here are my votes, in no particular order: James Brown Miles Davis Louis Armstrong Nirvana Elvis Presley The Beatles Aretha Franklin Jimi Hendrix Yes Velvet Underground Runner Up: Public Enemy Underrepresented in my list: women punk classical this is just off the top o' me head. it could be way more thought-out but i don't feel like it.

good idea, here is mine in chronological order Robert Johnson (guitar, folk, blues) Duke Ellington (jazz, big band) Muddy Waters (delta blues, rock) James Brown (gospel, soul) Rolling Stones (a new rock spawned from the blues) Can (though most don't even know it, tthey overshadow ELP, Yes and Brian Eno by a few years, they truly defined prog rock, as well as paveed the way for electronica) Lou Reed & Velvets (they could be citied for punk, as well as art rock to come) Iggy & the Stooges (here is your punk) P-Funk (paved the way for rap that was about to be born) Sonic Youth (the ultimate in defining "indie" rock as well as making experimental social acceptable and even desireable) of course i could re do this list a million times, with different results the #10 is just too little

I cast my vote for the Stooges. I was listening to "Fun house" today....that stuff is timeless. And every song on there is perfect.

i forgot Joni Mitchell, Bob Marley, Arlo Guthrie, Frank Sinatra, and David Bowie. damn.

What about John Cage? Didn't he pave the way for radical experimentation?

I think REM should be on the list. I'd come up with my own list, but I agree with the two of yours, so why waste the mental effort?

Hmm...if I post this, you discover my secret weakness. Here goes: Underworld Orbital Ruby Lunatic Calm Pink Floyd Suzzane Vega Moby Garbage cj bolland (for The Prophet alone...) Concrete Blonde Don't say it. I know...I agree, though, classical is probably my favorite music form. The other thing I really like is medaevil music, and the songs of the Spanish court from the Rennaisance...good stuff. I also have a weakness for Greek music from any age, because I lived there so long...

Hank Williams, Jr. Scott Joplin George Gershwin Bob Dylan Aretha Franklin The Beatles Little Richard Madonna Roy Orbison Tina Turner

Heh, this is creepy. My list is closer to Jim's. Umm, except I'd a more down with SENIOR, hey good lookin', dig... What the fuck is wrong with you people? You've never heard of Bob fucking Dylan? I'd actually put Sergio Leone, Angelo Badalamenti and Danny Elfman on this list, because soundtracks get fucking HEARD, man. Damn. I can't believe no Dylan. Argggghhhhh. Patsy Cline, you folks heard of her? Please shoot me. Um. Yeah.

Margret,I,m from West Virginia,Patsy Cline is a goddess back there,here in cowboy country too.Bob Dylan,I have most his albums,including his first,Don,t Think Twice it,s Alright,one of my favorites.

I wish cole porter had been more influential. maybe he was. maybe others try to write clever, catchy pop tunes but just can't.

I agree with J. and Margaret....why wasn't Bob Dylan there sooner? Now I'm wondering why Supertramp wasn't mentioned. Opps....guess it just was,

supertramp? wtf ? madonna? she is a singer not a muscian. hank williams *JR*?????? please tell me you meant *SR* ...... Patsy Cline was hardly innovative with her style, she was just catchy and mopey, people liked that, hell i even have a spot reserved for her from time to time.....Dylan, yes he is up there in the ranks, but how influential is he in music? well.......he does stand alone, poets like him don't come around very often, and rarely do they take it to music.....I can't think of anyone LIKE him, so I guess that does reserve a spot for him being the brilliant writer he is now of course obviously everyone's list is alittle jaded to their own personal tastes.....BUT i did indeed try and be objective as i could, and based on what i know, trace the roots and influences back to the sources...WITH THAT in mind Margret, your soundtrack artist are null and void, as far as impact they have had on the (western) world music scene all together, talented as they may be.....and I think we inherently limited ourselves to western music culture....i am sure the likes of ravi shankar and other artists from countries that we know little about will makes someone's list but perhaps for ease of conversation we should limit this to influential western music.... Orbital owes everything they have done to the electronica experiments of the Silver Apples, Brian Eno, Faust, Can, Suicide and most of all Klaus Schulze and Kraftwerk....do the history and you will see these pioneers were doing it waaaaay before orbital moby and any other gear head today. garbage? Concrete blonde? now I am not out to knock your tastes but rather i am being militant about the thread at hand, and I would love to hear how these folks influenced music of the 20th century...... yeah rhi, John Cage certainly deserves a place somewhere here as does John Cale, but I leave him a spot with VU, REM? hmmmmm, as influential as they were in the last 20 years, I would say they were very infleunced by the likes of Television, NY Dolls, and Talking Heads, who preceeded them by a few years, Stipe and the guys were in high school and college at the high point of the aforementioned bands, so they were probably very into those bands......... where is the dolomitepigboyswinefacehotfucker? i want his nickels worth.

I think REM kind of ushered in this whole era of college radio bands and stuff, and that's why they need to be on the list. No doubt they were influenced by other musicians, but *every* musician in the history of time been influenced by *somebody* else, unless they were deaf from birth and born and raised underground. Except for that enterprising caveman who decided to whittle a flute out of bone and turn a hollow log into a drum. I also think Boo Radley should be on the runner-up list. Do you know how many musicians have borrowed his trademark rhythm? Loads.

this list thing is confusing me. here are a few that have not been mentioned that i will throw in: schoenberg: because he threw out the old sense of harmony and opened composition up to a new direction. he told john cage that he (cage) would never make it as a composer because he had no sense of harmony. charlie parker: for pretty much the same reasons as schoenberg. woodie guthrie: for writing political songs long before dylan or the sex pistols or anybody else. grandmaster flash: for pioneering cutting and scratching techniques and creating a new way to make music. larry graham: for inventing a new way to play the bass (slap and pop). james jamerson: for inventing the modern electric bass style in general. frank zappa. glenn gould.

frank zappa! yes yes of course. i mean. DUH.

yeah i debated charlie parker....but putting duke in there covers that base, he also got alot from lester young.....howver I agree he needs to represented somewhere in there.....shit, parker, roach, and dizzy could all be citied for developing the polyrhythimic methods in jazz..........and yes Rhi, everybody was influenced by someone but to what degree, and how much of an innovator they were. I am sure VU was influenced by all kinds of stuff, but they forged ahead with their own thing, and thats what i am getting at.... REM did spawn the whole college rock thing indeed, they put it on the map for sure.....

i put parker in to represent the bop revolution in general. ellington doesn't quite cover it - the duke once said that bop was like playing scrabble without the vowels. bop was a real tearing apart of the chord structure that he never got into. if you wanna go way back, art tatum would probably be the inventor or bop, but no one knows who he is anymore.

i know who he is. Have you read Bird? It's a great map of the whole bop revolution. Starting when parker was a kid, Lester Young was his biggest influence in Kansas City, i think Art was a local as well, didn't Art Tatum go crazy? Anyway, Art was a pianist right? Well anyway, i agree superficially Duke was more of traditonal structuralist than Parker.....Duke developed melodies and harmonies that have proven to be timeless of which parker utilized to a great extent.......

be cool - i'm just including bird in the list because bop was very influential in the way we play music. if margret can put patsy cline down, i can put parker down. duke is still great. never read Bird. the last musical kind of biography i read was about john cage - the roaring silence.

The Beatles Nirvana The Beach Boys Bob Dylan Pink Floyd Radiohead David Bowie Jimi Hendrix VU Ween

right droop, and I agree wholly, i tossed it around myself, no denying his great presence and influence......i was just attempting to go one step further...... there is alwys the great stones vs. beatles debate, I have to go with the stones.....as much as i love the beatles, the stones seem to have more of a historical importance.... did you guys ever see the History of Rock and Roll, the week long series they originally came out on PBS, what a great documentary

Patrick: touche. You're right on there...like I said...my tastes are a little odd. And that list doesn't even begin to sum up what I like to listen to--it probably makes up a scant 2%--but they did ask for modern artists...your point is absolutely right. Oh--I forgot to put Korngold on the list...my bad.

Radiohead influenced music? My friend loaned me one of their CD's (the bends) and I think it's really nice. I don't want to give it back, but she has one of my Spirit of the West CD's. I like what Cyst said. Cole Porter was a great musical guy, but you're right, he didn't really influence other musicians much. He SHOULD have, but he didn't. That's a really interesting point. That's how I feel about my boys. They do great things and should be influencing others, but they're not.

OH MY FUCKING SHIT!!!! DID I SAY, HANK WILLIAMS, JUNIOR????????? *thwacks self on head* Ok. Yes, I did in fact mean, Sr. Jesus. What a moron. And, I agree Patsy Cline needs to be on the list, but I cannot figure who to bump on my list. Madonna is a singer, and not a musician, but that's not the title of this thread. It's "musical artist" therefore, Madonna stays. I thought about Cole Porter, but, as a songwriter, I can't justify him on a musical artist list. So, tune in for the next thread to begin very soon. I just gotta say this: Radiohead? VU? Wean? Most Influencial of the century? BWAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

What an idiot. For the same reason I can't have Cole Porter on this list, I also can't have Joplin and Gershwin. So, I strike those two, and add Patsy Cline and.... *drum roll please* Prince, or whatever the fuck he's labeling him/it/her self nowadays.

oh c'mon. you all know the world wouldnt be complete without a little bit of WHAM. http://www.endless.org/~calliope

must be my egotism, but i was listing the bands of the cent that most influenced ME. ME ME ME ME ME ME ME. and the beach boys is mostly only on there because pet sounds was recorded on a 4track. and tom waits should have made my list but i forgot. and gee: listen to radiohead's ok computer

Anything by Radiohead is worth hearing,and Elvis Costello.I find it odd that not one person mentioned the Kinks.

JIM! Jim Jim Jim Jim Jim Jim Jim ........ i think few can dispute the influence Velvet Underground on modern music, the names of bands that bluntly cite them and the ones who don't could fill up the dictionary..... yeah i think 10 is just too short, nate is that the beach boys thats really trippy, they use a lot of moog and theramin, i have heard there are one or two beach boys that i need to have........wondering if thats one of them

yes, it is one you should have.

The Beach Boys are extremely influential, as evidenced by the hundreds of musicians who site them as influences. Is "evidenced" a verb? It is now. Led Zep. should be on the list for the same reason.

Ok Computer: Rock!--Gee, liten to it. I know it by heart, since it's the only thing a friend plays in his car, and we drove a good 12 hours together once... Jim--Finally someone else who likes The Artist/Prince/Wierd Symbol Thingie/Whatever the Heck you call him

Bob Marley Miles davis Jimi Hendrix Woody guthrie Ella Fitzgerald Django Reinhardt Black Sabbath Public Enemy The clash Killing Joke some of those i don't even have albums by, but I recognize greatness and influence, even when it's largely unconcious (WTF? How do you spell that?).

unconscious you think the clash were more influential than the sex pistols?

I like Nate's idea. The musical people who've influenced ME (in no special order): Spirit of the West Elvis Presley Dolly Parton (shut up) The Archies (shut up) Paverotti (sp) Frank Sinatra Morrissey (shut up) Sarah McLachlan Does Tchaikovsky count? I also have to go with Madonna here, too, because she really did have a big effect on me when I was little. (also: her talent as a musician/singer may be questionable, but I don't know how anyone can question the influence she's had on music. but this is a list for Me, so nevermind.)

I used to want Madonna to adopt me. Please no analysis required. I was young and thought she was cool. Anyhoo 10. Prince 9. Madonna 8. Bread 7. Live 6. Kenny Rogers (shut up Ruuuuuubbbyyyyyy dont take your love to town) 5. Neil Diamond 4. Kiss 3. Alice Cooper 2. Chemical Brothers actually i cant think of any... I like too much it makes it hard to decide.

you people are sickos.

"MADONNA CICCONE IS A CHOREOGRAPHER, NOT A MUSICIAN" by blind "muhfuckin'" swine (but you can call me "muhfuckin" for short) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ yeah that's right, kids. the woman is a dancer who sings. hell, she's not even that good of a singer. madonna had about as much influence on music as nate's seasonal flatulance. the woman aped what was going on in the nyc club scene and ran with it. that's what she does. it's the "secret" of her success. co-opting urban trends and dragging them into the mainstream so ma and pa midwest can feel jiggy while they do the "vogue" in the toolshed may be good business sense, but it sure as hell isn't musically inventive. she's got far more style savvy than musically talent. and sarah's right. you people are sick. ok. that was my morning bile. i gotta wake up and go to work. oh yeah, by the way: lee scratch perry influenced bob marley. and the clash, for that matter. hell, scratch pretty much created reggae. the man is the grandfather of dub! the mad professor! the ill chemist! the witch docta! don't front! what?!? WHAT????!!!!??? the last poets influenced public enemy. but they didn't influence the shocklee brothers' trademark aural assault. more on that later. my water's boiling.

FUCK!!!!!!!! I left Ella off my list. And Pavarotti. Jesus Herbie Christ!!!

HEY! seasonal flatulence?? seasonal? shit's year round.

I thought flatulence meant passing gas,that,s year round too.I forgot about the Clash,they are great,and Social Distortion,and the Ramones.

thanks swine, he is right on about mr. perry and the last poets, AND madonna for that matter...she is an ENTERTAINER, NOT an artist.....BIG differnce. In fact I would almost dare to sya the like of Frank Sinatra as being an entertainer as opposed to an artist............ yes J, flatulence is gas, apparently nate has a screaming ahole

I'm scared of Lee Scratch Perry. My workmate loves him.

This is one place where I get snarky, for some reason I do not know, well, actually, I do. If you're going to put an opera singer on the list, please make it one who can actually sing--Caruso, Domingo, Callas--a few examples to start with. Please do not choose Pavoritti simply because he is well known. His range is minimal and his voice is thin. Need I point out that Callas and Caruso both sang beautifully without the benefit of a microphone, and were heard prefectly by the audience? Ok. I'm done ranting now. Sorry for picking on yo, Jim. You just happened to be the one to mention the hated name.

I mentioned his name first, so spit at me. You assume too much. I'm not an opera expert, so I don't know about the other people you've mentioned. But because Pav is a big name, I've heard him a lot on the radio or on mix tapes or whatever, so I DO know what he sounds like and in my opinion he has the best voice I've ever heard from any man EVER. That's my opinion. "Snarky. From the ancient Greek meaning Butthead." You're a Homicide fan, Isolde? I heard they were making a movie a few weeks ago. I'm waiting.

So Isolde... is Tristan not putting out or something?

Dave Matthews is the most influential artist of the ninties, and therefore he accounts for 10% of the century causeing him a spot on the top 10 most influential artists. All the other artist are meaningless by comparison.

Brittany Rocks - thats all i gotta say!

heh. this is a funny thread. i'd have to agree mostly with droopy, margret, sem, and patrick. it's a hard topic.

and sarah. shit. nevermind, it's too hard.

nowadays i judge music by how it affects my cat. "evolution" by the grachan moncur sextet makes my cat hallucinate, for example.

how does she react to say.....Coltrane's Interstellar Space?

i'd probably have to restrain her. i'm serious, certain tunes just trip that cat out. do other cats do this or is mine psychotic?

my cats freak when i play the like of Bitches Brew or some other freaked out jazz or rock as well. They arent real keen on Nashville Pussy or other heavy rock either they get mega hyper and just race around the house and climb on things previously believed to be unclimbable. But then they totally respond with passiveness to the likes of Luna, Stereolab and Tom Waits and the Stones

so, it's just a cat thing. good.

Dave Matthews has influenced nothing. Name me one single Dave Matthews band clone. See? You can't.

It's *always* a cat thing ;)

there are tons of people who deserve to be on the list, so i'll put down mine (note: this is not limisted to ten because ten is an unfair number): erik satie ravi shankar louis armstrong prince david bowie buddy holly weird al yankovic queen aaron copland leon theramin johnny cash the gershwins ella fitzgerald brian wilson (the beach boys) pet shop scott joplin nat "king" cole bing crosby creedence clearwater revival the smiths judy garland nirvana black sabbath lynard skynard bob marley 2pac selena jerry garcia i quit.

You could also add: Django Rheinhardt (sp?) Led Zeppelin Cream Van Halen The Sex Pistols.

speaking of Django Willie NElson? i see what i wrote so long ago and well....i hate reading what i wrote then. i have such a big mouth my list would stand to be about the same...i may change a thing or two. rereading droops rant on Bird.....gotta give you props on that one....you hit it on the head.

Butt-monkey!!! With a list that long what the hell happened to Bob Dylan? Obviously he wasn't the first to put political messages in his song. But he was the first of the folkies to rebel into electric, and break into the realm of rock 'n' roll. He made political songs a part of pop culture. His influence was huge, not only in the music world, but also as an icebreaker between folk and rock, creating the folkrock that instigated rebellion amongst an entire generation of youth. Dylan kicks ass. so there.

i dont think you'll find anyone who disagrees

Patsy Cline