He's the kinda guy I like but I can see why others wouldn't like him, although Tom's argument that his voice is fake seems kinda weird and immaterial. I thought changing your appearance in order to make yourself more entertaining/compelling/whatever was the point of art or entertainment. For Tom to complain about a musician changing his appearance from "real life" in light of the recent Bowie obsession seems REALLY strange and ironic to me, but whatever. I'm not trying to change anyone's mind, I just like arguing about stuff like this because I'm a nerd.
This is brilliant, but the answer to it will always be "Yeah, but X adopts a persona that I
like while Y doesn't." In matters of taste it's just damn near impossible to convince anyone that they're guilty of a double standard. What's really ironic here is that it actually seems the offstage Waits really
is a lot like what you see when he's performing. At least he never seems to let that persona slip, in interviews, documentary evidence, stories told about him, etc. What his family sees is another matter, I'm sure.
I absolutely love him. He's a songwriting, arranging, and performing genius, and also the funniest man in popular music.