What is it about music from the UK?

Let's not forget TV as well - those Old Grey Whistle Test shows are a mind-melting display of eclectic music taste, giving the audience (no doubt full of budding musicians) the chance to *SEE* that range of performers as well as hear them - and take visual cues from them - all in the comfort of their own homes.

Good on the BBC for that.

 

I wouldn't write off the US media. Jools Holland used to host a late night music show in the US. His introduction of Ambitious Lovers in the second half of this clip is quite funny.

 

Eclecticism is very much an aspect in of all this, in the UK there was less of the regimentation of there is rock music over there and there is a rock music station for you to listen to, there is soul/r& b over there and there is a soul/r&b station for you to listen to . That's all changed now, though there is still a national broadcaster broadcasting eclectic music - just not all at the same position on the dial.

 

Was that a nationally broadcast show though?

 

A good question. According to wikipedia, the first season was shown on NBC, so I imagine it was aired throughout the US. The second season appeared on syndication, so may have been available only in certain areas.

 

So many great artists. One which immediately came to mind is The Records, who released 3 albums on Virgin and built a loyal cult following in America.

 

Mine around 25 - 35% UK, the grass isn't that green here.

 

Nonsense:

Beer
Pubs
Queuing
Castles
Marmite
Fish and Chips
Tea
Maybe some other stuff too...

Anyway the vast majority of my music is from the US which they're better at but not as good on the above.

 

I grew up in the 80s and love the variety of new music trends coming out of the UK at that time. Then in recent years started to explore 70s rock where all the giant bands were mostly Brits. Thus, my music collection is roughly 70% British.

My greatest peeve in music is that American band CCR is grossly underrated, even in America!

 

I'm from the UK and most of my collection is UK acts. Always has been, but it's nothing to do with patriotism, nationalism etc. I like a handful of US acts, including the Grateful Dead, who are indeed exotic, as is a lot of West Coast stuff to me.

 

I'm the opposite.I'm from the UK,but apart from Paul Weller stuff virtually all my albums are American.

 

Very interesting thread.

I also tend to favour british bands, the creativity right there in the late 60's and early 70's is simply mindblowing.
It is also quite interesting that almost all progressive 70's rock bands I love and adore come from Europe, mostly from Britain of course. Still wonder why, with all the skills and resources American bands had, they could not match Europe in this "progressive" department? Too much cocaine maybe blurred their vision?

But of course Jimi Hendrix, Allmans, Byrds, Crosby Stills Nash and Young (more as solo acts than as a CSNY band) and all psychedelic West-Coast scene (The Doors!, Grateful DeaD) where really great, no doubt about it.

And there you had this incredible rock explosion of late 80s - early 90s in the USA: RATM, Faith No More, Kyuss, Nine Inch Nails, RHCP, Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, Jane's Addiction etc. all soooo good, I could not imagine my life without them. The last shot of rock greatness came from USA for me (Radiohead and Blur apart of course

 

Get yourself some Joe Harriott!

 

In fact, most of the great country and rockabilly pioneers are American.

 

There was a short lived but excellent TV show her in the States called Sunday Night/Night Music, but unfortunately it only lasted two years. But what a glorious two years it was: Sunday Night (U.S. TV program) - Wikipedia

 

My record collection is about 50:50 between UK & US

UK - 60s Punk, New Wave, Synth pop, New Romantics, 80's indie, Creation Records, Shoegaze, Dance Music, Britpop, various avantgarde stuff

US - 50's Rock n Roll, 60's Garage Rock & Pyschadelia, 60's & 70's Rock, Stax, Funk & Soul, Disco, Hip Hop, SST & Sub Pop, Alternative Rock

 

I might have more German music than British!

 

It"s English.

 

What's English?

 

May be a tad simplistic understanding of US AM/FM radio. The tight regimentation didn't happen until the mid 80s, prior to that Top 40 stations played all the hits. IF it made the Top 100 it got played regardless of genre. AM Singles radio was very eclectic during the 60s through mid 70s. FRee Form FM stations, again very very eclectic. Again segmentation only became greater from the mid 80s onward. For every commercial station there are 2-3 independent/ college stations pumping out an eclectic mix. All in all we are talking millions of listeners reached, more than any publication could hope to reach.

 

I listen to plenty of bands from both the U.K. and the U.S. I would guess that it's about a 50/50 percentage wise. I personally don't view either one as being better then the other. Both have great music.

 

I'm exactly the same. I listen to bands from the '60s to the 2000s and I'd wager that ~75% of them (and of my favorites) are all British.

 

I am from a neutral country and my tastes are guitar based bands that usually take inspiration from the US 50's blues artists and use somewhat their approximation of that.
Rolling Stones, Yardbirds, Who, Kinks, Cream, Jeff Beck Group, Free, John Mayall's BluesBreakers, Rory Gallagher (Irish), Traffic etc.

Some on the thread state the UK stuff was more exotic and if so perhaps this was due to the Brits real distance (cultural & physical) to their US heroes and influences.
They made an approximation and if their ensemble playing was not as consistently good as their current US peers then in my estimation their lead guitar playing usually was.

I don't know if US bands were in part either too respectfull towards their musical heritage to reinvent it or if perhaps some found it dated and embarassing to bother acknowledging it?

That said i love Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell (Canadian) & Santana but only like Creedence, The Doors, Paul Butterfield, Stevie Ray Vaughn etc.

I do love roots and originators of styles some of which are among these artists: Bob Marley, Otis Redding, Sly Stone, BB King, Albert King, Buddy Guy also.

 

Again it seems to come down to a competition ...
I like music from all over the place. There are the obvious British invasion bands
beatles
stones
who kinks
faces
yardbirds
moody blues etc etc

hard rock/heavy metal
zeppelin
sabbath
purple

the u.s. artists that influenced them
muddy waters
howlin wolf
willie dixon
robert johnson
elvis presley
little richard
jerry lee lewis
johnny cash
beach boys

But although to some degree the fifties, sixties and seventies made it seem as though the UK had bands and the US had solo artists. That really seems not quite right, because i think although a cultural difference lead to the UK having more bands than the US, the US had bands, but earlier, fewer.
I think UK bands formed due to a collective ideal/goal, where-as in the US there has always seemed to be a need to be the self made man, leading to more solo artists, but not exclusive as such.
We also can't forget that in the US tended to have famous studio bands ... the stax band, the motown band, the wrecking crew ....
This tended to encourage singers to sing to one of these great bands rather than form a group and get them tight and road ready...
We see tons more bands evolving after the british invasion and then it all kind of balances out somewhat.

I think often we forget that Europe, Australia and New Zealand also contributed a lot to English speaking pop/rock music though, and certainly in their own styles.

 

US Bands:

5 Royales
Moby Grape
Doors
Spirit
Go-Gos
NY Dolls
Suicide
Jefferson Airplane
Quicksilver Messenger Service
Santana
Grateful Dead
Big Brother Holding Co
Velvet Underground
Beach Boys
Mandrill
Poco
Buffalo Springfield
Mother Earth
Kak
She
Living Colour
Pixies
Green Day
White Stripes
Afghan Whigs
Mars Volta
Replacements
Runaways
Pere Ubu
Ohio Players
Husker Du
Black Flag
Stray Cats
Fishbone
Spoon
Talking Heads
Screaming Trees
Beastie Boys
BT Express
Dillinger Escape Plan
Blue Cheer
Fanny
Funkadelic
Tin House
Alice Cooper (band, before purge)
Steve Miller Band(specifically 60s work)
EWF
CCR
Smashing Pumpkins
Blondie
Television
Bangles
Van Halen
Ratt
Flipper
The Shirts
Screaming Females
the Shoes
Posies
Plimsouls
Byrds
MC5
Amboy Dukes
Sly and the Family Stone
ZZtop
Mandrake Memorial
Chicago
Santana
Pearl Jam
the Donnas
Nirvana
Metallica
Doobie Brothers
Little Feat
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Frightwig
Agent Orange
B52s
REM
Outlaws
Marshal Tucker
Lyres
L7
Allman Bros
Stoneground
Blasters
Sonic Youth
Grand Funk
Dream Syndicate
Anthrax
Megadeath
Babes In Toyland
Granicus
Los Lobos
X
Espers
Dillards
Bikini Kill
Parliament
Nazz
Stooges
Eagles
Kansas
Cheap Trick
B.O.C.
Aerosmith
Rain Parade
GnR
Mudhoney
Soundgarden
Canned Heat
Bad Brains
Mountain
Black Keys
RHCP
Rascals
13th Fl Elevators
Chamber Bros
Sons of Champlin
James Gang
Cactus
Bang

and there is plenty I missed.

I think with US bands there is a tendency to minimize or throw them away depending on the current fashions:
US 60s West Coast is distinctly American and has been cherry picked and other bands such as Moby Grape, Spirit, QMS, Kak, etc., have been forgotten, thrown away due to lack of radio airplay. US hair (late 80s) and glam (early 80s) metal has been marginalized, written out. US 70s FM radio bands like the Doobie Bros, Little Feat, Skynyrd, Eagles, Aerosmith, Santana, etc., have been marginalized due to over exposure. Stooges reign supreme whilst the MC5 has been marginalized due to their ability to play and their political leanings seem dated. How well known are the LA Paisley/Punk scenes, Boston's garage/punk scenes, 60s Northwest, 60s New Orleans? I have even seen here the beginnings of marginalization of NYC's punk scene as not being punk enough because no mohawks and buzz saw guitars. Then there is rock band, funk band, during the 50s and 60s and up to mid 70s they were all mixed together, as radio became safer, stratification occurred and many listeners don't even know it. So they mostly know what radio has fed them, and since the 90s the mainstream rock of the past is written out in favor of supposedly 'alternative'. Now country is the new mainstream for rock.