I've seen both David Bowie (late '77 or early '78-I remember that I was in Jr. high and too young to drive-I also remember that it was $7.94 for the ticket-A radio station (K-94) was running a promotion at that price- and again then in late 80's) and Kiss (multiple times since late 70's) in their heyday and neither were anything like the other...(except for some makeup..) Bowie was in a blue sequined jumpsuit, with orange spiked hair and barely moved at all during the entire show. He just creepily stared out into the audience while singing. (It was a very good show BTW). The second time I saw him, he was dressed as a female flight attendant (not nearly as good as the first)..The many times I saw Kiss...Kiss was just..well...Kiss. 40' flames, lights, lasers and of course, Gene Simmons eating fire..

I never saw anything like it before (well I admit...there wasn't many things before then for me ) or since then (too many concerts to even remember )...The only thing that would come close would be an Alice Cooper concert (but they were just different than Kiss'...More macabre'.)

I just can't call kiss 'revolutionary' when just about everything about their style was lifted straight from the New York Dolls.

But I have to say i will be forever jealous of you, I wish I could see David Bowie dressed as an airline hostess

Yngwie Malmsteen! I love his guitar technique

David Bowie
In my opinion, of course.

I'm gonna have to go with:

Aretha Franklin
Buddy Holly
Elvis
Beatles
Black Sabbath
Led Zeppelin
Pink Floyd
The Kinks (notice how every new band lately sounds like the Kinks or Bowie rehashed?)
Bob Dylan
Beach Boys
David Bowie
The Clash
B52's
Talking Heads
Soundgarden (NOT Nir-yawn-ah)
And, I think as much as I don't like them... I think I have to add GNR and Greenday.

Talking heads,
Rage against the machine.

Didn't want to seem too predictable (username coming from one of their songs) but Misfit's definitely deserve a mentioning in this thread. Their music, image, and style were original and had a great influence on other bands. Who is more original but yet still able to hold a following as much as the Misfits? They didn't even sing about political or social issues like most punk bands did, they sang about what they wanted to. And that was B-rated horror movies.

Venom.

The band no one has ever heard of. Why'd I pick them? Venom took influence from Motorhead's Speed Metal and Black Flag's Hardcore Punk and made the first Thrash Metal music. Fun fact: they inspired Metallica, the biggest band in the world from 1991 to present! In fact, that super popular song called One? Yeah, that's based on the Venom song Buried Alive.

With their second album they named an entire genre: Black Metal. Sure, they weren't an actual Black Metal band, but with their bad musicianship and Satan fetish, they set standards for thrash, black, and death metal bands for years to come. You usually can't find a single Black or Death Metal band that doesn't cite Venom as an influence.

Oh, then there's Metallica.

Seriously, Metallica's main influences were Venom, Iron Maiden, and Motorhead. That means you could give Venom about 33.3 million of Metallica's album sales to them, plus countless millions from other bands that they influenced! Their influence can be felt in big ways on the big four of Thrash, and can even be felt today in modern Metalcore bands.

That's legacy.

Sure, bands are playing the Beatles sound today (though sparsely, I'd say, since the Beatles did it best and no one else comes close), but how many genres did the Beatles actually create? Venom created Thrash and named Black Metal. Both of which have active scenes in the Americas and Europe. The Beatles influence was felt until the late 70s and early 80s when Glam took over the world and was influenced by other types of music.

But still, you've got the one band responsible for every type of extreme metal today (sans Doom, which Sabbath created), and that's Venom.

Good call on Venom, black metal was definitely a very influential album.

Thou art ally.

MC Hammer

...... ....... ...................really............. ......dont want to touch that

Beat me to it!

The Doors!
For the time, Morrison's antics on stage were unheard of, he was more or less the first true rocker.
Amazing band!

Massive Attack - seriously, before them, had you honestly ever heard anything like their music?

Pink Floyd - I believe that The Wall was pretty much first of its type?

Garbage - once again, can you name an earlier band that sounded even vaguely like them?

King Crimson - this type of music wasn't labelled 'progressive' for nothing.

David Bowie - the birth of glam rock!

Can't touch that...

Oh wow you actually saw the Smiths in concert. What year was it in? Why exactly did they throw pork sausages lol? Did they bring them with them or that was what was readily avialable?

I saw the Smiths in... geeeeze, must been 84 or 85, I know I was still in HS, I'm guessing '84. They were good. I'm trying to recall who they played with though. The Smiths were the opening band. I want to say it was with Oingo Boingo, but I don't think that's right. Might have been the Fixx. It was some new wave band. LOL.

You are both lucky gals then. Morrissey still tours but it is not the same now as it was then.