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what really makes a band popular?


blueoyster

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Just wondering, because if you look around, most good bands around are hardly ever noticed compared to SOME bands...*cough*zeppelin*cough* lol nothing against themthough, love the songs, just a little bit overhyped of a band . But, you know, some bands will make great songs, but its just people never really catch on to the band, i dunno

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My question to you is why do you not like Led Zeppelin?

To answer your question, in the old days before I was born, it was talent. It's kida ironic but Led Zeppelin is a perfect example.

Robert Plant=AMAZING VOCALIST stairway and immigrant are amazing vocals in them but sound nothing alike.amazing

Jimmy Page=Top 10 guitarist all-time IMO

John Paul Jones=Good Bassist

John Bonham= IMO far and away the best drummer all-time

Nowadays, a woman's body will make them rich. Popular opinion will make a band too, not necessarily what one person likes, but what the cool group leader likes....at least thats how it is whn you are 13, maybe not 20-40.......

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I think that the one thing that has never been mentioned on these boards as far as why a band's great or popular, it all comes down to charisma. Why do you think Nirvana is so freakin' popular Kurt had charisma, people identified with him and what he said, therefore making Nirvana popular.

With Pearl Jam, or Soundgarden, or Alice In Chains, the reason they never reached that point was there was little charisma, you couldn't really identify with any of the band members.

When you think Pearl Jam you think 'Ten' or 'Evenflow' or 'Alive'

When you think Soundgarden you think 'Black Hole Sun' (soundgarden was the most uncharasmatic grunge band IMO)

When you think AiC you think 'Man In The Box' or 'Rooster'

(probably the second most charasmatic grunge band, some people can identify with Cantrell, or Staley)

But when you think Nirvana, you think 'Kurt'

and a 'bond'(or whatever you would call it) with an actual person, creates a much stronger 'allegiance' to a band than if you like a song or an album.

The Beatles were great as far as charisma, and they all had it, I mean everybody has/had a favorite Beatle right?

Therefore after they broke up they still had extremely succesful careers because people liked them for their personalities.

John had tons of the intelectual fans because they identified with him.

Paul had all of the easy going 'fun timers'

Ringo had all of the, well, musical goof offs (in a good way)

And George had the spiritual.

Robert Plant has charisma

Roger Daltrey has charisma

-Does anybody get what I'm saying?-

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yes led zeppelin were bloody great, but their songs do tend to sound alike after a while, all you need by them are I II III en IV imo.

i agree somewhat on the charisma thing, though it isn't all what makes a band popular.

oh and George was my favorate beatle :shades:

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I definetly get what you're saying scott. Kind of like if you see an interview, or read a book on a band, or read a biographie. You feel almost like you .....know the band even though you've never met or chatted with them. Even though half of the Kurt Cobain story would be because he was suicidal.

I get what you mean about the charisma too. Passion for the music and putting on a great show. Kiss for example probably were not as talented as a lot of bands from that time, but the make-up, the power-suits, the blood and gene simmons toungue.That DEFINETLY has an impact on the popularity.

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Another good example of charisma (and this one doesn't even pertain to music!)

I call this the 'Ferris Bueller' theory.

You see Ferris wasn't particuarily good looking, or athletic or anything like that, but he had that charisma, you know the 'I can do whatever I want and get away with it'

and people like Ferris because he carried himself so well.

that's charisma.

(also the 'Twist and Shout' scene rocks the house) :jester:

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About Zep, bear in mind they were creating stuff back when Rock & Roll was still under development.

So Rock & Roll is like - what? - fully developed now.

I was trying to understand what you mean, but it was too big a bear in my mind.

I think maybe you got Zep confused with Bill Haley and The Comets.

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A lot of times just straying from what is normal can make you popular. Look at Yes. Of course I guess the later, much more normal Yes was more popular. So I guess you have to be innovative, and then bubble gum to get popular. Or having no talent at all would work. Just look at rap.

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Image is VERY important. Every band that has had a decent following in history has had a certain image.

Yes and no. Nowadays, yes. But try picking out the members of, say, NewOrder from a crowd and you'll think to yourself: I don't even know what these fellows look like. When Martin L. Gore was mugged near his house in London, the police and the muggers didn't recognize who he was... so much for image when it comes to some New Wave bands of old...

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This is really a good question. I pondered it for a while before posting here. I think there are a few things that go into making a band popular and great. The first and foremost in my opinion is originality. Cover bands are not great bands!!

Secondly, they obviously have to have a certain appeal (I guess that would meld in with originality). Boy bands may be popular but they are far from original.

A great band is one who writes their own lyrics and music and are quite diverse and versatile. I have to believe this is what makes the Beatles perhaps the greatest band that ever came to be. They were daring. They tried anything at least once (including as mentioned in another thread here the fact that they dove into Indian music).

Lastly they need an audience. Anyone can have a good band but a band with the right promoter and connections can become a great band. Think of all the bands with one or two albums (Shadows of Knight immediately comes to mind). Perhaps if they were promoted better they would have gone further. Instead they had a couple of hits including a cover song of Gloria.

I am sure there is more to becoming a popular or great band but I believe what I mentioned above are the main ingredients.

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From reading all the posts on this subject, I feel safe in saying I may be one of the oldest people in this forum. I was around for, and saw alot of the bands live mentioned earlier.(Zep, Kiss, etc)

This is just my opinion, but MTV effectively killed music. Well, not killed, but made musicians today alter their entire musical process. We "old timers" grew up when the only time you actually saw a band was on say, Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, or The Midnight Special. Then came MTV, and you suddenly had to look the part as well. There are SOOOOO many acts out there right now that have very little, if any, talent at all.

I'm not saying it's all bad. There are, I'm sure, talented bands out there. I couldn't really name any, simply because that music from today gets on my nerves. I'm not saying it's bad. It's just not my generation. I DO however, know this...for every ONE good band out there, there's 10 Britney Spears, J. Lo's, and boy bands whose main talent is jiggling around and looking pretty.You can string their songs together, end to end, and have one continuous song. There's very little thought put into the music. Can anyone out there honestly say that someone like Shania Twain would sell the way she does if she didn't wear those Batgirl outfits all the time? Or if you never saw her?(Pre-MTV) Of course not. If you take away all these people's visuals, then what you are left with is one long monotonous dance beat. Call me if anybody ever sees one with a guitar or drumsticks in their hands.

I missed the whole grunge thing, but apparently, Kurt Cobain spoke to an entire generation. My youngest brother was really affected by his death. He (my brother) said Cobain was a poet.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is the cream rises to the top, as far as musicians go. You young folks know good music. The people I've seen mentioned in here are all bands who actually play their instruments.

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From reading all the posts on this subject, I feel safe in saying I may be one of the oldest people in this forum. I was around for, and saw alot of the bands live mentioned earlier.(Zep, Kiss, etc)

hey jrownsdega...I used to love the Midnight Special with Wolfman Jack who emceed it most of the time. I think I have a few years on you though as I didn't see you mention Hullabaloo!

PS - I saw Zep at the Garden in NY in 1974.

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So Rock & Roll is like - what? - fully developed now.

I was trying to understand what you mean, but it was too big a bear in my mind.

I think maybe you got Zep confused with Bill Haley and The Comets.

Whoa! Chill out soldier. So you went back one step into the past with the comets. Don't know what's your point. And to answer your question, no. R&R will keep evolving forever, just like everything else.

gezz, gotta be real carefull with my choice of words

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cosmosis,

Just joshin', buddy. No hostility intended.

My point is I still don't get yours.

It seems like Rock & Roll was operating on a full head of steam at the time Led Zeppelin hit the scene. But what does any of this have to do with their popularity?

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But what does any of this have to do with their popularity?

It does not reffer to the original question. I was just pointing out that bands that seem to be overhyped might deserve some xtra credit just for being one of the ones that helped shape R&R, if they did. But every opinion is valid. I think The Who is overhyped... (running for cover)

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What makes a good band? Talent, originality, creativity

What makes a popular band (today)? Good-lookiness, how many times they got shot, what kind of clothes they wear

What makes a popular band (long ago)? I'm not quite sure to be honest. I wasn't around back then. I know who the good bands are, but I don't know who the popular ones are. My parents do not know any Zeppelin songs, the only hendrix they know is "Watchtower" and "Purple Haze." My mom said she liked Rolling Stones, Captain and Tenille, Abba, Disco, and Fleetwood Mac. I'm not sure what Abba, Rolling Stones, Fleetwood, the Captain, and Disco have in common, so I couldn't answer that.

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