Most of the music on my iPod is American. The likes of Guns N' Roses, Norah Jones, Frank Sinatra, The Doors, Billy Joel. But I also have a fair chunk of British The Beatles, The Police, Elton John, Iron Maiden, The Who, The Rolling Stones.
Both sides have their strong points and weaknesses. It really in the end goes on personal taste and the genre that you're really into or the era. I don't think there really is a true who is the best because both sides make very strong compelling cases as to why they are the best.

Alot of The Beatles's contemporaries would argue that they were. But like I said, its not a Beatles thread. I only began to comment because its just daft to think that music wouldnt have evolved without them. And why cant we talk about music without it turning into a Beatles debate? I dont even like them that much!!

America: blues, jazz, rock n roll
UK: ?

Then they would be wrong, as were you

i too havnt played a beatles album or track for ages, to me they are for when i want a retro session, they are not my fav group of the 60's either...much prefer the yardbirds, animals, kinks...

ive been following pop music since the mid 60's ... so im hardly inexperienced, but without a protracted in depth analysis of the history of pop music development, my lazy 'all follow the beatles' isnt factual IF you want to pick nits. i didnt say that no one else could have thought of creating the rock/pop template... the beatles were very lucky, being in the right place at the right time and having the drive and talent to create something new. the beatles though were the first 'group' of contemporary musicians that played popular music, superceeding other proto-pop groups and creating the basic format of a pop/rock group is the one that we have had in pop and rock ever since. pop music as we know it started with the beat boom, and the beatles were the ones at the forefront of that.

wiki might not be accurate in some areas...but it is pretty accurate and you dont have to look far if anyone really wants to research the impact on modern music the beatles had.

Were you there?There are wide reports that go into exactly how Epstein moulded that band, how he told them how to dress, what to eat..the list goes on. They were re-moulded to be a boy band, to appeal to young girls and this was witnessed and is reported by many people. The Beatles had no problem with taking Epsteins vision of attracting impressionable youth and turning that into a phemomenon of what we see now with hormone crazed kids. The Beatles let themselves be the first band to be exploited to the fullest degree, and for that they were manufactured through and through.

Honestly, we could go on forever and ever about this, its the age old argument of The Beatles and The Stones, and I suppose its all down to personal opinion what you believe. I suppose all I know is that when I was a kid The Beatles didnt inspire me one bit to love the music I do today, I just dont like their stuff that much (with the exception of a few tracks that I dont mind).

The Rolling Stones all the way for me.

eh? who said that music wouldnt have evolved without them? im sure it would have, but you cannot rewrite history and the beatles were the ones that created (by chance rather then design) the pop/rock group format, and evolved from a pretty basic beat boom combo into the most innovative acts ever..most of that was due to fortune, being in at the begining, but thats what happened.

someone said that the beatles were overrated, and dismissed their impact, sorry but the magnitude of their acheivements must never be watered down, especially by looking at them through contemporary eyes. you cannot judge music from 40-50 years ago by using todays musical situation as a yardstick.


yeah like YOU know more then all the critics, musicians, fans, composers not only from the 60's...but to date

I can understand what you're saying. But I dont see the huge significance of them, still. This is pop music we're talking about, and in my opinion the world would be a better place without it!! Its just opinion, thats all. I dont think theyre at all important to anything, but thats just me.

its true that INITIALLY epstien gave them a new image, it was his job as a MANAGER (not manufacturer) to make them into a saleable package.... thats nothing new even then! thats what managers did! that period lasted what... a year? they were given total freedom by epstien and george martin to do what tf they wanted to do...and thats when their most inovative period ensued.

i have no problem with anyone not liking the beatles on a personal level..but historically they were a league above everyone else.

thats strange!.... coming onto a music forum when you think we would be better off without it!!!!

i dont agree... surprisingly! lol.. pop music has enriched the world, given us so many forms and styles, given great pleasure... i cant see anything wrong with that (but as a pop fan for over 40 years i would say that wouldnt i!!!!)

They werent a league above The Stones....
No way Jose...
No how...


We should stop this banter, its silly.
Tell me, whats the latest album that youve bought that you really love?

I DID NOT SAY we would be better off without music, I said we would be better off without pop music!! And being that this thread is not about pop music per se, then why on earth would I not come onto the forum just because I dont like pop music??

now FACTUALLY they ARE :P lol... they have outsold the stones by a mile

euphoria... a trance compilation.

true, but 99% of the music discussed here is pop... but are you talking 'pop' as in manufactured garbage? or the original definition the unbrella term used to cover modern popular music.

Country music & R&B = America

pop & dance = UK

Rock = split 50/50

I thought about my comments earlier in this thread, and now think America's always been "better" at producing pop and dance (especially disco), with the exception of the 90s where UK/Europe had the edge, and US music became more focused on grunge and hip-hop/RnB.

If you're referring to present day, I would love for you to explain how you figured this out.

When Cheryl Cole is the face of British pop, something's not right.

Come on though, record sales do not reflect how good a band is!!!

That about sums it all up in 6 short words and one letter.
I am surprised that anyone feels the question needs asking in the first place.
America also has a vast archive of country and folk music which contemporary recording artistes regularly dip into. If Britain has one then no-one sees fit to use it.
Think of the "Great American Songbook", think of swing music, then think of the pale imitation that Britain offers.
There really is no doubt, America wins by a couple of light years.

I've given it about a second's thought. The UK has produced pretty much all of my favourite artists.

Pet Shop Boys
Duran Duran
UB40
Peter Gabriel
Simply Red
Robert Palmer
Thompson Twins
And of course, the legacy of The Beatles

Whereas from the USA I only really like The Beach Boys and Blondie. Although they have also created artists who will have a long lasting legacy on music, whether or not I agree with it.

I think its more appropriate to view it as it actually is.
America and UK are culturally, economically, sociologically, ethnically, even geographically completely different. Each has its own representation of its diversity of culture through its music, and each has producedm some amazing music. And we're lucky that we live in a world where we can share that. So it doesnt really matter who you think is better.

true... but i believe that critical acclaim from other musicians, artists, composers, critics, and the factual firsts the beatles had over the stones would place the beatles above the stones.

fair play though if its your personal preferance to like the stones more...

true, america created those genres, but it was the uk that took them and made them our own, we developed the basic raw material and created the most diverse range of pop music on earth. our pop charts over the last 50 years are second to none for diversity.

UK

Led Zeppelin
Black Sabbath
Iron Maiden
Gary Numan / Tubeway Army
David Bowie
Queen
The Who
Pink Floyd
The Beatles
Sex Pistols
The Clash

I could go on...

I think its fair to say that us Brits are willing to give American artists more of a chance than vice versa.

The vast majority of great American artists have made it big over here where as a lot of our great bands did not make it in a big way in the states

The Jam
Oasis
Stone Roses

to name 3