# POLL: Your favorite mega groups **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [September 13, 2021, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-favorite-mega-groups/950608 "2021-09-13T16:26:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-favorite-mega-groups/950608/1 "2021-09-13T16:26:54Z")
I left out solo acts like Prince and duos like Simon and Garfunkel. The Beatles seem to routinely appear as the front runner. Which three would you pick? I left a none of the above because I’ve probably missed some…Supertramp would have been next, but they don’t fit the limit of 20. _Poll ([view on site](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-favorite-mega-groups/950608/1))_ Feel free to post reasons. For me, why the Who? I watched a doc about the Who album “Tommy.” Um, Townshend created a rock opera…about being molested? You sure can’t fault him for aiming too low. It also seems to reflect the late 60s, when people stopped being “safe” and Woodstock came along and…individuals could tell their story instead of conforming. I saw the Who in concert back in the late 1980s/early 1990s (sadly, Keith Moon has already passed). Won’t Get Fooled Again…Baba O’Riley…Love Reign Oer Me…Long Live Rock…I said to my friend and fellow concert-goer, “Talk about anthems!” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/h6qb_voOxHw/maxresdefault.jpg "The Who - See Me Feel Me Listening To You - Isle of Wight 1970") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6qb_voOxHw) I’m going to reflect on my other two choices awhile. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-favorite-mega-groups/950608/2 "2021-09-13T16:33:05Z")
Leaving out The Beatles, The Who are my all-time favorite. In the poll I voted “other”–currently my other top two would be ELP and Tom Petty. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-favorite-mega-groups/950608/3 "2021-09-13T16:58:00Z")
For just watching band members mastering their instruments, you can’t beat The Who. The Beatles may have more charisma, The Stones (at least, Mick) more dance moves, but if you just want to watch (not necessarily hear) a genius play drums, guitar, bass, or swing a mean mic cable, you can’t beat The Who. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-favorite-mega-groups/950608/4 "2021-09-13T17:02:51Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > In the poll I voted “other”–currently my other top two would be ELP and Tom Petty. ELP and Yes for my ‘other’. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-favorite-mega-groups/950608/5 "2021-09-13T17:18:34Z")
I didn’t vote in the poll, because there are at least four bands in that list that are my favorites, so it was impossible to just pick three. My favorite classic bands are the big four of the British invasion, the Beatles, the Stones, the Who and the Kinks, and a later seminal British band, the Clash. And three American bands, the Byrds , the Beach Boys and the Ramones. These all would make my list. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-favorite-mega-groups/950608/6 "2021-09-13T17:25:59Z")
Pink Floyd by a country mile. I detest some of the choices, I would never listen to the music of ABBA, Fleetwood Mac or the Bee Gees. I put Maroon 0.00005 with other hated bands like Nickleback and Creed. Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones are my 2 other picks. Other bands that I thought should have been on this list were Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Hollies, The Yardbirds, Allman Brothers, Cream and Yes. Despite my love of nothing but rock music, I also enjoy groups like the Temptations and the 4 Tops. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-favorite-mega-groups/950608/7 "2021-09-13T17:32:28Z")
Pink Floyd way out in front for me too. In the “other” compartment, Yes and the Alan Parsons Project. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-favorite-mega-groups/950608/8 "2021-09-13T17:32:43Z")
Yes is my other. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-favorite-mega-groups/950608/9 "2021-09-13T17:36:05Z")
I’m curious what criteria you used to decide which “mega groups” to list in the poll. Were you going off some official list of “biggest” or “most successful”? ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-favorite-mega-groups/950608/10 "2021-09-13T17:37:33Z")
Even to my middle aged white guy tastes, there are a few bands that produced music after 1990, who belong in this poll. Green Day. Foo Fighters. Police. And how is Queen not on the list, but the BeeGees are? ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-favorite-mega-groups/950608/11 "2021-09-13T17:44:20Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Tom Petty I considered putting Prince in because of the Revolution but he also did solo and was the “Artist Formerly Known As.” Similar dilemma…Petty with Heartbreakers, solo, and the Wilburys. I didn’t realize he co-wrote “Blown Away.” (Hell, ELO could be in the choices as well; they “only” sold 50M). > **[Top 10 Tom Petty Duets And Collaborations](https://www.classicrockhistory.com/top-10-tom-petty-duets-and-collaborations/)** > > Our Top 10 Tom Petty Duets and Collaborations list looks at some of the most enjoyable Tom Petty tracks on which he collaborated with other artists I think in Facebook, you can build a poll that allows others to add their own choices, which I’d prefer for this @Thudlow_Boink. I’d be more interested to know what people like whether the group sold well or not. Que sera sera. > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I’m curious what criteria you used to decide which “mega groups” to list in the poll. Were you going off some official list of “biggest” or “most successful”? Mostly from here, though I surfed around some. > **[List of best-selling music artists](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_music_artists)** > > The following list of best-selling music artists includes those music acts from the 20th century to the present with claims of 75 million or more record sales worldwide. This information cannot be listed officially, as there is no organization that has recorded global music sales. > The tables are listed with each artist's claimed sales figure(s) and their total independently certified units and are ranked in descending order by claimed sales. If two or more artists have the same claimed sales... ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-favorite-mega-groups/950608/12 "2021-09-13T17:50:28Z")
I thought this was going to be about bands with a large number of members. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-favorite-mega-groups/950608/13 "2021-09-13T18:17:16Z")
Since The Ding-a-ling Sisters (who aren’t even sisters) wasn’t an option, I voted for The Who. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-favorite-mega-groups/950608/14 "2021-09-13T18:35:02Z")
My third vote was for Other, in my case, Journey. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-favorite-mega-groups/950608/15 "2021-09-13T19:47:55Z")
My third vote was for Other—KISS. Other favorites not on list: Def Lepard, Van Halen, Judas Priest, REM. ---
**Author:** ![InfraBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infrablue/32/6366_2.png) [@InfraBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InfraBlue)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-favorite-mega-groups/950608/16 "2021-09-13T19:58:15Z")
Since the selection is pretty wide open, I’m going to go with Steely Dan. They were from my preteen youth, but it wasn’t until my 30’s that I realized all of their songs that I liked back then, and began appreciating their extremely well produced sound. As for the hard rock bands in the selection, I’d have to go with Led Zeppelin among the top three. Pink Floyd would be in the top three for progressive/art rock. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-favorite-mega-groups/950608/17 "2021-09-13T20:03:26Z")
Out of the choices given, the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Aerosmith are the best according to the world-famous **Ponch8 Music Rating System**. Pink Floyd is dead-ass last. I assume that Maroon 5 was included just as a joke? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-favorite-mega-groups/950608/18 "2021-09-13T20:07:34Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > And how is Queen not on the list, but the BeeGees are? > [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > Mostly from here, though I surfed around some. Yeah, Queen should have been on the poll if that’s the list you were going by. I resisted the temptation to pick “Other” since that would open the whole “who counts as ‘mega’” can of worms, and just went with my three favorites that were included in the poll. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-favorite-mega-groups/950608/19 "2021-09-13T20:31:07Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > I thought this was going to be about bands with a large number of members. I was afraid to call them “Super Groups” because, to quote Wikipedia… > A **supergroup** is a [musical performing group](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_ensemble) whose members have successful solo careers, are members of other groups, or are well known in other musical professions. So I thought it would be muddier to allow something like the Traveling Wilburys. They were all successful on their own, so is their **collaboration** of music that good or are they drawing from existing fan bases etc? I didn’t want my age to unduly limit or “steer” choices so I was hoping for something objective to base it on…number sold. If it sold well, then lots of people approve and mine was a “usual suspects” approach rather than have people choose “other” and repeatedly note “Led Zeppelin.” > [@Ponch8](#): > > I assume that Maroon 5 was included just as a joke? Per Wikipedia: > Maroon 5 has sold more than 135 million records, making them one of the world’s best-selling music artists. By contrast, the Police only sold about 75M. I was watching [Watch Can't Stand Losing You: Surviving The Police | Prime Video](https://www.amazon.com/Cant-Stand-Losing-You-Surviving/dp/B011KK7XOO) and learned this. > **[Ongoing History Daily: The Police's Andy Summers for The Rolling Stones? |...](https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/ongoing-history-daily-the-polices-andy-summers-for-the-rolling-stones/)** > > True or false: guitarist Andy Summers of the Police was once considered for a position with the Rolling Stones. True. In 1974, Andy was a pretty ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-favorite-mega-groups/950608/20 "2021-09-13T20:32:28Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Yeah, Queen should have been on the poll if that’s the list you were going by. I had them in there…twice. Which is to say I wrote it up and both times Discourse flushed it when I went over 20 choices. So I went back and started from scratch. I guess the third time wasn’t a charm. PS Although not a choice, I think you can still go back in and change your answer to “Other.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-favorite-mega-groups/950608.md?page=2)