This is why the 70s ruled...


***No MTV---back in the 70s,there was no MTV so artists and bands had to promote themselves the tried and true way,by constant touring and TV appearances.In the MTV era,artists got lazy and relied mostly on slick music videos to promote their songs.

***No samples---in the 70s,artists didn't sample or steal someone else's beat (like the rappers and R&B acts do today).People CREATED their own music.

***Live albums---As mentioned above,artists in the 70s didn't have the conveniece of MTV so they had to tour constantly to promote their records.As a result,the fans were treated to 2-LP "Live" albums,which were the norm back then.Nowadays,"Live" albums have become obsolete,which is a shame.

***Concept albums---in the 70s,artists experimented more."Concept albums" were the norm back then.Nowadays,artists just simply record 14 radio-friendly songs,slap them on a CD,and call it their new album.

***Less technology---in the 80s,synthesizers and drum machines took over,resulting in music that sounded,well,"non-musical".In the 70s,you didn't have all that garbage,so artists and bands really had to know how to play REAL INSTRUMENTS.

I grew up on the 70's cause that is what my parents listen too, zepplin, janis, the doors, pink floyd, hendrix, etc..

I love the 80's though cause that is when I did most of my growing up. So it is a close tie with the 70's comming in first then the 80's right behind them. I love to get out my mom and dads old vinyls that they gave me and listen to them. There is just something about music from the 70's that is totally different from what we have now...so pure and real.
[This message was edited Tue Oct 22 4:40:10 PDT 2002 by MostBeautifulGrlNTheWorld]

MostBeautifulGrlNTheWorld said:

AMEN!!! When I was a kid growing up back then,I was amazed at the music I heard my parents playing.Even at that young age,it blew me away.I was only 4 years old when Stevie Wonder came out with the 'Innervisions' album,but I was going crazy over it,even at that young age!!!

DavidEye said:

Janis's Bobby McGee gets me everytime I play it, my favorite song by her

NWF said:

cuz it SUCKED!!

DavidEye said:

And this is why David rules. And it's also the reason I can't tease him about his love for old corny songs nearly as much as I tease others about it.

Though David, it's not really a surprise that most on a Prince site would gravitate toward the 80s, since that's the time that most of them were teens and came of age, and that includes growing up on Prince's music. Most people like the music they grew up hearing during that age range.

I guess we're both sort of anomalies in that respect since we were both teenagers during that time too. But for me, it wasn't the only decade I experienced, it was just the decade that I lived my teen years.

The 70s tower over the 80s and 90s so much that it's just not even funny.


Cut moi...
[This message was edited Tue Oct 22 9:10:27 PDT 2002 by Supernova]

It's the eighties for me .They are still very underrated.
The nineties are really dissapointing thanx to commerce.

I like some 70s stuff, 80s, and 2000. The 1960s music I like is The Doors, Beatles.

I won't name a favorite decade because I'm still discovering music from each decade. But, I will list what I like in each decade...

50's -- loved early rock 'n' roll: the flamingos, little anthony and the imperials, the spaniels, doo wop, the girl groups, shirelles "baby it's you", r&b, race records, etc.

60's -- so counter-revolutionary. the music was so full of life and emotion. the byrds "turn turn turn", the AM gold music, turtles "happy together" is a classic. let us never ever forget the great hits from motown dozier holland dozier, phil spector's wall of sound, petula clark "downtown", the who "my generation", so much great music. still discovering this decade with janis joplin and more...we can never forget the 5th dimension: "california my way," "let the sunshine in," "Rosecrans blvd." i'm starting to love the 60's so much right now...

70's -- parliament/funkadelic, disco, funk, soul music was music's epiphany, stevie wonder, roy ayers, blondie, still discovering this decade...slyvester, i was really digging the disco music of that era (regardless of the "disco sucks" movement)...punk was coming in...rap was still bourgeoning and coming into being slowly but surely...barbara mason "ARE YOU READY"...the 70's had some wonderful music. poplocking.

80's -- i was born in the 80s so i have an attachment to this time period. this was my sister's generation and she opened my eyes to a lot of the music of this period. i love the smiths, the cure, the "new romantic" period, new wave, the early synth-R&B, breakdancing, pretenders, hip hop was going through its golden age in the late 80s...but i loved the years between 1980-1985 musically. it was magical for me. i loved all the 1HW bands and artists...janet, michael, prince, madonna all ruled this decade. i have favorite songs from EVERY SINGLE YEAR that are unforgettable. i loved the late 80s as well...paula, janet, madonna/that whole thing...de la soul...joan armatrading was making some great stuff in this era...loved the clothes and the vibe of this decade...

90's -- i was a teen during this decade so i know a lot about it, it had its rough spots (especially during 1995-1998) but it started to get better around 1999. i am in love with the early 90's music, especially the club/dance music from 1990-1993 that was a golden age for me (technotronic, cathy dennis), loved the early 90s in general PM dawn, the jam&lewis slow jams, the house music of that period...meshell ndegeocello dropped and changed everything in 93 and made a string of classic albums in this decade...gangsta rap was cluttering the radio, puffy ruined a lot of things, money came in and became the forefront. music was no longer king in the minds of artists. but janet was making good records during this time. didn't really dig the fashion though...didn't like the grunge thing though pearl jam's evenflow was good. it got *ucked up when TRL debuted and britney and boy bands entered the scene.

00's -- we've only been in this decade for 3 years so i can't comment on it. we're still trying to find out what's the next big thing, but i think the music of 2000 was very commendable...pet shop boys rocked, meshell continued, janet did some stuff, i'm just waiting for the next big thing...the music industry is definitely changing...

DavidEye said:

I say the more technology, the better- to a certain degree. In the 80s, artists like Prince, Eurythmics, Depeche Mode and New Order used technology to create sounds that had never been heard. I love how everything was so futuristic as well. Future dystopia rules!

What the 80s produced was still music, but it was on a different scale. Artists like Human League defiantly claimed, "we don't NEED real instruments to make music," and the result is something very different- very cold and cutting, but very effective. Arists like Eurythmics juxtaposed the cold synth with Annie's warm, silky voice.

And who said a synthesizer isn't a real instrument?

Supernova said:

I'm that way too. I was 9 when the 80s ended, so the 90s should be my favorite decade musically. However, I most definitely prefer the 80s.

I don't think it's funny about the 70s towering over the 80s either, because I don't believe it's true.

70's (rock rocked, lol)
80's (my time)

Of my top 100 albums:

12 are from the 70s
43 are from the 80s
30 are from the 90s
15 are from the 00s

Moonbeam said:

How do you organize all of this my brain would explode if I tried it.

Moonbeam said:

Moonbeam said:

Oh,I'm not saying I DON'T like the 80s music with the synths and everything.I just think that,in the 70s,music was more..."organic"? I think that's the word I'm looking for...lol...in the 70s,there was more emphasis on "real" instruments like horns, real drums (as opposed to drum machines that could be programmed),and keyboards.Nearly every band in the 70s had a rhythm section,and some artists,like Stevie Wonder,added other instruments into the mix,like harmonica.You would have to listen to a great 70s album (like Stevie's 'Innervisions' or 'Songs In The Key Of Life') to really know what I'm talking about.

Best music was made '69 -'78. Then HE
was bought unto us...

Pagey said:

The Bee Gees are one of my guilty pleasures too!
Jive Talkin' is just the funkiest little pop song ever.
People alwayz look at me weird when i say my favourite bands are Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, Radiohead and yep...The Bee Gees.

And your favourite current bands are spot on. I saw Coldplay a couple of weeks ago, AWESOME, and i'm going to see Gomez at the end of November. I'll hope to catch Travis next time around.

DavidEye said:

You are certainly correct. 70s music was more organic and had a more "authentic" sound. However, "organic" as a qualifier does not necessarily signify "better."

What I love about the 80s is that experimentation yielded success back then. Video visionaries pushed themselves to their creative limits and reaped the dividends because the climate of music back then called for creativity. Those of you who were teenagers back then were smart- you made creativity popular. Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, Eurythmics, Depeche Mode, The Cure, New Order and others pushed the video medium and the synthesizers to their creative peak in the 80s and Prince, George Clinton and Michael Jackson also furthered the video spectrum while helping to make black music cross over to a mainstream audience.

So much was going on in the 80s. New wave, post punk, pure pop, R&B, hip hop and rock each shared the radio waves in the 80s and a great deal of creativity effervesced from a lot of artists. There was a great turnover on the charts as well. It was rare for a single to stay at number 1 for more than 2 weeks in the 80s (particularly mid to late 80s) in contrast to the typical 7-10 week runs that most number ones have today.

1. 70s, no doubt.
2. 80s
3. 60s
4. 90s
5. 50s

80's.

Nothing else matters.

Moonbeam said:[quote]DavidEye said:[quote]Moonbeam said:[quote]

DavidEye said:

But David, the most prominent artist you pointed out (and I didn't catch at first), Stevie Wonder was a pioneering figure for synthesizers. He certainly wasn't the first to use them, but he was the first to give them a warmth, and human-ness that they didn't have before. If you (meaning anyone) didn't like synthesizers before, Stevie would convert you. And although I do think I understand what you're saying in general, I believe Prince took drum machines to greater heights than anyone before.

Moonbeam said:

Depends. Technology obviously has its place in music, and has informed music long before any of us here were born. If you're not a good musician to begin with the technology isn't going to help you. If you're more adept, and more intuitive as to how to expand the language with it, that's cool too. But sometimes the lazy ones use technology to cover up their musical inadequacies, and to GET OVER. Then there are some cases where people use it to the point that their music is TOO slick and antiseptic. I think later in Stevie Wonder's career that happened to some of his music. But it could also be legitimately debated that his use of synthesizers hasn't been surpassed.

Well,I grew up on Prince, and Punk /New Wave stuff from the 80's listening to WDRE/WLIR. Also,like Rap and of course Funk. Gothic stuff Joy Division,Ministry,Marilyn Manson,NIN, BJORK,Depeche Mode{Personal Jesus} Black Celebration{Darker side of Mode} Alice IN Chains,Buzzcocks,Clash.
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[This message was edited Fri Oct 25 20:17:02 PDT 2002 by Natasha]

Supernova said:[quote]Moonbeam said:[quote]DavidEye said:[quote]

Moonbeam said:

The role of technology affectd 80s music more than any individual. It was actually used to replace instruments.
Credit the "SHARE-HOLDER value" business buzz of the Reagan era. The big impetus was to keep costs down and sell a lot of units. Music creation and marketing got so pathetically commercial.


ANALOG-based synths like the Arp, Moog and Oberheim that Stevie used were part of a complex keyboard setup. The technology most prominent in 80s music were drunm synths sequencers, emulators and samplers allowed the creator/composer to eliminate what was thought to be requisite. No drums; no bass and even no guitar. As long as you had the right MIDI-setup. The savings on studio time and personnel were tremendous!

Personally, I much prefer the sound and interactions of individuals in a live band and really don't care much for solo creators. I'm more tolerant of the jamband scene that's proliferated in the late 90s to present. Guys are finding ways to warm up the cold stiffness of digitgal sequencers. They've taken a lot to resurrecting the Hammond B3 sound. MMM that's the sound of goin' to church, y'all!

Despite all the crappy electronic music in the 80s there was still some cool stuff going on in jazz and blues. The Marsalises and other took Jazz went retro to its acoustic post-bop roots and guys like Stevie Ray and Robert Cray brought a new and stronger interest in the blues.

PFunkjazz said:

When you say the "share holder value" and attach Reagan's name are you talking about the budget cuts that effected school programs that included music classes?





I miss bands IN GENERAL. Which leads back to the subject of this thread; the decade of the 1970s and prior had more REAL bands (not the "boy band" misnomer where none of the performers play a darn thing) in music. And ones that contained better musicians than most of them now. Funk bands aren't nearly as numerous today.


I'm partial to Branford as opposed to his more uptight, snobbish brother Wynton. Though I wasn't really interested in Branford's work with Sting. And although Cassandra Wilson started out in the 80s I didn't discover her til the early 90s. Stevie Ray will always hold a special place for me. Robert Cray leaves me absolutely COLD.

Supernova said:

No not really. This happened in corpprate sector. Not the publice sector. SHV was the big theory coming out of business schools in the early 80s that led to a lot of layoffs and cutbacks. Apparently, any thing a board of directors could do to give the the sharholders a perk in stock value was a positive (no more employee-paid XMAS galas, no more coffee service,blah blah blah). This resulted in companies streamlining operations and cutting back employee benefits. Of course, the manager that led these cuts was rewarded with obscene bonuses and a promotoin. The cool thing for tech-heads, is if you had skills, you made-out like a bandit..at least until now when tech pullback hit the market.

PFunkjazz said:

I think the music became commercial becuase there was a demand for creative electronic music, not because the music itself was bubblegum. Listen to an early Eurythmics album or a New Order one. They were creating sounds and juxtaposing seemingly contradictory emotions very deftly. Their success is quite the anomaly- nobody could get away with it today.



And I think that is quite cool. Arists were experimenting left and right with sound crafting without the use of traditional instruments. Although Supernova pointed out that sometimes it helped to mask musical inability, in many it pushed them to their creative limits. The percussion in "Something in the Water" is a prime example. Prince became enamored with the drum machine, because it DID facilitate the process of writing, but also because it offered him the chance to experiment with it in order to create percussive patterns and tones that had never been heard.



That's great! Everyone has individual preferences. Personally, I love a great drum machine and a cold synth line. Regardless of preference, however, good music is born out of a sense of artistry and creativity which can be employed through the use of any type of instrument.



That electronic music in the 80s is likely my favorite genre of music. When it is innovative, nothing sounds like it. It is perpetually futuristic even if the sound belongs to the 80s. That's just a preference of mine, though.

This has been a great discussion!

I think getting hung up on decades is silly. Musical origins and innovators are far more interesting imo.

TRON said:

yeah you shouldn't have bothered to post.
Let's go back to CRISTINA VS PINK.
That's a much more worthwhile discussion.

:lol"

Moonbeam said:

Sorry. There's really no
interest in this beyond academic
discussion. I've totally shot my
wad on the 80s.