Was Ringo ever considered "novelty"?

[DeRick]

Unfortunitly, it seems like he was, i used to have quite a few Ringo LPs, Sentimntel Journey, Self-titled, Rotogravure & The 4th and "Blast from your Past" on cassette. And enjoyed them all, now i have his self-titled on CD (my fav of the 4 LPs). I suppose theres a little "novelty" there, but sometmes i can seriously be into his stuff, but why do yall suppose he was labeled "novelty" at times and became, for a time, no more than a "personality" in the public eye?

[mervap]

Ringo albums are, for the most part, considered 'fun' albums. Nothing too serious, a perfect extension of his personality. Even though other folks wrote many of the tunes, Ringo has a singular voice...adding to the fact that the first taste of that voice was on "Yellow Submarine", a kinda 'novelty' tune if there ever was one. In the late 70's and early 80's, his output was kinda disco...not that there's anything wrong with that , but there were very few people working in that field that were given any serious consideration. I have to add that his output since "Time Takes Time" has been of a very high quality...some of the best work done by any ex-Beatle...of course he is mining familiar territory, with a band and producer unafraid of sounding quite 'Beatlesque".
Think of the difference if JL had released "I Am the Greatest" instead of giving it to Ringo...a very different perception, something John himself pointed out.

[Harrythebannister]

I personally never took his albums too seriously up until "Time Takes Time" but then changed my attitude due to the fact this is blinding album as well as the three follow-ups!!
Up until '92 yes! he was a novelty. Since '92 I don't think Ringo is a novelty anymore!!
Arise Sir Ringo (anyone!!??)

[Paulo]

What does novelty really means?

[mervap]

When I think of the term 'novelty' song, I think of the song "Disco Duck". Here was a song, done as a sort of joke, that for some reason caught the fancy of the record-buying public...not a great tune, not really redeeming in any way except that, because of someone talking in a comic Donald Duck style voice, it just caught on. I guess the definition of a 'novelty' song or act would be a song or act that, instead of having a good song or good talent, substitutes a kind of gimmick to entice the public (P.T. Barnum called them suckers) into buying your product. Of course, that doesn't imply that novelty tunes are a bad thing. Some are more inexplicable than others..."Yellow Submarine" has more than just cool soud effects or weird noises going for it, although there are plenty of those going on. Heck, many of those novelty songs hold very fine memories for me as a tyke. "Mr. Jaws" springs to mind..."Gitarzan", "The Streak"...dang, just about anything by Ray Stevens! The funny thing is, Ray Stevens had real talent...personal story here: At the age of 5 I lived across the street from a music teacher...she had gone to college on a music scholarship and Ray Stevens was in her class...He flunked out after 2 semesters and went on to have a great career in music...she graduated with honors and was a music teacher. Both of them certainly had fulfilling careers, but he's a multi-millionaire... Study hard, kiddies! Actually, he's lucky to have been in the right place at the right time...now he'd never get a listen.