VH1's Top 100 Artists Of All Time(2010)

[namkcuR]

So, I just caught this on VH1 Classic today(though it's apparently from August), and, unsurprisingly, search didn't bring up any existing topics on this. VH1 originally did a 100 Artists list back in 98 and now they did it again. As with all lists of this nature, it is part predictable, part absurd. I mean...just to name a few...ABBA should be far higher, Jay-Z should be somewhat lower, Beyonce, LL Cool J, and Outkast shouldn't be on the list at all, and the absence of The Mamas And The Papas, The Temptations, Sting(as a solo artist), and Red Hot Chili Peppers(though this forum has been down on them as well) is glaring.

100 Alicia Keys
99 Hall & Oates
98 Depeche Mode
97 Pretenders
96 Journey
95 OutKast
94 Mariah Carey
93 Pearl Jam
92 LL Cool J
91 Green Day
90 Elvis Costello
89 Beastie Boys
88 Bee Gees
87 George Michael
86 N.W.A.
85 The Band
84 Curtis Mayfield
83 Earth, Wind and Fire
82 Steely Dan
81 ABBA
80 Mary J. Blige
79 Eminem
78 Judas Priest
77 Lynyrd Skynyrd
76 Run-D.M.C.
75 Rush
74 The Cure
73 Van Morrison
72 Janis Joplin
71 R.E.M.
70 Def Leppard
69 Tupac Shakur
68 Otis Redding
67 Coldplay
66 Justin Timberlake
65 The Doors
64 Talking Heads
63 Notorious B.I.G.
62 Genesis
61 Cream
60 Whitney Houston
59 Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
58 Cheap Trick
57 Iggy & The Stooges
56 KISS
55 Peter Gabriel
54 Public Enemy
53 Little Richard
52 Beyoncé
51 Billy Joel
50 Sade
49 Parliament-Funkadelic
48 Rage Against The Machine
47 Jay-Z
46 Ramones
45 Al Green
44 Joni Mitchell
43 Ray Charles
42 Metallica
41 Van Halen
40 The Police
39 The Kinks
38 Sly & The Family Stone
37 Fleetwood Mac
36 Paul McCartney
35 Johnny Cash
34 Tina Turner
33 Guns N’ Roses
32 Black Sabbath
31 John Lennon
30 Aerosmith
29 Radiohead
28 Elton John
27 Aretha Franklin
26 Neil Young
25 Chuck Berry
24 The Velvet Underground
23 AC/DC
22 The Clash
21 Bruce Springsteen
20 Marvin Gaye
19 U2
18 Pink Floyd
17 Queen
16 Madonna
15 The Beach Boys
14 Nirvana
13 The Who
12 David Bowie
11 Bob Marley
10 Stevie Wonder
09 James Brown
08 Elvis Presley
07 Prince
06 Jimi Hendrix
05 Bob Dylan
04 Rolling Stones
03 Led Zeppelin
02 Michael Jackson
01 The Beatles

 

[iron yuppie]

part absurd.

Kiss being ranked ahead of The Doors and Depeche Mode is worse than absurd. Reprehensible is the only word that really comes to mind right now.

 

[The Sad Punk]

I'll gladly take Outkast over Sting and RHCP, thanks.

 

[No spoken words]

Michael Jackson is #2, so, #2 is where I stopped.

 

[cobl04]

I'll gladly take Outkast over Sting and RHCP, thanks.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Michael Jackson is #2, so, #2 is where I stopped.

Racist comment.

 

[lazarus]

Michael Jackson is #2, so, #2 is where I stopped.

This.

 

[LemonMelon]

I'll gladly take Outkast over Sting and RHCP, thanks.

Hell, even Hall & Oates sounds pretty great next to Peppy Cockstockings and the most humorless man in showbiz.

The one that made me laugh out loud though was Coldplay > Otis Redding. It's not that they weren't close...it's the fact that they were placed next to each other, making their folly all the more obvious. Biggie > Tupac is cool with me though.

Anyway, we had a thread on this in EYKIW months ago. Didn't miss much...lots of 'Two bitching.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Racist comment.

Racist toward white people, of course.

This list is shite. But that's not breaking news or anything.

I have to agree with namkcuR that Beyonce might be the most egregious addition to this list, especially considering how high they placed her. I like her a lot, and she's a strong modern pop artist but, shit, she only has a couple studio albums, and they're not classics. She just hasn't put out enough stuff to warrant being listed on an all-time thing. The majority of her stuff (and the reason she became famous) was with Destiny's Child.

Anyway. I don't really care.

At least they got the #1 spot correct.

 

[namkcuR]

Can someone explain to me why this forum is so anti-RHCP? And without spouting some bullshit about how all their songs are about California and sex?

 

[namkcuR]

At least they got the #1 spot correct.

This we can all agree on.

 

[LMP]

Can someone explain to me why this forum is so anti-RHCP? And without spouting some bullshit about how all their songs are about California and sex?

They're talented and have longevity on their side, but what has their influence been over 25+ years? I like them, though I'd consider their effect on popular music to be relatively unsubstantial. And yes, some of it's rooted in the bullshit about nearly all of their songs being of the same topic.

Conversely, I'd ask why you feel Jay-Z's placed too highly relative to the other seemingly random placements. He's been at the root of the progressions of modern rap music for the past 15 years or so and continues to put out killer material.

 

[LemonMelon]

I find nearly every one of their songs either unspeakably dull or juvenile. The fact that they have sustained a 25 year career is baffling to me.

 

[u2popmofo]

There was a period where I didn't mind the Red Hot Chili Peppers. At some point they became incredibly annoying and Aerosmith-ish to me (as in most every one of their songs sounded just like the last). They still have a few songs I'll sing along to, but they annoy me more often than not. I don't have a specific reason why, they just do.

 

[namkcuR]

They're talented and have longevity on their side, but what has their influence been over 25+ years? I like them, though I'd consider their effect on popular music to be relatively unsubstantial. And yes, some of it's rooted in the bullshit about nearly all of their songs being of the same topic.

Conversely, I'd ask why you feel Jay-Z's placed too highly relative to the other seemingly random placements. He's been at the root of the progressions of modern rap music for the past 15 years or so and continues to put out killer material.

It's not so much that I see him at 47 and think 'No', as it is that I see a handful of artists placed before him that I think should clearly be ahead of him - Billy Joel, The Doors, ABBA(yeah, I know I'm getting no support for that here), R.E.M., perhaps Pearl Jam. Even just among the hip-hop artists on the list, I'm not sure he's properly placed. You argued that the RHCP's lack of influence is a knock against them - if influence matters, isn't there an argument to be made that Tupac, or Public Enemy, or maybe even the Beasties were more influential overall to hip-hop than Jay-Z? Wouldn't that be a reason to put them above him?

 

[corianderstem]

ABBA(yeah, I know I'm getting no support for that here),

Oh, I think you'd be pleasantly surprised.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Oh...I'm afraid...the Swedish pop music will be quite operational...when your friends arrive.

 

[No spoken words]

Oh...I'm afraid...the Swedish pop music will be quite operational...when your friends arrive.

I think some of ABBA's songs are pure magic. Cannot claim to know their whole songbook or anything, but the songs I do know, I tend to like a lot.

 

[mikal]

i'm not a big fan of Nirvana being rated ahead of U2. i could go on a big tantrum about why Nirvana doesn't even deserve to be in the top 50, but i won't.

 

[u2popmofo]

I think some of ABBA's songs are pure magic. Cannot claim to know their whole songbook or anything, but the songs I do know, I tend to like a lot.

NSW is a dancing queen.

 

[No spoken words]

You are a drag queen. That doesn't go down to well in Utah.

 

[No spoken words]

i'm not a big fan of Nirvana being rated ahead of U2. i could go on a big tantrum about why Nirvana doesn't even deserve to be in the top 50, but i won't.

Oh, by all means, please do.

Channel U2387 or whatever his name is and type out a novella for us.

 

[u2popmofo]

That doesn't go down to well in Utah.

Tell me about it. People still complain even when I wear extremely modest old timey pioneer dresses. There's just no pleasing these people!

Spoiler

I too am 100% ok with a number of the Abba classics.

 

[No spoken words]

I meant "too" well, unreal.

 

[Fernando-]

I think some of ABBA's songs are pure magic. Cannot claim to know their whole songbook or anything, but the songs I do know, I tend to like a lot.

I quite agree with this post.

They should have been placed higher indeed. At least higher than Eminem, Justin Timberlake, Coldplay, Beyoncé, and Tina Turner for god's sake.

 

[LemonMelon]

S.O.S. is the shit.

I don't care for Dancing Queen though, ironically or otherwise.

 

[corianderstem]

Dancing Queen just annoys me now. I loved it years ago, before I discovered there were a great many other, far superior ABBA tracks.

 

[PhilsFan]

Oh, by all means, please do.

Channel U2387 or whatever his name is and type out a novella for us.

Notice how NSW blatantly attacks U2387 with little or no objective evidence regarding his posting style!

 

[u2popmofo]

I meant "too" well, unreal.

Your hatred of the English language and it's proper usage is only rivaled by VH1's hatred of music.

 

[No spoken words]

You meant "its proper usage".