15 Aug, 2008
- Nirvana - Possibly the most revolutionary group to come around since The Sex Pistols. Nirvana blew everyone away in 1991 with “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” And good or bad, bands like Nickelback are still following their lead. With Nirvana, punk rock had finally become popular, only instead of T-shirts and Mohawks, their new spokesmen wore flannel and long hair. They are revered now as the Fathers of Alternative Rock, and Cobain’s suicide has only added to their mystique.
- Radiohead - This group started at good and continued to get better. When they didn’t get better (Amnesiac, In Rainbows) they pushed the envelope, constantly changing their sound and never standing pat. As a result, they are the darling of rock critics, and their early albums in the 1990s (The Bends and OK Computer) took alternative music to a more respectable level. It’s a little early to see what their lasting influence will be, but my guess is it can only be good.
- Dr. Dre - Sadly, he has had a huge influence on today’s music. He took what groups such as Run-DMC and Public Enemy had started and added his own violent, misogynistic spin on it. The result was West Coast rap, which has turned rap in a completely different direction, taken popular music by storm, killed several hip-hop stars and exposed millions of kids to the N word, the F word and many other words and concepts that I didn’t learn until high school. I don’t understand why it happened, but it did, and Dre is the cause.
- Backstreet Boys - Another sad influence on music, the Backstreet Boys popularized the trend of marketing the concept of a band instead of the music - techniques first tried by New Edition and New Kids on the Block. Hand-picked for their looks and sex appeal, these boys sold millions of records (and teen pinup magazines) based solely on their image. *NSYNC, 98 Degrees and even Britney Spears and Hannah Montana are the result of this strategy.
- Garth Brooks - Well, I’m not crazy about this choice either, but you can’t argue with his success. Before Garth, country was relegated to honky-tonk bars and rural areas. After Garth, country artists were consistently selling millions of albums and hitting the top of the pop album charts. The music has changed slightly - a little more accessible and polished - but you have to admit - the stars are much prettier.
Honorable Mention: Pavement. Stephen Malkmus has not sold a lot of records, but most indie artists have followed his do-it-yourself, lo-fi approach to making records. Pavement’s determination to be successful without the major labels has been an inspiration to lots of startup bands.
Omissions: Celine Dion, Mariah Carey. They’ve sold an obscene amount of records. They also make my tummy hurt.
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11 Aug, 2008
U2 - At first glance, it’s hard to nail down exactly what U2 has left as a legacy besides multi-platinum records and a reputation for memorable concerts. Then you hear the Edge’s trademark atmospheric guitar, Bono’s impassioned vocals and their simple yet powerful songs. Then you hear Coldplay, and you say, “Hey, wait a minute…” And Radiohead. And Live. And Elbow. Yada, yada, yada. Pretty much any alternative band from the past 20 years aims to be the next U2, and some try to copy their recipe for success. Their experimentation with techno notwithstanding (I’ve forgiven them for that), their familiar sound has enabled fans to thumb their noses at what passes for music nowadays and continue to follow Bono faithfully.- R.E.M. - While U2, Madonna and Bruce Springsteen were selling millions of records, R.E.M. waited patiently, releasing perfect albums throughout the 1980s. In doing so, they brought the Athens, Ga., music scene into the national spotlight, gained thousands of loyal fans in college, and planted the seeds for the alt-rock revolution in the 1990s. R.E.M. was also a little quirky, and with their success, it became cool to be quirky. This trend mostly led to a lot of weird band names, but it also led to some more experimentation with different sounds. Judge for yourself whether that was a good thing.
- Michael Jackson - Most R&B and hip-hop artists nowadays will grudgingly show some respect to Jackson, who at least seemed cool when they were just getting exposed to music. The flash, the dance moves and the overall phenomenon that was the Gloved One was plenty of motivation. That he continued Stevie Wonder’s influence in exposing white audiences to R&B was also important; Jackson did it by introducing hard rock into the R&B sound. The payoff was huge: 35 million copies of Thriller.
And that is perhaps a more disturbing influence: the idea that one could get really, filthy, stupid rich from the music business. Record labels have always been greedy; but in the 80s (see Madonna below as well), labels began drooling even more.
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Run-DMC - Sure, the Sugarhill Gang and Grandmaster Flash was first, but the group that really brought this hip-hop mess to the forefront was Run-DMC. And perhaps I’m an old fogey, but this stuff was original. More meter, better rhymes, and some injection of humor into the mix (”Peter Piper,” “My Adidas”) made it more palatable. What’s more, they took Michael Jackson and Prince’s foray into hard rock and applied it to hip-hop; their monster smash “Walk This Way” with Aerosmith in 1986 paved the way for The Beastie Boys, Eminem, and the nu metal movement of the 1990s.
- Guns N’ Roses - In 1987, classic rock was dead, and hard rock and heavy metal were on life support. Then along came GN’R and breathed new life into it, taking the attitude and wild abandonment of punk rock, the swagger of The Rolling Stones, and the classic rock riffs from most hair bands to create their own sound and image. They kept hard rock alive until grunge took over. Twenty years later, people are still looking forward to hearing the finished version of Chinese Democracy, an unreleased album first begun in 1994.
Honorable Mention: Whitney Houston. She inherited the Diva image from Aretha Franklin and Diana Ross and raised it to new heights, and female African American artists continue to flourish despite her tumble from the top. Mariah Carey, Beyonce and Rihanna all owe a debt of gratitude to Whitney, who unfortunately has become a caricature of herself.
Omissions: Madonna. Madonna is huge - well, not literally. She’s probably one of the top 5 most popular artists of all time. She has been a musical chameleon, changing looks and genres with the seasons. But I would argue that she’s done more for today’s music (2000s), helping resurrect dance music than anything she did in the 80s or 90s, when she drew more attention for her fashion choices.
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7 Aug, 2008
- Stevie Wonder - “I Just Called To Say I Love You” aside, no one has defined R&B better than Stevie Wonder. Funky, yet accessible, he continued to open the pop music door wider for African Americans, writing his own music and using synthesizers liberally. His songs, though musically complex, were usually easy on the ears but sometimes delivered a powerful social commentary. He paved the way for Earth, Wind and Fire, Michael Jackson and eventually rap. Oh, well.
The Sex Pistols - Very few bands come out of nowhere and completely turn rock music on its ear. Some will say that The Sex Pistols were not even the first or best punk band (Ramones and the Clash, respectively), but the raw energy, the in-your-face, screw-everyone attitude, and their brief, fiery career are the stuff of which legends are made. Sid Vicious and Johnny Rotten’s snarls have become the images of the punk rock movement; some point to the birth of punk to a concert on June 4, 1976 in which the Sex Pistols played for 40 people which included members of the Buzzcocks, Joy Division, The Fall, and Morrissey from the Smiths. Look to most post-punk and alternative bands of the 90s and 00s (Green Day, Blink-182) for the sound of the Sex Pistols still raging on.- Blondie - Blondie helped establish punk rock as a melodic art form, and then they deftly took it and created New Wave. I consider the angelic “Heart of Glass” one of the first true New Wave songs. And while “Rapture” was not the first rap song, as some have suggested (”Rapper’s Delight” beats it by two years), Blondie was one of the first mainstream groups to recognize the genre and use it to create a number one song. If it weren’t for them, we may not have heard of the Go-Gos and the Bangles.
Bruce Springsteen - Ignore Bruce’s Born in the USA album, his 3+ hour concerts with the E-Street Band, and his longevity in the music biz. Instead, consider this; He is the father of modern-day Americana music. From his blue jeans and gruff voice to his songs about lost hope and society’s ills, he has personified the American heartland and the changes that have occurred over the past 30 years. Springsteen clones are everywhere - John Mellencamp being one of the first - but the popularity of such roots-rock faves as the Jayhawks, Lucinda Williams, Wilco and Ryan Adams can all look to the Boss for inspiration.- Led Zeppelin - I’m not a big Zeppelin fan. In fact, I’m probably one of the few people on this planet who doesn’t really like them. But I must give my props to them; you can’t mention the 1970s without mentioning Led Zeppelin. And it seems that pretty much any metal/post-metal/grunge/alternative/indie rock group will quickly give them a nod. They are considered one of the first metal groups, and Jimmy Page has influenced scores of guitarists.
Honorable Mention: Kraftwerk. 90 percent of the world has never even heard of Kraftwerk, and I can’t really name any song by them. But when I listen to them, I hear the beginnings of New Wave, Techno and Dance.
High Honorable Mention: Sorry, David Bowie, Pink Floyd and Marvin Gaye.
Omission: The Eagles. I’ve never understood how The Eagles sold 30 million copies of their greatest hits package. That aside, they are simply a popular band that just sticks out from the 1970s, playing lukewarm country-rock. I can’t really track any progression of the Eagles sound, aside from well, Don Henley (whom I like a lot better than his former group) and maybe Sheryl Crow. The fact that they gave us “Hotel California” is reason enough to ban them from any list.
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