Why relatively few well-known bands from Chicago? (Lincoln, Atlanta: sales, wages)

[jwaiter]

Originally Posted by marothisu

yeah there's a lot from Chicago that goes back then. I don't think I mentioned Benny Goodman either. Sam Cooke pretty much invented soul music though and that's allllll Chicago. Also, The Dells (Harvey on the South Side), Five Stairsteps, and Lavern Baker all from Chicago too. For some more rap, Do or Die as well. For some more metal you have Pelican as well. For 60s "garage rock" you have Shadows of Night too.

Also, Louis Armstrong's career and early development centered around him living in Chicago and he has some very important/famous recordings from Chicago.
If you look at everyone in the Rock n Roll HOF, there are currently 10 acts from Chicago (if you count Buddy Guy and Muddy Waters)... Once Chicago and Styx make it (should be soon), that number will go up even more.

I just wanted to give a shout to the Chi-Lites.

Curtis Mayfield went to Wells HS, right down the street from my place. He dropped out as his music career was way more important, good decision (in his case!). Curtis was amazing.

[ForYourLungsOnly]

Originally Posted by Plzeň

It might be because I'm getting old and out of touch, but has there even been a really big rock band to break out of Chicago since Smashing Pumpkins?

Some might say Wilco, but they're from the St. Louis metro and relocated to Chicago, and even that was over 15 years ago.

Every major act I can think of out of Chicago in recent years has been hip-hop.

It depends on what you call "a big rock band"...and how much you place importance on being "big". I don't know how proud Toronto is of Justin Beiber, but he is quite popular. There are LOTS of recent bands of out Chicago, some bigger, some smaller, a lot are fantastic.


And I'm still baffled by whoever said no music comes out of the Midwest....are you kidding me? Aside from what people have already mentioned....The White Stripes, The Black Keys, Wilco..the list goes on... not to mention the ENORMOUS influence that cities like Chicago, Detroit and St. Louis have had on music as we know it.

[mas23]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Sam Cooke, Jerry Butler, Donny Hathaway, Gene Chandler, The Impressions, Curtis Mayfield, Chaka Khan, Lou Rawls, Benny Goodman, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, The Staple Singers, The Chi-Lites, The Flamingos

ETC (and also R Kelly)

Originally Posted by Chi-turtle

Distrubed - Nu Metal band from the southside (although the singer is a jew from the northside)

Smashing Pumpkins come to mind

Mudvayne - Metal band from Peoria (not really Chicago).

There aren't a heck of a lot of bands that come out of the midwest in general. Other than Chicago and some other larger cities (Minneapolis, St. Louis, Detroit?) there isn't a heck of a lot of culture like they have on the over-populated coasts. That's an opinion but I think it also depends a lot on what TYPE of music you're into.

Being a fan of metal, right now many of the band I like happen to be out of the New England area, primarily Massachusetts. There's very few bands from the south, a good number out of California, and a handful out of the midwest.

When I was in high school and Grunge was the big thing at that time it seemed like all the bands I liked was from Seattle.

I think it's more genre specific, I'm sure Chicago has a lot of bands from the city, they just may not be of genres you listen to.

I never realized how many household names hail from Chicago. I'm surprised not may people have mentioned Quincy Jones, a Musical ICON from the South Side.

If you want to talk about the entire Chicagoland area then you must include MIchale Jackson (the single greatest pop artist ever!). Also Lionel Richie went to high school in Joliet.

[Plzeň]

Originally Posted by ForYourLungsOnly

It depends on what you call "a big rock band"...and how much you place importance on being "big". I don't know how proud Toronto is of Justin Beiber, but he is quite popular. There are LOTS of recent bands of out Chicago, some bigger, some smaller, a lot are fantastic.

Yeah, I'm not talking about quality so much as breaking big on a national or global level. Most cities have quality local bands. Who are some of the bigger recent bands out of Chicago?

[dchica]

Andrew Bird

[LeotheOrangeCat]

Originally Posted by Plzeň

Styx, Chicago, REO, Cheap Trick...Illinois was practically the global capital of cheese rock there for a few years.

The only way it could have been worse was if Journey was from Chicago.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by LeotheOrangeCat

The only way it could have been worse was if Journey was from Chicago.

Journey was the worst...except for the song Wheel in the Sky. That's a decent song. Everything else *cringe*

[LakeShoreSoxGo]

I'm in no rush to see Chicago bands featured on MTV. Ugh.

[Lake County IN]

Originally Posted by Plzeň

It might be because I'm getting old and out of touch, but has there even been a really big rock band to break out of Chicago since Smashing Pumpkins?

Some might say Wilco, but they're from the St. Louis metro and relocated to Chicago, and even that was over 15 years ago.

Every major act I can think of out of Chicago in recent years has been hip-hop.

Well, there pretty much haven't been BIG rock bands in a long time now.

If you think about it, you don't see bands as big as The Pumpkins and Nirvana were in the '90s anymore.

Pop stars like Lady Gaga and rappers like Eminem pretty much control music now, so it's not like it's a Chicago thing, it's just a rock has been strangled by radio not being what it was, MTV no longer playing videos, and the emergence of electronic dance music.

[moonsparkle]

While Chicago is a great city - it is a city for business and just doesn't feel like a creative place. Obviously, there are successful bands out of there but the overall vibe feels too businesslike.