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Originally Posted by SuchFriendsAreDangerous
Now we're getting somewhere. Can we take this a step further? How successful were these bands? Were they big enough in the "mainstream"? Did they have an impact of their own? Thank you for actually posting some substance by the way, I appreciate it (sincerely)
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Dude, I named, like, half of these bands in my post. This guy listed more bands than I did, but still... C'maaan!
Anyway, don't forget the higher profile artists who directly cite the Beatles as an influence... You'll have to move forward a couple years in time, but these artists all carry with them a piece of the Beatles' dynamic:
Simon and Garfunkle - Hugely popular, definitely have their own legacy, might even be on a par with the Beatles in terms of quality, songwriting, etc.
Nilsson for sure.
Pink Floyd. For christ's sake, of this band stayed in tact, they'd probably be as big as the Beatles by now. Unfortunately they're more like the Stones at this point, or (much worse) Van Halen, since they have three distinct eras at least, and their fans are split into warring factions.
Donovan - Man, this guy took the Sgt. Pepper approach and ran with it. Huge talent, and extremely influential to important current artists like Beck, and Sufjan.
U2, The Police, the Cure - Probably the three definitive '80s bands. The Beatles influence is palpable in all three, but it stands out most in the Police. Extremely musical, challenging, and prior to becoming "Sting's old band," they were pretty damn good. U2 just wanted to be the Beatles, and kind of became the closest thing, by default, since they loved to switch up their sound and stayed popular for so *motherfucking* long. The Cure, I'm not sure about, but something about their early aesthetic feels very Beatlesque to me. They also became experimenters, only they never strayed to far from the frantic pre-alternative angst whining that made them famous. Still, Disintegration is such an anal, pitch perfect album. It's reminiscent of Phil Spector production, and it's iconic as hell.
But all you need to do is look at the top selling college rock albums on any given week. Chances are, 70-100% will be less than six degrees sonically removed from the Beatles. Look at the biggest indie bands of the last few years. The Beatles were 50 years ahead of their time, but now it seems like every innovative band is doing their own Sgt. Pepper.
I'm really bored