Most influential musicians/bands of all time, Poll Added

[muy_thaiguy]

What, no Little Richard?! The guy who influenced people like John Lennon, Bon Scott, The Who, hell, most of the bands that are considered to be influential were heavily influenced by him and others of the original Rockers. At least Louis Armstrong was put up there.

[F1fth]

Are we talking influential as in influenced music, or influential as in popular? It makes a big difference, as it seems like people are mixed up as to which.

Take, for instance, a band like Pink Floyd. They are of course extremely awesome and deservedly popular, but it's primarily because their music formerly was and currently is unlike anything else. In that regard, I would argue that they've actually influenced music very little. They are just so out there.

Assuming this thread is discussing musical influence:
Bands like Black Sabbath and Deep Purple were certainly an extremely influential presence on any kind of music that uses a distorted guitar. And whoever said Coltrane, thank you.

Assuming this thread is discussing popularity:
My bad.

[schmoozeinc]

metallica

[PLAYER57832]

Are we talking influential as in influenced music, or influential as in popular? It makes a big difference, as it seems like people are mixed up as to which.

Take, for instance, a band like Pink Floyd. They are of course extremely awesome and deservedly popular, but it's primarily because their music formerly was and currently is unlike anything else. In that regard, I would argue that they've actually influenced music very little. They are just so out there.

Assuming this thread is discussing musical influence:
Bands like Black Sabbath and Deep Purple were certainly an extremely influential presence on any kind of music that uses a distorted guitar. And whoever said Coltrane, thank you.

Assuming this thread is discussing popularity:
My bad.

Pink Floyd has influenced many others, they just were not copy-catted.

[2dimes]

Ok, we all agree this thread concept is awesome and will be on going for years. There is just no way to title it properly.

[F1fth]

Well, I contend that many bands when citing their "influences" will list bands that they like, not bands that had an impact on their music. Not that I'm saying there aren't bands that were influenced by Pink Floyd, but that their impact on how music is played as a whole was relatively small when compared to some of these other musicians. Really, they veered off on their own path and few musicians followed them there, but that's why so many enjoy their music, I think.

[jnd94]

Muddy Waters, Albert King, Chuck Berry, Robert Johnson, Buddy Guy: These guys are the pioneers of rock n roll. They influnced almost ALL of the great acts of the 60's,70's and 80's. Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Angus Young, the list goes on of guys that were heavily influenced by these early blues pioneers.

As far as punk rock goes, the sex pistols and the ramones need to be mentioned. As well as the Buzzcocks and The damned. The Clash also for making punk rock more than just 3 power chords. They branched out into every genre.

Guns n Roses has got to be highly influential. Appetite for Destruction created a wave of hard rock bands like buckcherry (among others) that worshipped that album.

Pearl Jam and Nirvana started the grunge movement and obviously that type of music exploded onto the mainstream.

I'm not a metalhead, but bands like metallica and slayer definitely had a mega impact on that specific genre.


And my favorite group of artists, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy, Aerosmith, Ted Nugent and the like. Every hard rock band swears by these bands. They are the definition of Rock Gods. They are the most influential to me atleast, and I started playing guitar because I wanted to be like Jimmy Page

[neanderpaul14]

Alvin and the Chipmunks

[Martin Ronne]

Who is on your list? Here are a few of my ideas..........

Regardless of anything else.

in no particular order:

Bach
Beethoven
Elvis
Michael Jackson
Madonna
Louis Armstrong
John Lennon
Mozart
Nirvana
Pink Floyd
Jim Morrison
The Sex Pistols
Bob Marley
Led Zeppelin
The Rolling Stones
Eminem
Jimi Hendrix
Ella Fitzgerald
The Grateful Dead
Bob Dylan
Billie Holiday
Chuck Berry

I will add to this list as I think of them, these are just off the top of my head.

I am utterly appalled that you choose to sully the good name of Johann Sebastian Bach, by put putting him on a list with, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and especially Eminem!


"You should have been a Cobbler!!!" - Johann Sebastian Bach

[2dimes]

Alvin and the Chipmunks

Cover band no better or worse than Elvis Presley. Hardly influential though.

[jnd94]

Who is on your list? Here are a few of my ideas..........

Regardless of anything else.

in no particular order:

Bach
Beethoven
Elvis
Michael Jackson
Madonna
Louis Armstrong
John Lennon
Mozart
Nirvana
Pink Floyd
Jim Morrison
The Sex Pistols
Bob Marley
Led Zeppelin
The Rolling Stones
Eminem
Jimi Hendrix
Ella Fitzgerald
The Grateful Dead
Bob Dylan
Billie Holiday
Chuck Berry

I will add to this list as I think of them, these are just off the top of my head.

I am utterly appalled that you choose to sully the good name of Johann Sebastian Bach, by put putting him on a list with, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and especially Eminem!


"You should have been a Cobbler!!!" - Johann Sebastian Bach

While I don't find Eminem influnetial in my taste in music, he brought mainstream rap to white suburban kids. They couldn't relate to Biggie or 2Pac but they could relate to him.

[pimpdave]

OP list is invalid without Weird Al Yankovic

[LYR]

Metallica. They were the most influential heavy metal band of their time...

[L M S]

Who is on your list? Here are a few of my ideas..........

Regardless of anything else.

in no particular order:

Bach
Beethoven
Elvis
Michael Jackson
Madonna
Louis Armstrong
John Lennon
Mozart
Nirvana
Pink Floyd
Jim Morrison
The Sex Pistols
Bob Marley
Led Zeppelin
The Rolling Stones
Eminem
Jimi Hendrix
Ella Fitzgerald
The Grateful Dead
Bob Dylan
Billie Holiday
Chuck Berry

I will add to this list as I think of them, these are just off the top of my head.

I am utterly appalled that you choose to sully the good name of Johann Sebastian Bach, by put putting him on a list with, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and especially Eminem!


"You should have been a Cobbler!!!" - Johann Sebastian Bach

While I don't find Eminem influnetial in my taste in music, he brought mainstream rap to white suburban kids. They couldn't relate to Biggie or 2Pac but they could relate to him.

This comment illustrates my point exactly. While there are many artists I do not find musically appealing....... their influence, however, is undeniable. Contrastingly, there are many artists I did not include on the original list I happen to very much appreciate, including: Samuel Barber, Rachmaninoff, Respighi, Violent Femmes, Shirley Horne, Radiohead, Aaron Copeland, Miles Davis, Dave Matthews, 311, Phish, Paul Thorn, NIN, Snoop, Galactic, Charlie Parker, Kronos Quartet, Bjork, Stevie Wonder, STP, TOOL, ......I could go on and on.

[SEAsportsfan]

Yeah, i think by "influential", he means "important to music today"...but i could be wrong

[Genghis Khant]

For example, the swing/big band music played a big role in its day, but it's not really my cup of tea, so I can't pick out who from that era should be high lighted as helping form the genre...

Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five and Cab Calloway


And from the early blues perspective;
Leadbelly
Blind Willie McTell
Mississippi John Hurt


Jazz owes a lot to Django Reinhardt and Steffan Grapelli

Industrial music started from Throbbing Gristle & Public Image Ltd. Without them we would never have had Nine Inch Nails, Ministry or Cubanate.


All modern dance music stems from Kraftwerk. Later pioneers of dance include SL2, Shut Up 'n' Dance, KLF, Orb, Hackney Hardcore, Meat Beat Manifesto, Sven Väth and Congo Natty.


Reggae; Coxsone Dodd, Duke Reid, Lee 'Scratch' Perry and, later on, King Tubby, Bob Marley, Prince Jammy and Bobby 'Digital' Dixon.

[strike wolf]

Who is on your list?

Here are a few of my ideas..........by no means is this a final list, nor is it possibly without fault, just an impromptu discussion starter.

Regardless of anything else.

in no particular order:

Bach
Beethoven
Elvis
Michael Jackson
Madonna
Louis Armstrong
John Lennon
Mozart
Nirvana
Pink Floyd
Jim Morrison
The Sex Pistols
Bob Marley
Led Zeppelin
The Rolling Stones
Eminem
Jimi Hendrix
Ella Fitzgerald
The Grateful Dead
Bob Dylan
Billie Holiday
Chuck Berry
U2

I will add to this list as I think of them, these are just off the top of my head.

There has been much discussion on the topic....so.....if you have someone to add to----or to delete from the list, state your case for review by the CC community and the list shall be updated accordingly.

Not outright dismissing it as teh rest of your list is very good but Madonna? I'd like to hear an explanation on that one. Oh and add Freddy Mercury.

[Genghis Khant]

Folk guitarist Bert Jansch deserves a special mention too. Not many people have heard of him, but Jimmy Page certainly has - most of his best riffs were originally Jansch's.

[Genghis Khant]

U2? How did they get on that list? Music doesn't get much more middle-of-the-road than U2.

[strike wolf]

Who is on your list? Here are a few of my ideas..........

Regardless of anything else.

in no particular order:

Bach
Beethoven
Elvis
Michael Jackson
Madonna
Louis Armstrong
John Lennon
Mozart
Nirvana
Pink Floyd
Jim Morrison
The Sex Pistols
Bob Marley
Led Zeppelin
The Rolling Stones
Eminem
Jimi Hendrix
Ella Fitzgerald
The Grateful Dead
Bob Dylan
Billie Holiday
Chuck Berry

I will add to this list as I think of them, these are just off the top of my head.

I am utterly appalled that you choose to sully the good name of Johann Sebastian Bach, by put putting him on a list with, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and especially Eminem!


"You should have been a Cobbler!!!" - Johann Sebastian Bach

Michael Jackson was especially influential for his brand of music. Same goes for Eminem. I'm still waiting to hear why Madonna's on the list. How dare you insult Pink Floyd! I don't have any problems against Led Zep being on this list as I feel they were highly influential (and highly influenced).

If this was about the best musicians and bands of all time, I think you would have a point with Madonna, MJ, and EMinem but it's about the most influential.

[strike wolf]

U2? How did they get on that list? Music doesn't get much more middle-of-the-road than U2.

YEah I've always thought that U2 was fairly overrated but it's hard to name an 80s band that gets talked about more than U2, Unfortunately, it's becoming hard to talk about classic rock without U2 coming up (a real shame and a tribute to the increasing mainstream nature of radio now of days). Also, I listen to a lot of modern rock and I can see how many of the songs were at least in part influenced by U2. In a way it's a shame because there are a lot better bands out there to influence you, some of them from around the 80s but U2's middle of the road nature has actually made them into one of the more influential bands.

[thegreekdog]

In terms of rap music, please take Eminem off the list. He has influenced no artist.

Sugarhill Gang
Run DMC
NWA
Dr. Dre and/or Snoop
A Tribe Called Quest

These are the artists that have influenced rap... not Eminem. Further, to say that Eminem brought rap to white suburbia is crazy. I'll put it this way - as a former "child of white suburbia," I listened to rap music before Eminem was out of high school. See above.

[Genghis Khant]

In terms of rap music, please take Eminem off the list. He has influenced no artist.

Sugarhill Gang
Run DMC
NWA
Dr. Dre and/or Snoop
A Tribe Called Quest

These are the artists that have influenced rap... not Eminem. Further, to say that Eminem brought rap to white suburbia is crazy. I'll put it this way - as a former "child of white suburbia," I listened to rap music before Eminem was out of high school. See above.

Yup, I totally agree (except for Snoop Dogg - you gotta be joking!).

Although I'd add to this list;
Kool Herc (he did invent hip hop, after all)
Public Enemy
Ultramagnetic MCs
Grandmaster Flash
De La Soul
Eric B & Rakim

[strike wolf]

Funny cause in my area of white suburbia I knew very few people who listened to rap before Eminem...

I may not like the guy but I do think he deserves some credit.

[thegreekdog]

Funny cause in my area of white suburbia I knew very few people who listened to rap before Eminem...

I may not like the guy but I do think he deserves some credit.

That is weird. I'll put it this way - in my graduating class of 230 students (1997), there was one black kid and he was adopted by white parents. A bunch of us listened to rap.

Yup, I totally agree (except for Snoop Dogg - you gotta be joking!).

Although I'd add to this list;
Kool Herc (he did invent hip hop, after all)
Public Enemy
Ultramagnetic MCs
Grandmaster Flash
De La Soul
Eric B & Rakim

I'll agree with that list. I have not heard of Ultramagnetic MCs though. Dre's The Chronic really brought rap to the mainstream (in my humble opinion). That was one of my first tapes I ever purchased and included the song Nuthin But a G Thang which was widely played by the white kids in my neighborhood.