Just sitting listening to Abbey Road. Perhaps some NME readers should do the same. The Independent article also mentions Blur as possibly having a better claim on the title. Blur are a lot of things but the word 'influential' indicates some form of innovation or at the very least it suggests a band that lead the pack and do not simply follow trends. Please, Mr. Edison, won't you invent a machine to stop these monsters? Edited by - markyedison on 17 Apr 2002 00:47:05

Please, please, please.... What about the boys who inspired Elvis and The Beatles? Far and away the most influential band ever and that includes the last 50 years is Buddy Holly & The Crickets. It's not a tumor

the top 50 poll is the most influential artists on the nme not on other bands... just though i'd say... its taken from the most... covers, reviews, articles, interviews etc. ie> the smiths have had the most nme coverage in the last 50 yrs mick... http://www.polarofficial.com

YES INDEED BUDDY HOLLY ROCKS!!(HE WAS ALSO A BIG INFLUENCE ON THE SMITHS METHINKS)the pixies should also be considered, and the beatles of course and the ramones and talking heads and....and.......and.....SLINT too, so there!

The most influential would surely have to be the Beatles, no contest http://www.kaboommusic.cjb.net

R.E.M may not be the most influential of them all, but they rank right up there, they are definitely the most influential band of the last 20 years. Their innovations with their music throughout their career has been astonishing. (By the way, I'm an REM fan) Peace Q

there would be no good music today if it wasent for the beachboys(allways one step ahead of the beatles)

I think it was a case of mutual appreciation. The Beach Boys heard Revolver and made Pet Sounds. The Beatles heard Pet Sounds and made Sgt. Pepper. How's that for a witty rejoinder? Maybe that's why Brian Wilson lost it. Long live the new flesh

Brian Wilson said he started work on Pet Sounds after hearing "Rubber Soul" - he said each take was perfect and it inspired him to force the Beach Boys to record their vocals so many times. http://www.kaboommusic.cjb.net

Paul mcartney visted brian wilsons smile sessions and stole ideas for sgt peppers.Beach boys went back to basics with their smileysmile and wild honey albums before the beatles white album(one step ahead again)also sunflower gets my vote ahead of abbey road(both released end of decade)

Yeah, macca's bass style changed completely because of the Beach Boys influence. check out ob-la-di, ob-la-da on the white album. His songwriting changed too e.g. blackbird. Long live the new flesh

NME is a big bag of s h i t! the smiths...I mean really! aside from the fact that morrissey is a crap singer, the music is so bland it makes me want to swallow my own face just to get away from it. im sure it has been a huge influence on people who are toying with the idea of suicide! What a ridiculous piece of drivel. NME called Tool 'nu-metal radiohead'! those people dont know jack shit about music. fucking nu-metal! im choking on my own rage here! www.minerva.vze.com

nu-metal ,choke! Sounds like a term thought up by an ageing former punk who now writes for some rag of the musical elite, like the NME or the sunday times. One day he realised that some metal was good, really good, but he couldn't bring up the subject of 'heavy metal' within his little cabal of cynical snobs without conjuring up images of Twisted Sister, Judas Priest or Poison. So he calls these bands that he likes 'nu-metal.' Now he can talk about Tool and all the other great 'nu-metal' bands he has discovered: Skip forward a year or two. The bandwagon is rolling. Metal and rock bands are being played on MTV under the banner of 'nu-metal', and even 2FM and the like are playing them( the lightweight ones anyway, COUGHnickelbackCOUGH) Cue major labels signing up any old bunch of white guys with guitars and tattoos they can find. They saturate the 'market' and afterwards start talking about diminishing returns and the falling sales but never the falling quality of the nu-metal fad. Soon enough any threat of rock music being listened to, and enjoyed, by a mainstream pop audience is neutralised.... Sorry,I took a wrong turn there somewhere along the road. I swear I had a point. Now the sign before me reads Welcome to Paranoidsville, population; me Long live the new flesh

yawn. that happens ALL the time, with nearly every new scene, nu-metal is no different, apart from that it has a higher ratio of shit bands. and could someone please explain how nickleback are nu-metal? their sound is 1993 sub-grunge....

would just like to add that the velvet underground deserve a mention... for er, inventing the idea of sub-cultural, alternative music etc... without whom the doors or the sex pistols (nor sonic youth or blur...) would have no proper predecessors. hell... they even predated most of the beatles 'weird' turns. if there's one thing that v.u. were was 'influential'.

To say that The Smiths are the most influential band of 50 years is severely overstating the issue. The Smiths are great, but who have they really influenced? Their days of making happy. chirpy songs about really depressing subjects (which somehow worked) were probably due to the UK's depressing Thatcher-era; at least it was subject matter. These days, it's this "nu-metal" or neo-punk bands that are banging out powerchords and foul language one song after another, rebelling against nothing. If most of these bands disappeared tomorrow, nobody would remember them a year from now. The same cannot be said for The Smiths, who may or may not be "influential", but they're certainly memorable.

Since we're talking about music that is basically white kids adapting black music to their white world, it might be that the "most influencial" artists were the black artists who were the transition between "race records" and rhythym & blues to everything else mentioned above. So how 'bout Chuck Berry and Little Richard (and maybe Fats Domino) for most influencial?

I say this statement would be true as regards the most influential band making teenagers act like complete tits from the age of 14 to 19 (if their lucky). Who ever wrote that was a silly billy. long live Hendrix bab.

If you get past trying to be terribly clever and actually think about it, the topic is who has most influenced pop music in the past 50 years. Sorry if these artists don't fit everyones definition of "profound" and "worthy". There wouldn't be a Hendrix to "long live" without these guys. That's influential, says I.

Hmmmm.... seems to me that The Smiths were probably the most influential band as far people who were not influenced more by other bands are concerned. The question remains, of course: what of Smiths fans who are 50+? Is one expected to ignore the subconscious effects that music pre- 1952 might have had upon their yet to be defined sense of taste and behavioural patterns? I'm sure NME is actively concerned with this conundrum and other related burning issues. (hmmm.... burning issues..... NME... There's a thought)

First and foremost the beatles followed by a flock of sheep bands.

I really think as far as the whole thing goes the smiths didn't influence a whole lot maybe there is some obvious groups out there but I'd think as regards pop people like Ray Davies of the kinks would be a very good candidate if you look at what was put out from the 60's right up to the 80's brian wilson would also have his had in a large percentage of the credit and of course ELVIS the KING. Even though he didn't write all his stuff, I wonder who Morrisey was influenced by the most. bab.

i have always believed that to say one band is more influential than another is a futile exercise, case in point oasis wwere the biggest band in the world in the early nineties selling millions of albums but they could hardly be described as influential, afterall pub bands have been around for years and now that the gallachers realise what they are they might get back to their form of the early nineties. I believe that what makes a band influential is its ability to inspire people to make music of their own, the Velvet Underground are a good example of this, when they were together they never got the credit they deserved but of those that did here them and buy there albums a large percentage of them started there own bands which in my book indicates that they were an inspirational group. However i would have to go along with markyedison and say that the Beatles are probably the most influential band, sergeant peppers broke the mould when it comes to making music and it stands the test of time as a land mark album, it raised the bar and forced others to try and match them, the stones responded with the majestic satanic sultans a great album but not held in the same esteem because it was a reaction. Music is above all else a rich tapestry wwith the power to greatly effect man and mind, it can be revolutionary it can change peoples lives and whats more it can be truely beautiful. Music is about more than just the songs, but the songs are more important than the band, a great band shouldnt never have to say anything, everything they want to say should be within the melody and the lyrics, every line of every song means something to someone somewhere.

Well you really need to be asking musicians themselves for the answer to this question. A lot of people come onto these websites and bash The Smiths because of a public poll done by NME, but wait a second, you don't have a clue who every single person is that is influenced by The Smiths and that is influenced be The Beatles. Just because you your self are told that The Beatles are "the most influential" artists of all time doesn't mean it's true. I bet half the people commenting can't even strum a chord. Some people seem to not really know what influence is. Yes, Chuck Berry influenced The Rolling Stones and The Beatles, The Beatles went on to influence The Smiths (to some extent), it doesn't mean that Chuck Berry influenced The Smiths. Morrissey and Marr might throw up everytime they hear Chuck Berry's stuff. Being the first artists doesn't mean they are the best artists. Technically, you could say that the guy who invented the recording studio is or the radio is the most influential "recording artist" of all time because without him there'd be no Beatles or Smiths or anyone. But you don't do you because that would be boring. Being 16, I don't know anyone who is into The Beatles. I don't know anyone who isn't into AC/DC. In 20 years there'll be no people claiming The Beatles as an influence to them but there'll be a shitload more AC/DC fans I gaurantee. I hate these people who dis The Smiths as a band for "suicidal queers" or "loners". Yeah, it may be true but there are a shitload of Smiths fans that are not suicidal or gay. Me being one. The reason I love The Smiths is because of the melodies and Morrissey's insanely real life depicting lyrical talent. I never get sick of their songs. I doubt there are any dejected youths that listen to Ob La Di, Ob La Da and think, "Oh! John Lennon and Paul McCartney are my spokepeople!". Besides, maybe people are getting sick of The Beatles, I'm pretty damn sure that NME has a different readers age group than The Guardian. Therefore more Smiths fans will be reading it, not 60+ year old Beatles fans.

Holy thread resurrection batman!:D

That was from The NME in 2002, I wonder who they'd vote for now?

Probably Oasis, which surely is some kind of felony.

Who are the Smiths ?