Most influential/important/seminal bands/artists in music history?

tech77

Saw something similar on another forum.
So who do you think are the most influential artists in music history, decade by decade say:

I really don't know TBH but maybe something like:

50's: Elvis

60's: Beatles, Stones, Beach Boys

70's: Led Zeppelin, Bowie, Queen ??? Sex Pistols

80's: Madonna, The Pixies, The Cure, Metallica?, New Order/Joy Division (I'd love to put The Smiths in there as well but i think their sound is so singular and unique, i'm reluctant. Was there genius ever really emulated by anyone).

90's: Stone Roses, Nirvana, Radiohead ? Coldplay ?

00's: Fcuk all really- even if it is influential, music is probably getting $hitter.


I'm far from certain about this- I'd like to hear your views though.
Also, at the risk of sounding cliche, anyone genuinely feel music is not as good today as it was in the previous decades.

Sinfonia

...Palestrina, Gesualdo, J.S. Bach, Handel, J.J. Fux, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Liszt, Wagner, Schubert, Schumann, Mahler, Debussy, Ravel, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Holst, Bartók, Ligeti, Penderecki, Reich, Riley,
Son House, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Scott Joplin, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, Chuck Berry, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Beatles, Beach Boys, James Brown, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Bowie, Ramones, U2, Metallica, New Order/JD, The Smiths, Nirvana, Radiohead.

I think they're all pretty important.
And probably loads more pop, hip-hop, dance acts etc.

estebancambias

Eminem-90's

Stompbox

00's seems a bit bare, how about Strokes who kick-started a new rock revolution and made it acceptable to be slightly geeky and in a band.

lordgoat

Elliott Smith.

Public Enemy.

damonjewel

Kraftwerk

carchaeologist

Gary numan.

Dr.Slurm

Here's who I'd say if I was to pick one per decade (more fun:))

60's - The Beatles
70's - Bob Marley
80's - Metallica
90's - Radiohead
00's - Mastodon

pink floyd!

Technocentral

damonjewel wrote: »

Kraftwerk

Damn straight, most influential ever.

Jimmy Iovine

Surprised no one has mentioned Lonnie Donegan (A.K.A. the "King of Skiffle") yet.

Without him the likes of The Beatles and Queen would possibly never have been formed and then as a result countless other bands would not have been formed over the years, for better or for worse.

Brian May said in an interview that Lonnie was the reason that he picked up a guitar. John Lennon's first venture into proper music was with a skiffle group influenced by Lonnie, and that was how he met McCartney. The rest is history.

EDIT: Just had a look at how old this thread is, apologies. My claim still stands though.

smokedeels

the sonics, beefheart, lee scratch perry, the fall, steve albini

SilverScreen

Old thread yes but screw it. Starting from the 60's

60's - The Beatles, Silver Apples, The Velvet Underground, The Monks, 13th Floor Elevators

70's - Television, Joy Division, Big Star, Can, Trobbing Gristle, Kraftwerk, The Stooges, Suicide

80's - Sonic Youth, Cocteau Twins, The Smiths, Black Flag, Skinny Puppy, Swans, The Jesus and Mary Chain, New Order, Pixies

90's - My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Aphex Twin, Massive Attack, Fugazi, Refused, Stereolab, Flying Saucer Attack, The Flaming Lips

00's - Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Sigur Ros, Arcade Fire, Radiohead, Electric Wizard, M83, dalek, At The Drive-In

Rothko

50's: Elvis, Little Richard, Miles Davis, Buddy Holly

60's: Beatles, Velvet Underground, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix Experience, James Brown

70's: Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Neil Young, Ramones, The Stooges, Sex Pistols, The Clash

80's: Pixies, Sonic Youth, The Smiths, Metallica, U2, Michael Jackson

90's: Oasis, Radiohead, 2Pac, Notorious B.I.G., Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins

Duke Leonal Felmet

The Beatles - If for nothing else, then for Tomorrow Never Knows, a song without precedent and the birth of modern electronica. So innovative and ahead of its time. Hugely influential since.

Worth reading the article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomorrow_Never_Knows

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTMOSCh7aJU

Oh, and an honorable mention to Brian Wilson. At this present time I listen to nothing else.

NIMAN

No-one has mentioned him yet, so I'll say it. Jacko.

Irrespective of whether you thought he was a paedo or not, he was a musical genius.

karaokeman

1950s - Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry

1960s - The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Led Zepellin, Johnny Cash

1970s - Queen, AC/DC, ABBA, Bruce Springsteen

1980s - U2, Michael Jackson, Madonna (kills me to admit her), Pixies, Karftwerk

1990s - Oasis, Radiohead, Take That, Eminem

2000s - Coldplay, Muse, Kings of Leon

Don't bash the naughties people, no one will remember JLS, Ke$ha, Jason Derulo and The Wanted when we are all grandparents. There was crap in the 1980s too, but they have all faded

Rothko

NIMAN wrote: »

No-one has mentioned him yet, so I'll say it. Jacko.

Irrespective of whether you thought he was a paedo or not, he was a musical genius.

I mentioned him in my post. I'm not a big fan of his but he's obviously been highly influential.

SilverScreen

karaokeman wrote: »

2000s - Coldplay, Muse, Kings of Leon

Don't bash the naughties people, no one will remember JLS, Ke$ha, Jason Derulo and The Wanted when we are all grandparents. There was crap in the 1980s too, but they have all faded

In what way are Coldplay, Muse and Kings of Leon original or influential? And before you start, yes I have listened to some of their albums and I've seen Muse and Kings of Leon live.

Duke Leonal Felmet

NIMAN wrote: »

No-one has mentioned him yet, so I'll say it. Jacko.

Irrespective of whether you thought he was a paedo or not, he was a musical genius.

You mean Quincy Jones.

What you said is the equivalent of saying that Mike Love was a genius because the Beach Boys were great.

rcaz

Two pages in and no mention of Talking Heads? Jaysus lads :pac:

Talking Heads are a big one for me. They showed you could line up with the punk movement and hold the same ideals and still make your music as complicated as 'arty' as you like. (Alright, feel free to call me out for talking about this stuff while being too young to count, but I read it in a book :P )

Your Airbag

karaokeman wrote: »

1950s - Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry

1960s - The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Led Zepellin, Johnny Cash

1970s - Queen, AC/DC, ABBA, Bruce Springsteen

1980s - U2, Michael Jackson, Madonna (kills me to admit her), Pixies, Karftwerk

1990s - Oasis, Radiohead, Take That, Eminem

2000s - Coldplay, Muse, Kings of Leon

Don't bash the naughties people, no one will remember JLS, Ke$ha, Jason Derulo and The Wanted when we are all grandparents. There was crap in the 1980s too, but they have all faded

Come again?

Oh and how have Pearl Jam not been mentioned. One of the best.

Duke Leonal Felmet

Sweet wrote: »

how about Strokes who made it acceptable to be slightly geeky and in a band.

Disgraceful comment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTTMD8bNepo

Stompbox

Duke Leonal Felmet wrote: »

Disgraceful comment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTTMD8bNepo

Just cringed at that comment myself but, hey, I was 16 when I posted it. Ignorance is, in hindsight, quite embarrassing.

Bonzo-Reborn

Dr.Slurm wrote: »

Here's who I'd say if I was to pick one per decade (more fun:))

60's - The Beatles
70's - Bob Marley
80's - Metallica
90's - Radiohead
00's - Mastodon

This my friends is gospel!

Duke Leonal Felmet

Bonzo-Reborn wrote: »

This my friends is gospel!

I think Bob Marley is a bit far...

Da Shins Kelly

50s - Elvis, Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Billie Holiday
60s - Beatles, Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles
70s - Led Zeppelin, The Clash, Sex Pistols, Stevie Wonder, ABBA
80s - Madonna, The Smiths, David Bowie, Michael Jackson, The Pixies, Run DMC, NWA, U2
90s - Nirvana, Tupac, The Smashing Pumpkins, Eminem, Beck, Oasis, Lauryn Hill, Radiohead, Nas, Wu-Tang Clan
00s - Arcade Fire, Amy Winehouse, Britney Spears, The Strokes, White Stripes, M.I.A, Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Daft Punk, Outkast, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Mos Def

Not every artist there would be my cup of tea, but I think they've all been pretty influential.

karaokeman

Da Shins Kelly wrote: »

50s - Elvis, Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Billie Holiday
60s - Beatles, Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles
70s - Led Zeppelin, The Clash, Sex Pistols, Stevie Wonder, ABBA
80s - Madonna, The Smiths, David Bowie, Michael Jackson, The Pixies, Run DMC, NWA, U2
90s - Nirvana, Tupac, The Smashing Pumpkins, Eminem, Beck, Oasis, Lauryn Hill, Radiohead, Nas, Wu-Tang Clan
00s - Arcade Fire, Amy Winehouse, Britney Spears, The Strokes, White Stripes, M.I.A, Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Daft Punk, Outkast, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Mos Def

Not every artist there would be my cup of tea, but I think they've all been pretty influential.

Not influential in any way IMO.

Only people Britney influenced were the mime-alikes of Ke$ha, Black Eyed Peas and Avril Lavgine.

Da Shins Kelly

karaokeman wrote: »

Not influential in any way IMO.

Only people Britney influenced were the mime-alikes of Ke$ha, Black Eyed Peas and Avril Lavgine.

She's the most significant pop star since Madonna. For better or worse, she has been influential on the pop music scene, and she's made a couple of the best pop records ever. You might not like her, but it doesn't mean that she wasn't influential.

Wereghost

Woody Guthrie, Jimi Hendrix, Hank Williams, Bing Crosby, John McCormack, Johnny Cash, Frank Sinatra, Iggy Pop, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin (, though I'm not sure if the last two count as performers).

rcaz

Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Captain Beefheart, Igor Stravinsky, Iannis Xenakis, Ludwig Van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart...

Oh, er, ****in' Johann Sebastian Bach. Huge oversight there :pac:

Technocentral

Da Shins Kelly wrote: »

She's the most significant pop star since Madonna. For better or worse, she has been influential on the pop music scene, and she's made a couple of the best pop records ever. You might not like her, but it doesn't mean that she wasn't influential.

And she has fantastic knockers.

Da Shins Kelly

Technocentral wrote: »

And she has fantastic knockers.

And you can't argue with that.

Tesco Massacre

Black Sabbath influenced innumerable sludge/stoner rock bands: Kyuss, Sleep, Melvins, High on Fire, Boris....

Sinfonia

El Pr0n wrote: »

Oh, er, ****in' Johann Sebastian Bach. Huge oversight there :pac:

I did mention him three and a half years ago there..
Why do people think music began in 1950?

Da Shins Kelly

Sinfonia wrote: »

I did mention him three and a half years ago there..
Why do people think music began in 1950?

I don't think anyone thinks that. I think people are just going with more contemporary choices rather than naming out every influential musician since the beginning of time.

irishh_bob

woody guthrie
chuck berry
the beatles
the beach boys
bob dylan
james brown
stevie wonder
michael jackson
prince
george clinton
dr dre


simon fuller = for all the wrong reasons

Duke Leonal Felmet

Has anyone mentioned Charlie Christian yet?

dasdog

Aside from some of those already mentioned:

Marvin Gaye, Django Reinhardt, Billie Holiday, ABBA, Stevie Wonder, Motorhead, Andres Segovia, Sun Ra

Jimmy Iovine

Seeing as everyone ignored my previous suggestion, I'll mention him again. Lonnie Donegan is imo the most influential artist of the last century.

He was around in the decade before the Beatles and without him they may possibly never have formed. Anyone mentioning The Beatles (and all the bands to be inspired by John and Paul) has got to give credit to Lonnie as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Jc2efqj5Js

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GynnhBUOHkg