Our cover story this week is an interview with a young star named Tao, who has successfully crossed over from the singing world into television acting. That's a transition, as well as the other way from acting to singing, that many local stars seem to make effortlessly, as if all aspects of Thai showbiz are naturally interconnected.
Over the years, quite a few Hollywood stars have attempted to make it in music as a sideline to their acting careers, but often with considerably less success than the stars here in Thailand seem to manage.
These brave music endeavours by screen stars with negligible musical talent, who decided to record and release an album simply because they could, came to be known as vanity projects. Usually embarrassing at the time of their release (despite some of them actually doing well on the pop charts), many of these albums now exist as hilariously kitsch pop culture footnotes that probably make the perpetrators cringe.
Some notable actors who have tried their hand at music include action star Bruce Willis, who in the late '80s released an album of vapid versions of classic soul songs, Russell Crowe, who throughout the 1990s fronted a terrible rock band called 30 Odd Foot of Grunts, and Robert Downey Jr., who released an awful and pretentious "adult contemporary" album in the early 2000s.
There are many more terrible actor albums that could be added to the list, and then there are some that go beyond bad and into the realm of bizarre — albums that are so strange and unlistenable that they have to be heard to be believed.
Two albums that stand out in the latter category were made by television stars that had lead roles in the original Star Trek series — William Shatner, who played Captain Kirk, and Leonard Nimoy, who was Mr. Spock. Shatner's 1968 album The Transformed Man features an insane mix of spoken word versions of psychedelic pop hits, poetry and Shakespeare recitations, all delivered apparently without irony. Released around the same time, Nimoy's Music from Outer Space blends cheesy '60s sci-fi soundtrack music with softly-crooned ballads and spoken word dissertations about life as an alien in deep space.
There have been plenty of famous actors who have made some great music, and likewise plenty of musicians who have managed some pretty respectable side careers as actors. But the world might be better off if a few of them stick to just one or the other!
Ben Edwards
Editor
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