Why is it that the UK seems to produce so many world famous rock-stars? Disproportionate from it's population? 4 of the top 7 all time selling artists are British/UK. Look at their roll call: The Beatles Pink Floyd The Who The Rolling Stones Elton John Eric Clapton Queen (yes, Freddie Mercury wasn't born in the UK) Duran Duran Fleetwood Mac Van Morrison Led Zeppelin Sex Pistols The Kinks The Clash U2 And I'm sure others. It just seems funny to me (not like conspiracy funny, but "I wonder why that is the case" funny). I wonder if there are other speaking albums that are comparable to some of the Beatles albums or Pink Floyds.
I think there is more truth in that than people think. For example (totally forgot about Phil Collins and Genesis). Phil Collins speaking vs Phil Collins singing. It's funny how often singers can sing in "perfect English", but talk with thick (read: non American) accents.
I think that also plays a role (btw, when did you stop being the weird/creepy poster?) like in Britain, the Beatles were popular, but they weren't nearly as popular as they were here.
I've always been the same poster, as far as I know maybe our cycles synced up so you are feeling critical when I am feeling drunk
I think there might be something to the marketing as well...by the time they hit the us market, they already have a following, but the record labels can kinda start from scratch with their image/ marketing as far as perception goes. And they might already have a decent catalog of material that is new to the states, whereas maybe they had multiple albums in their home country already
All British bands cite a heavy American influence, few break any new ground, and only a couple dozen ever made the big time. Currently their music scene is dying of atrophy. America has provided hundreds of groundbreaking rock bands and continues to do so. Britain will continue to follow our lead.
3 of the top 4 are US artists. Roughly 90% of the top 500 are US artists. #1, The Beatles, have always said Elvis Presley was their biggest influence. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_music_artists Scroll down.
Expand your musical tastes a tad, and the Brits fade away considerably. http://riaa.com/goldandplatinum.php?content_selector=top-selling-artists British musicians idolatry of American blues and rock artists, combined with cute haircuts and clever marketing aimed towards 13 year-old American girls, skyrocketed The Beatles and The Rolling Stones to stardom. The same formula, but marketed towards teenage American boys who wanted to be guitar heroes, worked well for Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. Don't get me wrong, these are most definitely 4 of my favorite bands, and excellent musicians, but you'd never have heard of them without the mega-mass-marketing that brought them into your homes. There are thousands of more talented musicians than any of them that you will never hear of because they are not marketed.
