Who would be in your list of the most 'innovative' musicians of all time? eg James Brown, New Order, Kraftwerk

Question

Would like to read peoples opinions on who they consider to have 'changed' the sound of music and influenced many after them. Type away.....................................

Answer 1

Mellissa Ethridge

Answer 2

You mentioned a couple great ones. But scrolling through some suggested answers; I'm left scratching my head. Great artists? Sure! Most listed are in my casette tape/LP/CD/Ipod collection. Most innovative? No, and there's no shame in that.

It's incredible, in the 1970's, then again around 1988, there was an unprecedented creative musical explosion as ground breaking as Oppenheimer's team's development of the atomic bomb. Nothing like it had ever happened in recorded history. NOTHING. We suddenly had a critical mass of artists able to make high quality music through machines. Big picture here folks: that's big. Singing, playing the violin, guitar, or piano are great - but I'd tip my hat to whoever first invented and learned to play those instruments well - not someone way down the line who expertly fine-tuned a particular genre's sound. That's a very different skill.

And being a novel singer is more innovative than inventing and harnessing-emphasis on high quality harnessing-a machine to play quality sounding music (an extraordinary accomplishment in the annals of time)? Not to me at least. No one's saying that other stuff isn't awesome. I have rock, country, classical, rap, techno, house, soul, 50's, 60's, 70's (even 40's music) etc. etc. in my collection. But most innovative? Here is my list:

Front 242 (Belgium circa 1980s/90s/still around?) - designed own instruments, extremely innovative and influential in modern electro (all its various genres) dance.

Aphex Twin (Cornwall circa 1990s/present. a/k/a Richard James) - designs own instruments. Incredibly innovative. Not always melodic, but when he is, wow. Look for early work under other names.

Oliver Lieb (Frankfurt circa 1980s/90s/present, a/k/a "Force Legato, Spicelab, etc.) - Bach of modern electro/techno/trance type dance music. Key force behind rise of techno music.

The Orb. Beginning of the DJ era. That mantle currently held by John Digweed. Lately I'd say "Peace Orchestra" was pushing the envelope.

Obviously all this has a strong subjective element - I don't mean to discount other pioneers.

Answer 3

Robert Johnson, Stevie Wonder, Prince, Elvis, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Thelonius Monk, Johnny "Rotten" Lydon, The Ramones, The Clash, Producer Phil Specter, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambatta, Chuck Berry, PINK FLOYD, Jimi Hendrix, Sam Cooke, Big Mamma Thornton, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, The Dorsey Brothers, .....
*

Answer 4

Hmmm....

How about J.S. Bach for starters.

Many others come to mind later on...

Aaron Copland
Charlie Parker
John Coltrane
Igor Stravinsky
Robert Johnson
I would agree with James Brown
The Beatles
Les Paul, for inventing multitrack recording and popularizing the electric guitar.
Chuck Berry, for bringing rock & roll guitar to the forefront

Those who list Kraftwerk, Aphex Twin et al, owe it to themselves to go back further and check out Pierre Boulez, Varese, K. Stockhausen or even Frank Zappa for using the technology of their day to create innovative music... makes those guys seem like newcomers.

Bela Bartok
Duke Ellington

The list goes on and on, but you did say "of all time", not just since the 80's...

peace

.

Answer 5

Yep the electro ppl like New Order Depeche Mode Nine Inch Nails have all influenced the direction of electronic dance music.
Add in the likes of newer outfits like Skinny Puppy Frontline Assembly Front 242 & it's getting to cutting edge stuff.

Answer 6

The Kinks
Bob Dylan
Eric Clapton
Elvis

Answer 7

Mozart, Beethoven,for some of the finest classical music of all time. Negro Slaves with their innate sense of ryhthm singing Gospel, leading to Blues, Jazz, and Rock and Roll down through the years and generations, influencing Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, The Beatles, Stones, etc, leading on to Rap and Slam style music of today........and it will go on and on and on.

Answer 8

Scott Joplin
Duke Ellington
James Brown
Kraftwerk

Answer 9

"most 'innovative' musicians of all time" is a bold question, and while there have been some good ones mentioned, most people seem to be sticking one favored genre or another.

Of all time, I would say:

1. The Beatles - Took rock n roll from do-wop and drove us down the road that eventually gave us Hendrix. Think about it, in less than 4 years, they went from singing "I Want to Hold Your Hand" to "Strawberry Fields Forever", complete with backwards recordings, innovative orchestrations and very un-traditional arrangements. They changed music writing, production & recording forever.

2. Chuck Berry - Pretty much gave us rock n roll. Without him, no Elvis, Stones and many others. Was really the first to combine the swing of jazz, the style of hillbilly country and the sound of the blues. Often imitated, but he really was the first.

3. Kraftwerk - They pretty much invented synth-pop, techno and arguably the back-beats of hip-hop. Without them no New Order, no Depeche Mode, none of the early hip-hop of the 80s. They started in the early 70's, had to build their own synths since premade synths didn't exist, took something that previously had only been used in very experimental music or ambient music, and made pop music. Genius!

4. Led Zeppelin - OK, so a bunch of their songs were almost downright stolen from blues artists, but they took the blues, fused it with bombastic showmanship and a smoldering sexuality and took rock from The Beatles & The Stones to a whole new level. They pretty much created FM radio and arena rock, and a whole slew of bands from Aerosmith to The Black Crowes wouldn't exist without them.

5. Melle Mel - The MC behind the early hits of Grandmaster Flash. He took something that previously had only been seen on the streets of NYC and helped take it nationwide and put it into the hands of kids everywhere of every color. He is the first rapper ever to call himself "MC". His most famous (albeit least interesting) contribution is the brief rap on Chaka Kahn's cover of Prince's "I Feel For You". Grandmaster Flash were never the same without him, and without him you would never have had The Beastie Boys or Public Enemy.

6. The Who - Took basic RnB, beat it to hell, put it in a blender, and poured out something altogether different. Think of the things that they did before anyone else - destroy their instruments after a performance, the rock opera, gender bending lyrics. They also were quick to keep up with changing times, from mod heroes to arena rock gods. Pete Townsend's guitar & Roger Daltry's voices inspired generations, and outside of maybe John Bonham, there has never been a drummer like Keith Moon.

7. Johnny Cash. Who else could cover The Beatles, Nine Inch Nails, Soundgarden & Simon and Garfunkle and make all those songs sound like Cash originals? Who else put country (true country mind you, not junk like Shania Twain) on the map for people of all musical tastes for half a century? Who else invented that locomotive train rhythm?

8. Killing Joke - The true creators of so-called industrial rock. Without them, no Ministry, no Nine Inch Nails, no Rob Zombie (alright I could actually do without him, but you get the idea). They came out of the late 70's English punk scene, but were never punk. They always had a dark gothic sound before that label existed. They were the first to mix synths into dark heavy music. Covered by Metallica and ripped off by Nirvana (Come as You Are has the same riff as "Eighties"). Nirvana/Foo Fighter Dave Grohl even had the good sense to be their drummer for their 2003 comeback CD.

9. Chet Baker. Back in the day (1950's) most jazz vocalists didn't play an instrument. Ever see Sinatra or Bennett bust out a clarinet or piano solo? Didn't thinks so. Chet Baker, however, with his ultra smooth vocals, was also a very accomplished trumpet player, and often alternated between instrumental releases & vocal releases. Not nearly as well known as the above mentioned contemporaries, it is still almost guaranteed that you've heard his sound even if you didn't know who it was. He's played with the likes of Stan Getz, Charlie Parker and even Elvis Costello. Heroin stopped him from becoming as big as his talent deserved, and he died somewhat mysteriously in 1988.

I could go on and on . . . . . The guy above me has some great ones too and so does dreadneck

Answer 10

Pink Floyd

Answer 11

Jimmi hendrix as nearly every guitarist aspires to be him

Jimmi's the man

oh an that bloke who sang shaddupa ya face

joe dolce

the ****