Who would be today’s equivalent of Harry Nilsson? Split Enz? Gil-Scott Heron?
I’m not being sarcastic. I really want to know. Give me names so I can look them up and dig on them.
Or here…let me make it a little easier. “What song created in the last year stands the greatest chance of being redone in 48 years by the stars of tomorrow for charity”?
One (imperfect) way of answering these kinds of questions in general is to go to http://www.allmusic.com/, type in the older artist you’re interested in, and click on “Related.” It’ll give you lists of artists whom your artist is “Similar To,” “Influenced By,” and “Followed By.” The latter, in particular, should include some current artists. For example, Squeeze is “Followed By”
I recognize at least some of these as being still active and releasing new music.
I don’t know if I can be quite that specific - I can give you names of current bands who are working in old-timey genres. The Sheepdogs is one that immediately comes to mind, with a strong 70s vibe. There is a band I’m trying to think of that sounds like they’re straight out of the 80s - I can’t think of the name. I’ll have to get back to you on that one.
For the record, I don’t say that music hasn’t changed; I say that there is still plenty of good music available; you’re just not likely to find it on your radio. David Letterman is a surprisingly good source for music; he has all kinds of bands closing his show.
It’s a little more that a year old, but in my opinion Adele’s ‘Someone like you’ will live forever.
Good choice. Definitely most likely to be used in a non-ironical montage in 15 years.
So are you looking for songs in the style of those artists you listed or songs that will likely be “timeless” and still be popular years and years from now?
Radio stations exist today to:
[ol]
[li]Sell ads[/li][li]Play music by major labels[/li][/ol]
The problem is they’ll only add a track if a so called “independent promoter” has paid them to play. And if an artist doesn’t have a huge hit with their first album, they won’t get a second. There are no more “prestige” artists on labels. None of the artists mentioned in the OP would have had a long career if they were signed today, which is doubtful.
There are so many other ways to discover music today, that expecting radio to deliver it is like turning on the bathroom faucet and expecting beer to come out. Not gonna happen.
Amy Winehouse has a few recordings that will be done and redone forever. Mostly I’m thinking of “Back to Black” and “You Know I’m No Good” - both amazing songs on an album full of them.
Adele also like someone mentioned.
Found it - Fire Tiger. If you’re looking for some 80’s girl singer fronting a new wave band music, they’re right up your alley. 
I think Pandora would also be a good way to explore music that’s similar.
I don’t know who Split Enz is, but back in their heydays, you would have had to go looking for Nilsson or Gil-Scott Heron as well. It wasn’t like they got airplay on Top 40 or AOR stations.
Split Enz got a little. Nilsson got quite a bit. “You put the lime in the coconut …”
Split Enz-“I Got You” (1980)
Neil Finn and Paul Hester of Split Enz would go on to form the band Crowded House. Neil’s brother Tim, also of Split Enz, joined Crowded House in 1990.
I am deeply, deeply shocked. In my day the commercial stations would play just about anything for free. :dubious:
A difference now is that there are a bunch of satellite niche stations playing stuff that would never have seen the light of day before.
I don’t think there is a current equivalent of Harry Nilsson, and am not sure that’s a bad thing.
I listen to an independent radio station all day. It helps that they play my preferred genre of music (outside of independent hip-hip, which has never really been on the radio)- “alternative rock.” They have programming blocks dedicated to local and independent artists, though they generally have a few in their regular playlist. They also have real DJs that you see around town and can hang out with and whatever. Also, it’s pretty cool when they throw shows for 5 bucks that include 4-5 up and coming acts, and have a pretty good track record for playing quite a few acts/songs that take off months or YEARS later.
That said, I’ve pretty much always had to look for music I liked, and I’ve been using the internet since the mid 90s to do so- whether it was actually listening to music or ordering it on Amazon before Amazon was huge (because, really, the lamented local record stores mostly stocked the hits and not a lot of independently distributed records) or ordering import-only titles, etc.
My take on this is that styles change and whatever the modern equivalent is will be influenced by that artist but not necessarily similar to the ears of someone who embraced that artist 40 year ago. For example, I mostly know about Gil-Scott Heron due to rappers citing him as an influence. Obviously, besides whatever similarities they do have, most rap music today doesn’t really resemble its own genre from 30 years ago, let alone genres that predate its existence.
It depends what you are looking for. Is it something stylistically similar or something in the “spirit” of these artists or someone performing an homage?
To be fair, not all of Nilsson was spectacular (Flash Harry, anybody?) But when he was on, he was amazing.
To be fair, though, were there many people before Nilsson who were like him?
If you’re a fan of Split Enz, you could do worse than the New Pornographers.
Here are a couple of samples:
Thanks everyone for the recommendations!