This is my final post on Icons of the 60's (the 70's are next) and what better band to end with than the The Who? The organisers behind the London 2012 Olympics thought so too, as The Who were the final act of the closing ceremony. Read on to explore the Godfathers of punk's legacy.

 

Formed in 1964, by members Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle and Keith Moon, The Who were infamous for their energetic live performances and instrumental destruction. They sold over one hundred million records, and scored seventeen top ten albums and twenty seven top forty singles. Their contributions to rock include the power chord, the windmill strum, the Marshall stack and the guitar smash.

 

Other notable musicians from the decades that followed had nothing but praise for The Who, U2's Bono stated that "More than any other band, The Who were our role models." Queen's Brian May expressed in a simple statement that "They were my inspiration." Whilst Wayne Coyne (from The Flaming Lips) elongated his explanation commenting "I already believed in rock & roll, but seeing The Who really made me feel it. I knew I had to become a musician after that." Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder pointed out "The one thing that disgusts me about The Who is the way they smashed through every door in the uncharted hallway of rock'n'roll, without leaving much more than some debris for the rest of us to lay claim to."

 

Rolling Stone once said "Along with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, The Who completed the holy trinity of British rock." and they could not have been more accurate. The Who's legacy will continue.

 

 

 

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With fifty years of experience, twenty nine studio albums and nine number one singles under their belt, The Rolling Stones are still going strong. Last month a scandal broke out after tickets for their fiftieth anniversary tour were released to the public, ranging from £106 - £406, with VIP hospitality packages setting you back a not so cool £1,140, fans were left fuming as one of Britain's most loved bands have let them down. As we take a look back over the band's history, it's not hard to see how they achieved icon status, or why fans are complaining.

 

The Rolling Stones, currently consisting of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood, played their first gig as a newly formed band in 1962. At a time when the British public were still recovering from war and the shock of the Cuban missile crisis, there was a huge gap in the market for bands to help them forget about what was really happening in society; music was the rawest form of escapism. The Beatles joined the likes of The Rolling Stones in helping the public to forget.

With songs seemingly ahead of their time, and varying themes in their music, the stones broke boundaries and made the unacceptable, acceptable. Rebelling against conformity was something this band did best. They just didn't care. The freedom was definitely there to experiment and write what they wanted. Throughout their time they tried out blues, rock and psychedelic to name a few, however they remained true to their roots and always included snippets of the classic sound that fans had grown accustomed to.

 

This was not all they did though, their difference in sound during the 60's added to their popularity. People were craving something different and the stones delivered this directly. To summarise: they changed the face of rock'n'roll, contributed a long lasting legacy and inspired generations.

 

 

Are you a Beatles or Stones fan? Were you angered over The Rolling Stones' ticket price scandal? Comment below to get your voice heard. 

 

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Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman in 1941) is one of those legends that everybody has heard of. Described by Time's 100 Most Important People of the Century as a "master poet, caustic social critic and intrepid, guiding spirit of the counter-culture generation" he is a planet to be explored, the voice of a generation and a man who can never be matched.

 

An early CBS Records campaign stated that "Nobody Does Dylan Like Dylan." Bob Dylan does not have one definitive sound though; over the past five decades he has altered his music to suit himself, the situation he was facing and in order to surprise/shock the public. However there was one major theme that threaded throughout each of his records - they were to the heart of the matter and reflected life. They made people care again, when interest was fading away.

 

Some of Dylan's early songs became anthems for US civil rights and anti-war movement. Therefore it is not difficult to see why he struck up a friendship with The Beatles in the 60's. John Lennon was also concerned with issues and current events, his most famous piece of work 'Imagine' demonstrates the depth of his worries for the world. It could be implied that without Dylan's influence on the young Beatles, albums such as Rubber Soul, Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's would never have been created. Dylan's influence was something that the fab four often voiced, as when his second album 'The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan' was released in 1963, George Harrison went on to state that "We just played it, just wore it out." John Lennon also commented that "For three weeks we didn't stop playing it. We went potty about Dylan."

 

Bob Dylan was (and still is) an important figure in the history of music for the following reasons: he paved a new direction for musicians of the future to follow, he redefined the acceptable and showed people it was okay to be different. Poetry was made cool again (which has never been an easy task to take on), Dylan was the inventor of folk-rock. He's been said to be the hardest working man in music, with his never-ending tour but most importantly he changed things for the better. In the early 1960's when freedom riders were boycotting the buses (due to segregation) it was Bob Dylan's music which was listened to, as it increased their hopes and morale at living in a society made up of peace and equality.

 

Bob Dylan was the man who cared, made people care and still continues to.

 

 

What is your opinion of Bob Dylan? Are you a fan of his music or has my article inspired you to check out his work? Comment below to get your voice heard.

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Icons... is a new feature that I am including in my blog. Each week I will explore a different band/solo artist from various decades, what they did to influence billions and guarantee their status as iconic. Over the next month you can expect to find posts on bands of the 1960's.

 

Firstly, The Beatles. I am yet to meet somebody who does not know who they are. It's difficult to know where to begin with this band, as they are the most influential of all time and so much has already been said.

 

The reason why the fab four are the most influential band in history, is because nobody had done what they did before them. For them the sky was the limit, they broke barriers that did not even exist at the time. A standard was formed, one that would continue and expand their legacy (even after half of the group had passed away) and that had the ability to influence countless people/bands generations after they had faded away. 

 

The Beatles (consisting of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr) have not faded from the media's focused glare. That's the issue though. The band stopped making music together in 1970, and touring finished for good in 1966, however The Beatles attract new fans everyday. What is it about them that maintains their popularity?

 

This is the question that has been raised by many. Adam Gopnik commented that "The Fab Four's music endures because it mirrors an era we still long for." I agree with his statement to some extent, however Gopnik suggests that their music has survived as an exclusive scrapbook, which we can never regain. This is what I do not agree with. I believe that their music is just as popular today as it was in the past, because they wrote music centred around universal truths.

 

The majority of their back catalogue focuses on the idea of 'love'. Even the last couplet of the last song, on the final album they recorded together (Abbey Road) implies that love was the message they were trying to convey all along. "And in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make." If you think about it, that's really clever.

 

The working partnership of John Lennon and Paul McCartney is one that has never been recreated, and I doubt it ever will. Lennon and McCartney were extraordinarily talented men, who originated from the same area but their family lives contrasted heavily. McCartney was born into a loving, caring family full of trust and and friendship, this resulted in Paul more prone to writing happy melodies and joyful lyrics in his later years. Whereas Lennon grew up in a family without his biological parents present (this was not their fault though) and all he craved was a little love and attention. It could be implied that John's childhood woes were reflected in his songs, later in life. However both John and Paul's experiences made for the perfect combination of song content.

 

 

 

The BBC stated that "Art makes us alive and aware and sometimes afraid but it rarely makes us glad. Fifty years on, The Beatles live because they still give us that most amazing of feelings: the apprehension of a happiness that we can hold, like a hand."

 

This is an accurate observation which I thought would be nice to end on.

 

Are you a fan of The Beatles? What is it about them that you like? Comment below to get your voice heard.

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Each week I find a few bands/artists that I have never really listened to before, and try them out. This is what I have had stuck on repeat all week.

 

• Tame Impala - I discovered this band through hearing their song 'Elephant' used to advertise the new season of 'Made in Chelsea' on E4. NME and XFM are also giving this song major airplay.

 

• Phoenix - My friend Emilie introduced me to this alternative french band last week, as she said they remind her of me. I will definitely take that as a compliment as they sound brilliant, and are quite similar to Two Door Cinema Club (but only slightly). You have probably heard their song '1901' as it has been used on many ads, over the last couple of years.

 

• The Strypes - This band were featured in NME magazine recently, so I decided to give them a try. A few people have commented that they sound similar to how The Beatles did during the Hamburg era. Listening to their music, I can see where this observation stems from however they have a sound of their own mixed in too. I honestly believe this band will be massive in a few years - I'm backing them 100%.

 

• Jake Bugg - He's my favourite artist at the moment and I've posted about him previously, but he's gotten so famous lately due to the media hype surrounding him, that I could not resist including him in my list. His album is set for release on 15th October (which is also my Birthday) and I will be investing in a copy asap. In his music, Bugg strongly resembles Bob Dylan mixed in with The Beatles; the 60's vibes are too distinct to ignore. He's like a saviour come to rescue the music industry from ruin. Some of music's greatest stars have noticed him this year including: Noel Gallagher and The Stone Roses. Jake Bugg is set to be the biggest breakthrough since The Vaccines, so make sure you keep an eye on him.

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