4) Igor Stravinsky: Igor Stravinsky's "The Rite Of Spring" caused riots when it was first performed. These days you can't even get enough people to attend a classical music performance to get a decent fist-fight started. Boy, how times change. Sonic Youth have used enough mind-numbing feedback and played enough shows where they seem to be baiting their audience into some sort of violent freakout. But their fans are usually too schooled to fall for such things. I don't have the actual numbers in front of me, but I'd wager that SY have the most "Fans with Graduate Degrees from Bard College" than anyone this side of
Steely Dan.
3) The Velvet Underground: While the Velvet Underground will always be seen as one of the first "alternative" groups in rock n' roll--that is, a band that sold no records in its time but went on to become a major influence on others--they were really an incredibly diverse band that played all types of music but always slightly out of step with the times. That and initial bad luck ensured them a permanent cult legacy. Sure, everyone figures Sonic Youth memorized "Sister Ray," but they certainly also could appreciate "Who Loves The Sun." Even tough guys get tired of hitting themselves on the head with a hammer, after all.
2) The Stooges: No punk group, no post-punk group, no post-post-punk group can exist without acknowledging the Stooges. Like the Beatles, the Stooges wrote the rulebook for this sort of thing. Sonic Youth are one of the few bands who took "We Will Fall" as seriously as "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and knew they could never top it. But also knew it would be awfully fun trying.
1) Glenn Branca: Thurston Moore and
Lee Ranaldo both played with Branca before deciding not to work on Branca's farm no more. They looked at one another and saw kindred souls who both enjoyed the idea that music that doesn't immediately deafen you might be something they'd like to further pursue. Branca has never enjoyed anywhere near the commercial success of his former colleagues. But I bet if he got a good lawyer he could find some way to sue the pants off them for something! I mean, there's always something!
Link:
http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/lis...th-influences/