I totally agree with you on this point. But I'd add The Clash, Elvis Costello, Traffic, Jethro Tull, The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Chrissie Hynde, Pulp, Paul Weller, Billy Bragg, Portishead, Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span, Prefab Sprout, Everything But The Girl, Massive Attack, Tricky, Incognito, Brand New Heavies, Courtney Pine, Lisa Stansfield, Soul II Soul, the list goes on and on...

I can't agree with you on this one though. The 80s were an absolute cultural nightmare for me (child of the 60s, teenager of the 70s) and I really like Busted and The Darkness, for what they are. I don't understand why Busted are so disliked on DS - I think they're a great little teenage band who write excellent, catchy tunes. And the Darkness are quite amusing in a camp, tongue in cheek sort of a way... past the catsuits, I don't think they resemble Queen...

But very few of those will have sold as many records as Duran.

And let's be frank, groups like Prefab Sprout, Genesis and King Crimson are never going to be fashionable enough for the Brits, are they?

There was plenty of catchy pop in the 80s though ...

Yes sure, Duran Duran sold a lot of records, but the award was for an outstanding contribution to music, not to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. It's for the quality of the music and its influence on other musicians, surely?

Yes, Prefab Sprout, Genesis and King Crimson are not household names but as it happens the last two weren't on my list! I think that at least half the bands and musicians I mentioned are household names.

Take Elvis Costello for example. He's got a far bigger name and fanbase than Duran Duran, and is indisputably more deserving... well that's what I think anyway...

Yeah but that's a matter of personal taste. I don't disrespect all the big pop stars from the 1980s, but the majority of them just weren't my cup of tea at any level, and I couldn't get into their stuff. Obviously there were exceptions... I'm being vague because I could spend hours listing this and that...

Hating 1980s pop had a very bright side for me though, because although I was always into a wide range of music, I started listening to an even wider range. I just felt a bit disenfranchised on pop territory, that's all.

No, I didn't know that. I'm not really interested in either of them!

No, but they are IMO very influential bands.

Exactly the point I was making. Selling a lot of records doesn't necessarily mean that you are very influential or innovative. Somebody needs to tell Britannia that.

I just don't think there was anything in the 80s that was poorer than Atomic Kitten, Blue, Westlife, The Darkness or Busted.

You may very well be right. They certainly made wonderful music. I was pretty obsessed with them both in the mid-70s. Genesis went off the rails when Peter Gabriel left though.

Wow, you must really despise The Darkness and Busted to lump them in with that lot. I can't see why, but fair enough.

Robert Fripp, for instance, is a highly respected guitarist whose effect on music has crossed the progressive rock genre.

And Genesis of course, as well as launching the huge careers of Phil Collins and Peter Gabriel, also inspired bands like Marillion and It Bites.

Being the sexiest woman on the planet (says me) probably has a little something to do with it.


...oh and my conscience compells me to comment on what a **** Daniel Beddingfield is. Thankyou.

Phil Collins, The Jam, The Clash, Sting & the Police all deserved the award before Duran Duran ever got considered for it.

Craig

The Outstanding Contribution to Music Award doesn't neccessarily have to do with sales no, I think its more to do with how influential the artists were, sales obviously will be a part of it. But I guess it's their impact on the global scale like adoring fans, influencing other acts, promoting Britain around the world, leading the way for similar acts to follow.

None of you btw have mentioned that The Spice Girls got this award in 2000! lol So it can't be down to just sales alone can it? Although they did sell bucketloads but they did in fairness whether you like them or not change the face of pop music and put Britain back on the map in America after the so called "cool" acts like Oasis failed.

This years Brits were alrite, no great shakes. I did like Busted's performance. The Darkness were alrite but I think they're very over rated as it is, an him accepting their award and being such a tit about it didn't endear them to me any more than before.

The best performance/s of the night were Outkast and Beyonce medley! Medley people! not collaboration lol I was expecting them to sing together aswell.

Beyonce is great for all of two songs, Crazy in Love and Baby Boi, listen to the rest of her album and it's just drivel. Justin is cool, he deserved his best international male award. I don't think Britain has any brilliant male artists but I would agree Daniel Bedingfield is probably the best of the bunch and Dido is great. Nuff said

Here's a list of all previous "Outstanding Contribution" winners. Not a bad list. I suppose the criteria is about selling lots of records internationally which could explain the omission of some of my choices (The Jam/Paul Weller, The Clash, The Smiths, The Cure, Led Zeppelin etc. etc.).

2004 - Duran Duran
2003 - Tom Jones
2002 - Sting
2001 - U2
2000 - Spice Girls
1999 - Eurythmics
1998 - Fleetwood Mac
1997 - Bee Gees
1996 - David Bowie
1995 - Elton John
1994 - Van Morrison
1993 - Rod Stewart
1992 - Freddie Mercury
1991 - Status Quo
1990 - Queen
1989 - Cliff Richard
1988 - The Who
1987 - Eric Clapton
1986 - n/a
1985 - The Police
1984 - George Martin
1983 - The Beatles
1982 - John Lennon

Led zepplin won't get one cuz they weren't that commercial, a great band for sure but they normally give these awards to the chart succesful bands like duran duran and u2.

Interesting debate and I might be wrong as I haven't got the figures to hand, but I reckon you'll find that Genesis have certainly sold more records that Duran Duran. They may have sold out to stadium pop from 1980 onwards, but they were absolutely huge - worldwide. As for King Crimson, I'm not sure. They've sold a phenomenal amount too, based on their longevity - they're still going strong; the latest release 'Power to Believe' is another triumph.

As for them not being household names, I guess it depends on whose household you live in. Both my daughters (ages 8 and 4) are familiar with Genesis and King Crimson and the eldest is accompanying me to Wembley Arena in June to see Yes. Lol - now she is the lucky one !

Here's a better explanation. None of those bands would turn up to accept it.

The only way they'll ever pin an industry gong on Morrissey is if he dies and is not around to denounce it.

You're probably right . Awards themselves are completely irrelevant but as ever, its all about the publicity that's created (e.g. it won't do the sales of Duran Duran's Greatest Hits any harm).

It doesn't stop me watching them though....if only to have a bloody good moan

Singles chart maybe, but Zeppelin sold a hell of a lot of albums though, and were much more influential on future bands than Duran Duran.

If you look at that list, they're all artists that have done really well in US, especially Duran Duran, who took over the US charts during some years of the 80s. The music industry really gets off on the "breaking America" thing. Daniel Bedingfield probably won the best male, over Will Young, because he had some sucesss in America.
The other thing they get off on, of course, it being the "music industry" awards, is selling sh*t loads of industry product, which of course is a very nice consequence of American success.

I seem to remember Duran Duran also winning a similar award over in the US last year, either from the Grammys or from MTV, so I guess there was a certain of pressure for the Brits to do likewise. I like/liked their music, whether it broke new ground is debatable. I think one area where they were more ground breaking, was in the use of video technology, perhaps they are more recognised for this contribution to "music".

I watch The Brits mainly for the performances, some of the awards are always going to be a bit dubious, because it is mainly about money, not artistic intergrity, and always will be, but some awards I will agree with. But I accept it as the way things are, that's The Brits..

Of course, you're absolutely right about Robert Fripp.

Peter Gabriel is a genius - and 'Selling England by the Pound' and 'The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway' were two of the most brilliant albums released in an era of brilliant albums - but I cannot agree that launching the career of Phil Collins was a contribution to music. The warmest thing I could say about Collins is that he was extremely successful.

Marillion are obviously a very long-lived and well-respected band but I'm afraid I've not listened to much of their music. By the time they came along, I was heavily into other genres. In fact the whole 1980s progressive rock thing passed me by, and I've never even heard of It Bites.

Which of Marillion's albums would you recommend as an introduction?

If you're interested in Marillion, I recommend you go to www.cduniverse.com and listen to some free sound clips. That's a good way of finding out whether you like the sound of them. Listen to clips from Clutching at Straws, Seasons End and Afraid of Sunlight - I love those albums.