Inspired by a similar thread at another forum I shtpost on.
The most popular artists in the world are popular for a reason. Let’s try and work out why. Do they have a wide range of songs appealing to a lot of folk, or do they lean on the glory days of one big hit/album?
I’ve cherry picked 25 bands/artists from the Wikipedia list of biggest sellers of all time. What’s your favourite song by each artist? If you genuinely can’t pick between two or three, then go ahead and list both (but don’t take the pss by putting six). If you genuinely do not like any song at all by any of these artists then go ahead and say so. And same again if you don’t know any songs, along with a brief explanation of what it’s been like to not hear any music in the last 40 years.
The Beatles
Elvis Presley
Michael Jackson/The Jackson 5
Madonna
Elton John
Led Zeppelin
Pink Floyd
AC/DC
Queen
Rolling Stones
ABBA
The Eagles
U2
Billy Joel
Phil Collins
Frank Sinatra
Kanye West
Bruce Springsteen
Metallica
Bon Jovi
Fleetwood Mac
Guns N Roses
Prince
Dire Straits
David Bowie
The Beatles - A Day In The Life
Elvis Presley - Heartbreak Hotel
Michael Jackson/The Jackson 5 - Man In The Mirror
Madonna - Material Girl
Elton John - Your Song
Led Zeppelin - Immigrant Song
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
AC/DC - Thunderstruck
Queen - One Vision
Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter
ABBA - The Winner Takes It All
The Eagles - Hotel California
U2 - With Or Without You
Billy Joel - You May Be Right
Phil Collins - Something Happened On The Way to Heaven
Frank Sinatra - New York New York
Kanye West - Touch The Sky
Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run
Metallica - Master of Puppets
Bon Jovi - In These Arms
Fleetwood Mac - Don’t Stop
Guns N Roses - November Rain
Prince - Purple Rain
Dire Straits - Romeo and Juliet
David Bowie - If you’ll accept Under Pressure, then that, otherwise Heroes
The Beatles - Martha My Dear
Elvis Presley - not a fan… if pushed A Little Less Conversation
Michael Jackson/The Jackson 5 - Human Nature
Madonna - Dear Jessie
Elton John - Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
Led Zeppelin - Kashmir
Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb
AC/DC - Jailbreak
Queen - Love Of My Life
Rolling Stones - 2000 Light Years From Home
ABBA - Knowing Me Knowing You
The Eagles - Heartache Tonight
U2 - Love Is Blindness
Billy Joel - Allentown
Phil Collins - Mama (with Genesis)
Frank Sinatra - none of them…
Kanye West - absolutely none of them
Bruce Springsteen - I’m On Fire
Metallica - One
Bon Jovi - Runaway
Fleetwood Mac - Tusk
Guns N Roses - Welcome To The Jungle
Prince - Alphabet St
Dire Straits - Private Investigation
David Bowie - Ashes To Ashes
The Beatles - Hey Jude
Elvis Presley - In the Ghetto
Michael Jackson/The Jackson 5 - Ben (Come at me!!)
Madonna - Holiday (serious struggle)
Elton John - Rocket Man
Led Zeppelin - Stairway
Pink Floyd - Another Brick in the Wall
AC/DC - Whole Lotta Rosie
Queen - Under Pressure
Rolling Stones - Angie
ABBA - Winner Takes it All (in all seriousness… would happily live me life and never hear any ABBA song)
The Eagles - Life in the Fast Lane (exact opposite of ABBA… fav song changes constantly)
U2 - Where the Streets Have No Name
Billy Joel - New York State of Mind
Phil Collins - Against All Odds
Frank Sinatra - My way
Kanye West - Gold Digger
Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run
Metallica - Enter Sandman
Bon Jovi - Living on a Prayer (Man I love Blaze of Glory but that is more Jon by himself and also I love it cos its crap)
Fleetwood Mac - Rhiannon
Guns N Roses - Civil War
Prince - Purple Rain
Dire Straits - Romeo and Juliet (I love Dire Straits)
David Bowie - Space Oddity
The Beatles – While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Elvis Presley – none
Michael Jackson/The Jackson 5 – Beat It
Madonna – Live to Tell
Elton John – Believe
Led Zeppelin – Kashmir
Pink Floyd – Comfortably Numb
AC/DC – none
Queen – Hammer to Fall (long)
Rolling Stones – Start Me Up / One Hit to the Body
ABBA – none
The Eagles – Those Shoes
U2 – When Love Comes to Town
Billy Joel – none
Phil Collins – In the Air Tonight / How I Wish It Would Rain
Frank Sinatra – none
Kanye West – don’t know any of his material, so none
Bruce Springsteen – Streets of Philadelphia
Metallica – Enter Sandman
Bon Jovi – Living On a Prayer
Fleetwood Mac – Green Manalishi (live) / I’m So Afraid / Oh Well
Guns N Roses – none
Prince – Purple Rain
Dire Straits – Private Investigations
David Bowie – Time Will Crawl (long)
The Beatles - A Day In the Life/Strawberry Fields/Norwegian Wood
Elvis Presley - Mystery Train
Michael Jackson/The Jackson 5 - I’ll Bet You
Madonna - Holiday (just for the kitsch value)
Elton John - Ballad of Danny Bailey
Led Zeppelin - Cashmere
Pink Floyd - Have a Cigar
AC/DC - Let There Be Rock
Queen - Princes of the Universe/Another one bites the dust
Rolling Stones - Can’t you hear me knockin’
ABBA - (Pass)
The Eagles - Those Shoes
U2 - The Fly
Billy Joel - Close to the Borderline
Phil Collins - (Pass)
Frank Sinatra - My Way
Kanye West (Pass. Actually don’t know any.)
Bruce Springsteen (Dunno)
Metallica - Jump in the Fire
Bon Jovi - Living on a Prayer (Kitsch)
Fleetwood Mac - (Pass)
Guns N Roses - Mr. Brownstone
Prince - Tamborine
Dire Straits - Money for nothing.
David Bowie - Life on Mars/Quicksand/Eight Line Poem
“The most popular artists in the world are popular for a reason. Let’s try and work out why. Do they have a wide range of songs appealing to a lot of folk, or do they lean on the glory days of one big hit/album?”
My thesis at uni was on something like this. More towards are the record companies producing what the average music listener wants to listen to? I’d post it here but I only have 2 copies leatherbound and no one is reading a 1000+ page essay.
My research said, yes. Was great fun though trying to get access to artists / producers / A&R / sound engineers / managers from around the world to understand their point of view.
Also I looked at your list compared to wiki and you certainly have cherry picked it. Madonna and Kanye only artists with anything major (afterall we are talking why they are popular based on album sales) from 2000+. Only 3 with females. No country music artist. I think you need to balance your list more to make it more rounded, then you can have a proper discussion on why they are popular.
The Beatles I am the Walrus
Elvis Presley American trilogy
Michael Jackson/The Jackson 5 I want you Back
Madonna Human Nature
Elton John Rocket Man
Led Zeppelin Rock n Roll
Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here
AC/DC Jailbreak
Queen Princes of the Universe
Rolling Stones Ruby Tuesday
ABBA Warterloo
The Eagles One of these Nights
U2 The Fly
Billy Joel You May Be Right
Phil Collins Separate Lives
Frank Sinatra The Way You Look Tonight
Kanye West Touch The Sky
Bruce Springsteen Glory Days
Metallica Enter Sandman
Bon Jovi Raise Your Hands (Spaceballs)
Fleetwood Mac Gypsy
Guns N Roses Yesterdays
Prince I Hate You
Dire Straits Money For Nothing
David Bowie Ashes to Ashes
"The most popular artists in the world are popular for a reason. Let's try and work out why. Do they have a wide range of songs appealing to a lot of folk, or do they lean on the glory days of one big hit/album?"
My thesis at uni was on something like this. More towards are the record companies producing what the average music listener wants to listen to? I’d post it here but I only have 2 copies leatherbound and no one is reading a 1000+ page essay.
My research said, yes. Was great fun though trying to get access to artists / producers / A&R / sound engineers / managers from around the world to understand their point of view.
Also I looked at your list compared to wiki and you certainly have cherry picked it. Madonna and Kanye only artists with anything major (afterall we are talking why they are popular based on album sales) from 2000+. Only 3 with females. No country music artist. I think you need to balance your list more to make it more rounded, then you can have a proper discussion on why they are popular.
I was waiting for you to jump in.
I cherry picked those most likely to garner a response from the Blitz demographic. I didn’t imagine receiving much other than “I dunno” on the likes of Rihanna, Mariah Carey, TayTay, Garth Brooks and Bruno Mars.
The Beatles - Oh Darling
Elvis Presley - American Trilogy
Michael Jackson/The Jackson 5 - Man In The Mirror
Madonna - Like a Prayer/Isla Bonita
Elton John - Your Song
Led Zeppelin - Immigrant Song
Pink Floyd - Another Brick in the Wall
AC/DC - Long Way to the Top
Queen - Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Rolling Stones - Paint it Black
ABBA - Dancing Queen
The Eagles - New Kid in Town
U2 - don’t like any U2 songs
Billy Joel -Uptown Girl
Phil Collins - You Can’t Hurry Love
Frank Sinatra - My Way
Kanye West - don’t know any
Bruce Springsteen - Dancing in the Dark
Metallica - don’t know any
Bon Jovi - Livin on Prayer
Fleetwood Mac - Little Lies
Guns N Roses - Live and let Die
Prince - Cream
Dire Straits - Twisting by the Pool
David Bowie -Lets Dance
I also agree that there is a self-perpetuating nature of reaching the top of these kind of lists (once popular they become more/stay popular). It’s more an exercise to see if they still remain popular due to legacy of their golden era, or range of output. eg: On 6 responses to date we have 6 different Beatles songs, but only 3 Dire Straits
"The most popular artists in the world are popular for a reason. Let's try and work out why. Do they have a wide range of songs appealing to a lot of folk, or do they lean on the glory days of one big hit/album?"
My thesis at uni was on something like this. More towards are the record companies producing what the average music listener wants to listen to? I’d post it here but I only have 2 copies leatherbound and no one is reading a 1000+ page essay.
My research said, yes. Was great fun though trying to get access to artists / producers / A&R / sound engineers / managers from around the world to understand their point of view.
Also I looked at your list compared to wiki and you certainly have cherry picked it. Madonna and Kanye only artists with anything major (afterall we are talking why they are popular based on album sales) from 2000+. Only 3 with females. No country music artist. I think you need to balance your list more to make it more rounded, then you can have a proper discussion on why they are popular.
I was waiting for you to jump in.
I cherry picked those most likely to garner a response from the Blitz demographic. I didn’t imagine receiving much other than “I dunno” on the likes of Rihanna, Mariah Carey, TayTay, Garth Brooks and Bruno Mars.
Who could we add to make it more representative then? Johnny Cash, Kylie, Leonard Cohen? Bieber? Nirvana are kinda more of the same, but 90s rock rather than 80s. Beyonce? I’m having real problems with female artists, they tend to skew towards non-Blitz-friendly genres, and lots of female pop artists in particular don’t have long careers. Patti Smith? Garbage? The Carpenters? I’d suggest the Andrews Sisters, they were huge for decades, but only me and AN10 would be able to answer that one…
"The most popular artists in the world are popular for a reason. Let's try and work out why. Do they have a wide range of songs appealing to a lot of folk, or do they lean on the glory days of one big hit/album?"
My thesis at uni was on something like this. More towards are the record companies producing what the average music listener wants to listen to? I’d post it here but I only have 2 copies leatherbound and no one is reading a 1000+ page essay.
My research said, yes. Was great fun though trying to get access to artists / producers / A&R / sound engineers / managers from around the world to understand their point of view.
Also I looked at your list compared to wiki and you certainly have cherry picked it. Madonna and Kanye only artists with anything major (afterall we are talking why they are popular based on album sales) from 2000+. Only 3 with females. No country music artist. I think you need to balance your list more to make it more rounded, then you can have a proper discussion on why they are popular.
I was waiting for you to jump in.
I cherry picked those most likely to garner a response from the Blitz demographic. I didn’t imagine receiving much other than “I dunno” on the likes of Rihanna, Mariah Carey, TayTay, Garth Brooks and Bruno Mars.
Who could we add to make it more representative then? Johnny Cash, Kylie, Leonard Cohen? Bieber? Nirvana are kinda more of the same, but 90s rock rather than 80s. Beyonce? I’m having real problems with female artists, they tend to skew towards non-Blitz-friendly genres, and lots of female pop artists in particular don’t have long careers. Patti Smith? Garbage? The Carpenters? I’d suggest the Andrews Sisters, they were huge for decades, but only me and AN10 would be able to answer that one…
Nice, we have our own Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy(s) of Company B(litz).
The Beatles - Here Comes the Sun
Elvis Presley - Are You Lomesome Tonight
Michael Jackson/The Jackson 5 - Human Nature
Madonna - Crazy for You
Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven
Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb
AC/DC - Back in Black
Queen - Radio Gaga (live)
Rolling Stones - Paint it Black
ABBA - Dancing Queen
The Eagles - New Kid in Town
U2 - The Unforgetable Fire
Billy Joel - Angry Young Man
Phil Collins/Genesis - Abacab (live)
Frank Sinatra - New York New York
Kanye West - N/A
Bruce Springsteen - Human Touch
Metallica - One
Bon Jovi - Bed of Roses
Fleetwood Mac - Dreams
Guns N Roses - Sweet Child of Mine
Prince - Diamonds and Pearls
Dire Strait/Mark Knopfler - Going Home
David Bowie - Space Oddity
The Beatles - A Day in the Life
Elvis Presley - Suspicious Minds
Michael Jackson/The Jackson 5 - none
Madonna - none
Elton John - Tonight Live with the Melb Symphony Orchestra
Led Zeppelin - Misty Mountain Hop
Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb
AC/DC - You Shook Me All Night Long
Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
Rolling Stones - Sympathy For the Devil
ABBA - Winner Takes it all
The Eagles - Seven Bridges Road
U2 - All I Want is You
Billy Joel - none
Phil Collins - none
Frank Sinatra - none
Kanye West - who is this? so none
Bruce Springsteen - Born to run
Metallica - Unforgiven
Bon Jovi - Wanted Dead or Alive
Fleetwood Mac - Chain
Guns N Roses - November Rain
Prince - none
Dire Straits - Romeo and Juliet
David Bowie - Heroes
"The most popular artists in the world are popular for a reason. Let's try and work out why. Do they have a wide range of songs appealing to a lot of folk, or do they lean on the glory days of one big hit/album?"
My thesis at uni was on something like this. More towards are the record companies producing what the average music listener wants to listen to? I’d post it here but I only have 2 copies leatherbound and no one is reading a 1000+ page essay.
My research said, yes. Was great fun though trying to get access to artists / producers / A&R / sound engineers / managers from around the world to understand their point of view.
Also I looked at your list compared to wiki and you certainly have cherry picked it. Madonna and Kanye only artists with anything major (afterall we are talking why they are popular based on album sales) from 2000+. Only 3 with females. No country music artist. I think you need to balance your list more to make it more rounded, then you can have a proper discussion on why they are popular.
I was waiting for you to jump in.
I cherry picked those most likely to garner a response from the Blitz demographic. I didn’t imagine receiving much other than “I dunno” on the likes of Rihanna, Mariah Carey, TayTay, Garth Brooks and Bruno Mars.
You are right with regards to the demographic here but you may not have owned a Mariah Carey album but you damn well know of the song when you hear it. As another example, you may never owned a Led Zeppelin album but you may know at least one of their songs as it was the theme song to Top of the Pops. Led is actually an interesting case to discuss. Huge band. Never had a number 1 single in Australia or the US. Celine Dion, well the Titanic movie was pretty much everywhere you go and we all remember how it goes on and on. In fact you demonstrate a bit of this theory yourself with “TayTay”.
What potentially makes the list of why they are popular is the fact that you may not be able to name the song or the artist but you do ‘know’ the song.
The I dunno aspect also helps with your question. Why are they popular then?
I’m being rather picky but i’m only trying to help your discussion
Who could we add to make it more representative then? Johnny Cash, Kylie, Leonard Cohen? Bieber? Nirvana are kinda more of the same, but 90s rock rather than 80s. Beyonce? I’m having real problems with female artists, they tend to skew towards non-Blitz-friendly genres, and lots of female pop artists in particular don’t have long careers. Patti Smith? Garbage? The Carpenters? I’d suggest the Andrews Sisters, they were huge for decades, but only me and AN10 would be able to answer that one…
Yep it’s true that female artists do tend to struggle after a big album. Doesn’t mean to say they aren’t still writing or recording songs. Carpenters were hard to have a long career when their lead had passed on. Aretha Franklin maybe? Cher? Tina Turner? Diana Ross? Annie Lennox / Eurythmics? Gwen Stefani / No Doubt? Pink?
The Beatles - In my Life
Elvis Presley - Can’t Help Falling In Love
Michael Jackson/The Jackson 5 - I’ll Be There
Madonna - Live To Tell
Elton John - Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me
Led Zeppelin - The Rain Song
Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb
AC/DC - Let There Be Rock
Queen - Stone Cold Crazy
Rolling Stones - Wild Horses
ABBA - Waterloo
The Eagles - Desperado
U2 - The Unforgetable Fire
Billy Joel - She’s Got A Way
Phil Collins/Genesis - Against All Odds
Frank Sinatra - That’s Life
Kanye West - Stronger
Bruce Springsteen - Secret Garden
Metallica - Whiplash
Bon Jovi - Wanted Dead or Alive
Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way
Guns N Roses - Paradise City
Prince - Let’s Go Crazy
Dire Strait/Mark Knopfler - Telegraph Road
David Bowie - Five Years
