B5Erik

I can give you 1974....

KISS, Rush, Judas Priest, the Scorpions...

Decker

I was wondering about that myself.

Oh, and I've heard great things about this up & coming band called The Beatles. Keep an eye out for them.

wendersfan

The Ramones debut came out in '76. The class of '77 included Costello, The Clash, The Sex Pistols, The Jam, The Heartbreakers, etc.

Jason

I've got two words that will refute this one: Master P.

Drexl

Yeah, I thought it was 1977 because they were inducted into the Hall of Fame with Talking Heads. I take it they weren't inducted in their first year of eligibility?

DVD Josh

So did this thread get derailed or are we just naming our favorite bands throughout history?

wendersfan

Really, it's hard to predict what newer bands will be together in 2025. It doesn't seem like a lot of people want to stay in the same band for 20+ years. For every Rolling Stones you get a Small Faces, and for every U2 you get The Police. Will Bloc Party be around in a couple of decades? Will Arcade Fire? Who knows and who cares? They're making great music now.Let's enjoy it and worry about the future later.

Drexl

With Arcade Fire, there's the added dynamic of the husband and wife. As their marriage goes, so goes the band, I'd assume.

Achtung

In twenty years' time, people will be debating what bands from 2027 could possibly have the staying power of bands X, Y, and Z that started up in the late 90s/early 00s. And so on.

If I really had to mention a few bands that came about post-1993 that I think will be around then, I'd say Foo Fighters, Radiohead, John Mayer, Kaiser Chiefs, Snow Patrol, Arcade Fire, The Killers, Wilco, Neko Case, Kanye West, Gorillaz, Justin Timberlake, and Hard-Fi. Something about those artists makes me feel like they'll stand the test of time commercially and critically. But honestly, I have no idea. No one does.

If it makes you feel better, poke holes in the case for in each artist I mentioned. Just remember that Zeppelin and Black Sabbath were almost universally despised by the critics in their day, and The Beatles were once a mop-topped boy band.

cupcake jesus

Although their music is wonderful, I don't envision the White Stripes, Wolf Parade, or the Arcade Fire lasting very long. They seemed to have caught lightning in a bottle. I think that Jack White, Spencer Krug, and Win Butler will be making music for a long time. I think that Beck will be around and relevant for a very long time, that Modest Mouse will stick around, and that Wilco will be around for a very long time, as long as Jeff Tweedy wants it to be.

cheers,

-the Jesus

auto

Didn't really work out that way for the White Stripes though. They soldiered on after divorcing. Hell, they became brother and sister.

DrRingDing

I'm listening to Girls Can Tell by Spoon right now and I realized that with their track record, I'd say Spoon has a very good chance of emerging much later as a favorite, a la Big Star or Gang of Four, who only gained popular attention after they had parted ways.

Oh, but I guess that goes against the thesis of the thread...

Um.

Ma$e. Yeah. That's it. He'll be around awhile.

-ringding-

rw2516

1977-Foreigner

The Bus

And out of all those, the only one who is still artistically relevant (from new music they're creating) is Elvis Costello, and he's working in what some might call "Adult Alternative Pop/Rock". And my understanding is he did go through a weak period (as all bands do) in the 90s.

But you can't say The Jam or the Heartbreakers are still around. Not in anything resembling their previous form.

I'll give you another 1977 though: David Byrne.

The Bus

You're comparing Foreigner to the Stones?

Randy Miller III

I predict one day they will be hugely overrated.

The Bus

Good calls.

Tracer Bullet

Belle & Sebastian have pretty much settled down and I can see them still together in ten years. They were very close to breaking up just a few years ago but made it past that.

rw2516

No. Just naming a 1977 debut.

SoSpacey

1993? --> Dave Matthews Band

JPRaup

Woops sry about RHCP. I don't know what I was thinking

nodeerforamonth

Well the Waldos are still playing around. There's a Heartbreaker or two in that band.

The Bus

The OP mentioned four bands: Madonna, Rolling Stones, U2, and Kiss (?). The first three all enjoy the following:

- Critical acclaim
- Artistic relevance / new material
- Popular following

Kiss still tours (maybe) but has no new material.

I can't name a single artist from 1977, 1987, or 1997 that is the equivalent of Madonna, U2, and The Rolling Stones.

My point is the OP set up an extremely high bar. The top selling acts of 2006 were Rolling Stones, Madonna, Bon Jovi, and U2. All of those have received some critical acclaim this decade and have been consistently releasing albums. So far, no one has named a debuting band from 1977, 1987, or 1997 that can match this.

You know why? Because the OP already named the biggest bands. It's kind of like asking which album from this year will outsell Thriller. It's a futile exercise.

wendersfan

Well, I wasn't implying that the artists were still around, just that their debuts came out in '77.

The Bus

That was my mistake. I must've hit "Submit Reply" before finishing my thought. I meant artists still around from back then. It's pretty nifty that Costello and Byrne are still doing stuff.

The ones who stick around are musicians at the core. Music is what they like to do. Not running a label, not living off royalties, not going into radio DJing. Music.
That said most of the picks here are pretty good. Beck will be a musician all his life, in one way or another. So will others.

What's hard to predict is what bands audiences will continue to like for decades or what albums will suddenly become popular again. Look at Vashti Bunyan, for example. I don't think anyone ten years ago could've predicted her minor comeback.