Why do the Brits produce such good music?

Americans generally lack creativity. The same reason so many movies are full of UK and Aussie actors.

Why so good? wrote:

It pains me to say it, but why does 90% my music come from British bands? Why is thier music so good?

After a lot of gin I listened to Glory Box by Portishead and Teardrops by Massive Attack and I'm a wreck...then I locked at my collection and most bands are British. Why do they produce such music? Bit drunk...

Same reason as they produce great runners. Cold, damp air year round. Plenty of beaches and mountains. Ancient lush green landscape, tiny islands. It's cloistered, cold, & isolated.

Then there's classicism, boredom, and general weirdness.

In short...it's just ever so inspirational.

My Bloody Valentine & Joy Division are in my Top 5.

What else is there to do when it rains almost every day and there is no sun 9 months of the year?

They are, culturally speaking, halfway between Europe and America in terms of influences, leading to some interesting cross-currents. The first "British Invasion" was working-class kids playing black music (blues) with a modern edge. Also, their socialistic policies combined with fewer societal mony-making opportunities make it easier for struggling/unemployed youth to delve solely into the pursuit of their music career.

Well, they did embrace Black American blues earlier and more fully than U.S. kids did back in the 1950s and 1960s, and combined that influence with their own skiffle and the reggae-related ska. Much of that influence still lingers. You could also say that more of the British musicians come from lower and lower middle class backgrounds, but people like Jagger are exceptions to that.

More of the British musicians seem to have art school backgrounds; a wide-ranging artistic palette probably helps in creating original music.

I don't think that many UK kids dream about becoming professional athletes. Outside of soccer (their football), there's not much anyway. So music becomes a way out of the doldrums. They probably don't see acting as much of an option; in the UK, actors are expected to have more formal training.

I'm just winging it here.

my theory is that great creativity comes from great hardship. I am not sure about current British music, but take a look at the 60's and early 70's, those cats grew up while Britain was being pounded by the Nazi's and then the rebuilding, which wasn't rosy either.

Chumbawumba set your whole country back a few hundred years. You still haven't apologize for them.

Three words: Gary Glitter's influence.

Well what can a poor boy do, except sing for a rock and roll band?

"...he could lick 'em by smiling

He could leave 'em to hang

'Came on so loaded man

well hung and snow white tan"

England has 743 million people (about twice the population of the US), so it stands to reason that they would produce about twice as much good music.

Americans hear all the American music, both good and crappy. But they only hear the good British music because the Brits don't try to export the crappy stuff. Crappy music always has a domestic market but not so much foreign.

Think of some crappy American band you know and ask yourself if they're selling anything in Britain, probably not.

just the numbers wrote:

England has 743 million people (about twice the population of the US), so it stands to reason that they would produce about twice as much good music.

UK population : 64 million

US population : 319 million

Why so good? wrote:

It pains me to say it, but why does 90% my music come from British bands? Why is thier music so good?

After a lot of gin I listened to Glory Box by Portishead and Teardrops by Massive Attack and I'm a wreck...then I locked at my collection and most bands are British. Why do they produce such music? Bit drunk...

Teardrops was a great song.

wrong numbers wrote:

just the numbers wrote:

England has 743 million people (about twice the population of the US), so it stands to reason that they would produce about twice as much good music.

UK population : 64 million

US population : 319 million

Those official numbers don't count the hordes of backward savages living in the vast swamps of Wessex.

Bad Wigins wrote:

Americans hear all the American music, both good and crappy. But they only hear the good British music because the Brits don't try to export the crappy stuff. Crappy music always has a domestic market but not so much foreign.

Think of some crappy American band you know and ask yourself if they're selling anything in Britain, probably not.

This true, I lived/based myself in the UK throughout the summer of 2003 trying to improve my running and Britain has some really cheesy-crap pop. Just horrendous. Their local newspaper tabloids via paps follow these fake celebs around like they are royalty and they have never sold a cent overseas. The funny thing is I came in late one night while I was crashing at a mates place in London (I had been at an athletics meet in some where 2 hours from London) and on came this hilarious car show. It turned out to be top gear.

My view is that generally after WW2 America and Britain (as well as other Anglo-Saxon colonies) gained sole dominance of global social culture. Hence to me I am surprised at how Canada and to a lesser extent Australia has so many talented actors and singers.

My Bloody Valentine are Irish!

On a UK record label owned by a Scot.

wrong numbers wrote:

just the numbers wrote:

England has 743 million people (about twice the population of the US), so it stands to reason that they would produce about twice as much good music.

UK population : 64 million

US population : 319 million

That's just the UK. 743 is for the entirety of England.