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.
Me too. I've purchased 200+ songs off iTunes since getting my iPod in September. Not to mention the 6,000+ songs I ripped off my CDs. Still got room for thousands more.
Aw, now you've done it. I just threw on KJ. "Requiem" is pumping on my system right now. Laugh? I Nearly Bought One!
Wifey will be screaming "turn it down!" any moment...
I think in order to qualify, one has to possess actual singing talent. Just being able to talk in rhythm to accompaning music just doesn't cut it.
Me, too.
Name any British act you want. No matter who it is they're no better than second behind Cream
"Sorry but I fail to see the "genius" in a group that started out as cheap Buddy Holly/Chuck Berry clones..."
I suggest you listen to Revolver.
IMO the greatest album of the 1960's.
Yes. Cream ruled. Three of the greatest rock musicians to ever come together - but something of a shooting star - burn bright, fade fast.
I heard Cream was going to play/played some shows recently in the UK. Have you heard anything?
Really, shows that those who voted or whatever are YOUNG! The Beatles were the biggest musical group ever.
I think "genius" is too strong of a word to apply to any musician or musical group of the past 50 years.
I'm thinking they must be young and Queen must be a very trendy "oldies" band to like in England right now.
I've been a Queen freak since I was a kid, Musically there is not even any comparison with the Clash, who while being spirited and entertaining, are basically 3 chord hackers. Name a music genre and Queen probably covered it, and at one time were the most popular band in the world and set a record for biggest live crowd (in Brazil). Their live show was amazing. Freddie Mercury is probably one of the top 3 rock vocalists ever, considering range, timbre, inflection, emotion. All 4 members were fantastic composers, and every one of them wrote a #1 hit song during Queen's heyday. Another tribute to the band is that from '71 or so until Mercury's death Queen maintained the same line-up, proving that they were able to sublimate their egos and work well with each other, and all of them were strong composers and had a strong vision of what they wanted to do, yet they were able to comprimise. The depth of virtuosity in their music is at a level of pro classically trained musicicians, while Clash, good as they are, were about at the level of Chuck Berry rockers. Great music, but not virtuosos. They also had very limited commercial success, while not the be all and end all, is a way to measure how many people a band is able to entertain and their influence on music. I think Queen had an enormous impact and influence on other bands.
I've been a professional musician, producer, recording studio owner, record reviewer, guitar & bass teacher and pro soundman for 20+ years, so I have some backup to my opinion, anyway. I know people say "well everyone is entitled to their opinion" which is true, but everyone's opinion doesn't carry the same weight. I could give my opinion on rocket science or brain surgery but I'd defer to an expert or someone who had spent years studying the subject. My personal and professional opinion is Clash isn't in the same league as Queen. They aren't even in the same sport. Queen could even play angry punkish rock better than Clash (Sheer Heart Attack from News of the World is a good example.)
Queen over Zepp ? Zepp was hands down better 10 to 1 !
Even The Who beats Queen.
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