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Acts who influenced music, but didnt sell a lot at the time?

HotelierHotelier Posts: 13,100
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in Music #1
Who were major influences on music, but sold relativly small amounts themselves?. I mean, sold much less than you thought.

First one I can think of is Chuck Berry. A huge influence on rock music, but never set the charts alight. Had just one number one...with a novelty song. Sold most records in 1964 after bands like The Beatles and Stones covered his songs.

Also The Ramones, seminal influence on punk, I love this band and I was surprised at how few they sold.

Any more??...
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  • mushymanrobmushymanrob Posts: 17,992
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    #2
    velvet underground.... they had no chart success here, everything they did chart was retrospectively, yet they are cited as one of the greatest ever influences on music.

    i guess you could even cite pete waterman! :eek: not much chart success in any of his forms but did influence pop over the last 20 + years... :mad:
  • konebyvaxkonebyvax Posts: 9,120
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    #3
    Van Morrison.
  • mialiciousmialicious Posts: 4,686
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    #4
    Kraftwerk
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 397
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    #5
    Pixies, if they'd to wait a few years they would have probably been huge with the grunge explosion. They influenced a lot of it anyway.

    Gil Scott Heron, known as the 'Godfather of Hip-Hop' (to some pretentious buggers :p) was well ahead of his time with his political, poetic diatribes.

    and Delia Derbyshire!
  • Mr. FahrenheitMr. Fahrenheit Posts: 9,911
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    #6
    I agree with all the others mentioned on this thread, but the ultimate answer really is Chuck Berry. Modern Music wouldn't be what it is without him.

    Anyway, he's 84 and plays one show on one Wednesday a month at The Blueberry Club, and still Tours a bit, so good on him.:)
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
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    #7
    The Kinks

    Ray Davies called 'The Village Green Preservation Society' the most successful flop ever. :D
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,780
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    #8
    I'll second Velvet Underground and Pixies. It has been said that not many people bought The Velvet Underground And Nico but those that did started a band.
  • 21stCenturyBoy21stCenturyBoy Posts: 44,506
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    #9
    Muddy Waters.
  • ShaunIOWShaunIOW Posts: 11,326
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    #10
    Neil Young?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 86
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    #11
    CAN, My Bloody Valentine
  • bryemycazbryemycaz Posts: 11,737
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    #12
    Chester Burnett AKA Howlin Wolf
  • HotelierHotelier Posts: 13,100
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    #13
    ShaunIOW wrote: »
    Neil Young?
    Interesting one..
    He did have 2 multi-platinum albums in the early seventies...but then his sales dropped off considerably, until the early nineties, where he started to shift records again, and has done ever since in the US at least. His last album in 2010 was Billboard number 2.
  • rfonzorfonzo Posts: 11,772
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    #14
    Dizzie Gillespie
    Robert Johnson
    BB King
  • JohnnyForgetJohnnyForget Posts: 24,061
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    #15
    Link Wray

    Love

    The Sonics
  • longpiggylongpiggy Posts: 2,156
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    #16
    poppyblue wrote: »
    Pixies, if they'd to wait a few years they would have probably been huge with the grunge explosion. They influenced a lot of it anyway.

    Gil Scott Heron, known as the 'Godfather of Hip-Hop' (to some pretentious buggers :p) was well ahead of his time with his political, poetic diatribes.

    and Delia Derbyshire!

    How the hell the Pixies are not stellar is just bemusement to me. Though like Fight Club - they are now appreciated in a wider circle after the initial phase. May be cause we are Brits we got them like the Fun Loving Criminals for a genius that the rest of the world didn't expect.

    Any-hoo my nom would be Warren Zevon.
  • HotelierHotelier Posts: 13,100
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    #17
    Pigmeat Markham?, Rap in 1968?
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvMBxlu62c0
  • mushymanrobmushymanrob Posts: 17,992
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    #18
    Hotelier wrote: »
    Pigmeat Markham?, Rap in 1968?
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvMBxlu62c0

    napolean x1v beats that by two years! lol, see the rare 60's thread...
  • JonDoeJonDoe Posts: 31,598
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    #19
    The Fall.
  • warszawawarszawa Posts: 4,437
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    #20
    nick drake.
  • VoodooChicVoodooChic Posts: 9,868
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    #21
    Sonia
  • kimindexkimindex Posts: 68,250
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    #22
    I agree about the Fall, even though I'm not a fan and the Pixies and Velvet Underground.

    The Replacements spring to mind, Gram Parsons isn't as well known as he should be (ie not a household name), Alexis Corner, Dr Feelgood and Slim Harpo.
  • JohnnyForgetJohnnyForget Posts: 24,061
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    #23
    How far do you want to go back?

    1920's? 1930's? 1940s?

    Pinetop Smith

    Meade Lux Lewis

    Cab Calloway

    Louis Jordan

    laid the foundations for what became rock'n'roll in the fifties.
  • kimindexkimindex Posts: 68,250
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    #24
    Sly and the Family Stone and Artie Shaw.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 611
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    #25
    Joy Division
  • longpiggylongpiggy Posts: 2,156
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    #26
    kimindex wrote: »
    I agree about the Fall, even though I'm not a fan and the Pixies and Velvet Underground.

    The Replacements spring to mind, Gram Parsons isn't as well known as he should be (ie not a household name), Alexis Corner, Dr Feelgood and Slim Harpo.

    :D
    I WANT to be stereotyped
    I WANT to be classified :cool: Now that is punk!

    Actually where is Wall of Voodoo in all this?

    Or as in the 80's when I told my friends that seminal artiste Wally Voodoo????:eek: (say the original in a Scottish accent)
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