of their generation?

YES!
Todays pop/rock has so much compressed crap i think that Elvis would come as a breath of fresh air.

Todays pop world is more about image and looks then the music.

But I seem to remember that Georg Martin signed Beatles from their "personal charm" or something like that, not because he liked their music. So they would probably do fine

Same with Elvis, he wasn't much of a musician but the early "bad boy" image was unbeatable and would also work today!

JohanR

If you mean they would be performing their original music, then I doubt they would get any recognition at all.

Interesting question. Would they perform the same stuff as they did way back when, or would they actually break the mould in the 2000's?

Always fun to guess but I would say both would be at teh top of different trees.

Elvis would have a real benefit of course. Fristly drug rehab and knowledge is better, so he would stand a slightly better chance of lasting the course (though would that be better for his career?). Then the lawyers would destroy any contract that he might have signed, so he would get more control over what he was doing. In which case with more money he could buy a slightly bigger home and decorate it better! My guess is he would be a massive "middle of the road" (no disrespect) star - probably doing the Vegas circuit.

The Beatles were so inventive that I think they would probably float to the top whenever they were around.

Anyone got any thoughts about others that would "make it" today as well? Buddy Holly? Bessie Smith? Billie Holiday? and what would people like Cole Porter or The Gershwin's be doing today?

Steve

Of course the Beatles would make it today - good songs and well produced albums will always win through.

IMO Elvis is still OK - I like Watching The Detectives and I don't want to go to Chelsea and .... oh, if you meant that other Elvis, well there's a guy works down the chip shop swears he's Elvis. Sorry, but Mr Presley means nothing to me - I don't know much about him, but from a distance, he seemed manufactured - a bit like Robbie Williams. I may be out of order with those comments, as I speak from ignorance when it comes to 50s rock n roll.

I also think Syd Barrett and Ray Davies would make it today - every now and then a classic record finds it's way back in to the hit parade - not 'arf.

I don't think there's much around today that will last - with the exception of one truly great songwriter whose lyrics I think will be the subject of many an historical discussion - funily enough he's just a ferry cross the Mersey from where John and Paul started.

quote:

Originally posted by ROTF:
Sorry, but Mr Presley means nothing to me - I don't know much about him, but from a distance, he seemed manufactured - a bit like Robbie Williams.

That's the point though. He would be massive if he appeared fresh faced today becuase he could be manipulated by experts who knew what the public wanted. His only problem now would be the same as he had then - lack of good songs, he would need to hook up with a songwriter just like RW had to (in the early days).

Steve

Hi

Try and listen to the Beatles without singing along, almost impossible, I think they would make it today without any problem at all as there was so much talent in the band, their class would still shine through. As for Elvis I reckon he would still be huge in the States, perhaps not so big in the UK.

Dave

>>Try and listen to the Beatles without singing along, almost impossible, I think they would make it today without any problem at all as there was so much talent in the band, their class would still shine through. As for Elvis I reckon he would still be huge in the States, perhaps not so big in the UK.<<


How many young people do you hear singing Beatles songs?

"Class" (definition?)has nothing to do with success in pop music these days.

Being involved in a reality show now seems the way to pop success, gone are the days of starting in bands and constant gigging until you broke through. Many succesful bands from the "heyday" were as a result of a large number of earlier bands, not an instantly manufactured band. The members of the band had a long history of involvement learning their trade often as session musicians-eg Page and Jones of Led Zep or had a musical education. Record companies don't want to wait for success they want it now, if the first release fails they are dropped. No wonder it all starts to sound the same- keep to a product that sells.
All sounds a bit depressing but i have not heard anything new that really grabs me and is really original, it all seems to be re-inventing the wheel.

Steve

quote:

How many young people do you hear singing Beatles songs?

My 13yr old daughter does, she had the "Love" album for Xmas, where does she get her liking of the Beatles from? not me as I was never a great fan preferring the Stones. She also sings Beach Boys Songs alongside her Red Hot Chilli faves.

Steve

It always amazed me that my 2 seem to know so many of "my age" tunes,many of them not played in my house.
Most of this thread is unanswerable, much like was Rod Laver or Bjorn Borg better than Pete Sampras or whoever now.
Still it does stimulate the "little grey cells" a smidge.

Howard

quote:

How many young people do you hear singing Beatles songs?

I don't hear young people singing any songs at all, what I said was you can't help but sing along when they are playing, not forgetting that they were before my time too! Yes much pop music is manufactured today, which is perhaps why I don't listen to much of it, I still believe that the Beatles would shine through and be successful.

"Being involved in a reality show now seems the way to pop success, gone are the days of starting in bands and constant gigging until you broke through."

There would seem to be two major reality talent shows, the X factor being one, this means two winners per year, and a few runners up who do a few singles and not much more, with the exception of Lemar and maybe one or two others. So not a major contribution to the music industry, more a contribution to Simon Cowells bank account and TV ratings. Some of the contestants have been gigging for years and are trying to get their big break. In this years X Factor, Leona had been trying to get a deal for ages and tried many record companies, Ben was in a band, the McDonald brothers had been gigging for years in pubs and clubs etc...

"session musicians-eg Page and Jones of Led Zep"

Now we are talking extremely talented people, Page and then Jones being the youngest session musicians at the time, and eventually forming my favourite group! Pop/Rock music was still in its infancy to a certain extent, now we see spin offs and new variants, but some new bands seem to be a re-hash of older bands, the Kaiser Chiefs seem to be a new Talking Heads for example but not as good as the original! The Zep borrowed from many genre's, and re-hashed it, they just did it very well and were prepared to experiment, probably something they wouldn't be able to do today with commercial pressures to be successful. (They were very well managed as well of course). Singles sales have plummeted, I think reasons for this are that, few bands stay around for long so you don't get the excitement at the latest release (I remember everyone at school getting excited when The Jam released an album or a single!) or continued buying loyalty and singles are expensive in comparison to albums. Perhaps the music just isn't good enough, I would have to ask a youngster their opinion on this. Perhaps they have too much pressure on their finances to buy records, who knows, but the less albums we buy the less money the industry has to develop talent. Back catalogues and re-releases account for a large proportion of the record sales, I think that's because people like me in there 30's and above, with disposable income buy CD's of all the groups we liked when we were younger, not necessarily becasue the music is better.

Perhaps we are just all getting old and in thirty years time all todays 14-16 year olds will be on an internet forum complaining about the state of 'todays music'?!

Dave

quote:

Originally posted by davereay:

Perhaps we are just all getting old and in thirty years time all todays 14-16 year olds will be on an internet forum complaining about the state of 'todays music'?!

Dave

We'll all still be here talking about the great days! By then of course LP's and CD's will be as vintage as wax and 78's are to us.

Steve

By then of course LP's and CD's will be as vintage as wax and 78's are to us.

Ah but will the new formats be any better?!

Dave

Well tallent for a new musical idea and getting it across to teh public is very difficult. The Beatles were great because they absorbed so much of a wide range of music and learned to play it in Germany/English bars. I jsut sent thru 3 albums the other night and am happy I was present at that period, it's just amazing. The scene is very different today.

I'm reading a book called Hotel California about Geffen and his troup of rock singers that wanted to incorporate country music in their sound in 68-72 and no one would take them from the "established" companies. But Geffen heard what was going on and was in the right spot to take advantage of that tidal wave of CSNY, Mitchell, Rohstadt, Raitt, Eagles etc.

I'm sure in a short period there will be another wave of sound that will set people off tho I probably won't be following it. I'm getting into my parent's generation of music Like Ella and Sarah, Ellington, Basie, and Cole Porter because it's great music that is friendly and familiar. Enough to keep me happy.

quote:

Originally posted by steveb:
Being involved in a reality show now seems the way to pop success, gone are the days of starting in bands and constant gigging until you broke through.

That would never have happened in the days of the Monkees, of course! Oh... hang on...

Pop, as opposed to rock, has often been a bit synthetic, and pop bands (reality TV winners included) are often quite ephemeral, so nothing new there, and I think there's still plenty of bands working their way up the hard way.

quote:

Record companies don't want to wait for success they want it now, if the first release fails they are dropped. No wonder it all starts to sound the same- keep to a product that sells.

Well, again the case that there's no change there. Labels have wanted "product" for as long as there have been labels.

quote:

All sounds a bit depressing but i have not heard anything new that really grabs me and is really original, it all seems to be re-inventing the wheel.

Things tend to go in cycles: you could have probably said the same in, say, 1975, then wait a year and things have changed. But I'd agree that we probably shouldn't expect pop to lead the way on at the moment.

Pete.