When posed with the question of who the most influential names are in music, there are a small handful artists that instantly spring to mind: The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones. Pretty obvious, right? Well, according to a new list compiled by NME, this is not the case.
You didn’t read wrong, the British publication, famed for sparking controversy with their rather provocative and very questionable best-of rankings, are at it again, compiling a list of “The Top 100 Influential Artists” which is guaranteed to raise a few eyebrows, as well as many more what the fucks!?
This list does not include the aforementioned seminal music titans, nor Elvis Presley, Pink Floyd, Joni Mitchell, The Ramones, Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson and Madonna – just to name a few, so who is the most influential artists according to NME? Ladies and gentlemen, let us introduce to you #1, Radiohead.
Coming behind the Oxford five-piece as the runner-up in this poll is the shape-shifting David Bowie, providing a slight sense of stability, whilst Kanye West takes the bronze influence medal.
Hand-picking some of the traumatic decisions made in London, Nirvana only made it to #25, Sonic Youth at #22, yet Hole edged both contemporaries out as the victor at #21. (We know, we know.)
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Having read these small snippets, you’re probably after some form of explanation from NME, who justified their topical rankings stating,”influence is a fluid concept, so rather than simply tipping our caps to the legends (again), we set out to quantify which are the biggest influences on today’s music scene.”
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This is a fair conceptual point made by the magazine, but is it really strong enough?
The list is littered with very fresh faces in music, Danish punks Iceage squeezing in at #97 (note: a band whose average age does not exceed 23-years) not to mention Best Coast and Grimes at #77 and #72 respectively. But the most bizarre said young influence of all? The XX, who are apparently the 10th most influential act in music.
The Top 2o includes only three female leading roles, strangely the late Aaliyah at #18, The Breeders #12 (outranking The Pixies, who didn’t poll) and Kate Bush, the only femme flavour in the Top 10, at #8.
Waving the Australian flag in the British mag’s list are Nick Cave, a clear UK favourite, sitting at #9 and Tame Impala who with sophomore record Lonerism was crowned by NME the best album of 2012, at #40, while their tunes have previously landed in NME’s 500 Best Songs Of All Time rankings.
Despite’s NME’s context, it doesn’t really explain why they’ve included The Velvet Underground, Led Zeppelin, The Zombies or The Stooges, all of whom formed in the 1960s, but we’re obviously glad that these foundation-laying legends are noted.
NME’s Top 100 Most Influential Artists
100. Deerhunter
99. The Cure
98. Yeah Yeah Yeahs
97. Iceage
96. Country Teasers
95. Dirty Projectors
94. Richard Hawley
93. Black Lips
92. St. Vincent
91. Foals
90. Flying Lotus
89. Simple Minds
88. Oneohtrix Point Never
87. Billy Bragg
86. The Triffids
85. Black Flag
84. Nine Inch Nails
83. The Jesus and Mary Chain
82. Massive Attack
81. Animal Collective
80. Dusty Springfield
79. Suicide
78. Stevie Wonder
77. Best Coast
76. Vampire Weekend
75. The Wedding Present
74. Slint
73. Wu-Tang Clan
72. Grimes
71. Rilo Kiley
70. Pharrell
69. Nick Lowe
68. The National
67. Jay Z
66. The Slits
65. Diplo
64. The Zombies
63. Talk Talk
62. The Stooges
61. DJ Shadow
60. DJ Rashad
59. Chic
58. Black Sabbath
57. James Blake
56. Happy Mondays
55. The Chills
54. Aphex Twin
53. The Fall
52. Nas
51. Television
50. Sufjan Stevens
49. Death From Above 1979
48. Bat For Lashes
47. The Cars
46. Wiley
45. T Rex
44. Bikini Kill
43. New Order
42. PJ Harvey
41. Led Zeppelin
40. Tame Impala
39. Brian Jonestown Massacre
38. Dr. Dre
37. Kraftwerk
36. My Bloody Valentine
35. TV on the Radio
34. Depeche Mode
33. The Knife
32. Pavement
31. Bjork
30. Bon Iver
29. Bruce Springsteen
28. Beck
27. The Stone Roses
26. Fleetwood Mac
25. Nirvana
24. Queens of the Stone Age
23. Burial
22. Sonic Youth
21. Hole
20. Prince
19. Neutral Milk Hotel
18. Aaliyah
17. Blur
16. The Velvet Underground
15. Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers
14. The Clash
13. Joy Division
12. The Breeders
11. The Smiths
10. The xx
09. Nick Cave
08. Kate Bush
07. The Gun Gun Club
06. The Flaming Lips
05. The Strokes
04. The White Stripes
03. Kanye West
02. David Bowie
01. Radiohead
