Rank the British Invasion Bands

[Squishman]

My ranking: Beatles, Kinks, The Who, Stones.

 

[lovinthehd]

Rather just appreciate them as a group rather than try and rank them.....and I'd add Procul Harum, The Animals, Spencer Davis Group, Traffic, Moody Blues, The Yardbirds....

 

[isolar8001]

Bowie, Kate Bush, Be Bop Deluxe/Bill Nelson, Thomas Dolby, Genesis (Peter Gabriel)

(never cared much about that initial invasion...except for The Kinks)

 

[j_garcia]

Beatles, hands down. Then Stones, Kinks, Who.

Led Zeppelin Almost doesn't feel like a British band does it? Bowie is in a class of his own and changed over the years; still ahead of the curve regardless of what everyone else was doing.

When it comes to "invasion" there are a few waves and it all depends on what you're referring to. I think the biggest invasion was the 80s, though those bands are not really at Beatles/Stones status.

 

[Squishman]

"British Invasion" specifically refers to early to mid 60's. There is no other era that it could refer to. I am a Bowie fan, Zeppelin of course. But they don't fit in that era. The Yardbirds definitely fit. I have their "Roger the Engineer" LP with Jeff Beck on lead guitar and it is a fabulous LP. I would rank them behind the Stones though. They were not as prolific as far as output.

 

[j_garcia]

I agree "British Invasion" refers to that original wave and really did change music as a whole, but there are 3 distinct ones for sure. There are other things like punk/post punk 70s, mainly in Europe, which are like the precursor to the 2nd wave of synthpop which more or less lasted the whole 80s. Then you had the 2000s as the 3rd wave, post grunge, which they sort refer to as Britpop that started forming at the end of the 90s. All in all, a lot of great stuff coming out of Britain. It is pretty crazy if you look at massive, influential, genre defining bands regardless of era, there's a high percentage of them from there.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Zeppelin of course.

I used to be hardcore Zep fan, until I've realized much later how much of their early albums where credited and unaccredited covers.

Just How Much Of Led Zeppelin's Music Was Stolen?

Led Zeppelin often comes under fire for stolen music, but how valid is that claim? We go through the band's first four albums to find out.

liveforlivemusic.com

 

[lovinthehd]

I did want to add Led Zeppelin and ELP but didn't seem the place.

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

Beatles, Rolling Stones, Yardbirds, Kinks, Dave Clark Five, Animals.

 

[Dude#1279435]

The Zombies as part of the era but not really fitting in with the British Invasion. Same with the Hollies.

 

[Dude#1279435]

Live has to be The Who, eh?

 

[j_garcia]

I used to be hardcore Zep fan, until I've realized much later how much of their early albums where credited and unaccredited covers.

Just How Much Of Led Zeppelin's Music Was Stolen?

Led Zeppelin often comes under fire for stolen music, but how valid is that claim? We go through the band's first four albums to find out.

liveforlivemusic.com

Isn't ALL music stolen sort of? They had to have an influence that got the ball rolling and I am pretty sure Zep openly admit their blues influences.

 

[davidscott]

The Who hands down. Roger Daltry could out sing Mick or any beatle. Props to the Moody Blues also - one of my absolute favorite bands of all time.

 

[Squishman]

The Who hands down. Roger Daltry could out sing Mick or any beatle. Props to the Moody Blues also - one of my absolute favorite bands of all time.

I have The Who 3rd, but I agree that Daltrey is a better rock singer. I have had the opinion since late 70's that Daltrey is one of the best rock singers of all time. I saw The Who three times. Twice with Moon on drums. I saw them I think it was 2 weeks before he died. There were huge, multiple industrial fans around his set. I also saw the Kinks and Skynyrd three times. Skynyrd, all three before the plane crash.

 

[adk highlander]

Bowie to me was the most influential but not part of the invasion.

 

[Swerd]

Isn't ALL music stolen sort of? They had to have an influence that got the ball rolling and I am pretty sure Zep openly admit their blues influences.

But they had to lose in court before they paid Willie Dixon and others. I always wondered if Led Zeppelin was to blame for this, or was it their label, Atlantic Records in the USA – I don't know what label published LZ in the UK or Europe. Record labels owned the rights to the music they recorded, and very often had a rather poor track record of fully attributing authorship of that music.

Witness the miserable story of how Atlantic Records essentially did in Stax Records of Memphis. Atlantic helped out that small label in Memphis, TN with distribution and sales until their agreement ended in 1968. Afterwards, they owned the master tapes and all the legal rights to all of Stax's recordings that Atlantic distributed. They claimed it was standard practice in the recording business, but it was ugly theft, legitimized by lawyers and obscure contract language. Stax hung on as an independent label for 5 more years, but they never recovered from Atlantic's theft. Read more details here starting with 1968: Break with Atlantic Records.

 

[Squishman]

Bowie to me was the most influential but not part of the invasion.

Most influential bands might be another interesting thread.

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

Page was a thief, so was Blackmore, Clapton, Beck, Richards. All guitar players go 'shopping' (shoplifting) for ideas.

 

[isolar8001]

But they had to lose in court before they paid Willie Dixon and others. I always wondered if Led Zeppelin was to blame for this, or was it their label, Atlantic Records (In the USA – I don't know what label LZ used in the UK or Europe). Record labels owned the rights to the music they recorded, and very often had a rather poor track record of fully attributing authorship of that music.

Witness the miserable story of how Atlantic Records essentially did in Stax Records of Memphis. Atlantic helped out that small label in Memphis, TN with distribution and sales until their agreement ended in 1968. Afterwards, they owned the master tapes and all the legal rights to all of Stax's recordings that Atlantic distributed. They claimed it was standard practice in the recording business, but it was ugly theft, legitimized by lawyers and obscure contract language. Stax hung on as an independent label for 5 more years, but they never recovered from Atlantic's theft. Read more details here starting with 1968: Break with Atlantic Records.

Could never stand Zeppelin myself....maybe that was why. I could always detect when someone wasn't as talented or original as others thought they were.
They sure didn't play well live.

 

[isolar8001]

Bowie to me was the most influential but not part of the invasion.

Bowie....man of the ages.
No one will ever come close to that man and his wide range of talents.