Meanwhile, the Stone Roses are at #3; which seems a bit odd. (I don't mind the Stone Roses, but are they really the third most influential band of our time?)
It's NME. Who, these days, are something like Smash Hits for twentysomethings.
The list seems to be based on how often the band appeared in NME, rather than how much they actually INFLUENCED other artists. I can't think of too many artists who's style of music has been really influeced by the Smiths...which isn't to say they weren't a great band, and that lots of artists claim to be fans of the Smiths. I can see the inflence of the Beatles, Sex Pistols, Public Enemy, Paul Weller being legit. And surely Joy Division/New Order should have been on there.
If there were no Smiths, would the twee pop movement as we know it exist?
I can't wait for NME's list of most influential artists in a few years' time; I imagine half of it will be overproduced all-girl R&B-pop bands or something.
It probably will. Though I must confess to a soft spot for various Sarah Records acts (the Field Mice, Even As We Speak and such).
Belle and Sebastian's overdoing it a bit though (partly because of their 1960s retro too; at least the Field Mice were contemporary and fairly sharp), And I haven't heard any of the garage bands from the US twee scene labels (Kindercore/Twee Kitten/whatever).
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Wed Apr 17 09:50:19 2002
umm. where's kraftwerk in all this?