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Re: BBE vs. STH/Popularity



On Mon, 27 May 1996, Mark Leaman wrote:

> Oh, but 50,000,000 fans of Frampton CAN be wrong.

Sustained sales are more representative though.  How many copies of
Frampton sell today, or 10 years from now?  Led Zeppelin still sell very
well, as would the Who if they were marketed better.  LZ have the best
selling box set made which came out 10 years after they broke up and
almost 20 years after their peak. 


> No, and my reasoning is apparent above. It's more than just what people want
> to hear, it's what the song influences etc. The Who influenced more bands
> (including ZEP) and has a larger spread of influence. LZ only influenced one
> sub-genre of music. Heavy Metal, and formula HM at that.

To say LZ only influenced HM is ridiculous.  Most rock musicians who came
after them were influenced by Zep to one degree or another.  Maybe not in
as blatant a way as some of the formula HM, but in their time they were
the ultimate rock band and have the influence that goes along with that. 
Much of the LZ influence is not as obvious as Who influences since no one
else sounds like the Who did.  There are plenty of bands that sounded and
sound a lot like Led Zeppelin, Zep were just the best at it.  You didn't
have to think to get it, it was pure balls to the wall rawk.  The Les Paul
one of the most sought after electric guitars by rock musicians today
thanks largely to Jimmy Page.  Zep expanded on the full sound capable from
a power trio which started back in the 60s with bands like Cream & the
Who.  It's also easier to say more bands were influenced by the Who
because they had different very distinct sounds at different times. 
Someone who was influenced by the early pop Who may hate the pretentious
rock opera stuff & stadium rock while others who sound very different may
like other sounds (compare Smashing Pumpkins to Blur) yet they are all
influenced by the Who.  Led Zeppelin were what they were and the only
major change in their sound is when JPJ became more dominant while JP was
busy with his heroin. 

Thaag from the hills banging 2 rocks together influenced all music in the
past few millenia (including the Who, Zep & Milli Vanilli) therefore he is
the best. 


> The Who only play 2nd fiddle to Zep to those who know little about Rock
> music, and merely listen to music for entertainment.

You say that as if there's something wrong with just listening for 
entertainment.  I'd be willing to bet the majority of the masses that 
went to Who concerts in the 70s were merely going for entertainment 
(their loss) and there's nothing wrong with that.  What does it matter 
how much you know about rock music?  Do we need to write a test to be 
worthy of listening to the Who?


> THRILLER sold more albums that any before it. There's your proof. That
> doesn't count the huge touring that he's done worldwide and the other
> albums, which were no pikers saleswise. Even in the face of child-molesting,
> he's still popular.

You don't like him, I don't like him, does that mean everything he does is
garbage?  He's had influence huge in his particular genre.  I don't like
Madonna either (nor do many of my friends which tend to listen to the same
type of music as I do), but that doesn't mean she's any worse a performer 
because people who prefer a different genre of music don't like her.  

I have all the Zep albums and used to listen to them a lot.  Right now I 
listen to a lot more Who because I find Zep tends to get boring after a 
while, but when I want to hear Living Loving Maid or Rock and Roll or How 
Many More Times really loud, NOTHING else will do (not even the Who).


Shane Matheson						MechEng/CompSci UWO

	"I smash guitars because I like them. " -- Pete Townshend