Was there somthing in the water, The sheer originality of Black groups was staggering.
To have so many groups that had their own sound and were easily identifiable
is just crazy when compared to artists today. And the quality of the music
was at such a high standard. Think about just these few artists or groups out at the same time (tip of the iceberg by the way).

EWF
Blue Magic
Barkays
Cameo
Stylistics
Confunkshun
BT express
Brass Construction
Mass Production
O'Bryan
Shalamar
Commodores
Marvin Gaye
Curtis Mayfield
Aretha Franklin
Gladys Knight
Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes
The Spinners
The Dramatics
The Main Ingredient
Prince
Rick James
Michael Jackson

I could go on all day with this list, but look at how original this tiny list is.
It is sad to say but I dont think you will ever see an explosion of raw talent
in music especially Black music like you did in the 70's and 80's. It's over, dead, stick a fork in it. If you grew up on it consider yourself blessed if you didn't you still got youtube.

I agree. These poor kids today. They listen to all of these so-called artists who have absolutely no originality and who constantly steal from the musicians of my generation.

I feel blessed that I grew up in the 70s.I was amazed at the music I heard as a child.We had the most incredible music!

I grew up with those classics too and bought many releases of them, though i'll always be curious for interesting new acts.
There is quality out there if you're willing to search for it, even some of it is more located at the independent area these days, but easier to find with today's worldwide search-engine.

Anthony Hamilton
Bugz In The Attic
Frank McComb
Kaidi Tatham
Lamone Andrews
Ledisi
Mint Condition
New Sector Movements
Raphael Saadiq
Roy Hargrove & RH Factor
Xantoné Blacq

Much more to find, such as online-stations like http://soulsorts.co.uk/ , www.solarradio.com , www.starpointradio.com where a variety of classic & new quality soul is presented weekly.
http://soulchoonz.blogspot.com/ is a blog which represents 70's/ 80's / 90's & 00's. There's just more happening beneath the surface of commercial radio.
[Edited 6/21/09 10:14am]

elem55 said:

What?

Surely you could get some of those original records instead. I mean, at the very least people should bother to steal those records as high bitrate mp3s by using p2p -programs. The sound quality in streamed videos really does not usually do justice to the music.

Yeah, I listen to stuff on youtube sometimes too, but let's not consider it the new standard for music appreciation.

novabrkr said:

I agree, I guess Im thinking of the visual aspect also. But your right P2P
is definatly better

A few hours of late-night youtube surfing is good once in a while too.

novabrkr said:

Especially if you're afraid of P2P sites.

I think that more than ever in the music biz, the focus is on investment to score fast with a succesfull hit or album. Many artists don't have much creative room to grow anymore than in previous centuries.
Music classes in education have been scrapped from the school-program, and to some degree hiphop has played a part in the recording-process because less musicians had to be hired which cutted the studio-costs.
Technology of instrumentation evolved with brands such as the Linn drum-machine and the Roland TR-808 drum-machine as one of the first 2 main devices in recording which replaced the real live-drummer.
These new electronics were getting more popular for recording. Even Prince + Jam & Lewis used this technology. The drum machine has become the basic instrument for current producers, hence the term "beatmakers".
[Edited 6/21/09 10:17am]

Interesting points are made in this current topic : http://faac.us/adf/messag...1245512878

http://www.youtube.com/wa...WeejHJxGjs

novabrkr said:

I think every knows the quality of sound maybe woefully inferior but like it or not U-Tube is the new radio. What U-Tube has done an will do is, introduce artist/musician's/singers of generations past to listener's who for various reasons never seen, heard, nor had the pleasure of listening to them.

Even if all these same solo artists and groups came along right now, it would not register in the same special way.

The mainstream music scene has atrophied. Greatness in music is no longer the profit center it once was.

And that’s okay. All other art forms have already been there and done that.

So, big deal, kids won’t be bathed in it anymore. But the smartest ones will seek it out, find it under rocks and on the back sides of grassy knolls.

TD3 said:

I'll say the same about IMEEM and Last.fm.

Shango said:

You took the words right out of my mouth, dude. I agree one hundred percent.

chuckaducci said:

Not a one of those links points me to new, great funk bands. Soul is cool, but what's the point of life if you ain't on the one!?!

Anyway, yeah I agree but not entirely with the OP, I believe there are a few reasons why mainstream music isn't as good as it used to be:

1)GOT damn Rap music. Says it all really, and if you don't understand that then your apart of the problem.

2)Music videos. Completely changed the criterion record companies used when searching for new artists.

3)Technology. IN the hands of the creative(Stevie Wonder, Hendrix, The Beatles etc.) it can be a powerful tool to progress pop music via studio experimentation. IN the hands of uncreative people(or less creative which is 90% of the population) it's a crutch(LIl Waynme, T-Pain, Rihanna etc.)
[Edited 6/22/09 0:39am]

Not gonna be PC here.....this music was popular to nearly exclusivity w/ Black folks. Once hip hop and other Black forms of music had a majority of White buyers...the sounds that weren't favored were phased out of the commercial mainstream, rnb as we once knew it became a thing of the past OR extremely obscure. Who ever thought we'd have to SEARCH for rnb?

Of course, rnb almost killed off the blues and jazz UNTIL the English "discovered" them. This must be mentioned!

chuckaducci said:

It's great that independent artists have the possibility to represent their work in today's digital media. I was told that during the 80's the Tower recordshop in L.A. once had a department where independent artists with recorded work but without a label or distributor could represent their demo's. Good current outlets for independent demo's are myspace and cdbaby, which has an expanded r&b department : http://cdbaby.com/style/urban

Jazz-Not-Jazz is another great site to explore :

http://jazz-not-jazz.com/vintage.html

http://blog.jazz-not-jazz...gory/funk/

http://blog.jazz-not-jazz...gory/soul/

http://blog.jazz-not-jazz.com/

lets not start blaming the races of who destroyed the r&b industry....

I find myself always having to search for good r&b music. Growing up in the late 80's and 90's I always had my hand at the weka sto crates digging..and now I'm still having to find funk that I missed on the net and funk that's coming out today.

Its a NEVERENDING search!

elem55 said:

They were awesome. I loved the Main Ingredients, Curtis Mayfield, The Delfonics, The Stylistics, etc. I agree, you won't find that kind of talent because record companies aren't seeking out "raw talent", but manufactured BS instead. I love the music of the 70s, those were "the best times", including the motown sound of the mid to late 60s as well.

paisleypark4 said:

I agree. I used to think like some other people here but I'm convinced the good music is still out there. Like you said you gotta search for it.

paisleypark4 said:

LOL...I told you I wasn't gonna be PC, but the point of it is that you HAVE to SEARCH whereas in the past you didn't. Ignoring the reasons why doesn't make much sense. It is what it is.

I don't blame "other races" for this...I blame Black artists for this one, thanks. See what I said about the blues and jazz?
[Edited 6/22/09 12:45pm]

Timmy84 said:

Sorry Timmy, but you don't have to SEARCH for rock, now do you?

brooksie said:

Im finding it heavy punk 80's rock are heavily underground and released on 45's and such.

paisleypark4 said:

What? Punk wasn't heavily underground in the 80s. It played on alternative/college FM radio. Punk wasn't mainstream then (it never was), but it was not difficult to find on the dial.

Between record stores and non pop formatted radio stations you could find alots of anything that was US/UK based. World music, OTOH, may have been difficult to find, depending on where you were.
[Edited 6/22/09 13:30pm]

brooksie said:

Maybe, lol. Like I said, when I do think about it, I'll search but usually I never hear about NEW ROCK here. Somebody direct me.

brooksie said:

But there was only a section of punk artists out there and new wave artists that were incorrectly identified as punk.

Yo Paisley, hook a brotha up on some music I can find and listen to online. I've been looking to make a modern new wave/punk rock mixtape. I'm trying to diversify my musical portfolio.

Timmy84 said:

PRINCE has a new album out, right?

brooksie said:

I'm looking for non-Prince rock, thank you. Mr. Nelson is just not doing it for me musical wise lately.
[Edited 6/22/09 13:33pm]