Very intersting discussions all around. If you read my original post, I never said that the Beatles were non derivative, although I do believe their later work was far enough removed from anything that had been done before to consider it original. Particularly Abbey Road. Plus it has spawned several generations of bands that have continued music in the same vein.
That being said, some of the people I had in mind?
Kraftwerk. Noone had ever done anything like what they had. So many now draw from what they started.
Grandmaster Flash. He single handedly started the whole hip hop movement. Well maybe he had some help. Or a ot of it.
The Velvet Underground.
The Jesus and Mary Chain. This is derivative to some extent, but they definitely put a different twist to beach boys melodies with massive use of feedback.
Those are some of the people I consider to be fairly original. I do agree it is impossible to be entirely original if you use a guitar, bass, drms, etc. But some of these artists pioneered the use of alternate forms of sound, ie turntables, feedback, all electronic music, etc...
