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Post by Kensterberg on Nov 15, 2006 15:06:18 GMT -5
I understand (and agree with) the praise for Eno, maarts, but IMO he loses out on the popularity question. I daresay that Eno is better known today than he was at any point in the seventies, and even dedicated music nuts would be hard pressed to pick him out walking down the street. If you're gonna "own" a decade, people need to know who you are. There weren't enough ordinary people who knew who Eno was in the seventies.
So despite his considerable artistic accomplishments in the decade, Brian Eno simply didn't own the seventies.
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Post by maarts on Nov 15, 2006 15:13:21 GMT -5
Since Eno expanded in more than one musical style I'd say he 'owned' the seventies in that respect. And was Bowie that popular in all? Sure' he sold a fair bit but hmmm.
If you talk about popularity being a driving force, then ABBA'd beat Bowie easily. They had number ones around the whole globe, including Asia, South America and Africa. Now that's 'owning' a decade.
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Post by phil on Nov 15, 2006 15:18:14 GMT -5
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Post by Kensterberg on Nov 15, 2006 15:24:35 GMT -5
As I said earlier, there's got to be a weighing of popularity, artistic reach and grasp, and hipness. Eno certainly had artistic reach (although how much of the success of things like Bowie's Berlin work and Talking Heads was due to Eno is debatable) and a fair grasp on it, and he's always had a certain degree of hipster cred, but he wasn't at all popular.
In contrast, ABBA were insanely popular but worked within a very limited genre, and were never, ever, hip.
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Post by skvorisdeadsorta on Nov 15, 2006 22:23:16 GMT -5
I love Abba. Fuck hip.
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Post by kool on Nov 15, 2006 22:50:26 GMT -5
Kiss were big in the seventies, but they weren't THAT big. They were awfully influential, but they were also simply awful as well. But they didn't "own" the decade. If you want to talk about basic rock acts, Aerosmith have a better claim to "owning" the seventies than Kiss. Ken, I have to say I disagree with you here. Just think back for a minute. Kiss had pinball machines. Kiss had their own ice cream. Kiss had Kiss cards. Kiss sold make-up kits. I didn't even know who Aerosmith were until I heard that song they did with Run DMC. And let's not forget, Gene Simmons could kick all those Aerosmith wankers' asses combined, blindfolded and with both hands tied behind his back, just using his tongue. That's gotta count for something.  |
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Post by kool on Nov 15, 2006 23:01:59 GMT -5
I was going to vote for Bowie here, but I didn't want Zep tied with Pink fuckin' Floyd, so I had to give the vote to them.
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Post by phil on Nov 16, 2006 0:02:13 GMT -5
The Seventies belongs to ...  Nothing was the same after that album ... |
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Post by Ryosuke on Nov 16, 2006 6:55:46 GMT -5
I vote Nel...okay this is getting old.
David Bowie.
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Post by Dr. Drum on Nov 16, 2006 7:01:57 GMT -5
Geez, leave it to a lawyer to try to define the competition out of existence.  Good work, Ken, but I daresay that if you look at it in proportion, Brian Eno was easily as popular in his home country in the 1970s as R.E.M. would have been in the States in the 80s. BTW, the Beatles owned the sixties, Prince and R.E.M. owned the eighties, and no one wanted the fucking nineties. |
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Post by Paul on Nov 16, 2006 8:34:11 GMT -5
Kiss were big in the seventies, but they weren't THAT big. They were awfully influential, but they were also simply awful as well. But they didn't "own" the decade. If you want to talk about basic rock acts, Aerosmith have a better claim to "owning" the seventies than Kiss. Ken, I have to say I disagree with you here. Just think back for a minute. Kiss had pinball machines. Kiss had their own ice cream. Kiss had Kiss cards. Kiss sold make-up kits. I didn't even know who Aerosmith were until I heard that song they did with Run DMC. And let's not forget, Gene Simmons could kick all those Aerosmith wankers' asses combined, blindfolded and with both hands tied behind his back, just using his tongue. That's gotta count for something. Weren't the Clash the only band that mattered? Seriously though, I guess they didn't own the decade.....I mean I suppose LZ was about as big as you could get. I like all the Kiss talk....I'm not much of a fan, nor have I ever really followed them but they seemed more like what Kool pointed out -- a merchandising franchise band! They were okay at best IMO, but they were like the George Lucas of Rock! They had Kiss lunch-boxes, sheets, curtains, toys, coffins, and just about anything else you can think of...I don't think they owned the 70's, they were just good businessmen who happened to dress weird and play decent music. |
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Post by Kensterberg on Nov 16, 2006 8:55:00 GMT -5
Geez, leave it to a lawyer to try to define the competition out of existence. Good work, Ken, but I daresay that if you look at it in proportion, Brian Eno was easily as popular in his home country in the 1970s as R.E.M. would have been in the States in the 80s. BTW, the Beatles owned the sixties, Prince and R.E.M. owned the eighties, and no one wanted the fucking nineties. For the first six years of the decade, that would be true, Drum. But in '87 Document broke through and made them major stars. The One I Love was a huge hit, and Green yielded two more big hits (Stand and Orange Crush) the next year. But I do see your point about my favorite Georgians ... so I can have them yield the decade to Prince. |
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Post by Dr. Drum on Nov 16, 2006 10:07:07 GMT -5
"The One I Love" and "Stand" were indeed top 10 hits. "Orange Crush" actually didn't chart in the States, though, outside of 'Modern Rock Hits' or whatever they used to call that thing. R.E.M. weren't major stars in the 80s in the way they would be later, they were "the acceptable edge of the unacceptable stuff", to use Peter Buck's famous quote.
I'll tell you when I actually knew R.E.M. had completely crossed over, though – it was when the old accountant guy at the place I worked then started going around incessantly humming "Losing My Religion" all the time. Old Accountant Guy wouldn't have had the first freaking clue if I'd mentioned R.E.M. before then, but man, did he ever cotton on to that song!
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Post by Ayinger on Nov 16, 2006 17:58:03 GMT -5
fuck,,,,,no ELO,,,,,
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JACkory
Struggling Artist
Posts: 167
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Post by JACkory on Nov 16, 2006 18:07:37 GMT -5
The Seventies belongs to ... Nothing was the same after that album ... Oh, please. Tell me what changed after that piece of shit album? |
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Good work, Ken, but I daresay that if you look at it in proportion, Brian Eno was easily as popular in his home country in the 1970s as R.E.M. would have been in the States in the 80s. 
