Korean Job Discussion Forums

[itaewonguy]

I'm curious, did the Americans invade England around the same time the Brits invaded America? or were the Americans already famous in England?.

The rock sound from the British was just awesome and seems like they stole the light from the Americans...

nothing against the Americans, they had some legendary bands..
but man, The british were pumping out legends like the Italians were pumping out fast cars..

to name a few...

Pink Floyd, deep purple, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Kinks, bowie, elton john, the beatles, The Hollies, led zepplin, Van Morrison, Queen, slade, Sex pistols, Black Sabbath,The Clash, Joy Division, the ramones, Depeche Mode, clapton , ok I could keep going.. but Ill stop..

It seemed The British brought back the Blues from the Americans and then ran with it, then while The Americans had shut out the blacks from the music scene for so many decades the black sound was finally becoming popular on mainstream and everyone was trying to copy that, but the Brits were just rolling out the Alternative Rock bands and offering their own sound..
The Music that was to come from England in the 60's and 70's was just pure class...
I don't really know, but perhaps some of the music aficionados could give their thoughts on the Music scene back then....

How much was England an influence on the music era of that time?..

[AgentM]

Good question OP! I'd like to hear some thoughts on this too.

[eamo]

The standard story goes like this.....

.......Mainstream pop was terrible in both US and UK in the late 50's. "How much is that doggie in the window?", was a huge hit at the time. Mostly just crooners.

But if you wanted to rebel, you could be a Teddy-Boy. A rock n roller. Eddie Cochrane, Buddy Holly, Elvis...... That kind of thing. The teddy boys were the first people who didn't listen to the same music their parents did.

Then Lonnie Donegan had a few big hits in England in the late 50's. Which sparked off the Skiffle craze. Every teenager in England wanted to be in a skiffle band. Guitars were flying off the shelves. They couldn't make them fast enough.

Skiffle is where The Beatles et al started. So you had a whole country of young men who could play guitar and they all wanted to be in bands.

Another factor was the generous welfare state during the 60's and 70's. Young people could live on the dole and have lots of time to practice their music.

[Unposter]

If you want to sing the blues and/or rock, you gotta be down and out. White Americans weren't (for the most part). You want good American music, you have to check out the black artists.

But, I totally agree, the British sound of the 60s and 70s was the best "white" music ever.

I know it sounds a little not quite right and a bit stereotypical (I guess it is) but I think that is why music is so bad now. People are just too wealthy to put their hearts and souls into music. They are too busy preparing for professional jobs.

[morrisonhotel]

Dude, The Ramones were American. In answer to your question, no, not really with a few notable exceptions (Hendrix, etc.).

[roadwork]

[djsmnc]

I've always known it to be that in the late 50s, rock and roll was losing its edge on the charts in the US and a lot of people were turning to Doo-wop and stuff from the Everley Brothers. It was around '59 with the deaths of Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens that rock n roll started to become a bit passe in the US. The rock records were traveling with ships over to Liverpool and making waves with the already Skiffle-influenced British youth. Some American rockers like Gene Vincent were doing their tours over in England after falling out of favor in the US. The British really worked wonders with rock and infused it with the sound of "race records" that had been shunned by the mainstream white community in the US for years. Paul McCartney mentioned before that he was often trying to emulate Little Richard in the beginning.

As it was, a lot of people in the US got into the Dylan-influenced folk thing a bit more for awhile. The Beatles were a big hit in the US, but initially attracted more of a boy band type of following. It was the Stones and the Who that really locked in the bad-boy image. Eventually the US had some artists like Jimi, the Doors, Santana, CCR, Frank Zappa, Janis Joplin, and a number of others that made some significant contributions, though the British still held the mainstream for quite some time.

The more perplexing issue for me is how 80s metal and 90s grunge led to lame, queer emo shyte to come out of both sides of the Atlantic. Like this whole trend of masculinity, armpit smell, and straight sex that went on for so long turned into scrawny boys whining about and bending over for their boyfriends.

[morrisonhotel]

[beercanman]

[Tycho Brahe]

[itaewonguy]

[georgeperec]

Some interesting view on this

[roadwork]

[morrisonhotel]

[highdials5]

If you haven't already, check out an album called "Forever Changes" by a band called "Love" - it's often voted the best album of all time, and it's certainly one of them.