spark10036

but the good thing with at least Lady GaGa (whose music I find mediocre, but she really is entertaining in her own way) is that she really has a persona of her own, and she's not trying to rip-off anybody...she reminds me a lot of MGMT really, an experiment which for the one reason or the other became very successful.

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Arya Stark

It could also be who inspired you to take up music in the first place.

I could say that Jennifer Lopez in one of my greatest influences. But I am told that I play a lot more like Flyleaf and Evanescence, who are also influences.

I don't think it's who you are "trying" to be all of the time. everyone has different influences for different reasons. ^_^

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MB Journal.
Azucar y Especia. My blog.

vicfolder

I'd say anyone can be an artist's influence - how it effects them is up to them

Ska Lagos Jew Sun Ra

Not sure about Freddy Mercury. Suppose that's for stage show, and just as reference to the fact that he's probably the best singer in terms of technical skill of any mainstream rock band. It'd be like any guitarist citing Hendrix, I think. Even if not presenting a Hendrixy style.

I'm assuming Bowie comes a lot with the fact he occasionally dabbled in, and supported acts of, sound that is very poppy yet "has a brain". I think saying Bowie is an influence to a way of saying "Yes, this is mindless manufactured music but just like Bowie... behind the scenes there's a brain to it!".

Why Katy Perry would cite him as an influence, I don't know. For all I know, she just did it because Gaga did it. But Gaga definitely wants to give off the illusion that there's some sort of cryptic intellect to what she does. What better figure to cite than Bowie for that?

Goblin Tears

I'm a Bowie and GaGa fan. Freddy Mercury and Bowie are not alternative obscure artists. I hear both on regular raidio all the time, and they have both topped the charts with pop music, just like GaGa is now.

RVCA

^ I'd hardly pitch Bowie's/Mercury's music on the same plane of "pop" as GaGa's.

Engine

I don't hear (or especially see) a whole lot of difference between Gaga and Bowie and, I guess, Mercury. They're all pop stars who depend on a combo of musical talent and visual theatrics for their success.

Goblin Tears

That implies some sort of elitism. Bowie and Mercury are themselves very different from each other musically, but the three have a fundamental similarity in pop superstar status, as Engine said.

Insane Guest

Well maybe I'm not listening to it hard enough. Do you really hear a resemblence between Mercury or David Bowie and Lady Gaga?

Goblin Tears

Their sounds are different, but they are all pop stars...just as Michael Jackson and George Michael are pop stars. The similarity I'm talking about is a shared status in the pop musical canon that will stand the test of TIME. The thread starter stated that few people who listen to GaGa would listen to either Queen or Bowie, but that's hardly true. Bowie and Queen are huge and have massive fanbases that definitely extend into the pop music sphere, a territory that is currently ruled by GaGa.

Anyway, Mercury and David Bowie share few musical similarites with each other. Queen are much more dramatic, and Bowie is a shameless chameleon who hides behind strange imagery. GaGa, an awkward blend of the two.