bands more influential than the beatles

[ratsprayer]

dont get me wrong, i really do love the beatles, but im always amazed at how theyre perceived as the most influential band ever.  in my never ending quest in musical nerdom and undying opinion mongering, i have a list who i think are more influential.  add more, tear mine apart, etc etc

beach boys
velvet underground
pixies
gang of four
joy division
miles davis
kraftwerk
any krautrock especially can & faust
sonic youth
led zeppelin
pink floyd (both syd & waters version)

im sure ill keep thinking of more.  any other ideas out there?

[wordawg]

Interesting thoughts.  Very personal and very subjective.
Some of mine

John Coltrane
Frank Zappa
John Mayall
Alexis Korner
Hendrix
The Clash


wordawg

[primushead]

Very good question ratsprayer.

Here are a few (and I'm sure I left some out)

U2
Zeppelin
The Clash
David Bowie
Talking Heads
The Smiths
The Pixies

(I wouldn't say these are MORE influential...but at least at the same level of influence as the beatles.)

[corey]

Nirvana influenced a lot of bands that are playing these days.

[primushead]

Nirvana influenced a lot of bands that are playing these days.

Oh, right.  Didn't they make that 'nevermind' album?  I don't think that ever took off :)

[ratsprayer]

Nirvana influenced a lot of bands that are playing these days.

i was going to add them, but i decided not to, only because kurt himself said they were derivative of sonic youth & pixies.  i suppose you can take any band and trace them back to mozart with enough steps though.   :D

[primushead]

i was going to add them, but i decided not to, only because kurt himself said they were derivative of sonic youth & pixies.  i suppose you can take any band and trace them back to mozart with enough steps though.   :D

Then you've gotta wonder....who influenced Mozart?

[ratsprayer]

yes, talking heads.  good one, i knew id forget something obvious.  the smiths, love 'em or hate 'em, are probably the band most influential over the whole scope of modern music, at least i think.

who could forget dylan?  and neil fucking young!

[marktwain]

james brown
parliament
robert johnson
the band
(yes I know, JB and Robert Johnson aren't bands.  Though it would be cool to name a band "robert Johnson")

[primushead]

yes, talking heads.  good one, i knew id forget something obvious.  the smiths, love 'em or hate 'em, are probably the band most influential over the whole scope of modern music, at least i think.

who could forget dylan?  and neil fucking young!

Good call!  who else are we leaving out?  I'm gonna dive into a little metal:

Ac/dc
Metallica (st. anger sucked though)
Black Sabbath
and...could GnR be counted?

[CC]

Then you've gotta wonder....who influenced Mozart?

I think that was JS Bach... but who influenced Bach?

[ratsprayer]

ok i forgot a huge huge huge one, and thats brian eno.

[primushead]

I think that was JS Bach... but who influenced Bach?

Is it...the time period?  Is it the time period in which he was living in? ???

[marktwain]

I think that was JS Bach... but who influenced Bach?

I'm trying to avoid studying, so I looked this up.  According to AllMusic, it was organist Dietrich Buxtehude, who was, in turn, influenced by his father, also an organist.

[primushead]

I'm trying to avoid studying, so I looked this up.  According to AllMusic, it was organist Dietrich Buxtehude, who was, in turn, influenced by his father, also an organist.

Wow, you just blew my mind :o

[marktwain]

Yeah, so it all goes back to Dietrich Buxtehude's father.  That was one cool cat.  No pics of Dietrich's dad, but here's Dietrich:

[Specialist]

The Who
Robert Johnson
Sonic Youth
Neil Young
Bob Dylan
Son House
The Flaming Lips
Led Zep
Joy Division
Suicide
Chuck Berry

[ratsprayer]

the "neo folk" scene made me think of one - nick drake.

excellent shit.

[peanut butter puddin surprise]

John Phillip Sousa.  Any ragtime composer you can think of...as ragtime begat boogie woogie, which begat jazz and the blues, which begat country and then rock n' roll.

It all really started with Mozart, IMHO.  He really created "popular" music, per se.

But as for bands/musicians as or more influential than the Beatles....here's my list:

Booker T and the MG's
Neil Young
Led Zeppelin
Galaxie 500
Johnny Cash
Jeff Beck
Stevie Wonder

[primushead]

gasp!  we didn't even mention Tom Waits!