Brit bands are superior to American ones.

[Taverner]

Yeah, you got that straight. The US, with all of its population and land mass can't even come close to the caliber of bands from an island roughly the size of California.

Try this - make a list with two columns. One for US and the other for UK. For every one great brit band, put a great US band on the other side. You'll be putting in bands like "Paul Revere and the Raiders" while you're still on Led Zeppelin on the Brit side.

And I don't even want to start with guitarists...

[flvegan]

1. Score one for Oasis!

[Taverner]

2. Ahem. No.

My guess is the Gallagher Brothers are really from Minnetonka :)

[jpgray]

3. I can think of a few dozen American bands superior to Zeppelin

And thus we prove musical taste partakes of the Platonic form 'subjectivity.'

[Taverner]

5. Ahhh but can you think of a few dozen more superior bands to UK ones

Whether band X is better or worse than LZ is a matter of taste. But we could both agree they are a "great" band. Hell, I'll even let you include bands like Huey Lewis in your US list (they could, after all, play their instruments)

[jpgray]

7. I'll thank you -not- to include Huey Lewis or his ironically named "News" in my list

:P

:D

[evlbstrd]

4. I'll start.

The Band.

[Taverner]

6. The Beatles

[jpgray]

8. Captain Beefheart

[Taverner]

9. Sex Pistols

[jpgray]

10. New York Dolls

[Taverner]

14. See the list attached to the other post :)

[HuskerDU]

26. Sex Pistols are hooligans running around a clothing store

without the New York Dolls. Dolls kick the crap outta all of those brit punk bands, so do the heartbreakers and ramones and misfits. So do the current Two York Dolls.

[HuskerDU]

27. Amen Brother!

Fave band of all time and big fans of the great Bo Diddley!

[Taverner]

13. Tell ya what, here's a short list of UK bands...

The Clash
The Kinks
Rolling Stones
Fairport Convention
Belle and Sebastian
Teenage Fanclub
Led Zeppelin
The Who
The Stone Roses
Black Sabbath
David Bowie
Dire Straits
ELO
Iron Maiden
Jethro Tull
The Smiths
The The
The Police
The Buzzcocks
Genesis
Peter Gabriel
Pink Floyd
The Yardbirds
Joe Cocker
Fleetwood Mac
Radiohead


...and I could go on...but that's 26 + the 2 from earlier...

[jpgray]

17. Alright, here's a tossed-off list of US artists (since not all your list is 'bands')

Sparks
Ramones
Television
Talking Heads
Blondie
Frank Zappa
Richard Hell + the Voidoids
X
Bob Dylan
Devo
Big Star
Beach Boys
Chuck Berry
James Brown
Marvin Gaye
Little Richard
Flaming Lips
CCR
Velvet Underground
13th Floor Elevators
Stevie Wonder
Patti Smith
Tom Waits
Pere Ubu
Pavement
Husker Du
Minutemen
Guided By Voices
Sonic Youth

and on and on and on

[Taverner]

21. OK heres some more brit bands

The Verve
Oasis (not my choice, but hell)
King Crimson
Yes
ELP
UB40
Roxy Music
Elvis Costello and the Attractions
The Jam
The Damnned
Siouxsie & the Banshees
Judas Priest
Madness
The Animals
Cream
Traffic
Van Morrison
Moody Blues
Procol Harum
The Jesus and Mary Chain
Coldplay

[evlbstrd]

11. Wrong.

[taterguy]

18. Were you being clever or stupid?

The Band was at least partially Canadian

[evlbstrd]

20. Maybe both.

Technically, it's North America. But I think they're better than the Beatles.

[cemaphonic]

24. Balanced out by Fleetwood Mac,

who at their popular peak were half-Californian.

[evlbstrd]

25. Early Mac.

A pox on Stevie Nicks.

[Taverner]

33. I like both Macs

But they are two completely different bands.

Both are awesome in their own right.

[Tripper11]

29. The Band is made up of all Canadians except for one

Levon Helm was the lone American in The Band if I'm not mistaken.

[evlbstrd]

35. North Americans.

And Robbie Robertson is Native American.

[KamaAina]

32. They were/are all Canadian except Levon Helm

who comes from Arkansas. Go figure.

You actually could make a similar list for Canada; at some point you do get down to Loverboy, then Celine Dion, but on the way there's a lot of good music from a country with roughly the population of California (Great Britain's is about 60% larger).

[evlbstrd]

36. They cut their musical teeth touring the US as The Hawks.

OK, let's add Neil Young and Joni Mitchell.

[Bake]

12. Bluegrass bands? I think not.

Brass bands? Marching bands? Mariachi bands? What kinda bands are you talking about?

Oh ... THOSE bands ... like Oasis.

Bake

[IndianaJones]

15. guitarists? 3 words...Motor City Madman. nt.

[Taverner]

46. You mean the Motor City Klansman...

Nugent never met a cross burning he didn't like

[Bake]

48. Nooge is/was an incredibly sh*tty guitarist.

No chops whatsoever. None. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Put enough distortion on the guitar and you don't HAVE to be able to play.

Nooge sucks, end of story. Couldn't carry the guitar case of a Clapton, or a Page, or hell, just about ANYBODY, British or otherwise.

Bake

[Taverner]

57. Yes - I've never understood why anyone considered him anything but a Rhythm guitarist

That's all he is - a bad one at that.

His solos are, well, one note played with a bendy motion (as Jack Black called it) over and over

[Deja Q]

16. The B-52s, REM

:P

[mulsh]

19. brit bands- poncy nancy boys on a tiny Island

very easy for even the most lame band to rise to the top of that crappy little clockwork country. USA- large muscular, home of the only significant new music over the past 150 years. Hard for our guys to get noticed due to the large numbers of truly excellent local and regional musicians. that's why our bands are vastly superior to british bands
here's two american guys who make the limey's sweat blood. Son House, Hubert Sumlin.

[mitchum]

23. Although I like the work of some of those nancy boys, you are absolutely correct

I agree with every word. Especially the last four.

[HuskerDU]

30. Good god yes! All of the great blues artists, all of the pioneers

of rock-n-roll (Vincent, Cochran etc) the Girl Groups, the soul and r n b- motown. country and western swing bluegrass folk etc etc- American!

Brits had some good acts in the 60s that ripped off American Rock n roll, and then they had a few good punk bands that ripped off the New York Dolls, Stooges, MC5, VU, Brownsville Station, Heartbreakers, Ramones. That whole New Order etc is the brits fault too.

[Taverner]

45. Ahhh but Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, N Sync, Hilary Duff, Lindsay Lohan

...Paris Hilton, KFED, Jojo, or whomever the depeche mode of teenybopper pop is today - that's all our fault baby!

In comparison, they make New Order look like the Beatles.

[HuskerDU]

51. Yeah it is true. That crap started here one way or the other via

Fabian or Leif Garrett or whomever. So bubblegum is ours but so are ALL of the good genres, like rocknroll, blues, country etc. UK brought the world skittle or skiffel or whatever neato!

It was America who invented RnR (the other genres matter far less IMO) And it was UK that took RnR in the crap hippie summer of love direction with tape loops and 20 minute jams. And of course it was American bands who shook the RnR world outta that crap starting with VU, then MC5, Brownsville Station, New York Dolls, Heartbreakers, Ramones. Best brit punk band was from Australia- the Saints- but they didn't have the look or wild antics like the brit posers so they fell on their faces.

And the brits again commercialized what was American- first RnR in the 60s, then punk in the 70s. They are nothing but carps. The best early rocknroll comes from America, for a brief time in the early to mid 60s it came from the UK, but then back to the USA again and it hasn't returned IMO. Today I have no idea, but the 50s, and 70s-90s were ruled by American RnR.

Other than the FABULOUS Rolling Stones, I honestly don't listen to ANY UK bands with any frequentcy- maybe Motorhead and Hawkwind- all those brit guitar heroes bore the crap outta me- beck, clapton, page etc etc. I listen to Hendrix instead. Kinks are a great band. Early Beatles were good, early Who as well. But really not much there at all IMO, certainly nothing groundbreaking other than bloating RnR and probably inventing heavy metal. Doh- black sabbath was pretty great, yardbirds, early F Mac too. But the Stones are the only UK band that would be in my top 10- that's the same number as Finland!

[Taverner]

52. Well I beg to differ with you

Rock and Roll was all brute force and ignorance until the Brits got involved. Elvis? PUH-LEASE! The guy had no talent, and was only famous because he co-opted R&B. True, R&B is an American invention, and there is no underestimating the genius that was the Motown sound. And there are some AWESOME American acts (Janes Addiction, Phish, Nirvana, Bob Dylan for starts) but US R&R is all muscle, no finesse, no nuance.

That is the difference between a good act (Elvis) and a superior stroke of pure genius (The Rolling Stones.) Notice I didn't say the Beatles. Although I hold them up as THE GREATEST R&R act that ever lived, or ever will - you can't compare Elvis to The Beatles. You can, however, compare Elvis to the Stones. And the Stones win. Here we are several decades later, and Elvis is a joke for all but the die-hard fans but the Stones are still listenable.

[HuskerDU]

56. We agree on the Stones- only my personal taste rates the

New York Dolls higher on my list of fave bands. I like Rocknroll served up straight- the more muscle n hustle the better.

Totally agree about the Stones vs Elvis and not mentioning the Beatles. The Stones win for me vs ANYBODY except Johnny Thunders- the man who embodied Rocknroll like no other. But the other brit bands do little to nothing for me. And band for band for my taste would be 10-1 in favor of American bands. If not for the Stones you could keep the whole country and i would hardly notice.

[mulsh]

63. eddie cochran, chuck berry, hell bo diddley & Arthur Alexander

these early guys blow away any of the pale british imitations even if the US boys sang accapello. buddy holly, lets not forget him. I admire your posts taverner but I think you're way off the mark.

the great thing the brit invasion did was help wake us up to our deep well of musical talent. but they did it via lame imitation, just listen to the rolling stones trying to make it through Carol or any bo diddley song. Took the stones years to get the sound down. I guess that's why you don't hear too many stones songs recorded before Gimme Shelter on the radio.

[Taverner]

67. Ahhh but when the Stones were sucking in the sixties, the Kinks were on top

...of their game. Early Kinks stuff was good. And surprisingly, I like the Who better pre-Tommy.

Yes, R&R originated here - but come on. Since 1969, what truly original bands have come out of the US? The Ramones? Yeah, right - they couldn't play their way out of a paper bag. Nirvana - maybe, but they themselves describe themselves as imitators of The Pixies and the Meat Puppets, who were imitators of Brit Punk bands.

In fact, since the "grunge" movement in Seattle, the US hasn't done a SINGLE contribution to Rock and Roll. That was 91. We're waiting.

But in the UK, there have been a number of movements, bands and innovations that were barely noticed here, but proved that we are totally out of step with the rest of the world. Consider Radiohead, Portishead, Belle and Sebastian, Teenage Fanclub and Massive Attack. As far as movements go, there has been The Manchester Sound, "Shoegazing" Rock, Chamber Rock, Trip Hop, Ragga Jungle and the various manifestations of electronica.

Europe and the rest of the world are passing us by. Here in the US we just can't get over Toby Keith and his fellow redneck sisterfuckers.

[HuskerDU]

70. Punk Rock for one- the music and tude were American, and

so was the fashion- Richard Hell. What was the brit contribution to punk? Malcome Mclaren carping the NYC scene. And of course Nirvana was just commercializing the us indie scene of the 80s- bands like Husker Du! Meat Puppets were influenced by American punk and AM country. Pixies can suck one AFAIC.

Like a guy said downthread EVERY new musical frontier of the past 150 years has been American. You can keep those Teenage Fanclub bands too.

[Taverner]

72. Who started punk?

Was it The Ramones and the "New York Sound"?

Or was it The Clash and the Sex Pistols?

Or does it go back earlier to VU, David Bowie and Iggy Pop?

Or does it go back even earlier to MC5?

Or does it go back even earlier to bands like The Kinks and The Who?

Some here have suggested that those two were the first punk bands ever, and that punk evolved from Ska and Rude Boy music.

[HuskerDU]

75. It is simple really. Punk rock started the day johnny thunders

and jerry nolan left the new york dolls to form the heartbreakers with Televisions richard hell.

[Taverner]

76. All those New York Bands copied mercilessly from Rude Boy Rock from the 60's

Which is pure Brit :)

[HuskerDU]

78. NOOOOOO!

American bands worshiped the early Rocknroll sound from America. They wanted to get back to that and away from the bloated hippie stuff. New York Dolls covered the following artists: Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Shangi Las, sonny boy williamson, willie dixon, eddie cochran, the coasters, the cadets etc etc- almost all american covers and the dolls were THE protopunk band- like i said punk started the day the original NYDs folded shop in 75. (2 of em went on as simply the Dolls for a bit)

[Taverner]

79. Ever hear Rude Boy Rock?

It's not at all like traditional brit pop - much more like early Who or Kinks...almost ska like in tempo.

Think The Mighty Mighty Bosstones with more edge, angst and fire.

[HuskerDU]

82. Not much that i know of to be honest. but i know NYC punk

rock history. If it was an influence, nobody ever covered the songs or mentioned the music. Who knows? plenty of evidence that JT etc were maily influenced by early american RnR.

[HuskerDU]

80. And like Chrissi hyde said 'all of the brit punk bands, and i knew

them all, had both NYDs lps.' from recent bbc doc

Pistol steve jones: 'I can't believe how much i copied thunders in the early days.' from movie filth and the fury

[HuskerDU]

77. That was roughly the same time that CBGBs opened.

mid 1975

[NashVegas]

127. Begging Your Pardon, But to Say Elvis Presley Was a No-Talent

Just tells me there's a young-un in this thread :)

I used to think Elvis was no big deal, even at the time he died.

Sam Phillips was no dummie, and Elvis was not only a talent, he was a cultural force that only the Beatles came close to matching.

[SteppingRazor]

135. Right, because England has never produced any insufferable dance pop.

:eyes:

[sasquatch]

22. Well as for Genre's goes: how many bands were influenced by Motorhead

Metallica came out and said half of their music is Motorhead.

[Bennyboy]

28. Yeah the brits got iti all over these bands....

The Grateful Dead
Muddy Watters (who influenced every British band)
The Allman Brothers
the Carter family
All the blues artists that influenced hacks like led Zeppelin
BB King,Albert King, Freddie King (who influenced every single great Brit guitar player)
The Band
Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk.Brubeck,Ornette Coleman for jazz
Del McCourey, Bill Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs, Ralph Stanley
Phish
Leftover Salmon
String Cheese Incident
Bruce Springsteen and the E St Band
The Byrds
CSN&Y
neil young
Bob Dylan
Frank Zappa

[MAGICBULLET]

81. Right on brother

The OP has no idea...and there are so many more to add to your list too!!

ummm what would the Rolling Stones have done without black American musicians ?

[Taverner]

84. What innovation has US Rock and Roll made since grunge?

Seriously? Britney Spears? Jojo? Toby Keith? Scott Stapp?

[MAGICBULLET]

90. Seriously? Post-grunge?

I really don't know, but most of the bands on your lists are pre-grunge and artists heavily influenced by American music, ya gotta admit that.

After 92-93 I started collecting vinyl and pretty much stopped listening to rock on the radio. Other genres have gained my interest since then.

[Taverner]

91. Well I'm looking at the big picture

But if we limit ourselves to only bands post 91, they REALLY kick our ass

[Bennyboy]

104. Post 91. PHISH.

Incredible band. One of the best I ever saw. Certainly one of the best guitar players ever.

[Taverner]

105. Yes Phish is great. Even before 91 - the Armstrong Hall show from 89 is one of my faves

But that's one band vs an army of Brit ones...

[Bennyboy]

119. Spearhead!

Michael Franti and Spearhead. The only band I have ever seen that hits me like Bob Marley did. A great man working hard to make positive change in the world. His DVD of his trip to Iraq is a must see.

[Bennyboy]

103. You really need to turn your FUCKING RADIO OFF DOOOOOOOOOOD!

Tell you what. listen to Leftover Salmon. totally unique. String Cheese Incident, best band around right now. MOE? GOOD GOD. PHISH? best guitar player of a generation. Gov't Mule. listen to the Deepest End sometime. Dig a little deeper.

Right now is the golden age of music in the USA. if you know where to look. And that ain't on the radio. It sure as hell ain't with some classic rock bullshit.

[Taverner]

106. Phish is good, SCI is a Phish clone, as is moe and Leftover Salmon

WSP is decent, and I can't stand Warren Haynes voice, but he plays a good guitar.

I don't listen to terrestrial radio - I listen to Sirius. And I gotta say, every time a great new tune comes up on Left of Center (the indie station) it's ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS from either the UK or some other Euro scene.

Granted Wilco is great, but again we're talking one band among an army of Brit bands.

[Bennyboy]

116. Could you be any wronger?

Again, instead of listening to what other people say, listen to them yourselves. Leftover Salmon is essentially a Bluegrass band with touches of zydeco. Banjo, acoustic guitar and mandolins. they also do not go to nearly as deep of space as Phish does. Comparing LoS to Phish is like comparing Led Zeppelin to The Spice Girls.

And SCI is so totally unique it is not funny. They are SCI, like the Grateful Dead was the Grateful Dead. They are unlike anything out there. Sort of bluegrass, some calypso, lots of jazz (tehy do loads of Miles, bird tunes)and lots of funk.

Now Moe, I can see that, sort of. But they rock huge and have different instrumentation.

But, there are so many bands out there that rock it huge, even if you do not like the ones above, there is something for you. Yonder Mountain? Galactic's space funk? Tune on the jam channel and give that a listen.

[Taverner]

120. I used to listen to the jam station

Thing is none of those bands (with the exception of SCI) really know how to craft hooks. They can play - thing about jam bands is they are technically proficient. But their songwriting skills, with the exception of Phish and WSP are pretty slim. SCI is ok - I'd keep them on while surfing. But they're not great in the sense that bands like The Police, Phish, The Grateful Dead, The Stone Roses or SRV were. For that you have to break ground, and discover something no one has ever discovered before - and at the same time make it sound good, really good.

A jam band I came across in Texas that was doing something completely different was "Moses Guest." It's the New Austin sound meets jam with jazz and country thrown in, and Pedal Steel liberally applied. They can jam, but they know how to hold back. As Louis Armstrong once said "It's not the notes you play, it's what you don't play."

[Bennyboy]

125. Much better....

Sorry, but you came across at first as someone who did not know what the hell they were talking about. I get that Phish clone crap all the time.

Now,I can see you do. I disagree however, I think SCI has written some fantastic songs and Leftover well they write some of the best songs ever.

I just hate it when people give cut off dates for good music. I have friends that are like that. They sit at home and collect figurines and talk about how good the music was "back in the day".

For me it is all good. I love it all and go to see music every chance I get.

So sorry for being a little snippy.

[Taverner]

126. Oh there's no cutoff date for good music

There's some great music coming out of Europe right now - amazing stuff.

I just think we're in a kind of drought here in the US...but Phish live was something to behold. Phish turned me onto another great indie band, Ween.

Thing about Jam Bands is they are much better than any of mainstream acts today.

[Bennyboy]

131. Way better.....

I just wish there was a new one that would come along and take everyone for a ride like Phish did.

Ween is pretty incredible, if loud and quirky.

[Taverner]

133. True that - have you heard Ween's "Quebec"?

It's to Ween what Billy Breathes is to Phish. They tone down big time and do some excellent songs...

[SKKY]

129. Allow me to add a couple more to your list...

Nine Inch Nails
Aretha Franklin
Prince (By far, bar none, the best musician of my generation IMHO)
R.E.M.
Nat King Cole
Pearl Jam
Nirvana
Stevie Wonder
Rage Against The Machine
Jane's Addiction
Beastie Boys
Tina Turner
Frank Sinatra

The more I think about this argument, the more ridiculous it becomes.

[Orsino]

31. They HAVE to be.

American bands can make it on their looks alone.

[Taverner]

34. I THINK IT'S PRETTY APPARENT

We need to set up some kind of dynamic-wikiesque list to tabulate the US v UK band list.

And some rules - if an individual musician came to prominence as well as their band (say, Peter Gabriel and Genesis) it can only be counted as one. Peter Gabriel OR Genesis.

[Bennyboy]

37. What about the Grateful Dead,JGB. & Old And In The Way?

Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna? CSN&Y?

[Taverner]

43. Grateful Dead, JGB, LOM and Old And in the way count as one

Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship, Hot Tuna and Jorma Kaukonen all count as one.

CSN&Y, CSN, Buffalo Springfield, Manasas and any Stills/Young/Nash or whomever project all count as one

Gotta be consistent ya know.

[Bake]

49. Don't forget The Allman Brothers.

I'd put Duane and Dickie up against the Brits any day.

Bake

[Taverner]

55. Duane maybe but Dicky Betts?

Against Clapton, Page and Beck? Against Johnny Marr? Against Joe Strummer?

[Bake]

62. Betts is still a great guitarist.

I've been working on "Jessica" (one of the great instrumentals in rock) and while it is "accessible" (i.e., not a lot of difficult pyrotechnics) it is also very TASTEFUL. And nobody did the twin stuff like Duane and Dicky.

Would I put him in the same league with Clapton? No. But then I put VERY VERY FEW guitarslingers in that league. Hell, I don't put Page in that league.

Bake

[Taverner]

65. Whats funny is I actually think Clapton is overrated

Not as a guitarist - he's good. Damn good.

But as a songwriter, he only does well when in the presence of someone great (Winwood, Allman, etc...)

[Bake]

68. I agree about the songwriting

But my admiration for EC is his ability as a guitarslinger. In my book, he's one of the two or three greatest of all time, ever. I'm sure some will disagree, and that's OK (not everyone can have good taste - :-) ).

As far as songwriting, EC needs the inspiration of greatness around him.

Bake

[Bennyboy]

100. The guys in the Allmans now are SMOKIN players

In fact I would say that Warren Haynes is THE BEST GUITAR PLAYER ON THIS PLANET right now. And Derek Trucks...Goddamn listen to that kid go off sometimes.

[MAGICBULLET]

86. Stevie Ray Vaughan

is arguably better than Clapton.

-snip
"I don't think anyone has commanded my respect more. The first time I heard Stevie Ray, I thought, 'Whoever this is, he is going to shake the world'. I was in my car and I remember thinking, I have to find out, before the day is over, who that guitar player is. That doesn't happen to me very often. I didn't get to see or hear Stevie play near often enough, but every time I did I got chills and knew I was in the presence of greatness. He seemed to be an open channel and music just flowed through him. It never seemed to dry up." -Clapton

<http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/jfiles/files/s1407505.htm>

Where would Page, Beck, Strummer be without the likes of Little Richard, B.B King, Elmore James or even most of Motown or Stax productions?

[Taverner]

87. Ahhh but where would rock be today without the Brits?

We'd still be playing that Elvis Do-Wop Shit

[MAGICBULLET]

93. ahhhhh I don't know man I think that boils down to personal taste

You ever get into Booker T. and the MGs? Those are some crazy talented musicians.

[Taverner]

97. Don't get me wrong - Bands like Booker T were awesome

And every single member of that band (who survived) ended up doing some crazy talented session work afterwards...

[mitchum]

113. But if it weren't for Bob Dylan, those brits would have continued singing about holding hands

[LTR]

137. Two words - Robert Johnson

British blues guitarists worshiped the guy. Clapton put out an album of his stuff.

Here's two more: Jimi Hendrix, who got his start playing with Little Richard.

[Bake]

110. SRV is what EC would have sounded like if he'd grown up in Texas.

Clapton has always been generous in praising other guitarists. I saw an interview in which he said Buddy Guy was the greatest player in the world (and Buddy ain't no slouch!). True greatness doesn't mind sharing the spotlight.

It's a damn shame that Stevie Ray's body of work was cut short. I'd love to have heard his stuff after another 20 years.

Oh, the "Trinity" for me is Hendrix, Clapton, and Stevie Ray. They're the top.

Bake

[Taverner]

117. For me the trinity is Page, Anastasio and SRV

One from each generation

[mitchum]

112. I'd put my little sister up against Johnny Marr

what a lameass player

[Taverner]

121. Johnny Marr was completely innovative

You couldn't call his style lead or rhythm - it was freakin' both! He is amazing!

Same with Dave Navarro.

[mitchum]

123. Marr just played in the style of South African Hi Life guitar...honestly

[Taverner]

124. But listen to his work on TheThe's "Armageddon Days Are Here"

Or anything off "Meat is Murder"

[flying rabbit]

38. The doors, Hendrix, Van Halen

it's alllllll good.

[barb162]

39. Some of them are superior to some American bands. n/t

[cemaphonic]

40. Nobody's mentioned Prince yet?

On both the great band and great guitarist lists. Or the musical juggernaut that was Motown it it's prime. And where is Elvis? (yeah, I know; just left the building.) Johnny Cash?

Specifically limited to bands, I might entertain the possibility that your premise is correct, but since you seem to be including individual artists (Zappa, Dylan and Tom Waits are each worth about 100 Oasises, I figure), I doubt it.

Some other great American musicians I haven't seen in the thread yet:

Parliament/Funkadelic in all its various incarnations
Golden Palominos
The Byrds
Naked City
Sonic Youth
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Paul Simon
Public Enemy

[leftofthedial]

41. flock of seagulls

actually, if you are into traditional American music, you'll run out of paper in the American column before the Brits even started trying to imitate howlin wolf

[Lethe]

42. um, considering that all UK rock came from US blues

your assertion is absolutely null

without Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson and mississipi bluess - Led Zeppelen, and every other UK rock band would have never existed

[Taverner]

44. Well hell if you want to be exact about it, all blues is a mix of Scot and Afro music

So the Blues isn't exactly American either - Scot Folk Music and Afro Rhythms

[grace0418]

47. Expand that to Australia and New Zealand and I'll agree. I love the Beatles and the Smiths

but Crowded House is my all-time fave.

[Taverner]

54. Australia - for an island that has the population of Delaware they put out some good stuff

It's sad that with all the resources and people we have here in the US, the best we can come up with is copies of our copies. Yeah, Scott Stapp, I'm talking about you bitch.

[Sanctified]

50. Thats because Americans have a shitty taste in Music.

There are a lot of really great bands in the US but they never get air time because the populace would rather listen to NSYNC, Britney Spears and the Smashing Pumkins over bands that refuse to bow down to the music industry.

[Taverner]

53. Yup

Do you honestly think a band like Radiohead would EVER have made it if they were from LA?

The Stone Roses barely made a dent in the US, yet in the UK they are appreciated for the groundbreaking geniuses they are. They taught Oasis and Blur everything they knew.

[Sanctified]

96. Nope, in the US it's all about looks not if you have talent.

There are so many great bands here in the US that have a better following in Europe than in their own country. I listen to an Italian online radio station and they play a lot of world bands but it's amazing to see them playing American bands that are spectacular who you would never hear on the radio unless you maybe lived in their hometown and the local radio played their stuff.

[momophile]

58. the Ramones nt

[Taverner]

59. Yeah what about those talentless hacks?

Who couldn't play any chords other than E, A and B?

Yeah yeah yeah, I know - "they were groundbreaking in their simplicity." So is my toddler when he plays the bongos. Can he get a multi-million dollar contract too?

[HuskerDU]

60. yeah ramones were crap but the Sex Pistols- now there's a

band! What a bunch of utter shit that is. Two words: Malcome Mclaren.

[Taverner]

64. Touche

Yeah, the Sex Pistols sucked. So did the Ramones.

The Clash, however, added nuance to Punk.

[HuskerDU]

66. If the Sex Pistols sucked then why did you mention them as like

band #4 in your list of great UK bands? You can have the whole lot of brit punks, I really don't care for any of em, except when Thunders was kind enough to let them play on his records.

[Taverner]

69. It was in anticipation of the Ramones

Which everyone in the world is in love with except me :)

As for Punk - what about The Buzzcocks? The Clash? The Damned?

[HuskerDU]

73. Guys from those bands sound great on Johnny Thunders live

bootlegs and records, but i never personally listen to their own records. If thunders thought they were ok, then they were ok by me. But their music bores the crap outta me, like most UK bands save the immortal Rolling Stones.

[Sequoia]

61. I tend to agree....those 80's bands were so wonderful.

Happiness flows in my soul when I hear songs from that era.

[greendog]

71. This only works if you're willing to write off....

...the contributions of African American musicians.

Jazz

Blues

R&B

Soul

Motown

Early Rock 'n' Roll

[Taverner]

74. Ahhh but we are talking Rock and Roll

Motown, in all of its genius, is not Rock but Soul.

However, if you want the biggest influence on Brit Rock, enduring to this day, it's Motown. Belle and Sebastian incorporate a lot of the Motown licks in their work, as did (gasp) The Clash.

However Blues, Jazz, R&B and Soul all owe their existence to African Rhythms and Scottish Folk Music. Hank Williams took it in one direction, and Robert Johnson in the other. Somewhere along the road the two influences met again.

[greendog]

83. Ahhh but NOW we're talking about Rock and Roll...

In the original post we were talking about bands. (I thought) Silly me. :)

[mainegreen]

85. Scandinavia is kicking everyones ass. n/t

[Taverner]

88. Aye - I'll give you that

Today, Scandinavia is going through some kind of renaissance - something like the US AND the UK have never seen.

And again, the rest of the world knows about this except for the US. We're still listening to Kelly Clarkson and Toby "I Sleep with Relatives" Keith

[Deep13]

89. WHO are you talking about? They're ANIMALS.

Or more aptly, a bunch of dirt-crawling BEATLES. While moss does not grow on ROLLING STONES, British bands are for THE BYRDS. If they show their SMALL FACES here, they will be about as useful as a LED ZEPPELIN. They should stick to entertaining the QUEEN. Maybe they will about being CLAPTON irons.

That's all for the top of my head.

[Joe Fields]

92. I agree . Although there are quite a few great American bands.

Also, there are a lot of 'mixed' heritage bands.

[Taverner]

99. Aye - true that

Buffalo Springfield comes to mind when discussing mixed heritage bands.

[BooScout]

94. I beg to differ........

Living in the UK I can affirm that they have a lot of bands that suck too. Ya'll just don't hear them in the States. Sometimes all I ever hear around here are stupid dance bands or boy bands or girl bands. Sure there are some great British Bands and some great American Bands...........but there are horrible British bands too. you're just lucky you aren't subjected to the really bad ones.

[RedStateShame]

95. From what country did the Spice Girls come, again?

This conversation is over.

[Taverner]

98. For Every Spice Girls I can name a million N-Syncs, Backstreet Boys and Britneys

[Book Lover]

101. You've obviously never heard of "Girls Aloud"

[Mr. Blonde]

102. I have thought about this

and the reason I had come up with is this.

All of the artists stayed in England way back when all of the religious folk were coming over here. And now we have religious folk still breeding more interested primarily in religion. Meanwhile back in England all of the artists have continued breeding more artists.

And we can't forget that on top of generally having better bands to start with they are quicker to recognize our best bands. Jimi Hendrix had to leave here for England to hit it big. The Kings of Leon and The White Stipes (both firmly in the great American Bands list as far as I'm concerned) are both much bigger in England. KOL for instance was #1 on the English charts for two weeks and could only crack the top 30 in the US.

[Taverner]

107. And the Stone Roses

IMHO these guys are my generation's Zeppelin - our Pink Floyd if you will. But most Americans have never heard of them. Ask any Brit who they are and they will sing out every lyric from their first album.

[HuskerDU]

111. They belong in the same atomic dustbin as Ned.

along with the rest of that era of uk blahness. And you had my respect as a RnR fan until you mentioned Wilco. God what happened to the great Uncle Tupelo? Alt elevator.

[Taverner]

114. You're not a hook-man are ya?

For me, there's nothing like the perfect hook - that's why I'll always enjoy powerpop.

[HuskerDU]

118. I wouldn't say that at all.

When i wanna hear power pop i listen to Kiss doing a cover of the Dave Clark 5's 'Anyway you want it' or Kiss doing 'Room Service' 'Firehouse' or 'Christine Sixteen.' I like some Cars too. Dunno really what other powerpop i like- some early blondie- shoot the Ramones did some fine powerpop too really. What are the Mr T Experience? poppy punk- good stuff.

Really i do like a hook- the simple 2 or 3 minute song played with energy and conviction is what gets me. Early RnR, doo wop, girl groups, RnB, soul, motown, brit invasion, protopunk, punk, hardcore, USA 80s indie stuff until alternative became the mainstream.

I know my RnR history and what i like- i just find very few bands today that interest me- maybe Gorgol Bordello and a few bands i've found on the net. Got any brit bands of today that might be up my alley- be glad to check em out.

[Taverner]

122. Hmmm actually I'd reccomend Nordic for those tastes

Brit pop is in a chamber mood right now - Scandinavian Rock is really blistering these days. Case in point - The Hives.

[Rob H.]

108. Does the UK have as many jam bands as the US?

Because if it doesn't, the UK wins.

:hide:

[Taverner]

109. HAHAHAHA

You know, back in the 80's I used to love the idea of a Jam Band, and wished more bands would jam out live.

Then came the jam band phenomenon - and crappy bands who could play but wrote shitty music (see moe., Ominous Seapods etc...) and I realized not every song needs to be stretched out into endless crescendo.

[redqueen]

115. Sorry, not true.

Popular myth, though.

:hi:

[DarkTirade]

128. You guys did have The Beatles and a few others...

but there have been a few good ones from this side of the ocean too.

[T_i_B]

130. Well American metal bands tend to be superior to UK ones!

On the other hand, we do have the Arctic Monkeys.

[acmavm]

132. I most certainly agree with you.

[trogdor]

134. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

I'd put them in the same league with Zeppelin.

[LTR]

136. Much like the U.S., the Brits have contributed their fair share of shitty music

Here's a short list of crap, saps, one-hit wonders, tabloid darlings, washouts, etc., that I got off Wikipedia:

Spice Girls
Right Said Fred
Take That
Climie Fisher
S Club 7
Boy George
Mungo Jerry
Marilyn
Dead or Alive
Kajagoogoo
Naked Eyes
Davey Jones (of the Monkees)
M People
Engelbert Humperdinck
Kissing the Pink
Mel and Kim
Bee Gees (yes, I said it!)
Cutting Crew
The Darkness
Inspiral Carpets
Muse
Prefab Sprout
T'Pau
Taxxi
Coldplay (yes, I said it!)
GTR
Foghat (or, as I call them Hogfat)
Asia
All Saints
Babyshambles
Curiosity Killed the Cat
Dexys Midnight Runners
The Escape Club
EMF
Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers
Level 42
Mike + The Mechanics
Pepsi & Shirlie
Pop Will Eat Itself
Wham!

This is only a partial list, as there are many others that probably had a quick blast of fame and glory, but are thankfully forgotten. Try this list and go from there:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:English_musical_groups

So just like the U.S., which has contributed garbage like N'Sync and Vanilla Ice can also give us Elvis, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Metallica, Frank Zappa and Bob Dylan, every other country around the world contributes their fair share of the great and not-so-great.

BTW: Oasis sucks.