Welcome to the second instalment of our series “Keep The Brits”! This is our opportunity to depict different traits and quirks of British people and the importance and impact of British culture.

Today’s topic is rock and pop music. Rock and pop music have influenced all generations across the whole world since the early fifties. And rock and pop music in the English language have played and still play by far the lion’s share of all music produced and consumed in every corner of the world.

Without a doubt, the relatively small population of Britain has contributed to the English language music the most.

So, let’s try this. Without thinking about it too much and without looking at google or Wikipedia: do a quick list in your head of all the most famous British music acts in rock and pop music that you can think of. Are you doing that? If you are, I bet that these names would certainly have come up in your head: Beatles, the Kinks, The Rolling Stones, Deep Purple, Cream, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Genesis, the Who, Queen, The Clash, Sex Pistol, the Cure, Culture Club, Duran Duran, Simple Minds, the Smiths, Blur, Pulp, Oasis, Coldplay…and we could go on for a long time…

That’s a lot of acts spanning through many decades and they are just the ones that reached mega stardom.

Now, try to do the same with a much bigger country that has also contributed a lot to English music: the United States of America… are you doing that? Well in this case I bet these are the names that popped into your head: Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Jonny Cash, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Cher…and many others…

Now, have you noticed the stark difference? The British names I mentioned are all bands, while the American ones are all solo artists. Is that a coincidence? Of course I am not suggesting that no British solo artists ever reached stardom. Think of Elton John and David Bowie. And I am also not suggesting that there are no mega bands in the US: think of the Beach Boys, the Eagles, the Ramones, Nirvana and so on.

What I am suggesting is that even in music the British tend to show the strong sense of community and team work that defines their approach to many aspects of their life which is very different from the more individualistic mentality of their cousins across the pond. You don’t believe me? Ask your friends to make the same lists and you will see.

Thanks for listening and we’ll be back.

In the meantime, keep the brits in your heart and mind.