That's easy both. The U.S and the U.K have been playing cultural volleyball for... well... ever. John Lennon loved Elvis and Chuck Berry, Billy Joel loved the Beatles. Amy Winehouse and Adele Obviously take/took their cues from American Jazz and so on and so forth.
I was going to start a thread for it, but I think this one is suitable to discuss what Mosh said in the cinema thread:
The Nirvana comparison is interesting because I actually do think Nirvana should be lumped in with the classic rock stuff. At the time they were seen as a brand new direction for rock music but I think if you look at what came after (and really consider what the grunge bands were inspired by), Nirvana actually marks the end of the golden rock era. The Godfather is kinda opposite because it’s the beginning of the Hollywood/blockbuster era that we’re still kind of in.*
I've been listening to A LOT of old (some of it classic) rock. Mainly 80s. 38 Special, Survivor, Men at Work, Foreigner, The Outfield, etc. Either that or 70s rock in general. Some that would fit better under the long dead 'adult contemporary' genre, but also "Classic" rock like Kansas, America, Styx and the like.
To me, late 60s through late 70s rock will always be "classic rock." Just like Baroque, Romantic and Renaissance music make up the bulk of "classical" music. Which is why I prefer "oldies" stations or segments rather than "classic" stations or segments that play "old" music. To that, is Iron Maiden "classic" heavy metal? Is Metallica? The oxymoronic "modern/contemporary classic"?
Seattle Grunge did change the musical landscape, but Grunge in and of itself died with those bands. You still have prog rock bands a la Kansas and Yes, Metal bands like Helloween and Iron Maiden, but who today carries the torch for Nirvana and Pearl Jam? Or like American blues and Jazz, do we see remnants of it in other bands?
