Most influential American rock band?

[jafter]

From our good friend the Heckler. Who do you think is the most influential American band.

No solo artists -- Elvis, Dylan, etc
No front man with a band - Frank Zappa, Jimi Hendrix.
Must be a band not a vocal group.

Heckler this is a tough one buddy, I would have to with the Beach Boys they were huge in the 60's the had the whole beach vibe going. Brian Wilson was a great song writer and an influential producer.

What does everyone else think?



Thank you Ron and Fez for finally being live in DC again.
Ok let's get the boys back live in NY. Don't give up the fight.

[Tall_James]

Buffalo Springfield...or maybe the MC5 or the Stooges or the Ramones.



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This message was edited by Tall_James on 4-2-03 @ 11:14 PM

[The Chairman]

Big Star cannot be ignored...

This lost great American band, fronted by Alex Chilton (The Letter) pretty much created jangle pop and was a major influence on bands like REM, Matthew Sweet, Teenage Fanclub, The Replacements, The Posies and more.

Nirvana, although they didn't invent grunge, did leave myriad bands in their wake.

Uncle Tupelo pretty much started the whole roots rock movement...Son Volt, Wilco, Jayhawks, Bottle Rockets et. al.

and finally I would cast a vote for the New York Dolls, the original glam band that influnced Kiss and almost every other hair band of the 80's.

But if I had to vote for one... The Ramones , no question. Invented punk as we know it and inspired thousands of garage bands that they too might make it on three chords and a dream.



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[fluffernutter]

I would have to agree with the MC5 and The Stooges but also the first incarnations of the Alice Cooper band and the Ramones later on in the 70's. Early Detroit and New York styles dominated what would become punk rock and latter day hard rock.

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<marquee behavior=scroll direction="left" scrollamount="7">When they broke down the door/and put their guns in the face of your wife and child/and as they pinned you to the floor/did you say "officer,/i am not resisting you."?/American Justice american dream/is this what ' the other half ' means/half of our lives dissolved in fear/half of our rights they disappear/is our apathy so corrosive/where does the cycle start/hear the sirens screaming out in the distance/hold your family close to your heart/American Justice American Lies/a war of words that I despise/I wish the good cops If they exist/the very best/and a bullet for all the/complications injustice deliberations what's the deal/they fake it, we break it,/and take back what they steal/we could rise black and white/unbound and make them pay/for every tear, for every fear, defend our yesterdays/when they dropped the bomb on the building to kill a MOVEment/did they care where the rights of the murdered went/police terror in the eyes of the children/police terror in the streets of every town/where's our freedom when the sun goes down/and will the houses that the landlords built/keep out the bullet sound/American Justice American Lies/a racist prison/anaesthetized/I wish the good cops If they exist/the very best and a bullet for all the . . ./so we try/to defend/together/defend our yesterdays/, defend our tomorrows/together together</marquee>

[fezident]

To me, the word "influential" implies at least a certain degree if "superstardom". It means that millions of other bands copped your look, sound, & attitude. I think the following groups really opened all the doors for the bands that followed. Fashion, production, songwriting.....everything!



70ies= Zep & The BeeGees

80ies= Motley Crue and Duran Duran

90ies= Nine Inch Nails and Nivana



Fez 4 Prez!!

[The Chairman]

70ies= Zep & The BeeGees

80ies= Motley Crue and Duran Duran

90ies= Nine Inch Nails and Nivana


The question was AMERICAN rock bands with very specific limitations.

Zep were English as were Duran Duran. BeeGee's were Australian.

As for your picks...eveyone's entitled to their opinions.

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[A.J.]

Beach Boys = For studio and production innovations and shifting rock from singles-oriented to album-oriented.

Velvet Underground = The first punk band?

Sly and The Family Stone/P-Funk/James Brown and the Famous Flames = invented funk/disco



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[guttersnipe]

Damn, I was gonna say The Ramones and The Velvet
Underground, but everybody beat me to it.

~snipe


the artist formerly known as <br>cherrynoid<br>

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[RageCage]

Color Me Badd
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Kool and the mother fuckin gang.

This message was edited by RageCage on 4-3-03 @ 11:23 AM

[The Blowhard]

The Ramones are probably one of my favorite bands of all time but The New York Dolls started it all in NYC. They never get any credit and damn it they deserve it!

<img src=http://www.richstillwell.com/Heck.gif>

[SuperClerk]

I'm suprised that nobody mentioned Aerosmith.

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Thanks to Toddevf for sig pic

[Wormwood]

Everyone was stroking Velvet Underground last night but they seemed to forget about The Stooges (Iggy Pop)

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The trouble with Communism is the Communists, just as the trouble with Christianity is the Christians.

[TheMojoPin]

I'm happy nobody mentioned Aerosmith. When have they been anything but derivative?

And this topic is WAY too frustrating. Well played, Heck...well played...

I mean, in terms of MOST influential, I'd have to go back to the guy who essentially started "rock" itself, Bo Diddly...plus he was mixing in the blues and R&B, was playing things louder and faster than anyone at the time (Punk) and used vocal styles VERY similar to rapping at the time, so he's basically the prototype for three of the main genres of music that America is famous for...

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[A.J.]

I mean, in terms of MOST influential, I'd have to go back to the guy who essentially started "rock" itself, Bo Diddly...plus he was mixing in the blues and R&B, was playing things louder and faster than anyone at the time (Punk) and used vocal styles VERY similar to rapping at the time, so he's basically the prototype for three of the main genres of music that America is famous for...

Good call. They're not "bands" but as artists they influenced everyone: Robert Johnson and Chuck Berry.

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[jratt]

The Ramones , no question. Invented punk as we know it and inspired thousands of garage bands that they too might make it on three chords and a dream.


with out a doubt this guys are one of the best
but with that said i think the most influential
american band is

beach boys----the pet sounds albulm is the best piece of music i have ever heard and you can hear that influence on almost every single
song you here today and this is comming from a guy that loves hardcorepunkska music
but that albulm just gives me the chills

jratt AKA johnbravo
...im a big black dude with a cool car. I go by the name "nigger". dont be shy.

as for people wishing they were you...

Nobody wishes they were a mistake.

[DarkHippie]

Buddy Holly and the Crickets. they had a pround influence on both rock and country.

the Kingston Trio (indirectly). They were the vanguard of the folk revival of the early sixties. if they weren't a sucess, people like Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger never would've gotten recording contracts, and modern music would be forever altered.

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[DJEvelEd]

Wishbone Ash
Budgie
Spinal Tap

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Big bird is Ferrall's bitch
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

[Furtherman]

Uncle Tupelo

The Allman Brothers Band



This message was edited by Furtherman on 4-3-03 @ 3:33 PM

[The Chairman]

Great (and funny) posts here.

Some additional thoughts:

Aerosmith would be my choice for a topic asking for most derivative bands of all time. They were America's answer to Led Zeppelin et. al.

The Beach Boys are amazing. Pet Sounds is a top ten desert island disc and is sheer brilliance. It's just that I can't reflexively name six specific bands that can be linked, Kevin Bacon style, to The Beach Boys. Barenaked Ladies :-)?

The Stooges are a good pick.

The Velvets even better. They spawned tons of lo-fi art bands all over the worlds.

Bo Diddly, Buddy Holly, Robert Johnson, all had to be eliminated because of the restrictions placed on the choices.

No one mentioned CCR, perhaps one of the greatest American Bands, but I don't think THAT influential.

And then there's The Allmans and Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Southern Rock thing.

Two other bands - The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers require mention. I nominated Uncle Tupelo and that whole roots rock thing as one choice, but the Burritos and The Byrds' Sweetheart of the Rodeo are way influential, as are the previous choice of Buffalo Springfield.

But as the history of Rock and Roll continues to be written, we continue to see the first Ramones album surpassing that of almost every other American band in list after list. I still say The Ramones.

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[SMACKTARD]

for metal, id have to say slayer. in my opinion from slayer all the great types of metal have branched.

[fezident]

OOPS! I totally goofed. I guess I forgot that the thread was supposed to be aboot AMERICAN bands when I made my other post.

I'm gonna say THE RAMONES and/or THE BEACH BOYS.

Fez 4 Prez!!

[Gvac]

Creedence Clearwater Revival.

I think people don't realize just how huge they were in the late '60's and early '70's, and even though they were from California, they really ushered in the whole country and southern rock genres.

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[Fezzie-Lo]

Beach Boys, hands down.

[East Side Dave]

Scorpions

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Big Ass Mafia

[Shecky]

The RAMONES, NIRVANA or The CHILLI PEPPERS

PRAY FOR THE BRAVE ONES!!!!

Later On,
SHECKY

[mikeyboy]

The CHILLI PEPPERS


I think you can make a pretty credible argument for just
about anyone mentioned in this thread except for
these guys and Aerosmith.


<IMG SRC="http://www.angelfire.com/film/mikeyboy/sig10.jpg">

[stinkbud]

I agree with pretty much all your posts...

...but I can't believe Metallica has not been metioned. They have neen the epitomy of "Metal" early in their career and have been a clear inluence to virtually every metal band to follow.

[jafter]

Heckler this is such a friggin tough topic.

I agree with some selections
Velvet Underground/New York Dolls - influenced Bowie, REM early generation punk and Glam
Alice Cooper band - influenced Kiss spawned theatrical rock
Steppen Wolf - first to use the term "heavy metal" in a song
Allman Brothers - Southern rock.

I think it is a tie with the Beach Boys and the Ramones.

With everyone bowing to the Godfather of Rock and Roll - CHUCK BERRY. I know Elvis is the King, Little Richard is the Queen, and The Beatles are Gods. Chuck Berry is the most influential person in Rock and Roll. He took what the blues men before him and turned it into Rock and Roll. Almost everyone has covered a Chuck Berry tune or stole a lick from Chuck from the Beach Boys, Beatles, Stones, and everyone else who plugged in a guitar.



Thank you Ron and Fez for finally being live in DC again.
Ok let's get the boys back live in NY. Don't give up the fight.

[Crippler]

I know the Beach Boys are the American Beatles, and most of the "influential" rock bands are a little before my time. But I cannot let this thread go any further without the mention of Van Halen. Straight ahead, Pasadena rock at it's finest. Granted, most of their bastard children can be seen on a VH-1 Hair Band special, but their influence can't be denied.

Much the same as Cream, Led Zep, & Black Sabbath are responsible for thousands of young men picking up a guitar in the late 60's and into the early 70's...Eddie is partly responsible for thousands more picking up their guitars in the late 70's and into the 80's. Not to mention that at one point, the group was so big that record companies put together bands based on the Van Halen 'formula.' Blazing, solo-heavy guitarists (of varying talent level, unfortunately)...heavy, driving rhythm section...and a loud, prancing, blonde showman for a frontman.

SigPic thanks to TenbatsuZen
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This message was edited by Crippler on 4-4-03 @ 1:20 AM

[high fly]

At first I thought the Stooges, but that might fail the "leader and his backup band"-test.
Ramones, Chili Peppers- grunge, all owe the Stooges.
Cobain wanted to be Iggy so badly, it killed him.
The Velvet Underground were great, but I don't see them kicking off a whole movement like the Stooges did with punk, which saved rock and roll from petrifying, thus making possible the rennaissance we saw in the 80s and 90s.
Glad you brought it up, Heckler, I hadn't really thought about it that much, I guess we produce mostly great solo artists.

" and they ask me why I drink"

[TheMojoPin]

If there were any justice, it would be The Replacements or Whiskeytown.

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[Kewlkat]

Ok, I have to insert joke.....the rf.net band/moshtones

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thnx to irishkb, nice work bud

[The Chairman]

If there were any justice, it would be The Replacements

Mojo: If you were a pill, I'd take a handful at my will and knock you back with something sweet and strong.

Long Live The Mats Army Nation.

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[Tall_James]

Long Live The Mats Army Nation.

We are the sons of no one, bastards of young.

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[TheMojoPin]

Ah, yes, here comes the regulars, by way of the Skyway...

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[Lummox]

Thank you Crippler, I don't think anyone has inspired more copycats than Van Halen. That includes VH Sammy, and the other forgettables that could never fill the shoes of the great (however unlikeable) David Lee Roth.


Peace through superior firepower...

[TheMojoPin]

"I wish you would
Come pick me up
Take me out
Fuck me up
Steal my records
Screw all my friends
They're all full of shit
With a smile on your face
And then do it again"

THAT'S a fucking rock song, motherfuckers.


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[FUNKMAN]

Grand Funk Railroad...

go to the link below for an "objective and unbiased" article on their influence in American Rock & Roll...

Hey, they took a song titled "We're An American Band" and it went to #1 before the album came out...

http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Cabaret/9455/mag.html

<img src="http://www.grandfunkrailroad.com/images/lives100.gif">

[high fly]

"We're An American Band" --I had the 45, and as I recall, on the flip side was "Footstompin' Music", which I liked better.
GFR couldn't touch the Stooges.

" and they ask me why I drink"

[golfcourseguy]

Since Ron asked for the "folk influences on RnR", I'll offer the first "bluegrass band", Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys. By 1945, at tempos much,much faster than before ,Monroe served up a rhythm heavy on the backbeat(think snare drum), while his leads reflected the bluesman he backed up as a "young'un". The "root/fifth " positions popularized by Chuck Berry (aren't these called "power chords",when played on the bass strings?)was already evident in his playing. Earl Scruggs' "revolutionary" 3-fingured style foreshadowed "riff-rock" by generations. Suffice it to say,you can't listen to radio for a day without hearing Lester Flatt's "G run".
That's all I got... for now.




" editing posts since day one"

[Stalker Patti]

I would say, The Beatles, Nirvana, Led Zepplin,and Black Sabbath, and U2, to name a couple!

[The Chairman]

I still say The Ramones.

Scratch almost any great alternative... rock ...punk/pop band post-1976 and traces of The Ramones will appear.

The vivid simplicity of their music was fundamental to alternative rock music. Without their sense of unsophisticated three-chord perfection - music lapped in absurdity but transfigured by sacramental melodic energy - what would The Sex Pistols and The Clash have done?

The Ramones were one of the hinges of music history:there was music before them and music after them, and they were not the same.

CKAGA

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[jafter]

I would say, The Beatles, Nirvana, Led Zepplin,and Black Sabbath, and U2, to name a couple!


Hi Patti, we are talking about American bands so I take it you mean Nirvana.

The vivid simplicity of their music was fundamental to alternative rock music. Without their sense of unsophisticated three-chord perfection - music lapped in absurdity but transfigured by sacramental melodic energy - what would The Sex Pistols and The Clash have done?


The Pistols were a force on the punk scene, but they were only around for a very short time and only released on studio album & the sound track for the "Great rock and roll swindle".

As for the Clash they had a broad range of music from punk, rock, reggae, an Asian flare, and some middle eastern influence. The clash were much more political in their writing where the Ramones were about having fun.

Don't get me wrong I love the Ramones I just got 4 cds in the mail from BMG and I would recomend anyone who belongs to BMG to order the Ramones Remasters I got 4 for 29.00.

The Ramones were about having fun and taking the music that they loved growing up in the 60's and speeding it up and having some fun. For a band that never got any real radio play had such a huge following.

Crippler I will give you Van Halen/Kiss on the influence on all of the hair bands of the 80's. I added Kiss for the stage show and Eddie did get millions of kids trying to imitate him on "Eruption".



Thank you Ron and Fez for finally being live in DC again.
Ok let's get the boys back live in NY. Don't give up the fight.

[billyio]

I cannot believe the Doors were not mentioned. I'd say the Doors,Velvet Underground, REM,Van Halen, the Ramones, and Sonic Youth/Nirvana.

See Ya!

[FUNKMAN]

which I liked better.
GFR couldn't touch the Stooges.



the mention Alice Cooper and the Stooges in the article... Turns out they are also from the Detroit area like GFR...



<img src="http://www.grandfunkrailroad.com/images/lives100.gif">

[high fly]

Alice Cooper ripped off the Stooges.

" and they ask me why I drink"

[The Chairman]

I was just listening to Zen Arcade and I say Husker Du makes top ten.

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slanted and enchanted...
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[The Chairman]

oh and pavement. definitely pavement.


"pigs they tend to wiggle when they walk."

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[TheMojoPin]

Are we not counting hip-hop? If we are, Public Enemy is a must.

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[jafter]

Are we not counting hip-hop?


I guess I am a little bit to old for hip hop, I remember when it started and was like "Can you play an instrument or do you have to just steal everyone else's music to make your own."

So I would not consider most hip hop acts bands, but I would have to say Run Dmc would definitely listed as one of the most influential hip hop artists.

Thank you Ron and Fez for finally being live in DC again.
Ok let's get the boys back live in NY. Don't give up the fight.

[high fly]

I still say the Ramones

Sorry Chairman, the Stooges did it first. They spawned the Ramones.


" and they ask me why I drink"

[TheMojoPin]

And The MC5 spawned The Stooges.

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[The Chairman]

Sorry Chairman, the Stooges did it first. They spawned the Ramones.

The question was who was the most influential, not who was first. Just because a band influenced and/or inspired another does not make it more influential. Same goes for art, cinema, literature.

Who would you say was more influential, Mudhoney, The Wipers, The Melvins, The Raincoats or the band they inspired, Nirvana?

You have to be more than first to be influential. My interpretation gives more weight to bands that influenced other bands in a Six degrees of Kevin Bacon kind of way.

It is a very tough question. If I could, I'd answer with a triple bill troika: MC5, The Stooges and The Velvet Underground. They to me are the "primary colors" of alternative and punk.

FYI, I asked Ron this question. His said "tough question, I thought about this one, I'd go with The Byrds."

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[HAMMERHEAD]

I can't believe it, no one has mentioned the greatest band of all time along with the best frontman in the history of rock & roll. Ladies and Gentlemen I say that the most influential AMERICAN rock band is The Doors . The funny thing is I wasn't even alive when they were together. But there music has standed the test of time. Also Jim Morrison set the standard for frontmen.

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thanks to ToDd eVf
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PDT 4-LIFE

[A.J.]

Also Jim Morrison set the standard for frontmen.

I'm a Doors fan but Mick Jagger was prowling the stage long before Morrison ever did.

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A Skidmark production.

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[Alice S. Fuzzybutt]

Since Iggy and the Stooges, Alice Cooper, The Ramones, Nirvana, VU, and The Replacements were already mentioned, I add this to the list:

Patti Smith Group
Sonic Youth

And I'd like to add Blondie-- they introduced rap into the mainstream with "Rapture."

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thank you dcpete!

I'm a big wheel down at the cracker factory.





This message was edited by Alice S. Fuzzybutt on 4-11-03 @ 4:01 PM

[The Chairman]

The Chairman encourages all to join him and Too Cute at the Wilco/Sonic Youth concert at Central Park Summer Stage.

Two great, influential bands.

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[high fly]

CHAIRMAN-- I still insist on the Stooges- not only for being first, but for the bands they influenced, including the Ramones.
No one influenced the punk movement more than the Stooges.
Thanks to punk invigorating the rock scene, we got the revival of hard rock in the 80s and 90s.
Give it up for the Stooges!

" and they ask me why I drink"

[The Chairman]

CHAIRMAN-- I still insist on the Stooges


Come on, The Stooges stole everything from a great and influential band that I cannot believe was not mentioned yet...The Eagles!

KAGA

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slanted and enchanted...
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[Ralphy Ramone]

The Starland Vocal Band,The Terry Jacks,and The Cowsills ....just to name a few.

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It's T.V.'s fault I am this way.