Greatest Band Round #4 Final FiVE

[luvthelighthouse]

Meleah, is that your Top five list then? Or were you only commenting on five? BTW, I'm glad you joined in the fun w/us!

I have say, the top three I think I have in my head, but narrowing it down after that is gonna be too hard for me! I happen to love most songs because of their lyrics, so it's no surprise Dylan is gonna be one of mine. I'll leave out the others for now, as we aren't that far in the game yet.

[Maleah]

Oops! Yep that's my top 5! lol And thanks, I'm glad I ventured into the voting too! Lots of interesting and fun discussion

[MikeA]

A Freudian slip, Mike? Don't you mean the Beach Boys and not the Who?

Not a Freudian Slip. CRS! That happens a LOT. Besides, I like the WHO better than the Beach Boys anyway <LOL>. I was into the "Bad Boys" more than all them clean-cut types (Beach Boys, Beatles, etc.)

But actually, I just mis-remembered who was on our top-10 when I wrote that. Trying to justify my picks more to myself than anything else. It would be so much easier if we were picking out who we "liked" best. I assure the Who would have been much further up MY list!

[cynd1231]

Rolling Stones
Led Zeppelin
Jimi Hendrix
Bob Dylan
Janis Joplin

[sodascouts]

I have to say it's interesting that most of these are not bands, but people! Perhaps it's the individuals who really do stand out. My five:

Elvis Presley

Michael Jackson

Beach Boys

Bob Dylan

Janis Joplin

[Freypower]

Chuck Berry
Bob Dylan
Jimi Hendrix
Led Zeppelin
Rolling Stones

How do I make a case for these artists? I am not really even a Chuck Berry fan but I defer to Maleah's comment that he 'created rock'n'roll'. All those memorable riffs, the duckwalk, the risque lyrics ('can you imagine the way I felt/I couldn't unfasten her safety belt'). To have heard these songs of teenage rebellion and FUN back then must have really shaken the establishment up. Plus, Berry was a black guitarist and apart from Hendrix, not that many black musicians have followed in his footsteps, turning to soul & R&B instead of rock (as they were probably right to, of course).

Bob Dylan - well, where do I start? I can't do this. He took folk music and made it iconic. He then made rock music intelligent in terms of what you could say lyrically. His influence on the Beatles and all successive 'serious' songwriters can't be stressed enough. I know many people don't like his singing (I urge you to listen again to Like A Rolling Stone or Lay Lady Lay for the extraordinary way he was able to vary the sound of his voice, if you don't think he is a great singer). So many of his songs are so iconic that they still leave me gobsmacked and awestruck when I listen to them (and yes, that is my heart talking there).

Jimi Hendrix - the most influential instrumentalist ever. The king of cool. By the way he was a great singer too (listen to Hey Joe or The Wind Cries Mary). He had extraordinary stage presence.

Led Zeppelin - no current band can deny being influenced by them. They covered literally every genre from heavy metal (Whole Lotta Love) to blues (Gallows Pole, Since I've Been Loving You) to prog rock (most of Physical Graffiti) to folk rock epics (Stairway To Heaven) to funk (Trampled Underfoot) to bucolic celebrations of the English landscape (Down By The Seaside) to humour (D'Yer Mak'Er, Black Country Woman) to slick power pop (Fool In The Rain) and even to world music (Kashmir). These songs have stood the test of time so well that they cannot be ignored.

Rolling Stones - again I could just list the songs. All I will say is Mick & Keef rule. I cannot analyse the Rolling Stones because they are too important to me.

[MikeA]

Nancy, do you think that being in a group dilutes the recognition of the individuals? Maybe it is "easier" for an individual to gain attention...more focus entirely on him or her rather than being focused on a group where individual recognition for contribution is less acknowledged.

Interesting observation.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

My heart is telling me that at least one woman belongs in the top 5, so I struggled long and hard to decide if it should be Aretha or Janis and Aretha won out. It really won't make a difference in the final talley, but here goes my top 5:

Aretha Franklin
Chuck Berry
Elvis Presley
Jimi Hendrix
Rolling Stones

[MikeA]

Voting is Over.
Here is the top-Five

With 10 votes

Bob Dylan
Chuck Berry
Jimi Hendrix

With 9 votes

Elvis Presley
Rolling Stones

************************************************** **
With 6 votes

Led Zeppelin

With 3 votes

Aretha Franklin
Janis Joplin
Michael Jackson

With 2 votes

Beach Boys