didn't comfortably fit the stereotype]], as they performed music in a variety of styles and sometimes even genres. The Cars, for example, tend to be remembered for their '80s hits ("Shake It Up", "Drive", etc.), but their career actually took off in the late '70s. Their first big hit was "Just What I Needed" -- but since its synths aren't quite as [[{{Flanderization}} exaggerated]] as on later Cars songs, people can be surprised when they find out who it's by.

** Ballet dancers will always be female. Anna Pavlova and Margot Fonteyn will be the only ones most people remember. The only male ones are Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov.

** Deathcore? Music/SuicideSilence, Music/{{Whitechapel}}, Music/ThyArtIsMurder, Music/{{Carnifex}}, Music/LornaShore, and Music/SlaughterToPrevail. Music/{{Oceano}}, Music/ShadowOfIntent, Music/DespisedIcon, Music/ChelseaGrin, Music/EnterpriseEarth, Infant Annihilator, After the Burial, Born of Osiris, Music/FitForAnAutopsy, Rings of Saturn, and Brand of Sacrifice may also get mentions. Older listeners may also give Music/AllShallPerish, As Blood Runs Black, and I Declare War a mention.

** Additionally, when it comes to modern metal bands -- as in, bands that got popular in the mid-'90s onward -- the ones who are most likely to be named outside the metal community are Music/{{Korn}}, Music/RobZombie, Music/{{Rammstein}}, Music/MarilynManson, Music/{{Disturbed}}, Music/SystemOfADown, Music/{{Slipknot}} (see above), Music/{{Godsmack}}, Music/KillswitchEngage, Music/LambOfGod, Music/{{Mastodon}}, Music/{{Trivium}}, Music/AvengedSevenfold, Music/BulletForMyValentine, Music/MotionlessInWhite, Music/SuicideSilence, Music/FiveFingerDeathPunch, Music/{{Whitechapel}}, Music/{{Volbeat}}, Music/ThyArtIsMurder, Music/{{Carnifex}}, Music/LornaShore, Music/SlaughterToPrevail, Music/IceNineKills, Music/{{Spiritbox}}, and Music/BringMeTheHorizon. In fact, it's often used as a sign of being a recent initiate in metal when one of the above are the first bands you name. The fact that they're the most mainstream friendly, lending them to be played on the radio and featured mainstream media, is the primary cause of this.

* Music/GreenDay only ever released two albums: ''Dookie'' and ''Music/AmericanIdiot''. The only songs they ever made are the title track from American Idiot, "Basket Case", "When I Come Around", "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" (which is from ''Nimrod'', for bonus points), "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", "Wake Me Up When September Ends", and "21 Guns" (from ''Music/TwentyFirstCenturyBreakdown''!). Considering they were one of the biggest rock bands in both the 90s and 00s, it's a bit frustrating that these are the only songs people refer to.

** Ireland has only ever produced just three rock bands: Music/{{U2}}, Music/TheCranberries and Music/ThinLizzy (though U2 are ''much'' more likely to get a mention than the other two -- the Cranberries are mostly remembered by Americans for "Zombie", "Linger", and "Dreams", and Thin Lizzy usually only get a mention because of "The Boys Are Back in Town"). My Bloody Valentine, Horslips, The Undertones, Stiff Little Fingers, Boomtown Rats (with the exception of Bob Geldof) and Ash apparently don't exist. (Though The Corrs ''sometimes'' show up on the occasional rom-com soundtrack alongside the Cranberries, ''maybe''.) Music/SnowPatrol might get a mention, but only because of "Chasing Cars".

* Music/Magic's only song is "Rude".

* South Korea: [[Music/{{PSY}} Oppan]] Music/GangnamStyle! And more recently, Music/{{BTS}}. If you're lucky, they'll acknowledge the existence of K-Pop, but they won't know that there are Korean artists that perform music that isn't K-Pop.

** Technically, the "true" classical period was from roughly 1750 to 1850. It's just that people tend to use the term to refer to any music from after the Renaissance and from before jazz (or ragtime, in the case of Americans).

** Additionally, when it comes to modern metal bands -- as in, bands that got popular in the mid-'90s onward -- the ones who are most likely to be named outside the metal community are Music/{{Korn}}, Music/RobZombie, Music/{{Rammstein}}, Music/MarilynManson, Music/{{Disturbed}}, Music/SystemOfADown, Music/{{Slipknot}} (see above), Music/{{Godsmack}}, Music/KillswitchEngage, Music/LambOfGod, Music/{{Mastodon}}, Music/{{Trivium}}, Music/AvengedSevenfold, Music/BulletForMyValentine, Music/MotionlessInWhite, Music/SuicideSilence, Music/FiveFingerDeathPunch, Music/{{Whitechapel}}, Music/{{Volbeat}}, Music/ThyArtIsMurder, Music/{{Carnifex}}, Music/LornaShore, Music/IceNineKills, Music/{{Spiritbox}}, and Music/BringMeTheHorizon. In fact, it's often used as a sign of being a recent initiate in metal when one of the above are the first bands you name. The fact that they're the most mainstream friendly, lending them to be played on the radio and featured mainstream media, is the primary cause of this.

** Deathcore? Music/SuicideSilence, Music/{{Whitechapel}}, Music/ThyArtIsMurder, Music/{{Carnifex}}, and Music/LornaShore. Music/{{Oceano}}, Music/SlaughterToPrevail, Music/ShadowOfIntent, Music/DespisedIcon, Music/ChelseaGrin, Music/EnterpriseEarth, Infant Annihilator, After the Burial, Born of Osiris, Music/FitForAnAutopsy, Rings of Saturn, and Brand of Sacrifice may also get mentions. Older listeners may also give Music/AllShallPerish, As Blood Runs Black, and I Declare War a mention.

** Rock and metal guitarists? Music/JimiHendrix, first and foremost (at least for the rock side of things). Others that remain legendary are Music/ChuckBerry, Music/JeffBeck, Music/EricClapton, [[Music/TheRollingStonesBand Keith Richards]], [[Music/LedZeppelin Jimmy Page]], [[Music/VanHalen Eddie Van Halen]], [[Music/GunsNRoses Slash]], [[Music/RageAgainstTheMachine Tom]] [[Music/{{Audioslave}} Morello]], [[Music/{{ACDC}} Angus Young]], [[Music/BlackSabbath Tony Iommi]], [[Music/{{Metallica}} Kirk Hammett]], [[Music/RushBand Alex Lifeson]], [[Music/QueenBand Brian May]], [[Music/{{Aerosmith}} Joe Perry]], [[Music/{{KISS}} Ace Frehley]], [[Music/TheAllmanBrothersBand Duane Allman]], [[Music/JourneyBand Neal Schon]], [[Music/{{Santana}} Carlos Santana]], [[Music/RedHotChiliPeppers John Frusciante]], [[Music/AliceInChains Jerry Cantrell]], [[Music/DeepPurple Ritchie]] [[Music/{{Rainbow}} Blackmore]], [[Music/OzzyOsbourne Randy Rhoads]], [[Music/{{Dokken}} George Lynch]], [[Music/{{Pantera}} Dimebag Darrell]], [[Music/BlackLabelSociety Zakk Wylde]], [[Music/CreedBand Mark]] [[Music/AlterBridge Tremonti]], [[Music/{{Megadeth}} Marty Friedman]], Music/SteveVai, Music/JoeSatriani, Music/YngwieMalmsteen, [[Music/{{Testament}} Alex Skolnick]], [[Music/DreamTheater John Petrucci]], and [[Music/{{Korn}} Brian "Head" Welch]].

* Christmas music can be prone to this. Unless they're over 60 years old, can anyone name a song by Brenda Lee besides "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", by the Ronettes besides "Sleigh Ride" (or "Be My Baby", which isn't even a Christmas song), by Bobby Helms besides "Jingle Bell Rock", by Gene Autry besides "Here Comes Santa Claus" or "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer", by Burl Ives besides "A Holly Jolly Christmas", by Perry Como besides "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas", by Vaughn Monroe besides "Let It Snow", by Jose Feliciano besides "Feliz Navidad", or by Andy Williams besides "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year", even though none of those artists was a OneHitWonder in their heyday?

* All 1960s soul music came from one label: Creator/{{Motown}}. Stax and Vee-Jay ''might'' get a mention every now and again.

* The only songs Music/{{Coolio}} ever recorded were "Gangsta's Paradise" and "Fantastic Voyage" (though the former gets brought up more often than the latter). In his heyday, he had a third Top 5 hit and three more songs that reached the Top 40, was huge in the hip-hop community and was generally not even close to being considered a one/two-hit wonder.

* The only forms of rock music since 1991 are {{Grunge}}, PostGrunge, PopPunk, NuMetal, EmoMusic, and hipstery IndieRock. Everything else before that is just typical ClassicRock stuff.

* The only forms of rock music since 1991 are {{Grunge}}, PostGrunge, PopPunk, EmoMusic, and hipstery IndieRock. Everything else before that is just typical ClassicRock stuff.

* Music/{{Nirvana}} is the only {{Grunge}} band in existence, and, during the years 1991 through 1994, was the only thing teens were listening to. Which is interesting considering that Music/PearlJam has actually ''outsold'' Nirvana and several HairMetal and ThrashMetal bands reached their peak during Nirvana's supposed "domination" (i.e., Metallica's "Enter Sandman"). To say nothing of this being the period when Music/{{Pantera}} got big, though the Cowboys From Hell have mentioned in interviews that a lot of bands were afraid to call themselves metal during Grunge's heyday. Not to mention this was also around the time rap and hip-hop were gaining mainstream acceptance outside the inner-city black community.

* Don't you know? The only group to do ''Franchise/{{Touhou}}'' remixes is Music/{{IOSYS}}. Maaaybe Innocent Key might be brought up, but if you hear about Cool & Create it's probably only for "Help Me Erinnn" and "Night of Nights (Flowering Night Remix)", and Silver Forest only ever made "Kero⑨Destiny".

* Moldova: [=SunStroke=] Project.

* Romania: The only song to ever come from Romania is "[[Music/OZone Dragostea Din Tea]]"

* Japan: Gong and/or koto music. Something more modern? JPop, usually the kind that was used as a ThemeSong to an {{anime}} (all J music will be referred to as J-Pop, regardless of the actual genre).

* The only Music/UTAU voice banks are the VIPPAloids, mainly Kasane Teto, Namine Ritsu, and Yokune Ruko, plus Momone Momo and Utane Uta.

* Music/{{Vocaloid}} songs? As far as everyone is concerned, the only Vocaloid is Hatsune Miku, or at least the "big five" Crypton-produced Vocaloids (Miku, KAITO, MEIKO, Kagamine Rin and Len[[note]]Sometimes counted as one due to being "mirror images" of each other and part of one package together, sometimes counted as separate[[/note]], Megurine Luka). Even though they're not the first Vocaloids in existence nor the most recent, they're still the five Vocaloids that comes to most people's minds first when the brand is brought up.

* Punk itself gets treated this way. Ask most people over the age of 30 or so to name the first punk band that comes to mind, and you'll probably get one of only five examples: Music/TheRamones, Music/TheSexPistols, Music/TheClash (who weren't even purely punk rock), Music/{{Blondie}} (who was barely punk at all), or Music/GreenDay. Nobody remembers the Dictators. Or the Circle Jerks. Or Black Flag. Or...

* Female rock artists and female-fronted rock bands? Music/{{Heart|Band}}, Music/FleetwoodMac, Music/JanisJoplin, Music/PatBenatar, Music/TheGoGos, Music/AlanisMorissette, Music/JeffersonAirplane, Music/TheRunaways (and definitely Joan Jett and Lita Ford either way), Music/NoDoubt, Music/AvrilLavigne, Music/{{Blondie}}, Music/{{Pretenders}}, [[Music/CourtneyLove Hole]], Music/{{Evanescence}}, Music/{{Garbage}}, Music/SiouxsieAndTheBanshees, Music/BonnieRaitt and Music/{{Paramore}}. Music/ThePlasmatics, Music/{{Fanny}}, Music/PattiSmith, Music/SleaterKinney, Music/BikiniKill, Music/TheSlits, Music/CocteauTwins, Babes in Toyland, Alabama Shakes, Music/{{L7}}, Music/SkunkAnansie, Jinjer, Music/{{Otep}}, Walls of Jericho, Music/{{Halestorm}}, Music/ThePrettyReckless, Music/WithinTemptation, New Year's Day, Music/{{Nightwish|Band}}, Music/{{Epica}}, Kittie, Butcher Babies, Music/LacunaCoil, Spiritbox, and Music/InThisMoment might get a mention. Metal fans are also likely to mention Doro (and probably also Warlock), Arch Enemy, The Agonist, Holy Moses, Delain, The Gathering, Anathema, Unleash the Archers, Theatre of Tragedy, and Battle Beast, and and there may also be rare mentions of Music/{{Girlschool}}, Abnormality, Cerebral Bore (though Simone Pluijmers has not been a member for some time), Fuck the Facts, Nervosa, Avatarium, Oceans of Slumber, Leaves' Eyes, Arkona, Venom Prison, and Entheos; Code Orange may also get a mention despite Reba Meyers not serving as a figurehead (though she is an integral member). Finally, Rickie Lee Jones may get an ''extremely'' rare mention.

* As far as the general public and snarky online reviewers are concerned, PostGrunge bands only ever made AC ballads (with or without vaguely Christian lyrics). It's often forgotten that many Post-Grunge bands did both harder-edged rock songs and the obligatory ballads, or that quite a few Post-Grunge bands were primarily known among rock audiences ''for their rock songs'' (e.g. Music/ThreeDaysGrace's "Animal I Have Become"). As for Post-Grunge in general? The only bands in the genre the average person can name are Music/{{Nickelback}}, Music/{{Creed}} and Music/ThreeDoorsDown, and whenever the former two come up it's usually as a TakeThat to either one of them.

** ChristianRock is either just country rock without the hard rock elements mixed with gospel-esque lyrics or Music/{{Creed}}-esque PostGrunge with Christian lyrics.

** Rock and metal guitarists? Music/JimiHendrix, first and foremost (at least for the rock side of things). Others that remain legendary are Music/ChuckBerry, Music/JeffBeck, Music/EricClapton, [[Music/TheRollingStonesBand Keith Richards]], [[Music/LedZeppelin Jimmy Page]], [[Music/VanHalen Eddie Van Halen]], [[Music/GunsNRoses Slash]], [[Music/RageAgainstTheMachine Tom]] [[Music/{{Audioslave}} Morello]], [[Music/{{ACDC}} Angus Young]], [[Music/BlackSabbath Tony Iommi]], [[Music/{{Metallica}} Kirk Hammett]], [[Music/RushBand Alex Lifeson]], [[Music/QueenBand Brian May]], [[Music/{{Aerosmith}} Joe Perry]], [[Music/{{KISS}} Ace Frehley]], [[Music/TheAllmanBrothersBand Duane Allman]], [[Music/JourneyBand Neal Schon]], [[Music/{{Santana}} Carlos Santana]], [[Music/RedHotChiliPeppers John Frusciante]], [[Music/AliceInChains Jerry Cantrell]], [[Music/DeepPurple Ritchie]] [[Music/{{Rainbow}} Blackmore]], [[Music/OzzyOsbourne Randy Rhoads]], [[Music/{{Dokken}} George Lynch]], [[Music/{{Pantera}} Dimebag Darrell]], [[Music/BlackLabelSociety Zakk Wylde]], [[Music/{{Creed}} Mark]] [[Music/AlterBridge Tremonti]], [[Music/{{Megadeth}} Marty Friedman]], Music/SteveVai, Music/JoeSatriani, Music/YngwieMalmsteen, [[Music/{{Testament}} Alex Skolnick]], [[Music/DreamTheater John Petrucci]], and [[Music/{{Korn}} Brian "Head" Welch]].