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I think it depends on the band. Few would call The Beatles an American act. That being said, last year I was having lunch with a friend from the UK and we got to talking about music from the UK. When discussing great British bands, I mentioned Led Zeppelin and she was astounded. She thought they were American.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Natnasci
This is a very general statement that I'm going to make, and it stems solely from my experience.
A lot of people who don't delve too much into a band or group, but know a song or two from that group, tend to think of them as Americans, since mostly the accents disappear while singing.
Of course groups like The Rolling Stones etc are know to be British, but you would be surprised at how many times I've heard over the years " Oh, I didn't know they were British ".
The same applies to some Canadian acts as well. Friends in Europe just assumed Bryan Adams was American.
Quote:
Originally Posted by easthome
Yes accents seem to often disappear when people sing, non native English speakers are always confusing British bands as American, not just bands but actors and actresses too. Also works both ways, we have American, Canadian, Australian actors on the TV here that I thought were British! Actors & actresses do different regional English language accents much better than they used to. I once won a 20 quid bet with a Romanian work colleague over Ozzy Osbournes nationality! :-)
That’s part of it. Zeppelin were a lot bigger in America then Britain back in the 70’s, not only due to the style of music they played but also because FM radio at the time was more willing to play their stuff in the US. Zeppelin weren’t a band that released many singles, which were a big factor in the UK. That’s why their manager Peter Grant decided to focus on the American market, because he understood that it would push the band into the stratosphere l
Zep were still fairly big in the UK, but they were overshadowed by Queen, Pink Floyd and The Stones in the 70’s there. In the US, they were the biggest act during that decade.
Last edited by PJSaturn; 05-06-2020 at 11:33 PM..
Reason: Quoted post deleted.
I think it depends on the band. Few would call The Beatles an American act. That being said, last year I was having lunch with a friend from the UK and we got to talking about music from the UK. When discussing great British bands, I mentioned Led Zeppelin and she was astounded. She thought they were American.
I probably met the only person on the planet who thought that.
I've told this story on CD before, but years ago, pre-internet, I used to spend my summers in France. I always made new friends and met a couple from England and two brothers from the US. In those days in France you used to hear a lot of Euro -pop on the radio, and in clubs. Clubs in smaller towns, not Paris etc and we were in a smaller holiday area. So you could go weeks without hearing what you are used to back home. All of us were sitting in a cafe, when an old Beatles song came on, when one of the brothers exclaimed " Finally some American music ! " After a long pause the rest of us started laughing. Now to be fair, I'm sure he didn't really believe the Beatles were American, but had an Anglo sound that he was used to.
I probably met the only person on the planet who thought that.
I've told this story on CD before, but years ago, pre-internet, I used to spend my summers in France. I always made new friends and met a couple from England and two brothers from the US. In those days in France you used to hear a lot of Euro -pop on the radio, and in clubs. Clubs in smaller towns, not Paris etc and we were in a smaller holiday area. So you could go weeks without hearing what you are used to back home. All of us were sitting in a cafe, when an old Beatles song came on, when one of the brothers exclaimed " Finally some American music ! " After a long pause the rest of us started laughing. Now to be fair, I'm sure he didn't really believe the Beatles were American, but had an Anglo sound that he was used to.
Haha. Well that's a first. The Beatles were part of the British Invasion that happened in the 60's.
How about we stop bickering about who is more influential and accept that both the UK and US are practically on par. Who one prefers is entirely subjective.
How about we stop bickering about who is more influential and accept that both the UK and US are practically on par. Who one prefers is entirely subjective.
One country that may have not been mentioned but should be is Jamaica which only had 1.6 million people in 1969 but lead to the development of dubstep, EDM, Dancehall, Rap and the Modern DJ (the stereotypical DJ is partially of Jamaican origin, before Jamaica’s influence DJs were more like radio personalities and weren’t really mixing things like they did in Jamaica). Not to mention Reggae and Ska as well. In fact EDM is technically a Jamaican music genre. Even Rap was technically invented by a Jamaican who was heavily by the music culture of Jamaica.
On the U.K vs. U.S I can’t give any credit to the U.K while they did a lot of things better than the Americans and many of my favorite artists and songs are from the UK in the 60s, 70s, 80s and even today, arguably moreso than American artists. Half of the U.K artists I listened to regardless of time period I couldn’t tell they were from the U.K from their voices. I can’t rate a country we’re anywhere from 50-75% of its successful artists at any time are using American accents or American influenced accents. Even if the music is better, which the U.K becomes especially when you factor in per capita, way too many American styles of music are being directly bitten, not even sub-genres for me to rate the U.K, music wise.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Milky Way Resident
I think it depends on the band. Few would call The Beatles an American act. That being said, last year I was having lunch with a friend from the UK and we got to talking about music from the UK. When discussing great British bands, I mentioned Led Zeppelin and she was astounded. She thought they were American.
I am not sure why anyone would have thought Led Zeppelin were an American band, indeed John Bonham's tragic death was well covered by the British press.
Even today Robert Plant still attends Wolverhampton Wanderers matches at Molineux Stadium, and Jimmy Page makes the papers due to his bitter long running dispute with neighbour Robbie Williams over planning permission issues. Last I heard Robbie Williams was blasting Black Sabbath albums really loud in order to annoy Page who lives next door to his Holland Park Mansion in London.
John Paul Jones's also lives in West London with his wife, and has three daughters.
One country that may have not been mentioned but should be is Jamaica which only had 1.6 million people in 1969 but lead to the development of dubstep, EDM, Dancehall, Rap and the Modern DJ (the stereotypical DJ is partially of Jamaican origin, before Jamaica’s influence DJs were more like radio personalities and weren’t really mixing things like they did in Jamaica). Not to mention Reggae and Ska as well. In fact EDM is technically a Jamaican music genre. Even Rap was technically invented by a Jamaican who was heavily by the music culture of Jamaica.
On the U.K vs. U.S I can’t give any credit to the U.K while they did a lot of things better than the Americans and many of my favorite artists and songs are from the UK in the 60s, 70s, 80s and even today, arguably moreso than American artists. Half of the U.K artists I listened to regardless of time period I couldn’t tell they were from the U.K from their voices. I can’t rate a country we’re anywhere from 50-75% of its successful artists at any time are using American accents or American influenced accents. Even if the music is better, which the U.K becomes especially when you factor in per capita, way too many American styles of music are being directly bitten, not even sub-genres for me to rate the U.K, music wise.
Strange because I've often wondered why American artists sound English when they sing! I think perhaps the answer is that most artists (not all) sing with a neutral accent - as for this boasting of who 'invented' genres - EVERY artist gets their inspiration from somebody else EVERY one just for example Led zeppelin were classed as folk/rock/blues influences from accross the globe and my favourite genre Two Tone a mix of punk (which was a London thing) and reggae (Jamaican), punk and even reggae both have 'roots' too - music was NOT invented in the 20th Century.
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