Who you got?

Ground rules: rock n roll defined broadly - think RnR HOF members - groups acceptable for a single head


Me:

Elvis - not my cup of tea, but how can this not be one

Beatles - GOAT IMHO

Michael Jackson - king of pop

Bob Dylan - #4 is easily the hardest selection for me and I am not the biggest fan, but he is maybe the best song writer of all time. The most covered guy of all time: Byrds, Hendrix, U2, Eddie Vedder, Guns N Roses, George Harrison, Beck, White Stripes ... so many more

My criteria would have to be "influential", rather than sheer talent. That is, someone (or entity) that changed the rules - even though they weren't necessarily the best at what they did.

Chuck Berry and Elvis - without them, we're not having this conversation. They're the recognized "founding fathers" if a musical continuum can be considered to have any at all.
The Beatles - Most important in their history, they took creative control away from the publishing houses. Before them, artists would be hired and fired to perform the songs that the publishers wrote. The Beatles said they'd write their own tunes, thank you very much!
Bob Dylan - He's credited with making rock relevant. He gave it a voice and a conscience beyond entertainment.

Like I said, others have "done it better" (arguably), and there's a million more inflection points (Pink Floyd modernized music to a way that their inclusion could be fiercely argued).

Elvis
Chuck Berry
Buddy Holly
Everly Brothers

Those 4 set the table for everyone that followed. Gets difficult after that. Even the great ones (Beatles, Stones, Dylan, Brian Wilson, Orbison, Ray Charles . . . whoever you want to name. . . will tell you they stole all there licks and vocal styles from these cats. They are the rock and foundation of rock and roll.

End of discussion.

Michael Jackson? You gotta be kidding me?

Me?

Prince
James Brown
The Smiths
A video board so I can run people through.

I thought Doors, Parliament, Ritchie, Hendrix, Beasties, Eriq B, U2, Depeche Mode and on and on couldn't decide.

tommie said:

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Me?

Prince
James Brown
The Smiths
A video board so I can run people through.

I thought Doors, Parliament, Ritchie, Hendrix, Beasties, Eriq B, U2, Depeche Mode and on and on couldn't decide.

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Fine artists, all. But the real Rushmore is inhabited by founding fathers. These guys you name are playing follow the leader.

Keyser Soze said:

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Who you got?

Ground rules: rock n roll defined broadly - think RnR HOF members - groups acceptable for a single head


Me:

Elvis - not my cup of tea, but how can this not be one

Beatles - GOAT IMHO

Michael Jackson - king of pop

Bob Dylan - #4 is easily the hardest selection for me and I an not the biggest fan, but he is maybe the best song writer of all time. The most covered guy of all time: Byrds, Hendrix, U2, Eddie Vedder, Guns N Roses, George Harrison, Beck, White Stripes ... so many more

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Replace Dylan with Prince and we agree 100% .

Stranger said:

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Elvis
Chuck Berry
Buddy Holly
Everly Brothers

Those 4 set the table for everyone that followed. Gets difficult after that. Even the great ones (Beatles, Stones, Dylan, Brian Wilson, Orbison, Ray Charles . . . whoever you want to name. . . will tell you they stole all there licks and vocal styles from these cats. They are the rock and foundation of rock and roll.

End of discussion.

Michael Jackson? You gotta be kidding me?

---

You don't have to be a fan to recognize the cultural impact of MJ. There is a reason he got the moniker "King of Pop"

3rd most #1 songs, Best Selling LP of all time, 13 Grammy's, 26 American Music Awards

Keyser Soze said:

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Stranger said:

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Elvis
Chuck Berry
Buddy Holly
Everly Brothers

Those 4 set the table for everyone that followed. Gets difficult after that. Even the great ones (Beatles, Stones, Dylan, Brian Wilson, Orbison, Ray Charles . . . whoever you want to name. . . will tell you they stole all there licks and vocal styles from these cats. They are the rock and foundation of rock and roll.

End of discussion.

Michael Jackson? You gotta be kidding me?

---

You don't have to be a fan to recognize the cultural impact of MJ. There is a reason he got the moniker "King of Pop"

3rd most #1 songs, Best Selling LP of all time, 13 Grammy's, 26 American Music Awards

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I ain't knocking Michael or Prince. But seriously, Mike was King of Pop, not rock. He stole most of dance moves from Elvis.
Prince also talented but he took most of his licks from Chuck.

At the top I went with the RnR HOF definitions which are very broad - Pop makes the list, Donna Summer is in the RnR HOF - that is DISCO

Stranger said:

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Keyser Soze said:

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Stranger said:

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Elvis
Chuck Berry
Buddy Holly
Everly Brothers

Those 4 set the table for everyone that followed. Gets difficult after that. Even the great ones (Beatles, Stones, Dylan, Brian Wilson, Orbison, Ray Charles . . . whoever you want to name. . . will tell you they stole all there licks and vocal styles from these cats. They are the rock and foundation of rock and roll.

End of discussion.

Michael Jackson? You gotta be kidding me?

---

You don't have to be a fan to recognize the cultural impact of MJ. There is a reason he got the moniker "King of Pop"

3rd most #1 songs, Best Selling LP of all time, 13 Grammy's, 26 American Music Awards

---

I ain't knocking Michael or Prince. But seriously, Mike was King of Pop, not rock. He stole most of dance moves from Elvis.
Prince also talented but he took most of his licks from Chuck.

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You just told a "yo momma" joke.

About my momma.

Michael didn't steal from Elvis (I find them the be very dissimilar and Elvis to be much deeper in thought) but I don't care about any criticism of him.

Prince however Cut his own grass.

tommie said:

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Price however Cut his own grass.

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This guy?

Elvis Presley

Prince

Michael Jackson

Elton John - he is the all time hit maker I think

Y'all all seem to have the same myopic memories of great music. All mentioned are worthy.

But my Mt. Rushmore would be:
Vanilla Ice
Sugar Hill Gang
A Flock of Seagulls
Toni Basil

Close behind would be:
Marky Mark
Tone Loc
Looking Glass
Cheryl Lynn (cause we got to be real!)

Keyser Soze said:

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At the top I went with the RnR HOF definitions which are very broad - Pop makes the list, Donna Summer is in the RnR HOF - that is DISCO

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Ive been to the Hall of fame and it ain't a real creditable joint. Donna Summer? You gotta be kidding me. There are literally dozens of people in there who have no business belonging. I mean there are some one hit wonders in there. Jann Wenner who started Rolling Stone owns the place and picks the nominees. There are several who had legitimate hit careers have been omitted.

If you take the Mount Rushmore approach of founding fathers, then great artists like Michael Jackson, Prince and Elton John simply don't belong. This ain't a Hall of fame. This is four founding fathers.

Abe L & Teddy R were not founding fathers in many senses

Agree the HOF rules are wack - lots of stuff I would not call RnR is in there.


But let's have multiple Mt Rushmores now.

1. as I started, as if historians or music industry picked

2. Your personal Mt Rushmore (no one can argue that one)

3. Your Baylor Days Mt Rushmore


My Person Mt Rushmore

Beatles
U2
Neil Young
Tom Petty

Hon Mention: Prince, Zep, The Cars, Stones

Baylor Days

Prince
Talking Heads
Police
MJ

whitetrash said:

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tommie said:

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Price however Cut his own grass.

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This guy?

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Lol. I always preferred Spanish Eyes.

The Ramones, Dead Kennedys, Black Flag and.....The Beatles.

MilliVanilli
Katy Perry
Boy George
Sonny and Cher

whitetrash said:

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tommie said:

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Price however Cut his own grass.

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This guy?

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My spelling might cause a war.

midgett said:

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Y'all all seem to have the same myopic memories of great music. All mentioned are worthy.

But my Mt. Rushmore would be:
Vanilla Ice
Sugar Hill Gang
A Flock of Seagulls
Toni Basil

Close behind would be:
Marky Mark
Tone Loc
Looking Glass
Cheryl Lynn (cause we got to be real!)

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Cheryl Lynn was nice. That was a great time.

If we did a hip hop Mt. Rushmore, I'd have

Run DMC
Beastie Boys
Eric B and Rakim
Public Enemy

Can't believe I left off Eminem and Biggie

Who got yo back? We drink champagne when we thirsty.

LIB,MR BEARS said:

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MilliVanilli
Katy Perry
Boy George
Sonny and Cher

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This is an awesome list. I'd cut one and add this guy:

Stranger said:

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Elvis
Chuck Berry
Buddy Holly
Everly Brothers

Those 4 set the table for everyone that followed. Gets difficult after that. Even the great ones (Beatles, Stones, Dylan, Brian Wilson, Orbison, Ray Charles . . . whoever you want to name. . . will tell you they stole all there licks and vocal styles from these cats. They are the rock and foundation of rock and roll.

End of discussion.

Michael Jackson? You gotta be kidding me?

---

Supplant bill Haley for the everlys (although I love them), and you get my donation

pitchman said:

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Stranger said:

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Elvis
Chuck Berry
Buddy Holly
Everly Brothers

Those 4 set the table for everyone that followed. Gets difficult after that. Even the great ones (Beatles, Stones, Dylan, Brian Wilson, Orbison, Ray Charles . . . whoever you want to name. . . will tell you they stole all there licks and vocal styles from these cats. They are the rock and foundation of rock and roll.

End of discussion.

Michael Jackson? You gotta be kidding me?

---

Supplant bill Haley for the everlys (although I love them), and you get my donation

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I gave some serious thought to Bill Haley but I thought about the harmony singing by Don and Phil and how that directly influenced the harmonies of the Beatles, Beach Boys, Byrds, Eagles and everybody else that followed.

Stranger said:

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Keyser Soze said:

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At the top I went with the RnR HOF definitions which are very broad - Pop makes the list, Donna Summer is in the RnR HOF - that is DISCO

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Ive been to the Hall of fame and it ain't a real creditable joint. Donna Summer? You gotta be kidding me. There are literally dozens of people in there who have no business belonging. I mean there are some one hit wonders in there. Jann Wenner who started Rolling Stone owns the place and picks the nominees. There are several who had legitimate hit careers have been omitted.

If you take the Mount Rushmore approach of founding fathers, then great artists like Michael Jackson, Prince and Elton John simply don't belong. This ain't a Hall of fame. This is four founding fathers.

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You've said that twice but it isn't true. Only two of the four are Founders. You'd have Hamilton or Madison or Adams if that was the focus

Stranger said:

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Keyser Soze said:

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At the top I went with the RnR HOF definitions which are very broad - Pop makes the list, Donna Summer is in the RnR HOF - that is DISCO

---

Ive been to the Hall of fame and it ain't a real creditable joint. Donna Summer? You gotta be kidding me. There are literally dozens of people in there who have no business belonging. I mean there are some one hit wonders in there. Jann Wenner who started Rolling Stone owns the place and picks the nominees. There are several who had legitimate hit careers have been omitted.

If you take the Mount Rushmore approach of founding fathers, then great artists like Michael Jackson, Prince and Elton John simply don't belong. This ain't a Hall of fame. This is four founding fathers.

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I just reread your post and you make valid points. I'm not sure Mt. Rushmore is just founding fathers (Ted and Abe) but they are significant contributors.

As for music, I'm not sure many musicians, today, trace their roots back beyond 1990. We care more about what paved the way for our music then today's youth. They care about Bentley's.

If you've been to Mt Rushmore, you have heard the story that Borglum chose Washington and Jefferson as 2 founders of the country, Lincoln as the one who saved the union, and had much controversy over including Teddy (he had only been dead 10 years or so when they started construction). Finally the reasoning was that he was the president who championed national parks and the great wilderness.

So using those same criteria:

Founders: Elvis + one of Chuck Berry (squandered his fame on chasing women), Buddy Holly (died too young), Everly Bros (the foundation for many groups to follow)

Savior: Beatles. Many forget how bad (with the possible exception of The Beach Boys) Rock & Roll got from mid 1959 until early 1964, after Elvis went in the army, Buddy died, and a host of other pioneers faded as tastes changed and many crawled into a bottle. Lots of bad dance music, early girl group pop, even Lawrence Welk had a #1 single on the Billboard R&R chart in 1960. Brenda Lee was about the most bankable star until February 1964 and the genre came back with a vengeance. Plus they were some of the first musicians who wrote their own material.

The Wild Card: could go in a hundred directions here. Rolling Stones? Hendrix? Dylan? Michael Jackson? Prince? U2? Nirvana? I have no clue.

Keyser Soze said:

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Who you got?





Elvis - not my cup of tea, but how can this not be one

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I vote no on Elvis. No man that dies on the toilet deserves to have his image on the side of a mountain.

If I'm going on talent alone, it's going to look like:

1) Chuck Berry
2) Jimi Hendrix
3) Prince
4) Queen

Mr Tulip said:

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If I'm going on talent alone, it's going to look like:

1) Chuck Berry
2) Jimi Hendrix
3) Prince
4) Queen

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If we went by talent alone, little Matty shouldn't have lost eleven football games last season while winning only one.

Stranger said:

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Mr Tulip said:

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If I'm going on talent alone, it's going to look like:

1) Chuck Berry
2) Jimi Hendrix
3) Prince
4) Queen

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If we went by talent alone, little Matty shouldn't have lost eleven football games last season while winning only one.

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So, to keep this music related...

Same song 427,396th verse?

80sBEAR said:

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Keyser Soze said:

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Who you got?





Elvis - not my cup of tea, but how can this not be one

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I vote no on Elvis. No man that dies on the toilet deserves to have his image on the side of a mountain.

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I mean he was the King . . . and he died on the throne!

I agree that it should be the founding fathers. Artists without whom there would be no RNR

So on that basis, I'd go with...

Elvis
Buddy Holly
Chuck Berry
The Everly Brothers