DS Forums

 
 

Lack of iconic new bands.. am I just getting old?


Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 21-01-2014, 15:04
Inspiration
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 53,398

Does anyone else feel that there is a lack of new iconic bands and groups? I'm talking people like Oasis, Pulp, Prodigy, Pet Shop Boys, Faithless, Blur, Spice Girls, Stone Roses.. many others. Groups that release songs that become classics. Songs that take you back to past memories.

I just don't ever feel that there are groups like that anymore. Maybe I'm just completely out of touch with the music scene? Or is it all just crap these days?

I got thinking is it because bands aren't forming as often as they used to? Is it because teenagers aren't sat in parks bored out of their minds anymore and instead are too occupied with technology to go and start a band?

Or am I just getting old? Is the music as good now as it was in the 80s and 90s?
Inspiration is offline   Reply With Quote
Please sign in or register to remove this advertisement.
Old 21-01-2014, 15:14
Tim_A
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 942
Interesting you have listed Spice Girls. Whether people like it or not, One Direction will be remembered as their success won't be matched for a long long time. Their songs are no worse than the Spice Girls material, you look back at tracks like Wannabe now and think 'Really?'. Very much of it's time.
Tim_A is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 21-01-2014, 15:46
mushymanrob
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: derby
Posts: 14,765
its not you/us thats getting old, its the music industry.

most (if not all) of the strong musical styles have been discovered, we are left now with 4th generation 60's mod/rock groups who inevitably sound like something else and the younger generation today have cottoned on to this and most music fans have at least some music in their collection from over 30 years ago.
mushymanrob is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 21-01-2014, 16:21
Inspiration
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 53,398
Interesting you have listed Spice Girls. Whether people like it or not, One Direction will be remembered as their success won't be matched for a long long time. Their songs are no worse than the Spice Girls material, you look back at tracks like Wannabe now and think 'Really?'. Very much of it's time.
True but if you put a one direction song on in a shop.. and wannabe on in a shop.. I think more people in the shop will know immediately it's the spice girls but many won't know one direction. I couldn't list any one direction songs.
Inspiration is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 21-01-2014, 16:31
Soupietwist
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 781
Does anyone else feel that there is a lack of new iconic bands and groups? I'm talking people like Oasis, Pulp, Prodigy, Pet Shop Boys, Faithless, Blur, Spice Girls, Stone Roses.. many others. Groups that release songs that become classics. Songs that take you back to past memories.

I just don't ever feel that there are groups like that anymore. Maybe I'm just completely out of touch with the music scene? Or is it all just crap these days?

I got thinking is it because bands aren't forming as often as they used to? Is it because teenagers aren't sat in parks bored out of their minds anymore and instead are too occupied with technology to go and start a band?

Or am I just getting old? Is the music as good now as it was in the 80s and 90s?
The radio played more indie, rock acts in the 80's and 90's its was all about those bands - now the bend of radio playlists is more towards urban, dance (on Kiss, Radio 1, Capital) and adult contemporary (on Radio 2). If bands like Oasis and Blur started up now they wouldn't be anywhere near as popular. And yes there are tons of great bands out there right now, but you won't hear them on the radio.
Soupietwist is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 21-01-2014, 17:02
BRITLAND
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 3,231
True but if you put a one direction song on in a shop.. and wannabe on in a shop.. I think more people in the shop will know immediately it's the spice girls but many won't know one direction. I couldn't list any one direction songs.
The nation will recognise their rock/popish sound, they saw them on The X Factor back when the show was at its peak in popularity, they also have another at least two albums left in them if not more, they might not get their big time single till then, as of now it's What Makes You Beautiful


I'm not a fan but I know like 4 or 5 of their songs and they've only been around for just under 3 years
BRITLAND is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 21-01-2014, 17:15
Tim_A
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 942
as of now it's What Makes You Beautiful
Surely you have been living under a rock if you can't associate that song with One Direction? I think they could retire tomorrow and be well happy with the performance of that, it's sold well over 5 million copies worldwide - one of the best selling of all time.
Tim_A is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 21-01-2014, 17:57
TheTruth1983
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Crapville
Posts: 13,162
Bands do not become iconic overnight. It takes years of hard slog recording and gigging to reach that status. You think The Beatles became iconic with their first release? Or Led Zeppelin? No, they didn't. The problem today is that both music industry and music fans (generally speaking) refuse to give a new band/artist a chance to find their footing in a saturated business.
TheTruth1983 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 21-01-2014, 18:13
mattlamb
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 2,716
I'm listening to Triple J radio on my computer right now.
It's an Australian radio station. A national station - their version of the BBC.

They play plenty of rock and "indie". Urban music just does not seem to be so popular there
mattlamb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 21-01-2014, 18:23
mgvsmith
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Belfast
Posts: 7,287
The radio played more indie, rock acts in the 80's and 90's its was all about those bands - now the bend of radio playlists is more towards urban, dance (on Kiss, Radio 1, Capital) and adult contemporary (on Radio 2). If bands like Oasis and Blur started up now they wouldn't be anywhere near as popular. And yes there are tons of great bands out there right now, but you won't hear them on the radio.
I don't think there are tons of 'great' bands but there are many very good bands. That is partly because I think creatives are more into their laptops these days than their guitars so you get the Kanye Wests and Chases and Statuses who might turn out to be iconic rather than bands. It's not that bands are outmoded but creative musicians don't have to work as part of a band these days, they act more as producer/writers with more control over their output.

The problem is that the output, the music has lost its cultural resonance. Pop music is essentially trivialised by Radio 1 and others and really just sits alongside celebrity culture for the most part. Pop music isn't linked with any great cultural shifts like it was in the past with sexual freedom, youth dissent, outsider culture, drug culture…it is now simply about consumerism - the very thing it started with.
mgvsmith is offline Follow this poster on Twitter   Reply With Quote
Old 21-01-2014, 19:13
BRITLAND
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 3,231
Surely you have been living under a rock if you can't associate that song with One Direction? I think they could retire tomorrow and be well happy with the performance of that, it's sold well over 5 million copies worldwide - one of the best selling of all time.
Agreed, unless you live elsewhere from the UK & Ireland, don't use the web at all and don't have any relations with someone under 30 then maybe you have an excuse
BRITLAND is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 21-01-2014, 20:20
Eric_Blob
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 7,124
There haven't really been any in a long time. The closest from my generation are probably the likes of Linkin Park, Nickelback, Kings of Leon, Coldplay. They had lots of success and made a big mark, but everybody seems to hate them now...

Agreed, unless you live elsewhere from the UK & Ireland, don't use the web at all and don't have any relations with someone under 30 then maybe you have an excuse
What Makes You Beautiful was big all around the world as well. I think you'd probably have to live in Japan or somewhere not to know the song.
Eric_Blob is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 21-01-2014, 21:08
BRITLAND
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 3,231
There haven't really been any in a long time. The closest from my generation are probably the likes of Linkin Park, Nickelback, Kings of Leon, Coldplay. They had lots of success and made a big mark, but everybody seems to hate them now...



What Makes You Beautiful was big all around the world as well. I think you'd probably have to live in Japan or somewhere not to know the song.
im sure it hit no1 in Japan or was that The Wanted (Glad You Came)?

ps I was saying that you had to be old and have no kids or use of the internet and pop culture to not know who they are ie a couple in their 70s living in the woods of Minnesota who don't have any relation to people under 30 and don't use the web or watch pop culture shows including morning news shows like Good Morning America were they were on quite a lot during the summer
BRITLAND is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 21-01-2014, 21:56
mrkite77
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: arizona
Posts: 5,220
You know that we were all saying this about the Spice Girls 15 years ago, right?

You won't know who's going to be iconic until later.
mrkite77 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 21-01-2014, 22:23
BRITLAND
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 3,231
You know that we were all saying this about the Spice Girls 15 years ago, right?

You won't know who's going to be iconic until later.
Safe bet that people said the same thing about Madonna, The Beatles and Elvis, ie the biggest stars of all time
BRITLAND is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 21-01-2014, 22:24
Luner13
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 2,807
Spice Girls were lucky to be huge in the pre internet era therefore there was no possibility of illegally downloading their music.

One Direction could release 10 studio albums and they would still not have as big record sales as the Spice Girls. And its the sales figures that get written about all these years later hence why no one can take away what the Spice Girls sold and that is why they are iconic.
Luner13 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 21-01-2014, 22:50
mrkite77
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: arizona
Posts: 5,220
The irony is that the Spice Girls are commonly perceived to be One Hit Wonders in the States. (Technically they had 3 hits, all from the same album: Wannabe, Say You'll Be There, and 2 Become 1).
mrkite77 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 21-01-2014, 22:59
Soupietwist
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 781
I don't think there are tons of 'great' bands but there are many very good bands. That is partly because I think creatives are more into their laptops these days than their guitars so you get the Kanye Wests and Chases and Statuses who might turn out to be iconic rather than bands. It's not that bands are outmoded but creative musicians don't have to work as part of a band these days, they act more as producer/writers with more control over their output.

The problem is that the output, the music has lost its cultural resonance. Pop music is essentially trivialised by Radio 1 and others and really just sits alongside celebrity culture for the most part. Pop music isn't linked with any great cultural shifts like it was in the past with sexual freedom, youth dissent, outsider culture, drug culture…it is now simply about consumerism - the very thing it started with.
I disagree I think there is a lot of great music being made and great bands in my opinion of course. The weird thing is no one seems that interested in playing them of radio thesedays - take The Arcade Fire for example : their albums go into the charts in the UK at number one, they are/were tipped to headline Glasto (our biggest music festival) yet they get no play. Same with The National who if they were around 20 years would have been as big as REM I'm sure. That's a couple of examples of the more 'commercial' acts - still it doesn't really bother me to much, it's much more fun seeing great bands like The Dear Hunter, Mew, Katzenjammer and Foxygen in a tiny venues!
Soupietwist is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 21-01-2014, 23:10
Sifter22
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 6,406
Don't think we've had a massive band since Arctic Monkeys.
Sifter22 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 21-01-2014, 23:14
degsyhufc
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Up North
Posts: 58,791
Surely you have been living under a rock if you can't associate that song with One Direction? I think they could retire tomorrow and be well happy with the performance of that, it's sold well over 5 million copies worldwide - one of the best selling of all time.
I would have had no idea that was by them
degsyhufc is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 21-01-2014, 23:15
degsyhufc
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Up North
Posts: 58,791
Surely you have been living under a rock if you can't associate that song with One Direction? I think they could retire tomorrow and be well happy with the performance of that, it's sold well over 5 million copies worldwide - one of the best selling of all time.
Does anyone else feel that there is a lack of new iconic bands and groups? I'm talking people like Oasis, Pulp, Prodigy, Pet Shop Boys, Faithless, Blur, Spice Girls, Stone Roses.. many others. Groups that release songs that become classics. Songs that take you back to past memories.

I just don't ever feel that there are groups like that anymore. Maybe I'm just completely out of touch with the music scene? Or is it all just crap these days?

I got thinking is it because bands aren't forming as often as they used to? Is it because teenagers aren't sat in parks bored out of their minds anymore and instead are too occupied with technology to go and start a band?

Or am I just getting old? Is the music as good now as it was in the 80s and 90s?
Don't think we've had a massive band since Arctic Monkeys.
Arctic Monkeys may be worth a shout.

I was going to say that the last iconic band in my eyes was Muse.
degsyhufc is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 21-01-2014, 23:32
BRITLAND
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 3,231
Spice Girls were lucky to be huge in the pre internet era therefore there was no possibility of illegally downloading their music.

One Direction could release 10 studio albums and they would still not have as big record sales as the Spice Girls. And its the sales figures that get written about all these years later hence why no one can take away what the Spice Girls sold and that is why they are iconic.
No one is saying that though, we are just saying that 1D are being under estimated by us just how TSG were back in the late 90s, they have 80 million albums sold, 1D have 35 million as of now, it may not compare but that doesn't mean they'll be forgotten. They're close to beating Take That (who are a national treasure here) likely by 1 album (if maths is correct) and if the success continues they could match Westlife and NSync at 50 million albums sold, would take 2 more albums (if maths is correct).

Though that aside just remember no one is saying that 1D will be bigger than The Spice Girls, but hey you never know.
BRITLAND is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 22-01-2014, 00:03
mgvsmith
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Belfast
Posts: 7,287
I disagree I think there is a lot of great music being made and great bands in my opinion of course. The weird thing is no one seems that interested in playing them of radio thesedays - take The Arcade Fire for example : their albums go into the charts in the UK at number one, they are/were tipped to headline Glasto (our biggest music festival) yet they get no play. Same with The National who if they were around 20 years would have been as big as REM I'm sure. That's a couple of examples of the more 'commercial' acts - still it doesn't really bother me to much, it's much more fun seeing great bands like The Dear Hunter, Mew, Katzenjammer and Foxygen in a tiny venues!
Not quite answering the point though. I think modern creative musicians are more likely to use new technologies to create music rather than work in bands. It's not a complete shift but it is significant in relation to why bands are a little less likely to be be as important in this era as they have been in the past. Also female solo artists are more plentiful and have greater audiences than ever before. Those changes have affected what gets played on the radio at least to some degree, it's not a great mystery really.
mgvsmith is offline Follow this poster on Twitter   Reply With Quote
Old 22-01-2014, 00:10
LaVieEnRose
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 6,522
Arctic Monkeys may be worth a shout.

I was going to say that the last iconic band in my eyes was Muse.
The Killers have to be in there too.
LaVieEnRose is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 22-01-2014, 00:11
Finny Skeleta
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 1,572
The days of big, iconic, long-lasting, ubiquitous, culturally-significant acts are gone and will never come back.

Back in the day it required a hell of a lot of investment to get a band or a singer anywhere. Something as basic as studio time was off limits to the vast majority of acts and the chance to get your music heard in another country was reserved for a very privileged few.

The means for discovering this music were limited too. Even with the pirate stations there were only a handful of radio stations, even fewer TV stations and jukeboxes only held a limited number of 45s. All this meant that you had a relatively small number of artists playing to a huge audience...the result, huge acts.

The paradigm is completely different these days. Anyone can record an album in their bedroom with only basic equipment and have it heard anywhere in the world in seconds. There are now so many choices and so many avenues for discovering new music that everyone can fine tune their tastes and their playlist to be a reflection of themselves rather than a reflection of the times or any particularly movement or fashion.

The future (and indeed the present) of music is a vast number of artists playing to small but dedicated fanbases and interacting personally with them. Money will no longer be a barrier; nobody will make any but they won't need eye-watering amounts of it just to get themselves heard. It is now possible to have an extensive, varied and interesting taste in music by only listening to artists in a 50 mile radius of your house.

Of course, the traditional music industry will try and pretend that everything is business as usual by hyping up a new 'megastar' every week; splashing them and their tits/floppy hairdos all over the telly, social media etc. and proclaiming them to be the new Beatles/Michael Jackson/Madonna but in reality no one is interested.

Everyone will have to make their own personal icons from here on in.
Finny Skeleta is offline   Reply With Quote
 
Reply




 
Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 16:01.