UK to USA culture influence

[CatInASuit]

Due to Hollywood and MTV a large amount of American culture has been accepted and picked up in the UK

eg. Halloween has become a much bigger event, we have lots of House lights at Christmas nowadays.

Can anyone think of a major cultural influence going back the other way, ie. is there anything really British that the Americans do now, that they never used to do?

Feel free to expand this to the Rest of the World.

[jali]

The "British Music Invasion" is the first thing that comes to mind. Music from the UK really influenced the music here back in the 60s.

I was a little AA chick in Hollis, Queens and I loved the Beatles and the Stones. And Cream.

I wore vinyl mini skirts because Twiggy wore them. My mother actually agreed to let me cut my hair and wear it Twiggy style after almost a year of begging. I started using hair relaxers when I went for the cut.

[Cluricaun]

I'd venture to say that the influence isn't quite as broad in the reverse, save for Anglophiles who are obsessed with Brits and who try to pull off a British accent despite being raised in Kansas and having only spent two weeks in London on vacation when they were 19. We do like a fair bit of your television shows though. Makes us feel classy.

Oh, and Burberry scarves, but those are still considered nice things here because we don't have chavs.

[What Exit?]

The Brit invasion and a lot of comedy in the 60s and 70s, especially Peter Sellers, Monty Python and Benny Hill. Then Punk Rock was very strongly British in flavor. Since then I cannot think of much.

There is the inexplicable fascination with the Royals in the US. I don't know if that counts?

[Queen Tonya]

Some of us drink tea!

[Cluricaun]

Then Punk Rock was very strongly British in flavor.

While punk was and is big across the pond it is very much an American invention. The Ramones and the New York Dolls came first.

[Angua]

Some of us drink tea!

Cold. Or made with not-boiling, but merely hot water...

[The Original An Gadaí]

While punk was and is big across the pond it is very much an American invention. The Ramones and the New York Dolls came first.

The Rock Hall Of Fame in Cleveland, OH, deals with this by having both London and NY as the progenitors of punk rock.

[SeeOhTwo]

Many Americans use the World Wide Web.

[Johnny]

Or made with not-boiling, but merely hot water...

Some of us know how to boil water.


The Victorian Christmas thing is pretty big in some circles here.

[What Exit?]

While punk was and is big across the pond it is very much an American invention. The Ramones and the New York Dolls came first.

True, but the Brits really made it their own and gave it, its more enduring sound. (IMHO) The Ramones are tame compared to groups like the Sex Pistols.

The Rock Hall Of Fame in Cleveland, OH, deals with this by having both London and NY as the progenitors of punk rock.

Seems fair. I would say US created, Brits made it big though and refined it. Or perhaps unrefined it in this case.

Many Americans use the World Wide Web.

Tricky, developed by a Brit for Cern and made popular in the USA though, especially with the introduction of Mosaic. I tend to think of the Web have become popular in the US and flowing out to the rest of the world.

Some of us know how to boil water.


The Victorian Christmas thing is pretty big in some circles here.

Is it the Victorian Christmas or the Victorian influenced New England Christmas of the late 1800s?

Does a tea kettle actually count as boiled water or is there something I am missing here?

[Cluricaun]

True, but the Brits really made it their own and gave it, its more enduring sound. (IMHO) The Ramones are tame compared to groups like the Sex Pistols.

The Sex Pistols were really just a media invention of Malcom McLaren's who left New York after managing the New York Dolls into a bigger mess than they already were and went back to England with an idea of a band that sounded similar but was more fashion oriented. He opened a boutique store called, oddly enough, Sex with Vivienne Westwood and used the band The Sex Pistols as walking adverts for the clothes that they were selling. The song "Pretty Vacant" is pretty much a direct ripoff of Richard Hell's "Blank Generation".

The Ramones were actual junkies and male hustlers. The Sex Pistols were just a bunch of whiny kids.

[Johnny]

Does a tea kettle actually count as boiled water or is there something I am missing here?

I put my kettle of water on the stove, and the water boils. So I'd call it boiling water.

[What Exit?]

I put my kettle of water on the stove, and the water boils. So I'd call it boiling water.

I do to, I am confused by the merely hot water comment.

[Johnny]

I do to, I am confused by the merely hot water comment.

Ah.

I think the comment was directed toward restaurant tea. (I think that, because I can't imagine someone making tea with a kettle without boiling the water.) In a restaurant, water is usually run through a coffee maker and sits in an urn on a warmer. Then they pour the non-boiling water into a metal pot and deliver it to the table with a tea bag and a wedge of lemon on the side.

[Laughing Lagomorph]

I do to, I am confused by the merely hot water comment.

I've heard this before when discussing the state of tea making in the US with people from the UK and Ireland. Apparently there are people in the US that make tea with water that is less than boiling hot but I've never seen anyone do that in their house. I concede there are probably restaurants and diners that do it though.

[What Exit?]

Ah.

I think the comment was directed toward restaurant tea. (I think that, because I can't imagine someone making tea with a kettle without boiling the water.) In a restaurant, water is usually run through a coffee maker and sits in an urn on a warmer. Then they pour the non-boiling water into a metal pot and deliver it to the table with a tea bag and a wedge of lemon on the side.

I've heard this before when discussing the state of tea making in the US with people from the UK and Ireland. Apparently there are people in the US that make tea with water that is less than boiling hot but I've never seen anyone do that in their house. I concede there are probably restaurants and diners that do it though.

Thanks to both of you. This makes a lot more sense now. My sister actually boils the water in a small pot, but most people I know use a tea kettle or microwave to boil the water.

[OneCentStamp]

I was a little AA chick in Hollis, Queens

It's Christmas time in Hollis, Queens
Mom's cooking chicken and collard greens
Rice and stuffing, macaroni and cheese
As Santa puts gifts under Christmas trees

EARWORM

[Cluricaun]

It's Christmas time in Hollis, Queens
Mom's cooking chicken and collard greens
Rice and stuffing, macaroni and cheese
As Santa puts gifts under Christmas trees

EARWORM

Oh thank you so much for sharing.

It was December 24th on Hollis Ave in the dark
When I see a man chilling with his dog in the park
I approached very slowly with my heart full of fear
Looked at his dog, oh my God, an ill reindeer

[jali]

Now I've got it too.

Ah...thanks.

But then I was illin because the man had a beard
And a bag full of goodies, 12 o'clock had neared
So I turned my head a second and the man had gone
But he left his driver's wallet smack dead on the lawn
I picket the wallet up then I took a pause
Took out the license and it cold said "Santa Claus"
A million dollars in it, cold hundreds of G's
Enough to buy a boat and matching car with ease
But I'd never steal from Santa, cause that ain't right
So I'm going home to mail it back to him that night
But when I got home I bugged, cause under the tree
Was a letter from Santa and all the dough was for me

[The Original An Gadaí]

It is my understanding, at least initially, that electropop was a mainly British concern but was hugely popular and influential on US music, from the late '70s to the mid-'80s. Granted some of the pioneers of this sound were bands like Kraftwerk but I'm thinking of bands like The Human League who scored huge hits in the US. Synthetic pop infected stuff like Van Halen etc.

Similarly the "second british invasion" was where a number of (FWIW of more specific terminology) electronica groups had huge hits in the late '90s in the US. Chemical Bros., The Prodigy, Fatboy Slim et al.

[Angua]

Thanks to both of you. This makes a lot more sense now. My sister actually boils the water in a small pot, but most people I know use a tea kettle or microwave to boil the water.

Yes, this is it. In restaurants you get a small pot of hot, but not boiling, water. This does not make good tea.

I was being (very) tongue in cheek. I apologise.

[Oliveloaf]

I know that in chicago we're all crazy about jellied eel.

[CatInASuit]

Microwaved water just sounds wrong. It's no way to make a cup of tea.

If only we could influence you with some proper culture to do it properly.

[What Exit?]

Microwaved water just sounds wrong. It's no way to make a cup of tea.

If only we could influence you with some proper culture to do it properly.

I use a tea kettle when I make tea, but I know people that boil water in the cup in the microwave for their tea. It is just the water being nuked, not the tea itself, so I doubt there is a real issue.

[Feirefiz]

Rosamunde Pilcher dominates the German market for romance novels to be turned into prime time TV movies. Typically her name is pronounced the German to avoid alienating the more provincial segments of the audience.
Interestingly those movies are among the very few exceptions to the rule that modern German films or TV series can't be set in foreign cultures.

[tunaman]

It is my understanding, at least initially, that electropop was a mainly British concern but was hugely popular and influential on US music, from the late '70s to the mid-'80s. Granted some of the pioneers of this sound were bands like Kraftwerk but I'm thinking of bands like The Human League who scored huge hits in the US. Synthetic pop infected stuff like Van Halen etc.

Similarly the "second british invasion" was where a number of (FWIW of more specific terminology) electronica groups had huge hits in the late '90s in the US. Chemical Bros., The Prodigy, Fatboy Slim et al.

Actually, the Second British Invasion was the 80s: Duran Duran, The Human League, ABC, A Flock of Seagulls, Thompson Twins, Wham!, Eurythmics, Culture Club, Depeche Mode, The Cure, Siouxsie, Madness, Bananarama, etc.

I have no idea what you're talking about with your "second british invasion". The Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy, and Fatboy Slim were certainly popular with the dance club\electronica crowd, but barely made a blip in the music scene here otherwise. To people outside those relatively small genres, Chemical Brothers are "that band I once heard on college radio", The Prodigy are "That 'Firestarter" band... oh, and didn't they have that one song that made N.O.W. mad?" ("Fatboy Slim... wasn't that one of Eminem's early personas?")

To show you how much British music had fallen in the US, James Blunt's "You're Beautiful" (2006) was the first British artist of any kind (male, female, band, etc.) to have a #1 single in the US in almost 10 years (Elton John's "Candle in the Wind" was #1 in 1997; one wonders what the time span might have been if not for Diana's accident). Leona Lewis's 2008 single "Bleeding Love" was the first single by a British woman to hit #1 in the US since 1986.

Brit music is making a comeback though. Lewis, Lilly Allen, Amy Winehouse, Coldplay, Natasha Bedingfield and Snow Patrol are doing well, and it seems like rock music is slowly making a comeback against hip-hop, which also bodes well for British artists.

[The Original An Gadaí]

Actually, the Second British Invasion was the 80s: Duran Duran, The Human League, ABC, A Flock of Seagulls, Thompson Twins, Wham!, Eurythmics, Culture Club, Depeche Mode, The Cure, Siouxsie, Madness, Bananarama, etc.

I have no idea what you're talking about with your "second british invasion". The Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy, and Fatboy Slim were certainly popular with the dance club\electronica crowd, but barely made a blip in the music scene here otherwise. To people outside those relatively small genres, Chemical Brothers are "that band I once heard on college radio", The Prodigy are "That 'Firestarter" band... oh, and didn't they have that one song that made N.O.W. mad?" ("Fatboy Slim... wasn't that one of Eminem's early personas?")

To show you how much British music had fallen in the US, James Blunt's "You're Beautiful" (2006) was the first British artist of any kind (male, female, band, etc.) to have a #1 single in the US in almost 10 years (Elton John's "Candle in the Wind" was #1 in 1997; one wonders what the time span might have been if not for Diana's accident). Leona Lewis's 2008 single "Bleeding Love" was the first single by a British woman to hit #1 in the US since 1986.

Brit music is making a comeback though. Lewis, Lilly Allen, Amy Winehouse, Coldplay, Natasha Bedingfield and Snow Patrol are doing well, and it seems like rock music is slowly making a comeback against hip-hop, which also bodes well for British artists.

That's why I put "second british invasion" in brackets, I didn't think it was that accurate. I was reading about British electronica acts from a Britihs perspective so many they overemphasised their influence. I know that prior to that electronica/clubbing weren't as big in the US as they got later. Rave culture of course isn't exclusively British although British clubbers/acts comprise a significant component thereof.

[ivan astikov]

According to a book I've just read, us Brit's passed on our addiction to texting to you lot.

That's what you get for all those crappy tv programs you've been palming off on us!.