US vs UK:The Music Challenge

[gunnar hendershow]

60s - The Beatles were from the UK

70s - Led Zeppelin were from the UK and then later in the decade came The Police, The Clash, Siouxise & The Banshees, NWOBHM... yeah UK in a landslide

80s - US was being suffocated by Pop music, but there is the first age of Hip-Hop and golden age of Thrash Metal. But The Smiths were British, as was Madchester.

90s - Massive Attack and Radiohead. End of debate.

00s - Massive Attack and Radiohead. End of debate.

[Bodom]

America had The Blues and Doo Wop so they win the early Eras, America had the Hardcore punk scene of the 80's so they win that, and Grunge in the 90s.

It all really depends on what kind of music you listen to.

Edited September 21, 2007 by Bodom

[Pesci]

60s - US

70s - UK

80s - US

90s - UK

00s - UK

I loved the US "Doo Wap" era in the 60s, much more than anything the UK put out. I can't say I've listened to much American stuff from the 70s, whereas the UK has some awesome pop music. 80s goes to the US for me, because I can't stand much music from the UK in the 80s. 90s is an undisputed win for the UK, because of Britpop, and the 00s so far have easily belonged to the UK. Most music from the US I've heard has been wank, or boring and samey.

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

Um, Bodom, do you have any idea when the heyday of blues and doo-wop was?

[Skummy]

To be fair, there was a big blues revival in the early-to-mid '60s in the US, and while I wouldn't call it a "heyday" by any stretch, it's where a lot of the more well-known recordings of the likes of Son House come from.

[Jack_Attack]

60s: UK hands down. The Who were great, and the Stones. I'm not a big fan of the Beatles but they were undoubtedly revolutionary.

70s: I would have said UK, but one of my all time favourite bands wins this for the US single handedly. The Ramones > Sex Pistols. It's a close one. I'm sorry for not being patriotic.

80s: I was never into Bowie or any of the electro stuff. I can just about tolerate Aerosmith and Van Halen etc, so the US wins it. God I hate the 80s.

90s: UK 90s music was for the most part awful. Green Day killing off grunge was not. US. I'm sorry Oasis. I'm truly sorry.

00s: INGERLAND! The Libertines bossed the new millenium. I'm really into a lot of new UK acts lately as well, so WE win this round! Arctic Monkeys, Klaxons, Fratellis, etc.

Edited September 22, 2007 by Jack_Attack

[VerbalPuke]

Shit, the heyday of blues involved guys like Elmore James, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, T-Bone Walker, and Howlin' Wolf. That's the fucking heyday of blues, but we're going way back with that.

I'd also like to go into a bit more detail about my decisions, my initial post was made after work, leaving me with little to say. I'm going to use a bit of what Skumfrog had to say as a starting point.

I gathered from your post that there wasn't a lot of psychedelic (or good stuff rather) coming out of the US during the 60s? Correct me if I misinterpreted that, but I think part of my reasoning for taking the US in the 60s over the UK is due to the psychedelic coming out of the US at the time. Stuff like the C.A. Quintet, Fifty Foot Hose, 13th Floor Elevators (I know you appreciate these guys), and even Strawberry Alarm Clock (and I know this seems like flaky hippie shit, but after listening to a full album, I've determined that they were an excellent group) were all doing some fantastic stuff. As you mentioned, there was a lot of great garage coming out of both area's during the 60s, but I also gave the nod to the US here due to a lot of bands I enjoy. There's obviously the Sonics, but then you have shit like the Wailers, Count Five, Paul Revere and the Raiders, The Seeds, Amboy Dukes, and The Remains. The UK also had fantastic stuff going on in the garage department, but I just don't appreciate it like I did the US work. Of course, the UK was also the home of Arthur Brown, and he's damn near enough to give the UK the edge, but that'd be a lofty goal for old Arthur. That reminds me, Frank Zappa should be mentioned in any discussion of 60s music, he was an incredibly gifted guitar player and music composer. And I'd also like to name drop Blue Cheer, they deserve credit along with the Stooges and MC5 for really bringing forth the wildly unabashed sounds that gave way to punk and heavy metal. I'll cut myself off here for the 60s.

As for the 70s, it's another close debate, given that Motorhead and Black Sabbath are two of the greatest bands I've ever heard. However, my decision for the US in the 70s comes largely from the proto punk and punk that was around at the time. The early to mid 70s gave way to bands like Electric Eels, Rocket From the Tombs, The Punks, The Dictators, New York Dolls, and Zolar-X who sort of bridged the gap between the Stooges/MC5/Blue Cheer and punk itself. Over in the UK, there was Eddie and the Hot Rods, whom I'm not overly fond of, but still enjoy to a small degree, though I could be forgetting some groups (refresh me if I am). As for the punk music itself? I'll go the US in a landslide, with some utterly fantastic shit coming out from all over the country, NY and LA being the obvious hotspots. In fact, I'd go as far to say that I prefer the punk produced in the state of California itself than in the UK as a whole (we're talking The Weirdos, The Germs, The Dils, X, Black Randy and the Metrosquad, the Screamers, and the Controllers to name but a few). The Cali bands mentioned were really doing some great shit at the time, and experimenting with a lot of different sounds ranging from straight up rock, funk, electronics and surf in the Dead Kennedys case. That of course doesn't account for some of my personal favorites such as Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers from New York or the Dead Boys from Cleveland (though they were more popular in New York than anywhere else). Again, the UK were doing some excellent stuff with the Sex Pistols, Clash, Vic Goodard and Subway Sect, the Adverts, and the seeds of Oi being planted.

As for the 80s? It's based largely on my love of American hardcore, there were quite a few hot cities for hardcore during the 80s with Detroit, Boston, LA, New York, and D.C. being at the forefront. I'm not going to go into another list of bands, because each city itself boasts a plethora of excellent hardcore. Of course, the UK 82/D-Beat style in the UK was coming along nicely, but a lot of the bands associated with that style were pure garbage. Beyond this sound, bands like the Gun Club, Minutemen, Big Boys, and Husker Du helped make my decision, and are bands I'd consider "great". I admit that these bands are purely from a subjective standpoint, because if you judge by name recognition and monetary value, those four bands wont be considered. I'm going purely from the work they produced, regardless of where they stand on a "greatest of all-time" list, because their work speaks for itself.

As for the 90s and 00s? Eh. The US gets the nod in the 90s/00s due to the surf and garage revivals, and the fact that I can't think of any music from the UK that I enjoy through these two decades. There's also some excellent thrash bands making themselves known in the US as of the present day.

This post wasn't designated as a way of discrediting what Skummy had to say, I just used his post to give me a starting point for what I wanted to say. I agree with most everything he said, and I think we're on the same page, just at different paragraphs.

[Bodom]

Um, Bodom, do you have any idea when the heyday of blues and doo-wop was?

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

Neither of those were blues. Influenced by blues, maybe, but they were rock groups through and through.

[Bodom]

Neither of those were blues. Influenced by blues, maybe, but they were rock groups through and through.

[James_W]

60's and 90's were the easiest. Beatles and Oasis.