10 Most Influential British Acts On American Rock
8. Roxy Music
Roxy Music helped birth the era of glam rock, with a focus on all things camp and outrageous. During the early '70s the grouped helped popularise the alternative side of rock, with over the top fashion trends and more joyous erratic styles of music. Their 1972 debut, was defiantly different to the popular sounds of hard rock. It was a smorgasbord of influences, drawing from the nostalgia of '50s American culture, while incorporating the cutting edge trends of British electronic music.
Every new wave act of the late '70s and early '80s looked to Roxy Music for inspiration. They made being silly cool, and championed the notion that you could appeal to the masses while retaining artistic integrity. They gave us Brian Ferry - one of the more intriguing frontmen ever to don a dinner jacket on stage. He swooned about in slick but eccentric attire, delivering vocals with an unconventional but engaging swagger.
The group also gave rise to one of the most influential figures in electronic music, Brian Eno. Eno revolutionised production techniques across the musical board, helping shape post-punk group Talking Heads and influencing acts like LCD Soundsystem, to incorporate electronic dance music into punk rock.