> Back in the heyday of the Beach Boys, a musical group had to have a sound that nobody could copy.
>
> I mentioned Simon and Garfunkel recently because I liked their sound. The Beach Boys had a sound, too.
>
> Does anybody have a distinctive sound anymore?
> Howard

A few bands... the Barenaked Ladies (not ladies, nor are they naked) come to mind, also Ben Folds Five. Cake maybe. Most of the really distinctive musicians I can think of are solo though... probably because much more emphasis is placed on the voice of a solo musician.

Having a distinctive sound is an important criterion for me in bands. I may like a few songs from the groups that belong to an interchangeable soundalike class, but I don't generally get attached to the band itself unless it stands apart.

Lire"a weirdly disproportionate number of my favorite musicians have names beginning with B"lyn