When I first heard Green Day, the first thing I thought of was the early punk group The Dickies, because Billy Joe sounded so much like their singer, Leonard Graves Philips. We all also know that Billy Joe gets his stage presence from Joe Strummer of The Clash. Two great people to draw from! Anyway, here's the proof in the pudding: The Dickies' great cover of The Moody Blues 'Nights in White Satin' from 1979 and The Clash, at the dawn of punk, Janie Jones in 1977. Judge for yourselves!
The Janie Jones recording is pretty crude, but you get the idea of the energy The Clash brought.
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Good examples. I see your point. I think Rancid draws most of their singing from The Clash as well. I never heard of the Dickies. They were all right. Definitely sang a lot like Billy Joe. I wonder if there was a moment in Billy's life where he was like, "Hmmm...I want to make my voice sound like Leonard Graves Philips."
ReplyDeleteIt will be interesting to see if any of Patricks bands get their styles from my bands. Maybe he'll listen to hip hop.
I'm sure you'll school him right.
ReplyDeleteRegarding influences, Leonard Graves Philips' stage show is copied from Mick Jagger, and I believe Mick Jagger copied it from James Brown.