[Music] Top 3 Yankee bands

[boik]

I feel the same. They're a band that has passed me by.

I watched them side stage at a festival in Denmark in 2014 and I've genuinely never seen such a passionate crowd - screaming along to every word like their lives depended on it. It made me quite jealous, just how intensely they loved this band.

 

[Stato]

I feel the same. They're a band that has passed me by.

I watched them side stage at a festival in Denmark in 2014 and I've genuinely never seen such a passionate crowd - screaming along to every word like their lives depended on it. It made me quite jealous, just how intensely they loved this band.

I went to see them at the Top Rank Suite on their second UK tour in 1989 knowing very little, mainly because of the excitement amped up by Radio Sussex's 'Turn It Up' Sunday evening indie show. (Thanks again @chaileyjem). They were absolutely incredible. They had the pop sensibilities of the C86 indie stuff that I was listening to at the time, but also had the heft of the rock and metal stuff I'd loved in my early teens. They were enigmatic and Kim Deal seemed to be the Coolest person in the world (I think she still might be). The quiet, loud, quiet loud formula later nicked by Kurt Cobain is just perfectly structured for creating excitement in live shows. It seems the musical equivalent of RDZ's football: draws you in, then when your guard is down, blows you away in a moment.

 

[el punal]

I'm not sure that Lynyrd Skynyrd would be too chuffed at being labelled as 'Yankees'.

That’s true! Not sure that they’re too fond of Neil Young either.

 

[BrightonCottager]

The Cramps
The Ramones
James Brown and his various backing bands

 

[Stato]

In answer to the OP, it's always impossible to rank art, but as a lot of my favourite huge bands have already been mentioned, Beach Boys, Steely Dan, VU, Pixies, Talking Heads, Blondie etc. I'll be the irritating geek who champions some of the more culty bands that should have been alongside them in terms of commercial success / critical aclaim:

1) Big Star - Quite why they weren't and aren't enormous, I'll never understand. They wrote pop songs for the ages;

2) Rilo Kiley - Jenny Lewis is a bit of a genius. Her solo stuff is great too, but she wrote some incredible songs with that band;

3) The Lovin' Spoonful - The Byrds and Creedence sold all the records, Love, Buffalo Springfield and the (interminably tedious) Doors get all the critical credit and the likes of The Seeds and the 13th Floor Elevators get the cult status. I don't think that Sebastian and co. get the acclaim they deserve, probably because they never seemed to shy away from a bit of kitsch. They made some great singles that sold well at the time, but they are unashamedly poppy and this went a bit out of fashion. The songs stand the test of time a lot more than some of their contemporaries.

 

[The Mole]

E Street Band circa 1981
E Street Band present day
10,000 maniacs

 

[Uh_huh_him]

Regarding Pixies which are mentioned a lot, where's a good place to start? i never really got into this band in real time.

Comeon Pilgrim/Surfer Rosa - is my personal favourite but Doolittle is probably a better starting point.

 

[Glawstergull]

Van Halen
E street Band
SoundGarden

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Don't think you can go wrong with Surfer Rosa or Doolittle, their first two albums, it is difficult to pick one. But then I would go back to their EP 'Come on Pilgrim' which also has some great tracks not on the LPs.

If you just want to dip in, the compliation 'Death to the Pixies' touches all the bases and is dominated by the first three releases, which is where most of the gold is. However, I'd go in order, starting with the mini album 'Come On Pilgrim'; not changed much from the original demos, that shows them at their rawest. As you get into 'Surfa Rosa' they are still a hardcoreish punk surf band, but the pop sensibilities are becoming a little more evident. By the time Doolittle comes, the formula is complete and you get the same vibe, but with more structured songs.

I love Pixies, but these days, I love the Breeders equally and it slightly saddens me that the former couldn't adapt to contain more of the ideas of the latter. For me, by the time Bossanova came about, the stuff that Kim was doing with the Breeders was better than what Frank was doing. Would have loved to have seen it open up and contain both talents. There are very few songs credited to the two together and one of those, 'Gigantic' still stands up as one of the finest pop songs of the 1980s.

Comeon Pilgrim/Surfer Rosa - is my personal favourite but Doolittle is probably a better starting point.

Thanks everyone. I have kicked off with Come on Pilgrim.......

 

[Stato]

Thanks everyone. I have kicked off with Come on Pilgrim.......

"And while we're at it babe, why don't you tell me one of your biggest fears?"

 

[Uh_huh_him]

"And while we're at it babe, why don't you tell me one of your biggest fears?"

Love that song.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Regarding Pixies which are mentioned a lot, where's a good place to start? i never really got into this band in real time.

My favourite album by them is Doolittle. I’d start there.

 

[Questions]

REM
THE VELVETS
TALKING HEADS
yeah in capitals so what

 

[Pogue Mahone]

The Strokes
LCD Soundsystem
Algiers

 

[Mexican Seagull]

Velvet Underground
Pere Ubu
Allman Brothers

 

[GT49er]

Good to see them get a mention, I started listening to them after learning they were Jim Morrisons favourite band. The non Forever Changes albums are underrated as is my favourite song Softly To Me which isn’t even sung by Arthur Lee

Yep, largely overlooked except by hippy students in the early 70s (guilty as charged!). Their albums were criticised for being over-produced,, strings and stuff added all over the place - which on the one hand made them great albums, but on the other hand would have made the band sound very different playing live! - sadly one of the few bands I missed out on back then.
Delighted to find out a few years ago Arthur Lee had got to play Glastonbury, and on opening the link I found it was with full orchestra and backing - the whole works for playing the albums live. I believe they did a tour with that ensemble - wish I'd known about it/seen it! Forty odd years later Love albums played live just as they were meant to sound - so glad Arthur stuck around long enough (just) to do that. Enjoy (if you haven't already):

 

[Si Gull]

I feel the same. They're a band that has passed me by.

I watched them side stage at a festival in Denmark in 2014 and I've genuinely never seen such a passionate crowd - screaming along to every word like their lives depended on it. It made me quite jealous, just how intensely they loved this band.

Of all the bands I've loved over the years, Pixies were probably the one I was most obsessed with at the time. Around the time of Doolittle they were unbelievable live, and unbelievably loud; if ever a band was more than the sum of its parts, Pixies was it. Kim Deal was hypnotic and Black Francis was also strangely captivating. Happy days!

 

[BrianB]

JB's in 1971/2.. As tight as a tight thing on a bass guitar .
Talking Heads .
Blondie .

 

[JamesAndTheGiantHead]

Regarding Pixies which are mentioned a lot, where's a good place to start? i never really got into this band in real time.

I’d never generally recommend people start with live videos when getting into bands, but their Town and Country gig of 1988 is wonderful.



My favourite band, they should have been bigger than Nirvana.

As to avoid completely turning this into a Pixies thread though, my other top 3 would be a toss-up between Talking Heads, Smashing Pumpkins and The National.

 

[Peacehaven Wild Kids]

Smashing Pumpkins

I think that’s the first mention of this great band on here