Harry P.

Van Morrison... close enough to British, I guess. My favorite Thin Lizzy song...

Don't forget the various bands Eric Clapton was in... Blind Faith, Cream, and Derek and the Dominoes...

If we do, I vote for Sinead O'Connor! After U2, of course...

Eh... I see them as Irish, But ok.

And many more! BTW... big fan of Dire Straits. My favorite of all... last song, last album... And the bookend... first song, first album...

Another vote for the Hollies. A live version of Procol Harum's "Whiter Shade of Pale."

Man! The more I think about this, the more I come up with. ELO. Saw them while in college, second row. Wow, they were loud!

Not technically a band, but another of my faves is Elvis Costello. "What's the use of looking when you don't know what they mean?" Short and to the point!

Oh yeah, and a lot of others! Like this one...

Sorry, but yet another vote for the Hollies. Probably the biggest "unknown" band of all time. And Graham Nash gets a shot at lead vocals in the last verse...

Another favorite of mine... Bad Company...

Another great British band... Queen. Of course, Freddie Mercury always stole the spotlight, but I think Brian May was just as much an integral part of the band, although basically overlooked. Here he is in a rare "starring performance" doing my all-time favorite Queen song...

Surprised nobody has mentioned Yes yet. Another of my all-time faves.

One of my all-time favorites. Loud enough for me. And then there's Christine and Stevie...

Ok, this one is a judgement call. Started out 100% British, but with the addition of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham in the mid '70s, they were down to 3/5 British. But at least the Fleetwood and the Mac parts (Mick Fleetwood, John and Christine McVie) were still British!

Not to mention those crazy bongos...

Also like the Yardbirds... or should I say "Pre-Zeppelin?" Recognize the lead guitarist?

Oh yeah... the Zombies were good. So many great British bands...

My absolute favorite DC5 song... which reinforces my theory that any song that features a harmonica is a good song...

Also like the Kinks...

Another vote for the Hollies... with a very young Graham Nash on 12-string and harmony vocals...

Ok, let's take on the 800 pound gorilla in the room. We've talked about Canadian bands, Australian bands, European bands (but specifically not British)... so let's go. We can start by eliminating the obvious. Beatles. Stones. Zeppelin. Floyd. Everyone likes those bands. There... that thins it out a bit. But still so many English bands to consider. For me, aside from the "Big Four," I like several, including the Hollies. Many of you may recognize this as a Linda Rondstadt tune, but this is the original...

I guess we all have different standards. But the OP clearly stated "Questions, comments, criticisms welcome." If you don't like my comment, no problem. It wasn't meant for you.

Thanks, Rick. I've never seen that before.

If Cliff Read sees this thread, he will definitely be of help. He works with diecast almost exclusively, and if anyone can give you a few pointers, he can. Heck, I'd just PM him if I were you. Here is his info.. http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/profile/7441-traditional/