Smiths Top Beatles in NME Music Icons Poll

YAHOO ^ | 4/16/02

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

Angst-ridden Mancunian rock quartet The Smiths have beaten off competition from the Beatles and the Rolling Stones to be declared music bible NME's most important rock group of the last 50 years.

The band, renowned for its fatalistic lyrics and fronted by the misery-wallowing Morrisey, have not troubled the pop charts for more than a decade, but NME -- the fanzine formerly known as New Musical Express -- ranked them as more important than Elvis, the Sex Pistols and Madonna (news - web sites).

Bands were assessed on the number of front covers, letters and features they generated as well as end-of-year polls.

Beatle fans can take some consolation that the Fab Four came in second, followed by the Stone Roses and David Bowie.

Fellow Manchester band Oasis were the highest-ranking modern day band, at number six in NME's 50th anniversary survey. Self-styled Queen of Pop Madonna scraped in at number 42, eclipsed by controversial American white rapper Eminem (news - web sites) at 40.

Unsurprisingly, modern manufactured chart toppers like "Pop Idol" TV show winner Will Young and runner-up Gareth Gates failed to make an impression.

[freedom4ever]

never heard of them.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

NME's most important rock group of the last 50 years

No Musical Expertise

[wardaddy]

Smiths and Morrissey over the Beatles??....ROTFLMAO....they were interesting...but ...geez.

[wheezer]

The Smiths have beaten off competition from the Beatles and the Rolling Stones to be....

I'd bet Morrisey has "beaten off" more than just the competition, I'm sure he'd take on any and all comers. ;o)

[wardaddy]

Meat is Murder.....wonder what the whiner's politics are?..LOL

[balrog666]

Mancunian?

The Smiths?

Stone Roses?

BWAHAHAHAHAHA! Where is the link to The Onion?

[SerpentDove]

>>Angst-ridden Mancunian rock quartet The Smiths have beaten off competition from the Beatles and the Rolling Stones to be declared music bible NME's most important rock group of the last 50 years. <<

They forgot the rest of that sentence..."thereby proving their analysis irrelevant and worthless."

[Shermy]

Hang the D.J.

[phong3d]

It's NME - of course it's geared towards latter-day Brit-rock. With the number of times Oasis was on the cover of that glossy, you'd think they'd be at the top, though. Perhaps NME caught onto the fact that they were absolutely terrible and not worth writing about?

I am surprised to not see a mention of the Pixies on their site (NME.com). Especially if they insist on placing the Stone Roses in their top ten. I don't think any band has been more influential in the last 20 years than the Pixies, but I'm not an NME editor, so I'll just bugger off.

[occam's chainsaw]

This report is misleading. According to NME's website, "THE SMITHS have been named the artists to have had most influence on NME in the course of our 50 years as a title."

[FreeTally]

Oasis number six? OASIS?? LOL!!

I remember when Maxim magazine did their "Top 50 worst albums ever" list and named one of Oasis' albums. The commentary said "Oasis claimed to be bigger than the Beatles, who claimed to be bigger than Jesus - you do the math". LOL!!

[TomT in NJ]

What are these Brits smoking? I like the Smiths, but number 1??? My favorite band, Joy Division, is not even in NME's top 10. They were certainly one of the most influential bands of the past 20 years.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

I was going to mention Oasis also. A few years ago, it was said they were going to wipe the Beatles off of every chart as the greatest music group of all times. Now you hardly hear a peep out of them. Has beens. I liked Blur better.

[occam's chainsaw]

NME is not saying that The Smiths are better or more influential than these other bands, they are only saying that The Smiths have had the most influence on their magazine over the last 50 years.

"Remain calm, all is well."