You couldn’t argue this point citing those bands.
Seriously, look into their history and their own influences and tell me who were the bigger progenitors.
We aren’t talking about where the music originated (a fool’s errand anyway: is Country music a distinct style of music or just a derivative of the British folk tradition?), we’re talking about the best bands, in which case the UK wins by a country mile. The US did some nice work and all getting things going after the war, but the British really refined things and had the best bands that came to define what pop and rock meant. Even citing Hendrix as the US’s answer to the list of British bands is laughable. It took the British to recognise his musical talent!
Thank you.
Once again, forget influences and history. Instead make a list of your top 20/30/40bands or artists. Be honest about them, list who is the bestest. Then check where they are from. Are the majority British? Or American? (lets forget “other” for now)
The only way possible for the UK to win is if you concentrate on a 30 to 40-year period within a single genre (rock and roll). Jazz, country, blues, folk, hip hop, R&B are all dominated by the US. Rock & Roll is the only one up for debate.
Folk dominated by the US? I suppose if you only listen to American folk music you’d get that impression, just as if you only listened to Brazilian hip hop you’d get the impression that Brazil dominated the hip hop scene. Virtually every pub and bar in the UK has a folk night, never mind the likes of Ralph McTell, Donovan, Fairport Convention, etc.
But I dont want to exclude genres, and who said I wanted a UK win?
But forget genre. If you genuinely believe that the best artists of all time are all blues artists, then run with that. Who said we had to focus on Rock?
If you listed the greatest artists of all time, where would they be from? For example. Joe Bloggs says that the best ten artists of all time are
-Beatles
-The Who
-Rolling stones
-Paul Simon
-Bruce Springsteen
-New Order
-Spice Girls
-Rush
-Kate Bush
-Mercury Rev.
Joe would say that the best music came from the UK, as seven of the ten best artists came from the UK. What would you say? What would your list (made honestly) indicate?
WHO are the best bands/Artists of all time? WHERE are they from? Vote accordingly.
The US did when it came to charted hits and album sales, yes.
Back in the 1950’s and early sixties all those great “colored” artits couldn’t get playtime on white stations or play in white venues. Really. It was that segregated.
Fortunately, Britian didn’t have such nonsense beliefs, which is how the British invasion came to be. No modern music is more historic than rock music.
Meh. I could survive on a diet of only one or the other if I had to, but the UK comes out ahead because of The Beatles and The Who alone. Not that I don’t love The Beach Boys or The Doors though.
No idea. I certainly didn’t.
Nobody said that. It’s just what everyone seems to be doing. My list would certainly contain some jazz, hip hop & R&B acts.
Jimi Hendrix, the Gershwin brothers, Hank Williams Sr., the Motown stable of artists, Ray Charles, James Brown, Bird, Trane, Prez, Robert Johnson, Aretha Franklin, Lady Day, Big Bill Broozny, Howlin’ Wolf, Lightnin’ Hopkins, the Duke, the Count, Lady Day, Bob Dylan, Prince, the Allman Brothers, Johnnie Cash, Chuck Berry, Frank Zappa, Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copeland.
It ain’t even close.
The U.S.A. has the beat.
When I cited stylistic innovation and diversity earlier, I meant to imply that so much has happened in American music that a majority of the best is inevitably an American portion.
I would argue that hip-hop is. It completely reshaped the popular music landscape the way rock did in the 50s/60s. I’m not going to say one is more historic than the other–they just both ushered in seismic shifts in popular music. I haven’t heard anything as revolutionary in popular music since then, and I can’t imagine what the next great sonic revolution could be–or if it’s even possible to have such a sudden, all-encompassing movement of pop culture in the same way again.
Am I correct in assuming that you respect the opinion of someone who would rank The Spice Girls ahead of James Brown?
Oh yes, Joe and I are both huge fans of the Spice girls. We appreciate the complexity of their lyrics, as well as applauding their tireless efforts on behalf of many charities.
All joking aside BB, their inclusion does tarnish Joe’s creibility just a wee bit; and your citing him doesn’t aid in your debate.
Psst…Joe Bloggs.
Nice. Consider me whooshed!!
I have no bone in this fight since I’m Canadian (and we’re better than both :D) but if you go by record sales, the winner is the US by almost twice.
In this list of the top record sales over 50 million the US has 68 entries and the UK only 34.
If you look at the numbers The Beatles and Elvis cancel each other out but Michael Jackson gives the US a huge lead. The UK catches up in the 200-300 million sales area but unfortunately the ratio in the other categories is overwhelmingly American.
Results may vary if you were to break it down by genre but I don’t think so.
…I just realized ABBA has sold 300 millions albums, excuse me while I go barf now.
The poll question should be rephrased as Do skiffle, Cliff Richard, Oasis, New Order, Stone Roses, The Smiths and the Housemartins collectively mean that British bands are better than Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Creedence, the Doors, the Ramones and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers? 