pierre Posted December 22, 2007 Share Posted December 22, 2007 Madonna has sold over 250 million albums. 48 Top Forty singles (28 of which were in the top 5, 43 of which were in the top 20) and counting. This is on the regular Billboard Hot 100 chart. By the way, Madonna has also had thirty-seven *number-one* singles on Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.Her impact on "mainstream" music is massive, her impact on dance music probably even more so. A debatable achievement for many on this board...but then again you can dance to some rock music!Rock and Roll had already happened before Elvis. "Rocket 88" predated Elvis's Sun recordings by several years, as did many other recordings (usually by artists who were blocked by their skin colour). True, Elvis was the first rock and roll icon who was truly embraced and recognized by white America. Still, one could argue that Chuck Berry was more influential - he forced people to confront their own prejudices, as people liked his music and were often surprised to discover that he wasn't white.One thing I'd be interested in hearing is whether Elvis also had a significant following among non-whites. Sorry to turn this into a racial analysis, but I don't think you can truly escape that when discussing Elvis. Nor can you avoid a socio-economic analysis of who held the power in America during the 1950s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollies65 Posted December 23, 2007 Share Posted December 23, 2007 Pierre...as an amatuer rock historian I am well aware of the origins of rock and roll. Chuck Berry is a giant in the story of rock and roll,as a writer, player and performer. In this case bringing race into this particular disscussion is silly...Elvis was not Pat Boone. Elvis was a great groundbreaking rock and roll singer. America was a different place in the mid 50s. Blacks at the time made up about 8% of the US population...I don't know if they tracked how many of his fans were non white. I'm being facious of course because...who cares? He had black fans...Chuck Berry and Little Richard were fans...but so what? BTW...although Rocket 88 [Credited to Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, It's really the Ike Turner show]among others has been cited as the first R&R record, Rock did not really "happen" until Elvis made the scene and it was a nationwide craze. 'Rocket 88' made some regional noise and that was it.Madonna's sales figures impress me as much as Britney Spears or Celine's...otherwise they don't. I've made my case against Madonna...all marketing, no substance...IMO. In regards to your last sentence...Elvis was dirt poor white trash... he sold millions of records...so did Little Richard [A Flamboyant gay black man] Chuck Berry and Fats Domino. So what does that tell us? It tells us that they all were great and sold tons of great records regardless of their skin color and regardless of "who held power" in America. It tells us that if you were black or white or poor,you could make it in rock and roll in the USA.They are also Charter members of The Rock and Roll HOF. All deserving. Good debate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CubbiefanMike Posted December 23, 2007 Share Posted December 23, 2007 The Ventures were awesome... and were not just another instrumental band. They were the instrumental Beatles... fantastic musicianship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollies65 Posted December 23, 2007 Share Posted December 23, 2007 When I get back I'm going to do a post here about why The Ventures are a no-brainer inductee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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