the album with the least subsequent influence in proportion to its popularity, like, ever.

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see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bond_%28band%29

the farakhan of gg (DJP), Monday, 8 December 2014 17:03 (nine years ago) link

Dark Side had a lot of synths and stuff before other people were using them

this is a ridiculous contention

Οὖτις, Monday, 8 December 2014 17:04 (nine years ago) link

xpost don't forget Andrea Bocelli-- the "As Featured on PBS" genre

ancient texts, things that can't be pre-dated (President Keyes), Monday, 8 December 2014 17:05 (nine years ago) link

the Who, the Beatles, Roxy Music, etc

xp

Οὖτις, Monday, 8 December 2014 17:06 (nine years ago) link

xp YES

tbh if I went for a professional music career, this is the market where I'd be most likely to be successful (and there if I was in an Il Divo-ish group)

the farakhan of gg (DJP), Monday, 8 December 2014 17:07 (nine years ago) link

yeah - I think DJP is right about Il Divo - it does feel pretty removed from what I think about, but there is a pop classical mega-hit every few years.

Looking at the Wikipedia list of bestselling albums: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_albums , most of the legitimately huge stuff does feel like it influenced a ton of stuff.

But Bat Out Of Hell seems like a pretty oddball record to me, even though its constituent parts are common stuff like proto-hair metal and show tunes and Springsteen and Spector.

re: Floyd - I don't know much about the history of synths - so maybe I'm wrong but I thought Dark Side was pretty influential on the technical end of things, including synths and complicated recording techniques. I didn't mean no-one had touched a synth - just that they did things with syths early on that others emulated. Radiohead would be the go-to answer for "who did Dark Side influence?" I imagine - but again I don't really know so much about this stuff

Brio2, Monday, 8 December 2014 17:11 (nine years ago) link

loosely related also to Il Divo / Bublé / Andrea Bocelli / Bond - Andre Rieu

uxorious gazumping (monotony), Tuesday, 9 December 2014 00:07 (nine years ago) link

Maybe Susan Boyle too, but I'm probably just lazily conflating pop classical acts. I have hazy memories of seeing TV performances from something called "The Ten Tenors", but otherwise I can't think of any hugely successful opera boybands out there. Il Divo are a Simon Cowell thing btw.

uxorious gazumping (monotony), Tuesday, 9 December 2014 00:10 (nine years ago) link

Creating Il Divo created a revolution within the pure genre of opera because of its musical combination of lyrical singing and classical music (opera), with songs of different genres, including latin, folk, ballads and pop. But his lyrical voices kept playing iconic songs, is not synonymous with opera, nor pop. There is talk of an intermediate term, but not of a merger between the two, since such lines can not merge. So we talk about a new invention of musical style, from the hand of the quartet itself, called Opera-Pop. [5]

rising stones cross (anagram), Tuesday, 9 December 2014 00:15 (nine years ago) link

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m9r1faKk0N1r3rtl9_1346634022_cover.jpg

Worldwide the album sold 3.4 million copies in 1997, 8.9 million in 1998 and over 15.2 million copies in 1999, standing strong in 2000 selling another 6.4 million copies worldwide.

Over 40 million copies have been sold across the world.

piscesx, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 00:17 (nine years ago) link

does anyone know of writing exploring the influence of Vanilla Ice's To the Extreme on hip hop? there can't be many artists who would describe themselves as being really influenced by Vanilla Ice, but that album and the VI phenomenon must have made a big difference to the context they were operating in?

― soref, Monday, December 8, 2014 11:06 AM (8 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I mean, his impact is reallllty underplayed in rap writer circles because, well, come on

But anyone who actually lived through him and Hammer knows that the combined impact of those two really kicked open the boundaries of what hip-hop could be in American culture. Like what was being written up as this scary thing in a racist Newsweek hate piece like one year before could suddenly sell soda and Turtle movies and Saturday morning cartoons

Whiney G. Weingarten, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 00:23 (nine years ago) link

Like Vanilla/Hammer's influence wasn't MUSICAL per se, but they're why the Black Eyed Peas get to play the Super Bowl

Whiney G. Weingarten, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 00:25 (nine years ago) link

whither Puffy's shameless single 8-bar loops without Ice/Hammer lol

Οὖτις, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 00:29 (nine years ago) link

Asia

kornrulez6969, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 01:27 (nine years ago) link

Yes 90125

kornrulez6969, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 01:28 (nine years ago) link

But anyone who actually lived through him and Hammer knows that the combined impact of those two really kicked open the boundaries of what hip-hop could be in American culture. Like what was being written up as this scary thing in a racist Newsweek hate piece like one year before could suddenly sell soda and Turtle movies and Saturday morning cartoons

Like Vanilla/Hammer's influence wasn't MUSICAL per se, but they're why the Black Eyed Peas get to play the Super Bowl

That already happened by 1986. Licensed to Ill, Raising Hell, etc.
Curtis Blow selling Sprite http://youtu.be/Q18TEfOsosg
Big Mac Attack http://youtu.be/Mr7bXomATps

wk, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 01:31 (nine years ago) link

albums:

John Denver's Greatest Hits - ubiquitous on the radio, & one of the first albums to ever sell more than 10 million units. John Denver is now as isolated in his moment as a huge pop star post-1965 could possibly be.

two more contenders for sales to influence discrepancy:
Herb Albert & The Tijuana Brass - Whipped Cream & Other Delights --- biggest selling album of 1966
REO Speedwagon - High Infidelity --- biggest selling album of 1981

Vic Perry, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 01:39 (nine years ago) link

what was being written up as this scary thing in a racist Newsweek hate piece like one year before

Did this really happen? I would love to read it if so!

Mr. Snrub, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 01:42 (nine years ago) link

the answer to this thread is wilson phillips

Mr. Snrub, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 01:43 (nine years ago) link

REO Speedwagon's fingerprints are all over contemporary country.

Don A Henley And Get Over It (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 9 December 2014 01:44 (nine years ago) link

the answer to this thread is wilson phillips

the dixie chicks

da croupier, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 01:49 (nine years ago) link

i actually think frampton's a good pick as he was sort of the culmination of some trends - the double live, the talkbox - rather than an innovator

da croupier, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 01:50 (nine years ago) link

or basically, what bendy said

da croupier, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 01:56 (nine years ago) link

That already happened by 1986. Licensed to Ill, Raising Hell, etc.
Curtis Blow selling Sprite http://youtu.be/Q18TEfOsosg
Big Mac Attack http://youtu.be/Mr7bXomATps

― wk, Monday, December 8, 2014 8:31 PM (28 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

There's a huge difference between Kurtis Blow doing a Sprite ad and MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice doing, collectively, a Taco Bell ad, a KFC ad, the Turtles soundtrack, the Addams family soundtrack, a saturday morning cartoon, a doll each(!), a British Knights ad, a Pepsi commercials, a starring role in a movie, etc etc

Whiney G. Weingarten, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 02:07 (nine years ago) link

A pepsi commercial

feeeelings...

Whiney G. Weingarten, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 02:08 (nine years ago) link

i'll say one thing about texas, the wu tang version of say what you want on the end of the greatest hits record is one weird-ass piece of music

How does it differ from the single version of that?

the incredible string gland (sic), Tuesday, 9 December 2014 02:09 (nine years ago) link

REO Speedwagon's fingerprints are all over contemporary country.

― Don A Henley And Get Over It (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, December 8, 2014 7:44 PM (22 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Could be. Has it generally been noted how much 'hot new country' of the 90s (and whatever they called it later) sounded like Christine McVie songs in Fleetwood Mac? There's probably a bunch of other 70s 'class rock' type stuff in there too.

Vic Perry, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 02:09 (nine years ago) link

"class rock" boy what a freudian slip and slide that was

Vic Perry, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 02:11 (nine years ago) link

anyone who thinks Shania wasn't influential must not have heard any country radio in the 00s.

ancient texts, things that can't be pre-dated (President Keyes), Tuesday, 9 December 2014 02:21 (nine years ago) link

Stone Roses?

Moka, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 02:22 (nine years ago) link

Of course Shania Twain was influential.

Vic Perry, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 02:25 (nine years ago) link

Would be surprised if "Whipped Cream" had no "influence," but I'd have no way of articulating what that influence might be. It's not like it was some weird novelty thing like Tiny Tim. I figure if you were a gigging mood-music session player, you listened to records like that and looked for things to nick, right? I'm sure people who chronicle the evolution of TV soundtrack music, most obviously game show music, could put it into some kind of context. But I'm really just speculating.

Was gonna say, I'd be really surprised by Come On Over having no influence! Just seems...unlikely, unless the argument is that everything about it was already generic when it came out...? Don't know enough about contemporary pop-country.

Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 02:29 (nine years ago) link

Tijuana Brass wasn't influential, it was influenced: by the 1961 hit "Mexico" by Bob Moore. Pretty much the whole Tijuana Brass idea in that hit single. Now, Herb Albert as a music businessman? Very influential. Influential album cover I must say too, hubba hubba.

Vic Perry, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 02:43 (nine years ago) link

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ncSdmCR7L._SY300_.jpg

rushomancy, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 02:57 (nine years ago) link

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Drz37Q7RL._SY300_.jpg

mookieproof, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 03:04 (nine years ago) link

I mean, his impact is reallllty underplayed in rap writer circles because, well, come on

But anyone who actually lived through him and Hammer knows that the combined impact of those two really kicked open the boundaries of what hip-hop could be in American culture. Like what was being written up as this scary thing in a racist Newsweek hate piece like one year before could suddenly sell soda and Turtle movies and Saturday morning cartoons

It's like DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince and LL Cool J never existed up in here

the farakhan of gg (DJP), Tuesday, 9 December 2014 03:05 (nine years ago) link

This gets into singles more than albums, but the monks chanting reminded me of something. Here from wikipedia:

In the United States, "The Lord's Prayer" in 1974 (...) made Sister Janet the first Roman Catholic nun to have a hit record in the United States since Jeanine Deckers, the Singing Nun, hit #1 with "Dominique" in late 1963. It also became the only song to hit the Top 10, whose entire lyrical content originated from the words of the Bible. More specifically, it is the only Top 10 hit whose lyrics were attributed to Jesus Christ.

Oddly enough the "nuns having hit records" thing didn't continue to happen even once a decade. But I imagine lots of lyrics have been attributed to Jesus Christ.

Vic Perry, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 03:13 (nine years ago) link

It's amazing they were able to get The Fresh Prince of Bel Air in production and on the air in the six months after Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em came out. I bet Will Smith tithes to Hammer to this day.

xposts

EZ Snappin, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 03:14 (nine years ago) link

Hammer definitely influential, 'Nilla Ice strikes me as a Frampton - the corny, thin-of-content end of the road for one strain quickly blasted out of the water after making their quick mint

da croupier, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 04:11 (nine years ago) link

Like yeah Nilla was big but on a continuum he didn't add to.

da croupier, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 04:14 (nine years ago) link

there must be a weird tiny generation gap here. it seems to me that anybody who liked Ice Ice Baby already liked Parents Just Don't Understand a year before that.

wk, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 04:18 (nine years ago) link

Hammer at the very least was a big influence on arena rap flash in the late 90s, particularly "shiny suit man" p diddy

da croupier, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 04:20 (nine years ago) link

Has Bat Out of Hell been particularly influential? It combined a bunch of things that were big but in my current exhausted state, I can't think of many big names since then that have attempted a similar combination.

EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 9 December 2014 04:23 (nine years ago) link

Jim steinman's definitely been influential.

da croupier, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 04:24 (nine years ago) link

I was like eight or nine in the heyday of Icemania and really don't recall knowing any other rappers by name, before him and Hammer. That doesn't really indicate anything at all, but I sort of wonder whether it would be verifiable that any labels signed any acts because of Vanilla Ice. Even if it were... that's really just another measure of popularity, and the thread question separates popularity from "influence."

I don't know if anybody ever actually tried to sound like Vanilla Ice, except schoolkids in the first month or so of his success. Other people probably ended up sounding like him just because they were influenced by the same things he was. I was about to reach for Kid Rock on Grits Sandwiches For Breakfast, but listening to the first half of "Yo Da Lin In The Valley" convinced me that he was probably going for Paul's Boutique if anything.

Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 04:30 (nine years ago) link

But we're talking about albums, not artists. Unless you mean that his influence became possible because of the huge success of the Meat Loaf album?

xpost

EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 9 December 2014 04:31 (nine years ago) link

I guess I was assuming that we were talking about "influence" in the sense of "a later artist emulated musical ideas from the earlier artist in a way that is evident when listening". The term is vague and potentially broad, though.

EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 9 December 2014 04:33 (nine years ago) link

Ha, I am apparently on just the right side of the generation gap since "Parents Just Don't Understand" was big in my Grade 5 class. Vanilla Ice still seemed impossibly, depressingly huge in Grade 7, though. Not really saying anything about influence rn.

EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 9 December 2014 04:36 (nine years ago) link

ha, a lot of "New Jerseys" might well apply here actually

Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 05:29 (nine years ago) link

yeah forgot this was albums, not artists, in which case "new jerseys" would definitely be a circle inside of the bigger circle of "big albums few bothered to imitate"

da croupier, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 06:58 (nine years ago) link

but yeah re: bat out of hell, it's already a burlesque of bruce springsteen so it's definitely hard to point out its "influence" separate of bruce's, but the album did inspire a bunch of folk to make epic pop-drama with steinman

da croupier, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 07:04 (nine years ago) link

How about this one?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/86/Crash_Test_Dummies_-_God_Shuffled_His_Feet.jpg
(Crash Test Dummies - God Shuffled His Feet)

One of the biggest-selling rock albums of the early 90s, but it was released during the grunge era, and I can't remember that anyone would've tried to imitate their sardonic, literary type of gentle pop-rock.

Tuomas, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 08:12 (nine years ago) link

let's see where riff raff's career is at in a year before we say vanilla ice had minimal influence on hip hop

J0rdan S., Tuesday, 9 December 2014 08:25 (nine years ago) link

katy perry "teenage dream" has like the most #1 singles of any album ever but can anyone really trace out significant influence from it? has that album altered the sound/look of pop in any real way? KP's more of a cypher for things happening in pop culture than someone who really drives it.

especially if you view her as the shiniest and most expensive car off the dr. luke assembly line you wouldn't even pin, like, kesha or idk becky g or whoever on her.

J0rdan S., Tuesday, 9 December 2014 08:33 (nine years ago) link

maybe the most charitable influence i'd give teenage dream is that it might've kickstarted rappers getting thrown on pure sugary pop tracks... could you trace "dark horse" and "talk dirty" back to "california gurls" and "ET"?

J0rdan S., Tuesday, 9 December 2014 08:35 (nine years ago) link

I think its a little too soon to stick a fork in albums from this decade, esp ones that share a producer and bit of vibe with the current number one single in America.

da croupier, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 08:47 (nine years ago) link

i think 'prism' and its visuals might prove to be more influential (total mainstreaming of tumblr culture) but yeah we'll have to see

J0rdan S., Tuesday, 9 December 2014 08:58 (nine years ago) link

I hear the influence of "teenage dream" on carly rae jepsen's album and on taylor's "style" - thumping four by four tracks where the percussive vocal lines provide the rhythmic counterpoint.

Tim F, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 09:13 (nine years ago) link

yeah Taylor Swift's definitely been influenced by it.

piscesx, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 13:26 (nine years ago) link

The Fine Young Cannibals-The Raw and the Cooked was a really big record for a year or so. You never hear anything about them now.

kornrulez6969, Thursday, 11 December 2014 18:35 (nine years ago) link

that's funny because a lot of these mumbly new singers remind me of FYC

ancient texts, things that can't be pre-dated (President Keyes), Thursday, 11 December 2014 18:40 (nine years ago) link

that Future Islands song everyone loved had a vaguely Fine Young quality to it

Brio2, Thursday, 11 December 2014 18:49 (nine years ago) link

man, the ghost of shania is everywhere on the radio. a huge influence.

scott seward, Thursday, 11 December 2014 19:06 (nine years ago) link


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