Posted on 11/12/2004 9:35:34 AM PST by itsamelman
Robbie Williams , Michael Jackson , Queen, The Rolling Stones and Cliff Richard have been chosen by the British public as the best music acts of the past five decades.
The musicians, each representing a decade in the last half of the 20th century, were inducted into Britain's first music hall of fame along with honorary members Madonna , Bob Marley, Elvis Presley, U2 and The Beatles at a ceremony in London.
The honorees were selected by a public vote by Channel 4 television, which invented the British hall of fame. So far, there's no building.
Williams, 30, won the popular vote to represent the 1990s, beating the likes of Blur, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Oasis and Nirvana, while Jackson was crowned music ambassador from the 1980s, ahead of Prince, REM, George Michael and The Smiths.
Queen was voted for the 1970s honor above Abba, The Bee Gees, The Clash and David Bowie .
The Rolling Stones were voted most popular from the 1960s and Richards the 1950s' most popular musical performer.
Madonna, U2 frontman Bono, The Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood , and Williams were among those to accept their awards in person at a ceremony Thursday.
The Beatles' award was collected Thursday night by their producer, Sir George Martin.
"After 42 years, the light of their genius still shines as bright as ever," Martin said.
Priscilla Presley said her former husband would have been proud.
"His dream, that of a world tour, was never realized. His fan base was so strong here and because of that he would have been proud to receive this," Presley said.
I too was a big Queen fan but the problem is they sucked at the end...first time I saw them in concert was '77 and they were great but I grew disenchanted with their music and shows after that; Flash Gordon, Fat Bottom Girls...it was awful in the middle 80's!
Bobby Darren.
LOL!
I disagree, especially with Sgt Peppers. Given the time, and the state of technology, that album pushed the limits, and was a groundbreaking album. It's hard to believe that it was recorded on a 4 track recorder. And it's also important to remember that the Beatles was actually a 5 piece band, as George Martin was a very important driving force on their music.
Mark
Alright, Killing Joke's "Eighties" is on and now the volume's WAY up. Pouring another Guinness... Ah, life is GREAT! ('til wifey comes and shuts the whole thing down...)
"Jazz", the album with Fat Bottom Girls was actually very good. The Game, the next LP was very good as well, although it contains my most hated Queen song (and their biggest hit) Another Bites the Dust. I do agree they lost their way with Hot Spaces (one entire side of disco-ish 'dance grooves', ugh), but Works, back to their classic Night at the Opera style, kicked ass, and The Miracle, though uneven, had some good songs. Innuendo, a kind of comeback for them, was incredible IMHO. The final release, 'Heaven' was a mishmosh of throwntogetether tracks and not really a great release.
RIGHT! No one can touch Jimi. Lots of people before, lots of people since...
Queen was voted for the 1970s honor above.....The Clash....and Pink Floyd
And the Brits think AMERICANS are stupid??
And no mention of AC/DC, Hendrix, Van Halen, Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Thin Lizzy...........
And now that earworm song "Bang the drum all day" is running through my head.
I was wondering if anyone was going to bring up the amazing Pink Floyd!
I know, I know...
But as misguided as our British friends are, you only get ONE band per decade. Check #75 for my completely irrelevant picks...
Right on! Zeppelin rules.
Who knows? I've got the records and maybe that's enough. After all, among the cuts is Crossroads the second lead of which is the greatest bit of guitar work ever played or recorded.
Say what you will, but "Another One Bites the Dust" (a John Deacon composition) is still a very important song. It provided the basis for the breakout single by that misunderstood genious, Weird Al Yankovick. Weird Al's "Another One Rides the Bus," and the flip side, "Gotta Boogie" ("Gotta Boogie..... Gotta Boogie.... Gotta Boogie.... I gotta boogie on my finger and I can't shake it off!) began his meteoric rise to susper-stardom.
Mark
And I'm NOT bandying about the word "genious" here, either!
Hey, where's ABBA????
I heard it when it came out.....didn't hold a candle to any of the R & B on the charts at the time.....or the jazz
Then we must agree to disagree. My preference for that period has always been R & B, even more so after some of my hippie friends played Sgt Pepper for me.
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