Best decade of music

[DMT]

Which decade produced the best music?

[revo]

My vote was the 1960s, but the 1970s is close.

If you think about what popular music was like in the early 1960s to what it was at the end, it's unbelievable. The 70s had too much kitsch, which is why I think it falls behind the 60s.

[DMT]

My vote was the 1960s, but the 1970s is close.

If you think about what popular music was like in the early 1960s to what it was at the end, it's unbelievable. The 70s had too much kitsch, which is why I think it falls behind the 60s.

I'd rank 60s 2nd. But most of my favorite 60s artists were still producing good music in the 70s and a ton of new stuff came along in the 70s as well. Disco was obviously an ignominious ending but top-40 music generally sucks anyways.

[senorsheep]

I'll go with "None Of The Above," because most musical movements don't fit neatly into decades. What was going on in 1971 had no relation whatsoever to what was going on in 1979. 1968 had much more in common with 1972 than 1962. The alternative music explosion on the late 80's/ early 90's was my favorite era/ genre, but it was pretty much played out by 1995, and the rest of the decade was a bleak wasteland. It's weird to say "The 90's were [whatever]" when one half of the decade was entirely different from the other.

[senorsheep]

My vote was the 1960s, but the 1970s is close.

If you think about what popular music was like in the early 1960s to what it was at the end, it's unbelievable. The 70s had too much kitsch, which is why I think it falls behind the 60s.

Hmmmm, the 60's pop charts were littered with plenty of garbage while The Beatles and Stones and other giants of the era were doing their thing. The #1 song the week I was born wasn't some awesome track from Rubber Soul, it was I Got You Babe by Sony and Cher. It wasn't all Jumpin' Jack Flash in the 60's - there was a whole lot of Little Green Apples and Bobby Goldsboro and Jose Feliciano singing Light My Fire, too.

[revo]

Hmmmm, the 60's pop charts were littered with plenty of garbage while The Beatles and Stones and other giants of the era were doing their thing. The #1 song the week I was born wasn't some awesome track from Rubber Soul, it was I Got You Babe by Sony and Cher. It wasn't all Jumpin' Jack Flash in the 60's - there was a whole lot of Little Green Apples and Bobby Goldsboro and Jose Feliciano singing Light My Fire, too.

I really disagree with this.

Was there garbage pop music in the post-British Wave 1960s? Of course. But many of the major pop stars of that era are the legends of today. The #1 song the day you were born may have been I Got You Babe, but the very next week it was Help! Then to finish out '65, you had another Beatles tune, the Stones, the Supremes and The Byrds. And this was typical of the '65-'69 era.

But pop music changed in the 70s, so the acts we consider to be classic today are not what was popular then according to the general public. If you look at the top of the Billboard charts in the '70s, they're littered with novelty songs, soft rock, crap country, disco, garbage pop. I'd wager you could find more songs to hit #1 and now considered to be "classics" in any single year between '65 and '69 than you will from any five-year period in the 1970s. For example, look at the dreck that were #1 hits, in order, in Feb-Apr 1974:
The Way We Were
Love's Theme
Seasons in the Sun
Dark Lady
Sunshine on My Shoulders
Hooked on a Feeling
Bennie & the Jets
TSOP

1975 & 1976 were worse -- and THEN disco hit.

There were tons of great music in the 1970s -- it's easily my favorite decade for music. So I'm not disagreeing with you on that. But the titans of the 1960s are still considered titans today, while many of the titans of the 1970s have faded into oblivion.

[ManCalledFoot]

THe 70s are my favorite decade, the 60s a close second. The 60s sound was still a little creaky and old-fashioned; the advances in sound, production, electronic instrumentation and concert technology in the 70s made the difference.

Dark Side Of The Moon still sounds like it was released yesterday, while Sgt. Pepper's sounds closer to 1967.

[senorsheep]

I really disagree with this.

Was there garbage pop music in the post-British Wave 1960s? Of course. But many of the major pop stars of that era are the legends of today. The #1 song the day you were born may have been I Got You Babe, but the very next week it was Help! Then to finish out '65, you had another Beatles tune, the Stones, the Supremes and The Byrds. And this was typical of the '65-'69 era.

But pop music changed in the 70s, so the acts we consider to be classic today are not what was popular then according to the general public. If you look at the top of the Billboard charts in the '70s, they're littered with novelty songs, soft rock, crap country, disco, garbage pop. I'd wager you could find more songs to hit #1 and now considered to be "classics" in any single year between '65 and '69 than you will from any five-year period in the 1970s. For example, look at the dreck that were #1 hits, in order, in Feb-Apr 1974:
The Way We Were
Love's Theme
Seasons in the Sun
Dark Lady
Sunshine on My Shoulders
Hooked on a Feeling
Bennie & the Jets
TSOP

1975 & 1976 were worse -- and THEN disco hit.

There were tons of great music in the 1970s -- it's easily my favorite decade for music. So I'm not disagreeing with you on that. But the titans of the 1960s are still considered titans today, while many of the titans of the 1970s have faded into oblivion.

Agree with all that, but does that make the 60's the best decade of music? Or simply a period of time where there was more overlap between the best music being made and what was being marketed and distributed to mass audiences? The latter is certainly true, the former is debatable.

The 60's benefit greatly from historical timing in that debate. "We invented electric guitar and keyboard based rock and roll" is a pretty good argument on the surface, but not a particularly fair one, since subsequent generations obviously had no such opportunity.

[senorsheep]

If you really feel compelled to break music up into ten-year cycles for comparison, I think you get a more sensible discussion by starting and ending mid-decade: 1966-1975/ 1976-1985/ 1986-1995/ 1996-2005. I think then the only real argument becomes which era gets 3rd place, and which gets 4th.

[Stephen]

I think guys are all discounting how amazing this decade has been.

I mean...Miley Cyrus, One Direction, Justin Beiber....

These acts are going to stand the test of time.

[johnnya24]

Gotta be the 70's for me. Not only do you have the overflow from the late 60's, but you have the roots of most of the genres that would emerge from the 80's onwards: punk, post-punk, metal ... and new wave, funk, soul and disco are the roots of most modern pop music.

[johnnya24]

If you really feel compelled to break music up into ten-year cycles for comparison, I think you get a more sensible discussion by starting and ending mid-decade: 1966-1975/ 1976-1985/ 1986-1995/ 1996-2005. I think then the only real argument becomes which era gets 3rd place, and which gets 4th.

Yeah that's probably more accurate:

1966-1975
1986-1995
...
1996-2005
1976-1985

[Pogues]

I chose the 60s, but also considered the 80s and 90s. Here's a shocker...that's the 3 decades of music I "grew up" listening. The 1960s (and late 1950s) from my Dad, and my childhood through college/army years of my own life.

That's really how most of us are choosing...what we listened to as we developed our music tastes. Except El Diablo...unless he's much older than he's letting on.

[DMT]

If you really feel compelled to break music up into ten-year cycles for comparison, I think you get a more sensible discussion by starting and ending mid-decade: 1966-1975/ 1976-1985/ 1986-1995/ 1996-2005. I think then the only real argument becomes which era gets 3rd place, and which gets 4th.

Boring!

[mjl]

I dunno, the 1780s had Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, and Salieri... I guess we'll see how much airplay the Beatles get in 2290.