Forget The Greatest British Bands: Here's the Best!

I realised that the thread was actually not about showing 'the greatest' British bands, but 'the best'. Well, that's easy!

[peterhickson]

Absolutely spot on, I'm 58, went through the 80s and 90s listening to many of we got to 's' I was hoping to see suede's coming going strong and still one of my favourite bands.

[paulcurrant]

Not many of us still listening to Cockney Rebel, Orange Juice, Squeeze, Stranglers, The Sweet, 10cc and XTC. Good work JG!

[moose]

Love ´em all.This and your greatest list have been the sondtrack of my life. Thanks James.

[Russell__Smith]

James,

I'm surprised Elvis Costello does not feature in your lists - I know its each to our own and you can't include everything. But, given the genres he has crossed there is normally something to appreciate/like in his back catalogue.

Keep up the good work.

Russell.

[AndrewDixonMusic]

Came to make sure The Housemartins were here, wasn't disappointed! 🙂👍

Also agree on that 9 minute version of Always On My Mind, absolutely epic the way it teases for several minutes and then explodes, fantastic! Best version of the song ever.

[seanbullethead]

Great article James. Squeeze - East Side Story is my most favourite album ever. Saw them recently at Southend and had tickets that allowed us into the sound check beforehand. We were treated to a performance of Piccadilly which just so happens to be my favourite track off that very album. Who else but Chris Difford could come up with lines like "She hooks up her cup cakes and puts on her jumper" or "The man behind me talks to his old lady, he's happy that she is expecting his baby, his wife won't be pleased but she's not been round lately" 🤣🤣. I came out of the sound check like a dog with two wotsits! Agree that the current band is superb - they do a fantastic job of performing all those great songs and really do them justice. PS I've just downloaded your book and look forward to reading it 😃

[flossysmith]

Afternoon James. Another great collection of bands. As with the last video, i'm not a fan of quite a few from your list but chuffed to bits to see alot of very familiar bands. ELO and Fleetwood Mac have made some amazing songs/albums over the years. By the way, if you ever get the chance to see RUMOURS of Fleetwood Mac, a tribute band, they really are worth seeing. All the best James, Floss.

[robison]

Always great to see the likes of 10cc, Supergrass and Sweet, definitely 3 of my favourite pop rock acts right there.
I don't think Be Bop Deluxe has been properly highlighted and talked about in detail on the VC so that would be a welcome video James..particularly as Bill Nelson has collaborated with and produced many acts since the demise of Be Bop, and he is still very highly regarded.
The Human League are interesting because Dare splits their career in 2 distinct eras.
I really enjoy early OMD and Dazzle Ships is an interesting and atmospheric listen despite it's lack of commerciality.

[samglendenning]

Fantastic video as ever James mate 😀🍿🎸🎶 Love Squeeze aswell; my favourite album of theirs is either ‘Argybargy’ or ‘Played’ 😊👍 XTC are my second fav band after Elbow; like Elbow; I love near everything XTC have done; my fav album of theirs is a toss up between ‘Skylarking’ or ‘Oranges & Lemons’ 😀🍊🍋

The Stranglers’ first five albums are all home runs; I think Rattus could potentially be in my Top 10 albums 🖤❤️ Love Orange Juice; I saw Edwyn Collins few year back at Newcastle Boiler Shop and he was excellent 😀 I haven’t listened to too much from Sweet I gotta say; what’s the Go 2 album of theirs James and I shall take a look at it 😀👍

Keep up the amazing work as ever James mate and loved both these videos of Top 20 Greatest & Best U.K Bands 😀🎸🍿🇬🇧

[simonstaniforth]

Really enjoyed the video. Difficult to decide which are the best bands and untangle from favourites. Some bands just have a consistently excellent body of work (eg. Supergrass), some have a purple patch of excelllence in a long career (eg. The Waterboys) and some have ploughed a determined furrow over many decades, undeterred by fashion or critical opinion (Eg. Hawkwind) These are what I think are some of the best, though maybe they’re just some of my favourites😊
Supergrass
Fairport Convention
Genesis
Siouxsie and the Banshees
The Coral
Suede
The Undertones and their successor band That Petrol Emotion
The Waterboys in the 80s
Shack
Hawkwind
Psychedelic Furs
The Cure
The Smiths
Duran Duran
Cheers James😊

[dixielandfarm]

I am very glad to have that Move best-of, which is of course rare here in the States. Supergrass - I haven't thought about them since the 90s, but they were great. I am glad to see 10cc on the list - I knew how much you regarded them, so I figured they were just squeezed out on your original list.

[robinfereday]

Bee Gees born on the isle of man, lived in Manchester went to Australia and returned to the UK in 1967

[RandyforRoyals]

Fantastic list and a great opportunity to work in Squeeze. I love the Bob Welch years (although an American) as well as the Peter Green years for Fleetwood Mac. I loved seeing The Housemartins. I need to get some Orange Juice as I have liked Edwyn Collins solo releases. Jordon: The Comeback is fantastic.

[RossGoodallMusic]

Hi James, nice companion piece to your greatest bands video, great to see The Housemartins and Orange Juice make an appearance, its a shame that some of their best early track didnt make it onto that debut album, thinks like Blue Boy is a seminal track of 80's jangle and sounds really fresh for 1980. The main band I think who is missing from your two lists is The Cure who had enormous influence on all things 'goth rock' and shoegaze, were pretty successful (with many a appearance on Top Of The Pops) and have the longevity which puts them up there in if not the greatest, certainty the best category for me.

[nicknikipediacaulkin]

Some good selections, James! Here are two Manchester bands to consider, The Hollies, who made some really good singles, and New Order!

[EmbryonicRobot]

This was a great rundown, James. I see some of my favs in there, especially Dazzle Ships. I love the Stranglers and XTC, of course. I had never head of Cockney Rebel or Status Quo until I started watching the VC videos!. I don't really think they got much exposure here, but I may have just missed them. I guess I need 12 Gold Bars!

[jeffparty]

Hmm, I’m not familiar with that particular Prefab Sprout album you showed. I’ll have to give it a listen.

Enjoyed the video, genuinely didn’t know what was coming next!

[GaryTwitchett]

Two Excellent bands from the 80s were China Crisis and New Musik. Wonderful memorable songs China Crisis with their relaxed Synth Pop and Vocal Harmonies, whilst New Musik combined Guitar and Synth with unusual unique songs with lyrics so different from anyone else. I still play the albums by both bands .

[marksmadebyrobots]

The new Pet Shop Boys album is very good - their best in a good few years.

[Isa-myu]

Great picks, James...
Here's some uniqueness
Big Grunt/(Vivian Stanshall's band after The Bonzo Dog band)
The Mona Lisa twins(Actual twin sisters/do great Beatles cover tunes)
The Pink Fairies
I vor Cutler