More influential: Velvet Underground or Led Zeppelin?

At this point I have to mention that a few years ago I was walking down P Streeet NW wearing my Velvet Underground t-shirt, you know the one with the bananna. This fat, unkempt guy looking a little bit like Michael Moore and walking with a beautiful Asian girlfriend was coming towards me. Suddenly he pointed at me and started yelling "NERD!!!," while his girlfriend tee-heed. It was quite a weird experience.

http://www.alex.to/blogs

Originally posted by D O C T O R D O O O O O M:
At this point I have to mention that a few years ago I was walking down P Streeet NW wearing my Velvet Underground t-shirt, you know the one with the bananna. This fat, unkempt guy looking a little bit like Michael Moore and walking with a beautiful Asian girlfriend was coming towards me. Suddenly he pointed at me and started yelling "NERD!!!," while his girlfriend tee-heed. It was quite a weird experience.

http://www.alex.to/blogs

So did you prove him wrong and kick his ass or say something like "what the hell are you talking about you fat fuck with your mail order bride?", or did you just smile and walk away?

Google Fight!

22,000,000 to 9,970,000. Zep wins.

RILM Music Abstracts search (a measure of who academics are writing about):

Led Zeppelin - 72
Velvet Underground - 39

Obviously, this in no way ends the argument but these numbers are indicative at some level.

Alex, I know it's been years since this took place. But after all these years, I'd like to formally offer you an apology for my rude behavior.

P.S. My comment had nothing to do with your t-shirt.

Originally posted by D O C T O R D O O O O O M:
At this point I have to mention that a few years ago I was walking down P Streeet NW wearing my Velvet Underground t-shirt, you know the one with the bananna. This fat, unkempt guy looking a little bit like Michael Moore and walking with a beautiful Asian girlfriend was coming towards me. Suddenly he pointed at me and started yelling "NERD!!!," while his girlfriend tee-heed. It was quite a weird experience.

http://www.alex.to/blogs

Think a little harder.

Originally posted by Mobius:
The point I was trying to make is that its not how many people you influence, its who you influence. As many people as listened to Zeppelin, as many musicians as listened to Zeppelin, how many great bands were influenced by them. I can't think of many.

A VU t-shirt may get you called a nerd, but a Zeppelin sticker could get you pulled over by the fuzz.

This is what I'm talking about people, good debate! <img src="http://www.yourbbsucks.com/forum/images/smilies/bananna2.gif" alt=" - " />

Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
A VU t-shirt may get you called a nerd, but a Zeppelin sticker could get you pulled over by the fuzz.

That sounds like discrimination against Zeppelin fans, where are those two fags Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton when you need them.

i will put in my vote for Zeppelin.

but VU was very influential too :)

Led Zeppelin, like The Beatles before them, caused many people to go get guitars, etc and form bands which has more impact than say being influential.

VU, also like the later day Beatles before them, caused many people to rethink how music was written and created which them influential than LedZep.

Now class given the recent nod by Robert Plant for Arthur Lee and Love. Who is more influential Love or the Velvet Underground?

Extra Credit Question. Would Led Zeppelin been a better band with Terry Reed as it's singer and extra guitarist?

Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
Led Zeppelin, like The Beatles before them, caused many people to go get guitars, etc and form bands which has more impact than say being influential.

<img src="http://www.metronews.ca/uploadedImages/0421_fg_article.jpg" alt=" - " />

Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
Led Zeppelin, like The Beatles before them, caused many people to go get guitars, etc and form bands which has more impact than say being influential.

That's exactly what I was trying to say earlier.

Rhett, that's kinda weird, calling me by my real name, don't do that again, mmkay?

Although it's funny, although I have no idea what you look like, I do kinda picture you looking like him. :D

Anyhoo, I did exactly what I would've done in junior high, when such occurrences were more common, I thought of the perfect comeback after it was already too late.

But to get back to the original point, I vote for VU. Led Zeppelin probably influenced more people to become metalheads, smoke pot, and wear rock concert t-shirts; but the VU influenced a lot of bands to head down different directions than they might have otherwise. And that impact is more lasting.

Your name is in the link you posted to your website. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what your name is.

QUOTE]Originally posted by D O C T O R D O O O O O M:
Rhett, that's kinda weird, calling me by my real name, don't do that again, mmkay?

Although it's funny, although I have no idea what you look like, I do kinda picture you looking like him. :D

Anyhoo, I did exactly what I would've done in junior high, when such occurrences were more common, I thought of the perfect comeback after it was already too late.

But to get back to the original point, I vote for VU. Led Zeppelin probably influenced more people to become metalheads, smoke pot, and wear rock concert t-shirts; but the VU influenced a lot of bands to head down different directions than they might have otherwise. And that impact is more lasting.

Originally posted by Rob_Gee:
That sounds like discrimination against Zeppelin fans, where are those two fags Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton when you need them.

You do realize that article was satirical?

The answer is obvious to me: Velvets because they're the band any group of dudes in a garage could sound like. Not many kids could get anything like the Robert Plant vocal sound (not saying that's a bad thing that they couldn't) or the Bonzo bass-heavy drumming, so not nearly as many bands got close to the Zep sound

The Velvet Underground playing for the American Society of Clinical Psychiatrists in NYC, 1966


January 13, 1966, the first concert of the &quot;Exploding Plastic Inevitable&quot;: band plus two dancers, and no light show yet.
It was a dinner. The guests didn&#039;t quite know what kind of &#039;entertainment&#039; they were getting - and how could they have known? Candleabra, chandeliers, Louis VIII style ornamentation on the mirror, all made for a clear-cut, decorous culture clash.