Originally Posted by Urban Hatemonger ?

I was watching this documentary a few weeks ago that was talking about the art school influence in British music and a lot of the bands in it said that in their experience American audiences and bands tend to be more primarily about what you can play and how you can play it, and if you can play it live. Whereas on the other hand British bands are more likely to have a member in the band just because they look good or they bring another dynamic to the band. And that British audiences are more about the product as a whole and what appears on the record, with playing live not being that much of a big deal.

That'll explain why you have people like Richie Edwards in the Manic Street Preachers who wrote all the lyrics yet would play live with his guitar unplugged because he couldn't play a note. Same sort of thing with Sid Vicious. Bez of the Happy Mondays would just dance with a pair of maracas. Chas Smash of Madness started off and a songwriter and a dancer for the band.

I guess that'll explain why the Milli Vanilli thing was such a big deal over there.