I am from the UK and my favourite artists are Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, and Warren Zevon. We have produced an inordinate number of talented acts, but the alien aspect is not to be dismissed - I like American accents, because they're different, Americans like "British" accents because *they're* different as well. We've just been allowed to be creative in the face of capitalism, whereas my USian friends are told that they have no worth or value unless they're generating income - so the pursuit of art is more hollow.