Which Decade Was The Best For Music?

[purpleronnie]

Not sure if anyone has been watching the programme on BBC4 called 'Pop On Trial'. It was debating which decade of music from the 1950's - 1990's and trying to decide what was the best.

Topics to think about before deciding would be - How many new types of music came about in that decade?, how many great bands? How many great songs? You would also have to think about how much bad music was around also.

My vote goes to the 1960's. The Beatles invented popular music, bands like the beatles, the stones, the kinks, the small faces, the who, dominated the charts around the world.

The 60's also produced Motown music a musical genre still influencing artists today. Soul music with Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, Otis redding and many more. The psychedelic movement from 1967 was also fresh and new and would lead to musical experimentation of which new sounds would develop. The summer of love brought people together when the world was trying to blow itself apart, the music from this time organised people into protesting and many say put so much pressure on the government that it helped end the war in vietnam.

Which leads to the 1960's being the first decade where protests songs came into the mainstream with of course Bob Dylan leading the way.

Look at the amount of great songs, the amount of great bands, it has to be the 1960's.

[Asha]

Where's the 00s?

[purpleronnie]

Where's the 00s?

That wasn't featured. Still have 2 years to go. Besides if you're voting for the 00's I would be very concerned about you're mental health.

[Asha]

Well considering I was 7 at the turn of the century it's been the only decade i can fully recall.

[purpleronnie]

Well considering I was 7 at the turn of the century it's been the only decade i can fully recall.

I understand you're a bit young but hopefully you have a good musical understanding of what came beore. I wasn't born until the middle of the 70's but I feel the 60's we're the best.

Please fell free everyone in submitting your arguement for a particular decade.

[Asha]

I voted 90s. Spice girls era.

Even at 6 i wanted to poke Emma Bunton

[Simi]

Motown.

[Bellend Sebastian]

It's about which is the most influential, rather than which is the best. I would agree that for the sheer volume of new genres and the speed at which music developed, as well as the overall quality of the output that the 60s is the richest and most productive time for music there's been. As far as which is the most influential though, I think the 1950s edges it. Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry et al may seem like old duffers now, but if you look at what people were having to listen to before they came along, you realise just what a massive leap it was. Many wonderful things have happened in music since, but most have been an evolution of what went before, rather than something genuinely new, which rock and roll pretty much was at the time. It must have been brilliant - I still get a kick out of discovering that a band I've not heard before is great, but that doesn't happen much. Imagine what hearing a whole new genre that's ten times more dynamic and exciting than anything that went before must have been like

[Trav Le Bleu]

It's about which is the most influential, rather than which is the best. I would agree that for the sheer volume of new genres and the speed at which music developed, as well as the overall quality of the output that the 60s is the richest and most productive time for music there's been. As far as which is the most influential though, I think the 1950s edges it. Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry et al may seem like old duffers now, but if you look at what people were having to listen to before they came along, you realise just what a massive leap it was. Many wonderful things have happened in music since, but most have been an evolution of what went before, rather than something genuinely new, which rock and roll pretty much was at the time. It must have been brilliant - I still get a kick out of discovering that a band I've not heard before is great, but that doesn't happen much. Imagine what hearing a whole new genre that's ten times more dynamic and exciting than anything that went before must have been like

I know what you are trying to say BS, but by default the 50s and 60s will be more influential than the other decades, simply by being older. It's a pyramid thing -

50s

\/

60s and 70s

\/ \/

80s - 90s - 00s

Not an accurate diagram (the real one would be too technical! ) but you get my drift? 50s influenced 60s, which influenced the 70s so therefore 50s influenced 70s by proxy and also therefore the 80s and 90s... whereas the 80s can only ever have influenced the 90s.

However - BEST music? 89-99

[Ultra]

Not sure if anyone has been watching the programme on BBC4 called 'Pop On Trial'. It was debating which decade of music from the 1950's - 1990's and trying to decide what was the best.

Topics to think about before deciding would be - How many new types of music came about in that decade?, how many great bands? How many great songs? You would also have to think about how much bad music was around also.

My vote goes to the 1960's. The Beatles invented popular music, bands like the beatles, the stones, the kinks, the small faces, the who, dominated the charts around the world.

The 60's also produced Motown music a musical genre still influencing artists today. Soul music with Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, Otis redding and many more. The psychedelic movement from 1967 was also fresh and new and would lead to musical experimentation of which new sounds would develop. The summer of love brought people together when the world was trying to blow itself apart, the music from this time organised people into protesting and many say put so much pressure on the government that it helped end the war in vietnam.

Which leads to the 1960's being the first decade where protests songs came into the mainstream with of course Bob Dylan leading the way.

Look at the amount of great songs, the amount of great bands, it has to be the 1960's.

True, although Dylan began his spiral of decline once he went electric..

There were also quality female singers like Dusty Springfield, Sandie Shaw and Marianne Faithfull in their prime during this era.

[Father Ted]

1980's easily.

1990's 2nd.

[Bellend Sebastian]

Did anyone watch the finale then?

I did, and it was pretty interesting. The 1970s won in the end, and although I wouldn't have chosen that era as the most influential if I hadn't seen the programme, the the case they put forward for it was pretty convincing and I couldn't really argue with it.

Things Bellend learned/was reminded of from the programme were:

1) Pop music has always been a battle between art and business. If you look at the crap that was the best selling records in every decade you could easily argue that business always wins

2) There was a lot more interesting stuff going on in music in the 1980s than I remember there being

3) Although they seemed exciting at the time, the 1990s were actually pretty boring music wise

4) It's getting harder and harder to be original

5) I love Lauren Laverne

6) Caitlin Moran is a lot slimmer than she was in the 1990s

[Trav Le Bleu]

Because it was on TV it must be true!

[Bellend Sebastian]

Because it was on TV it must be true!

Well it's entirely subjective, obviously - no one was banging a mallet on a table. I don't think the public are bound by the jury's decision

[Steven]

The 60's and 70's for good tunes and the 80's, 90's and beyond for House.

[Trav Le Bleu]

Well it's entirely subjective, obviously - no one was banging a mallet on a table. I don't think the public are bound by the jury's decision

You know that, I know that - but Joe Public unfortunately adores and worships the mighty god in the corner of the room that bequeaths magical light and sound

[mancunianfox]

70's by a long long long way.

[Hugo Sanchez]

90's by far, Oasis vs Blur - EMIN3M - Girl power - Boy bands here there and everywhere - The Verve - Kurt Cobin and his shot gun ... Had everything.

[purpleronnie]

90's by far, Oasis vs Blur - EMIN3M - Girl power - Boy bands here there and everywhere - The Verve - Kurt Cobin and his shot gun ... Had everything.

What was new though?

[Bellend Sebastian]

You know that, I know that - but Joe Public unfortunately adores and worships the mighty god in the corner of the room that bequeaths magical light and sound

Don't worry. Joe Public won't have seen it, it was on BBC4 and I think it clashed with Ross Kemp On Gangs or something.

It was quite a good bit of telly. It was all fairly lighthearted, but the people on it (Miranda Sawyer, David Quantick, Paul Morley etc etc) for the most part know as much about the subject as anyone, and it was quite thought provoking. It certainly made me realised that some of my perceptions about what went on musically in certain decades were a bit unfair

[purpleronnie]

70's by a long long long way.

I would like people to say why the voted a particular way.

I can't help but think (due to the votes for the 90's) most are just voting for the music they remember growing up with.

This isn't about yor favourite music per se.

[Bellend Sebastian]

I would like people to say why the voted a particular way.

I can't help but think (due to the votes for the 90's) most are just voting for the music they remember growing up with.

This isn't about yor favourite music per se.

The telly programme which prompted the thread was about which decade was the most influential, but in reality it boiled down to how much interesting stuff happened and to the extent that things evolved in the decades in question. It's difficult to talk about something like this without your view being coloured by the fact that you may or may not be keen on the music that was about at the time, but the participants managed it reasonably well.

Anyway

The 1970s for me are the most significant/influential because there's just so much new stuff squeezed into ten years. One example that was given was that the 60s ended with 'Let it Be', but the 70s ended with stuff like The Human League, and you'd have to admit that's a pretty big jump. In between there's glam rock and from that some brilliant arty stuff like Roxy Music including some of about 6 different Bowie incarnations, heavy metal is properly invented at the beginning of the decade, stadium rock takes off, music goes experimental and ridiculous with prog, partly prompting punk, Kraftwerk pretty much invent electronica, soul evolves from motown, stax et al, funk and disco comes from nowhere and reggae breaks through and two tone becomes a big movement. I might be being a bit simplistic but I cannot pretend to know that much about all these genres

I didn't mention The Fall, and I'm not going to

[shen]

The telly programme which prompted the thread was about which decade was the most influential, but in reality it boiled down to how much interesting stuff happened and to the extent that things evolved in the decades in question. It's difficult to talk about something like this without your view being coloured by the fact that you may or may not be keen on the music that was about at the time, but the participants managed it reasonably well.

Anyway

The 1970s for me are the most significant/influential because there's just so much new stuff squeezed into ten years. One example that was given was that the 60s ended with 'Let it Be', but the 70s ended with stuff like The Human League, and you'd have to admit that's a pretty big jump. In between there's glam rock and from that some brilliant arty stuff like Roxy Music including some of about 6 different Bowie incarnations, heavy metal is properly invented at the beginning of the decade, stadium rock takes off, music goes experimental and ridiculous with prog, partly prompting punk, Kraftwerk pretty much invent electronica, soul evolves from motown, stax et al, funk and disco comes from nowhere and reggae breaks through and two tone becomes a big movement. I might be being a bit simplistic but I cannot pretend to know that much about all these genres

I didn't mention The Fall, and I'm not going to

Amen

[Trav Le Bleu]

I would like people to say why the voted a particular way.

I can't help but think (due to the votes for the 90's) most are just voting for the music they remember growing up with.

This isn't about yor favourite music per se.

But that would require people to be objective, and you'll be amazed at the number of people who can't venture beyond their comfort zone

[Webbo]

I would like people to say why the voted a particular way.

I can't help but think (due to the votes for the 90's) most are just voting for the music they remember growing up with.

This isn't about yor favourite music per se.

This was inevitable really, even though I love a lot of 60s music I left school in 81 so I voted for the 80s.

For me music was much more fun then (early 80s) every body had to be something, rude boy, rockabilly, mod, grebo, skinhead, blitz kid etc.You felt like part of a gang, a bit like supporting a football team really.

Also I don't think music has moved on since Soul to Soul circa 89/90, I never hear records nowadays that couldn't have been made in the 80s.