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Which city has better music history: New York or Los Angeles?

  • Thread starter Deleted member 23850
  • Start date

Which city has the greater music history?

  • New York City

    Votes: 238 71.9%

  • Los Angeles

    Votes: 61 18.4%

  • Other

    Votes: 32 9.7%
  • Total voters
    331

Deleted member 23850

Oct 28, 2017
8,689
Both cities are cultural hubs for each coast, both cities are immensely important to music, and despite rising costs of living both cities are still among the best places to be if you are a creative, especially if you are looking to make it. But there is still a debate as to which one has the better music history, despite both being super important. Which city, in your opinion, has the better music history?

Or are there any other cities that best both of them? I can't think of any off the top of my head.
 
shnurgleton

shnurgleton

Member
Oct 27, 2017
15,864
Boston
New York by a ridiculous long shot

LA has a lot of hip hop which is nice but, uh, new York birthed the genre and also punk and lots of other stuff

Also would consider Chicago above LA, for jazz and blues and house music

New Orleans also more significant than LA, because dixieland jazz and French stuff
 
Dyle

Dyle

One Winged Slayer
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
29,938
Chicago is above both of them for giving the world house music, followed by New York, then probably Detroit and New Orleans before Los Angeles
 
joe1138

joe1138

Member
Oct 28, 2017
926
This coming from a born and bred SoCal resident: New York.

If only for the punk movement in the 70's and all that that scene engendered.
 
OP
OP

Deleted member 23850

Oct 28, 2017
8,689
Los Angeles gave us John Cage, one of the most significant composers of the 20th century.

Also, Trout Mask Replica. Kendrick Lamar. Saint Vitus. The Beach Boys. Los Angeles is no slouch.
 
thefro

thefro

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,996
NYC and it's not even close. Tin Pan Alley, Broadway, Jazz/Blues, Greenwich Village folk scene all before we get into more modern music.

LA didn't really get important until the 60s or so.
 
jb1234

jb1234

Very low key
Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,231
NYC is basically the hub of classical music in the country, let alone other genres.
 

Deleted member 31817

Nov 7, 2017
30,876
Andrew Korenchkin said:
Los Angeles gave us John Cage, one of the most significant composers of the 20th century.

Also, Trout Mask Replica. Kendrick Lamar. Saint Vitus. The Beach Boys. Los Angeles is no slouch.
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NYC was hip-hop, punk, musical theater, post-punk, had more of an influence on jazz etc.

It isn't close lol
 
Doc Laserstein

Doc Laserstein

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,570
Between those two, NYC. The real answer is New Orleans though. Jazz and blues are the foundation of distinctly American popular music, and while the history of the blues is too nebulous and far-flung to pin to any specific city or region, jazz has it's clear and documented origins in New Orleans.
 
SoH

SoH

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,736
Are you talking like specifically regional music where the group or scene originated, or like that is where a particular group or album ended up? Because obviously a lot of shit ends up in LA regardless of where the music itself originated. Hell, Beastie Boys did Paul's Boutique in LA, but obviously they would be NY.
 
Violence Jack

Violence Jack

Drive-in Mutant
Member
Oct 25, 2017
41,754
It's definitely NYC from those two options, but I'd say Memphis was even more influential. Sun Studio was the birthplace of many greats such as Roy Orbison, Elvis, and Johnny Cash, then became a literal music hub back in the 60s and 70s.
 
Xiaomi

Xiaomi

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,237
For music in the US you've pretty much got New York, New Orleans, and Appalachia. Yes LA has good music, but the northeast and the south created the whole texture of American music out of the ashes of slavery, colonialism, and the Harlem Renaissance.
 
OP
OP

Deleted member 23850

Oct 28, 2017
8,689
I think the real question is....where is Phoenix in terms of music history?

Anything at all worth noting :(
 
litebrite

litebrite

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
21,832
Xiaomi said:
For music in the US you've pretty much got New York, New Orleans, and Appalachia. Yes LA has good music, but the northeast and the south created the whole texture of American music out of the ashes of slavery, colonialism, and the Harlem Renaissance.
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Man you've missed so many US cities, especially ones with large Black populations, that have contributed immensely to American music like Detroit, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Seattle, Memphis, Minneapolis, Nashville, Chicago, LA, etc...
 
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