New Music for Old

[Mindwarper]

I see iron maiden out of Thin Lizzy and Wishbone ash. Melodic harmonizing guitar leads. If you look at the lead of Emerald, it sums up the IRon Maiden sound or at least the sound without Dianno's punky vocals.  I look forward to them next year.

But all musicians and artists are a bit like magpies. They take a little from here and little from there. I only mind if it sounds like a direct rip off. As long as they are playing instruments and are trying, I will give it a listen.

This debate sounds remarkably similar to one that has rumbled on over the years - Sex Pistols basically New York Dolls with UK attitude, Duran Duran were Roxy without the panache, Iron Maiden = every 70's rock band but a bit more punky etc etc.  One of the disadvantages of getting older is that when new bands "explore", i.e. rip off, ideas from older bands, it seems so obvious, yet to the younger music listener it probably sounds completely new and refreshing.  I realized the years were marching on when I read an interview with the singer of Hot Hot Heat saying that he got into music via his Dad's XTC albums!

[Curt]

There is an old saying: OK musicians borrow, good musicians steal - Beethoven and Jimmy Plaige being the prime examples of this (although in Beethoven's case - he had the courage to call a piece a Variation to indicate his theft).  As has been said before, its all gotta be better than boy and girl bands doing musak covers or dance pop who don't even know that they are doing cover songs because the air between their heads it so pure as to be untainted by grey matter.

Whilst we are on the subject - has anyone noticed that 1970s television has come back - we have been invaded by talent(less) shows and ballroom dancing.  Why not go the whole hog and bring back the Good Old Days with Danny La Rue?

[Bridgwit (Bridget)]

Whilst we are on the subject - has anyone noticed that 1970s television has come back - we have been invaded by talent(less) shows and ballroom dancing.  Why not go the whole hog and bring back the Good Old Days with Danny La Rue?

It all comes around again...... as someone once said.

No, please don't bring Danny La Rue back. Please, no. I wouldn't mind The Double Deckers tho....

[tullist/raymond]

All of the following I have seen similarities between, with the more modern band usually being a distant second Aerosmith/Stones, XTC/Beatles, U2 or Pearl Jam/Who, SRV/Hendrix, earlier Wynton Marsalis and Wallace Roney/Mid 60's Miles Davis, a combo of Tull, Fairport, Steeleye/Tempest and GD/Phish. All but Aerosmith, U2,XTC and Pearl Jam would get very high marks from me, and I understand these 4 I don't seem to like much may be the best in the world at what they do, but having experienced their forebears, the music of those 4 have never quite worked on me. All the other ones I love, just not as good as...Oh and a case where I like the more recent guy better, though not many years separate them, I see similarities between Dave Alvin and Bruce Springsteen and prefer Dave Alvin by a good distance. Oh and nearly forgot a closer race, partly because I was not as fond of the older ones in Ozric Tentacles and another of the popular prog/jam bands of more recent vintage whose name escapes me versus Floyd and earlier Genesis. Closer race there but prefer the older guys. Also that Keneally guy with his beer for Dolphins a definite relative of Frank Zappa. And what about Howlin Wolf/Captain Beefheart?

[Rory.]

 And what about Howlin Wolf/Captain Beefheart?

Yes, absolutely, Tom Waits borrowed a bit from there too.