Move Over Little Monsters: Meet Maggots and Bridesmaids
These eight music fan armies may put Lady Gaga's and Katy Perry's to shame.
Aug. 16, 2013— -- intro: It looks like the fall belongs to a battle of returning divas in pop music – and to their rabid online fan bases. While Lady Gaga and Katy Perry appear to square off with new singles "Applause" and "Roar," respectively, so do their squadrons of online diehards.
Both songs do more than enough on their own to hook a casual listener. (Check them out by listening to Gaga's darker "Applause" here, and Katy's loud-soft empowerment anthem here.)
And Billboard reported this week that both are on their way to setting online sales records, with each song projected to sell more than 400,000 downloads by this Sunday.
Naturally, both women would do well selling downloads on their own; in fact, they're two artists who still manage to get people to actually pay for music. But each performer's rabid fan base has a lot to do with it, too.
Gaga's online and IRL crew of Little Monsters not only shelled out for the single, but they even appointed themselves Mother Monster's leak police, rushing to the corners of the web to stem the illegal "Applause" stream tide. Meanwhile, Perry's KatyCats are going nuts on social media – check the #roar hashtag on Tumblr, Instagram and Twitter.
It's kinda easy to join either of these fan armies, though. Both artists are easy to love and, though they take their lumps in the media, well critically appraised.
So what about fans of artists that, well, aren't as widely adored by the press, or even by the mainstream music-buying public? No worries – there are fan armies in nearly every corner of the industry. In fact, it often seems that the more the critical establishment bares its fangs at certain artists, the more their fans buckle down. Check out these eight unexpected, totally tenacious music fan bases.
quicklist: 1title: Wayniacs text:There are actually two warring versions of Wayniacs - the first camp follows Lil Wayne. The second, more interesting camp follows crooner Wayne Newton. Consider the latter the great granddaddy of all of the fandoms on this list – they long predate the internet. Wayniacs started converging back when you had to write straight-up snail mail via artist fan clubs. Though many have gone silver, they haven't let their Wayne love fade, continuing to make Las Vegas pilgrimages to see their idol over the years. They've even inspired a series of plays called 10,000 Wayniacs.
media: 19974833
quicklist: 2title:Grobanites
text: Singer Josh Groban earns sneers from the snarky-at-heart for his earnest, crowd-pleasing takes on Meaningful Songs. His fans find his music to be sentimental and straight-up beautiful music for special times.
Critics have often thought otherwise. Last December for example, David Thorpe, writing for the Village Voice, called Groban's single "a square-ass opera popera dweeb song." So who came to the rescue? Grobanites! They mobilized en masse online to counter all of Thorpe's claims.
But that's a small drop in the Grobanite bucket. There are Grobanites for Charity, who organize volunteer efforts. There was a Grobanites for Obama campaign before the presidential election. There are Grobanite toy drives and, of course, Grobanite conventions.
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quicklist: 3title: The Echelon
text: It's easy to write off 30 Seconds to Mars, famously fronted by Peter Pan-like entertainer Jared Leto, as the overly dramatic, eyelinered product of Hollywood nepotism. Make that mistake, though, and the Echelon –- 30STM's most devoted followers -– will set you straight. In fact, the group prefers to refer to itself as a family, kinda with the band as a communal gathering point, rather than a fandom. You'll find them lining up outside of 30STM gigs hours before start time. Actually, it pays off; the band loves meet-and-greets.
media: 19982816
quicklist: 4title: Fanilows
text: It's obvious, isn't it? These folks love Barry Manilow as much as many other people love to hate his smooth, heartfelt tunes. Whatever, no one else understands the emotional power of "Mandy" – but Fanilows do!
media: 19975271
quicklist: 5title: Bridesmaids
text: Of you're over the age of, oh, 19, you've probably already lost all of the ear hairs that allow you to enjoy the frequencies of Black Veil Brides. The act is somewhere between Sunset Strip metal, post-post-post-core, and the Nightmare Before Christmas –- and attracts a similarly ostentatiously styled, big-haired group of fans.
All you need to see are the galleries of band tattoos and fan art, displayed proudly on the Black Veil Brides' Facebook page, to understand the level of loyalty here. Oh, and the male fans sometimes use a gender-specific name -- they're Ushers.
media: 19975042
quicklist: 6title: Claymates
text: Did you write off Clay Aiken as the byproduct of reality TV? Too bad, so sad – theguy regularly tops polls of most beloved reality –show star ever. The Claymates, the followers of the adorable ginger showtune lover will set you straight. Every time Aiken releases a new album, fans organize simultaneous events worldwide –- and they'll come rushing to his defense at every online mention.
Claymates aren't without their own internal drama, though. In 2007, internal speculation and strife over Aiken's sexuality meant the entire official fan club message board had to be temporarily shut down.
media: 19975091
quicklist: 7title: Maggots
text: Forgot about masked nu metal band Slipknot? The Maggots have not. For Maggots, the Slipknot ethos represents a way of life – one of self-expression and staying tough in the face of bullies and other nonsense. It just comes in a heavily made-up, often masked package. Maggots have even inspired their own handy how-to guides.
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quicklist: 8title: Blockheads
text: For thousands of women who missed out on scoring the most coveted concert tickets of 1990, the Blockheads fandom represents renewed hope. Yep, it's the group that supports New Kids on the Block, "Hangin' Tough" hits of yesteryear and all.
Impressively, though, the Blockheads have taken the group from punchline to pinups reborn. After years of snapping up cabins on the always-sold-out NKOTB cruise, Blockheads were also behind the group's official late-'00s reunion and subsequent recent theater tours. Most recently, that included the cheekily named Package Tour with fellow grown-ups Boyz II Men and 98 Degrees, which sold briskly.
media: 19983054
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