What constitutes a "megaband"?

Cafe Society
1

Maybe there’s already a word for it, but “megaband” is a word i use to describe a band that’s both really, really popular and really, really influential. We can discuss this, but i’ve put together a basic list of criteria to judge whether or not a band merits “megaband” status:

[ol]
[li]Must be a band - this one’s obvious, but individuals don’t count. We can have the “megastar” list elsewhere. For the sake of argument, i’ll say must have two or more members that are considered integral to the band. The Rolling Stones have burned through many drummers, but it’d be a different story if Mick Jagger or Keith Richards went away. Many Pink Floyd fans cried foul when Roger Waters left and Dave Gilmour & company kept using the “Pink Floyd” name. Would the Dave Matthews Band lose any fans if the drummer left, as long as Dave himself was still there?[/li][li]Popularity - in order to constitute “megaband” status, a band has to have performed at least a few sold-out stadium shows and had at least 2 or 3 multi-platinum-selling albums.[/li][li]Mainstream Crossover - this means at least one or two top-ten singles, and regular radio play on “top 40” stations.[/li][li]Influence - other bands have followed in the footsteps of the megaband.[/li][li]Longevity - last but not least. The Spice Girls enjoyed all of the above, but faded to almost nothing after a few years, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a Spice Girls fan these days. A megaband enjoys a high level of popularity for at least the better part of a decade, and still has a significant number of fans and radio play decades after their peak.[/li][/ol]

A partial list of megabands, by no means complete. Add your own!

The Beatles
The Rolling Stones
Pink Floyd
The Who
Led Zeppelin
KISS
Aerosmith
U2
Metallica

And a few runners up:
The Grateful Dead - the most successful life band ever, incredibly popular and influential within a certain subculture, but never really got the mainstream crossover. Only had one top-40 hit. Then there’s the argument that so much of their touring success was due to people following them around.
The Cure - fits 2-5 with no trouble, but… are they truly a band? Robert Smith does all the writing and has been the only consistent member (when once asked why he was the only one whose face has ever been on an album cover, he responded, “because i’m the only one that i know will still be in the band!”)
Guns N’ Roses - exploded onto the scene with huge success, followed it up with more huge success, but then quickly imploded due to inner conflict. Not enough longevity for a true “megaband”.

2

I just stopped in to say that I can’t believe you think that the Spice Girls somehow influenced somebody.

I do plan to follow along, and I may have some to add, but I cannot allow the allegation that someone grew up wanting to be or patterning themselves after the Spice Girls to go unchallenged.

Cite?

3

I specifically remember one or two godawful all-female pop bands that sprung up in the wake of the Spice Girls. All Saints was one.

Moreover, the Spice Girls to me represented the beginning of the end of “alternative” as the music of the day and the return to dominance of light pop. I remember when their first single debuted on MTV. As soon as the video started, i thought to myself, “woah, MTV is showing a new video by a new artist and they’re not calling it a ‘Buzz Clip’!” Then they started singing and, well, that was that.

4

Some more I thought of that fit the letter or at least the spirit of the OP’s rules:

The Beach Boys
Queen
The Kinks
The Byrds
The Moody Blues
Van Halen

5

The Police
R.E.M.
Blondie
The Clash
Duran Duran
Fleetwood Mac
Hall & Oates
Jackson 5/The Jacksons
Journey
Oasis
Radiohead
Public Enemy
Run-DMC

Are we using chart success in the US primarily? I think we are. I’m curious how popular KISS are outside of the U.S. I was surprised to see that they have had two Top 10 singles. I would have guessed fewer.

6

I think of the Beach Boys as a glorified solo project - like The Cure, only more so. Their indisputable masterpiece, Pet Sounds, was Jardine, Love and the Wilsons singing Brian Wilson songs, accompanied by studio musicians.

7

Well, sure, but music history goes back beyond recollection.

Before the Spice Girls, there were any number of interchangeable girl acts, going all the way back to the Supremes and before. The Supremes were the ones with the influence. The Mary Jane Girls had more influence than the Spice Girls. Beyonce grew up wanting to be Diana Ross, not Sporty Spice.

It is my opinion that the era of the “megaband” is gone, what with the stratification in musical tastes, charting, and the overall separation of audiences. The day when “everybody listens to this band” was literally true is gone.

There are dozens of bands, even in my lifetime, that were going to be the next big thing- THE unifying force in music. Oasis, G’n’R, Nirvana, or Pearl Jam for rock, New Edition or Levert for R&B, any of the Native Tongues or Guru for rap. All of them made splashes, all of them spawned imitators, some even spanned genres. But I don’t think that there will be another “megaband,” unless the musical landscape radically changes. I mean, millions of people will vote for Buck Covington on Idol, but then only a few thousand will buy his record.

I really don’t think any band of my generation comes near meeting all of your categories. The closest I can think of would be REM.

Must be a band - they are/were that.

Popularity - got this.

Mainstream Crossover - got this. REM made it OK for “college rock” to get mainstream airplay.

Influence - this, I dunno. Alhtough plenty of these whiny emo kids do owe a lot to REM, I don’t know if they know that or not. Dashboard certainly wouldn’t be Dashboard without REM.
Longevity - got this, too.

8

I think R.E.M.'s influence is off the chart. Emo bands may not know it, but when Document broke, it became possible to hear non-cock-rock bands on the radio. Not college radio, but top 40 stuff. If your frontman is somewhat androgynous, sings about bizarre topics, and you’re American, your mainsteam success is because of R.E.M.

I think Nirvana might qualify as well. Longevity is a question mark, but there was new Nirvana product out as recently as a few years ago.

9

The Scorpions and AC/DC?

10

Black Sabbath easily
The Eagles

11

I kinda see your point, and they may be borderline, but they’re at least more of a band (as defined by the OP) than the Cure: Brian was not the only member to write songs or influence the sound of the group (though he was unarguably the most important and influential), and he was not the only consistent member over the course of the Boys’ career (in fact, some of their 70’s albums were made with minimal involvement from Brian). You can’t judge them just by Pet Sounds.

12

Does Black Sabbath count as a “megaband”? I’d say they do.

[ul]
[li]Popularity: I don’t have album sales or other stats handy, but the name Black Sabbath is certainly universally known amongst most rock fans.[/li][li]Mainstream crossover: This one is a tough call. Black Sabbath wasn’t exactly “mainstream” in the top-40 sense, but they were well-known, nonetheless. They are also a staple on “classic rock” stations nowadays.[/li][li]Influence: I know a lot of bands have included Black Sabbath as an influence (I don’t have any cites handy, though). Pantera has done at least two covers (“Planet Caravan” and “Hole in the Sky”), and I’m sure other bands have done Black Sabbath covers as well.[/li][li]Longevity: They had a steady line-up from 1969 to 1978 and three of the four band members stuck it out through the early 80’s even after Ozzy bailed out. Once Geezer Butler and Bill Ward split the scene, leaving Tony Iommi and three unknowns, the band was no longer Black Sabbath (by my definition).[/li][/ul]

ETA: I see Snarky_Kong gave Black Sabbath a mention upon preview.

13

I bet that comes as news to Charlie Watts.

14

From the looks of Charlie, I’d say they’ve burned through one drummer, many times. :smiley:

15

Wouldn’t Crosby, Stills, Nash (& sometimes Young) count? Wikipedia classifies them as a “supergroup”

16

Oh, it just seems that way because he’s surrounded by all those other young, fresh faces onstage!

17

Well, they’re pretty dysfunctional, but Motley Crue was influental in the glam band bit (for better or worse) and continued Kiss’s legacy of amazing and shocking live acts. While they had some popular songs their personal lives seemed to penetrate mainstream culture even more than their music did.

18

Ditto for Keith. He’s been finely toasted for decades. :smiley:

19

Pearl Jam, maybe?
Fleetwood Mac
Supertramp had some huge albums and sold out arenas, but longevity may be their downfall.
Paul McCartney and Wings - They were huge* in the 70’s.
Maybe Rush.
Green Day

20

Whaaa?

Tell me a time in the last 50 years when it hasn’t been that there’s the big popular black music and the big popular white music.

00s: Rap - Pop
90s: Rap - Alternative
80s: Rap - Rock
70s: Funk - Disco
60s: Blues (?) - Rock

Yeah, there’s more bands per genre now, but I wouldn’t say that much has changed in terms of popular music stratification. 90% of everyone still listens to about the same 10 bands.