We're all very passionate about blues harmonica. And from my one visit to SPAH, I know that we have counterparts in the country, bluegrass, classical, and harmonica trio genres. But what about pop? Outside of Stevie Wonder playing on "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues" by Elton John, I can't name a pop harmonica player.
Who are the go-to players on something like "Karma Chameleon" by Culture Club, or "Future's So Bright"?
I guess it depends how you define pop. Huey Lewis plays some good harp. Keisha doesn't play, but her hit Timber, with Pitbull had harp on it (and they are getting sued for basically stealing a Lee Oskar riff). A guy named Paul Harrington plays it.
The new Chris Cornell song (he's alternative) has harp, at least in the video, as an intro. According to Wikipedia it's Chris playing. I know Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam plays harp on some of their songs. (He plays more like Tom Petty than a blues harp player, but he's quite a few cuts above Bob Dylan. :)
I found this list of popular songs with harmonica in them:
Again, it comes down to how you define pop. Back when I was a kid you could hear Tom Petty on the pop stations. Now he'd more likely get play on an alternative or classics station. Same for INXS and REM. Kesha is definitely pop. There was a guy called Bad News Brown who was doing rap/harp. I think he was playing mostly minor tuned harps. There is a french guy doing some great blues/hip hop crossover stuff called Scarecrow.
