Are you one of those people who can’t get enough of Neil Diamond? 
You know you are. I see you there, in your sequined shirt, working on your "Love on The Rocks" fanfic. Studio 360 did an entertaining segment on Super Diamond, a Neil Diamond tribute band. The segment focuses on a guy calling himself "Surreal Neil," but the best of the Diamond imitators is the unsung (pun intended) Kevin Hogan, aka Fantastic Diamond. Please don’t ask me how I know that. Listen for yourself.
Who’s Neil Diamond? (g)
One of my dark secrets is liking Neil Diamond. I curse my mother for playing him during my formative years. The listing title is one of my favorites.
I don’t think fanfic is anything to joke about.
My day job is working for a company that sells discounted event tickets online and the Diamond tribute bands are HUGE sellers. Fantastic Diamond is a sell-out whenever we’ve got tickets for them.
I actually kinda like Neil Diamond, but can you imagine going to watch someone imitate him?
It’s a weird sort of thing. Elvis impersonation has moved beyond cottage-industry status to be.. well, something more. There are imitators of the Beatles, Neil Diamond, Wayne Newton, Frank Sinatra.
The dead guys I can understand, expect that there were imitators before they died. What is it? Is it that there is such demand for a product that people will accept a lower-quality substitute? Or is it perhaps that the real thing has priced him/her self such that people will pay less to hear a knockoff? It’s a strange phenomenon.
Why do I click on things you link to?
“but can you imagine going to watch someone imitate him?”
No, or selling tickets for it either. Ever go to the look-a-likes in Hollywood? It’s a bizarre scene. I went out with a Joan Rivers impersonator for a while. Once you organize your life based on another currently living and working, you’ve dug your grave.
She wasn’t pleased when I pointed that out.
The one thing Lee doesn’t mention is that he’s also seen Super Diamond in concert. I’ve seen them, um, several times, but the one time I went with Lee, I recall him saying something along the lines of, “I need a shirt covered in glass and I need it right now.” Sweet Caroline indeed…
I remember one in my hometown, an AC/DC trib band. They did a good job doing what they did, and had a lot of fun doing it while making a few bucks. But they didn’t consider themselves serious musicians.
I think any imitator who does needs a reality check.