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Thread started 08/21/14 2:10pm

MotownSubdivis
ion

Who are the Big 3 for each decade from the 60s-2000s?

We all know that the "Big 3" of the 80s are Michael, Madonna, and Prince so what about the other most conversated decades in music?

The way I see it (just speculation for the most part):

1960s: The Beatles, The Supremes, Bob Dylan

1970s: Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Elton John

1990s: Nirvana, 2Pac, Mariah Carey

2000s: Eminem, Kanye West, Beyonce

Who do you think were the Big 3s for the 60s, 70s, 90s, and 2000s?
[Edited 8/21/14 14:57pm]
[Edited 8/22/14 6:02am]
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Reply #1 posted 08/21/14 2:35pm

Shawy89

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60s: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan
70s: Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and The Eagles
80s: Michael Jackson, Prince and U2
90s: Nirvana, Mariah Carey and Tupac
00s: Eminem, Coldplay and Radiohead
10s (so far): Adele, Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga

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Reply #2 posted 08/21/14 2:45pm

dm3857

60s: The Beatles, The Stones, Bob Dylan

70s: Bee Gees, David Bowie, Stevie Wonder

80s: Michael Jackson, Prince, Bruce Springsteen

90s: Nirvana, Mariah Carey, 2pac

00s: Eminem, Britney Spears, Kanye West

10s: Adele, Lady Gaga, Beyonce

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Reply #3 posted 08/21/14 2:56pm

MotownSubdivis
ion

Sort of ashamed I forgot about Mariah there. I guess I'll replace Biggie with her.
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Reply #4 posted 08/21/14 3:07pm

SuperSoulFight
er

Hey, what about the 1950s?! Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry and Ray Charles! (No, not Elvis, he was an icon, but not an innovator.)
And anyone who talkes about the 1960s without naming Bob Dylan and The Beatles is an idiot. That leaves only #3 and I'll go for Jimi Hendrix because a) noone mentioned him so far b) he revolutionized guitar playing and c) he died in 1970.
That means I can put James Brown and The Rolling Stones in the 1970s category. # 3...Hmmm... Fusion or glamrock? I'll go for fusion. And the winner is... Miles Davis!
1980s, that's easier... Prince, U2 & Madonna.
The 1990s... Grunge and hiphop was pretty big, but I never really liked any of it...
2000s: Manu Chao (new sounds are not coming from the Anglo-American world!) And it was all about retro of course. I really like Joss Stone . And Amy Winehouse.
[Edited 8/21/14 15:24pm]
[Edited 8/21/14 15:27pm]
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Reply #5 posted 08/21/14 3:24pm

MotownSubdivis
ion

SuperSoulFighter said:

60s: Beatles, Hendrix, Dylan
70s: James Brown, Miles Davis, David Bowie
80s: Prince, U2, Madonna
90s onwards: I just stopped listening...
You got some explaining to do if you think U2 was bigger than Michael.

Shoot, I need to know how U2 and Springsteen suddenly became bigger than Madonna...
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Reply #6 posted 08/21/14 3:27pm

Shawy89

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SuperSoulFighter said:

Anyone who mentions the 1960s without mentioning Bob Dylan and The Beatles is an idiot. That leaves only #3 and I'll go for Jimi Hendrix because a) noone mentioned him so far b)he revolutinized guitar playing and c) he died in 1970. That means I can put James Brown and The Rolling Stones in the 1970s category. # 3...Hmmm... Fusion or glamrock? I'll go for fusion. And the winner is... Miles Davis! 1980s, that's easier... Prince, U2 & Madonna. The 1990s... Grunge and hiphop was pretty big, but I never really liked any of it... 2000s: Manu Chao (new sounds are not coming from the Anglo-American world!) And it was all about retro of course. I really like Joss Stone . And Amy Winehouse. [Edited 8/21/14 15:24pm]

Speaking of mentioning without mentioning, I don't see Michael Jackson in your list. It's not about the best artists, it's about the biggest ones, and Michael is clearly the biggest act of the 80's and probably in the last 30 years.

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Reply #7 posted 08/21/14 3:31pm

SuperSoulFight
er

I don't define "biggest" as "biggest record sales" but as "most influential" or "capturing the zeitgeist". In my opinion, Prince, Madonna and U2 did that better than Jackson. Plus I think you have to release more than two albums per decade.
Oh and I edited my post after you replied, so it's a little different now. wink
[Edited 8/21/14 15:37pm]
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Reply #8 posted 08/21/14 3:36pm

SuperSoulFight
er

MotownSubdivision said:

SuperSoulFighter said:

60s: Beatles, Hendrix, Dylan
70s: James Brown, Miles Davis, David Bowie
80s: Prince, U2, Madonna
90s onwards: I just stopped listening...
You got some explaining to do if you think U2 was bigger than Michael.

Shoot, I need to know how U2 and Springsteen suddenly became bigger than Madonna...

Well, I did that and like I said I changed it a bit. But that's cool. If "big" means "record sales" then Michael Jackson beats everybody and there is no need for a discussion. So I take this thread as "who do you think were the most important artists of this decade". Then we have something to discuss! Hell! The Carpenters sold more albums than Bob Dylan, but does that make them "bigger"?
[Edited 8/21/14 15:39pm]
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Reply #9 posted 08/21/14 4:12pm

MotownSubdivis
ion

SuperSoulFighter said:

MotownSubdivision said:

You got some explaining to do if you think U2 was bigger than Michael.

Shoot, I need to know how U2 and Springsteen suddenly became bigger than Madonna...

Well, I did that and like I said I changed it a bit. But that's cool. If "big" means "record sales" then Michael Jackson beats everybody and there is no need for a discussion. So I take this thread as "who do you think were the most important artists of this decade". Then we have something to discuss! Hell! The Carpenters sold more albums than Bob Dylan, but does that make them "bigger"?
[Edited 8/21/14 15:39pm]
I never mentioned album sales, you did. The point of this topic is to list the 3 biggest acts of each decade which means the 3 most popular acts in which album sales are far from the only qualifying factor and far from a major factor. Just as it is objectively wrong to not have The Beatles on a list of biggest acts of the 60s (as you stated yourself), it is objectively wrong to not have the most popular artist of the 80s (that's Michael Jackson BTW) on a list of the biggest acts of the 80s. Just as The Beatles have sold hundreds of millions of albums so has Michael. Just as The Beatles are musical and pop culture icons so is Michael. If you think MJ only has the greatest selling album of all time to his name then you are objectively wrong.
[Edited 8/21/14 16:16pm]
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Reply #10 posted 08/21/14 4:46pm

JoeBala

SuperSoulFighter said:

Hey, what about the 1950s?! Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry and Ray Charles! (No, not Elvis, he was an icon, but not an innovator.) And anyone who talkes about the 1960s without naming Bob Dylan and The Beatles is an idiot. That leaves only #3 and I'll go for Jimi Hendrix because a) noone mentioned him so far b) he revolutionized guitar playing and c) he died in 1970. That means I can put James Brown and The Rolling Stones in the 1970s category. # 3...Hmmm... Fusion or glamrock? I'll go for fusion. And the winner is... Miles Davis! 1980s, that's easier... Prince, U2 & Madonna. The 1990s... Grunge and hiphop was pretty big, but I never really liked any of it... 2000s: Manu Chao (new sounds are not coming from the Anglo-American world!) And it was all about retro of course. I really like Joss Stone . And Amy Winehouse. [Edited 8/21/14 15:24pm] [Edited 8/21/14 15:27pm]

http://31.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_low9bbH1ZT1qd48zdo1_500.gif

eek eek eek

[Edited 8/21/14 16:49pm]

Just Music-No Categories-Enjoy It!
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Reply #11 posted 08/21/14 4:47pm

MickyDolenz

avatar

I'm listing USA. I don't know who was most popular in India, Russia, or Argentina. lol

.

1960s: The Beatles, The Supremes, Elvis Presley (he had a lot of hits in the 1960s and he was the highest paid movie star in Hollywood for a little while)

.

1970s: The Eagles, Stevie Wonder, Elton John

.

1980s: Michael Jackson, Madonna, Whitney Houston

.

1990s: Celine Dion, Garth Brooks, Mariah Carey

.

2000s: don't know


You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton
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Reply #12 posted 08/21/14 4:52pm

SuperSoulFight
er

This is as good a time as any to go down memory lane. In 1987, I was 16 years old and everybody was waiting for the new MJ album, dying to hear it. And then the first single came, I Just Can't Stop Loving You. It raced to the top of the charts, only to be replaced by Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up, a total nobody from the Stock, Aitken & Waterman studios. Throughout 87-88 , Jackson had hits and Bad probably sold more copies than Sign o'the Times and Lovesexy put together, but there was this sense that Jacko was old news and Prince was really where it was at. Jackson, yeah, he was popular, he had hits, but it was Prince and U2 who really kept people fascinated in 87-88. That's what I experienced back then anyway.
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Reply #13 posted 08/21/14 5:04pm

BT11

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60s: The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix

70s: Stevie Wonder, David Bowie, Neil Young

80s: Michael Jackson, Prince, Madonna (not a fan, but can't deny)

90s: 2pac, Michael Jackson (yes I liked him very much in this decade), Backstreet Boys (guilty pleasure for me, but there's no denying they were huge back then)

00s: Radiohead, Kanye West, The White Stripes

10s: Flying Lotus, Thundercat, Miguel (maybe?)

music
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Reply #14 posted 08/21/14 5:13pm

MotownSubdivis
ion

SuperSoulFighter said:

This is as good a time as any to go down memory lane. In 1987, I was 16 years old and everybody was waiting for the new MJ album, dying to hear it. And then the first single came, I Just Can't Stop Loving You. It raced to the top of the charts, only to be replaced by Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up, a total nobody from the Stock, Aitken & Waterman studios. Throughout 87-88 , Jackson had hits and Bad probably sold more copies than Sign o'the Times and Lovesexy put together, but there was this sense that Jacko was old news and Prince was really where it was at. Jackson, yeah, he was popular, he had hits, but it was Prince and U2 who really kept people fascinated in 87-88. That's what I experienced back then anyway.
I can't take away your personal experience but you're grasping straws here. 87- 88? That's only 2 years out of 10 that MJ would have been eclipsed (for lack of a better word) by Prince and U2 and as you said MJ was still popular so even if he necessarily wasn't the top artist at that point anymore, he was still popular and in years passed he was more popular than both combined anyway so the changing of people's preference wouldn't do anything to turn the tide in U2's or Prince's favor. This doesn't take away from Prince and U2; MJ was just monstrously popular.
[Edited 8/21/14 17:19pm]
[Edited 7/9/15 7:25am]
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Reply #15 posted 08/21/14 5:21pm

MickyDolenz

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Jimi Hendrix wasn't that popular mainstream wise in the US during his lifetime. He also came around later in the decade. His popularity increased after he died, same for Bob Marley. The Monkees outsold Jimi at the time. They outsold the Stones & Beatles too in 1967.

You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton
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Reply #16 posted 08/21/14 5:56pm

uniden

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60's: Beatles, jimi Hendrix, the doors.

70's: bee gees, Elton John, Stevie wonder

80's: Michael Jackson, Madonna, prince

90's: Mariah Carey, nirvana, 2pac

00's: Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Kanye west

10's: Taylor swift, Rihanna, Bruno Mars

I could be wrong about all this, I don't care for all of this music, just trying to think of what was popular during those times. biggrin
be kind, be a friend, not a bully.
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Reply #17 posted 08/21/14 6:13pm

wildgoldenhone
y

MickyDolenz said:

I'm listing USA. I don't know who was most popular in India, Russia, or Argentina. lol

.

1960s: The Beatles, The Supremes, Elvis Presley (he had a lot of hits in the 1960s and he was the highest paid movie star in Hollywood for a little while)

.

1970s: The Eagles, Stevie Wonder, Elton John

.

1980s: Michael Jackson, Madonna, Whitney Houston

.

1990s: Celine Dion, Garth Brooks, Mariah Carey

.

2000s: don't know


I love Whitney but... I think it's supposed to be Prince.








[Edited 8/21/14 18:14pm]

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Reply #18 posted 08/21/14 6:31pm

MickyDolenz

avatar

wildgoldenhoney said:

I love Whitney but... I think it's supposed to be Prince.

Whitney's singles charted more consistently than Prince and she had more number 1's. She had the record for most in a row and her singles pretty much all went Top 10 during the 1980s. Many of Prince's singles didn't do that well Top 40 wise. Really other than Purple Rain & maybe 1999, his albums weren't huge sellers, at least in the US. Van Halen, Lionel Richie, and Def Leppard albums overall were bigger than Prince's. Whitney's 1st album outsold Purple Rain too and hers 2nd sold around the same. Whitney was also popular on the AC charts too, where Prince didn't hit much.

You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton
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Reply #19 posted 08/21/14 8:56pm

lowkey

60s=beatles,supremes,rolling stones

70s=james brown,stevie wonder,donna summer

80s=michael jackson,madonna,prince

90s=whitney,janet,mariah

00s=eminim,beyonce,brittney

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Reply #20 posted 08/21/14 11:30pm

daingermouz202
0

It has always seemed to me Prince is a lot more respected artist by his peers and fans than Mike or Whitney.
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Reply #21 posted 08/21/14 11:47pm

glamstar01

60's Beatles, Rolling Stones, Elvis

70's Bee Gees, Earth Wind & Fire, David Bowie

80's Prince, Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson

90's 2Pac, The Verve, Oasis,

00's Amy Winehouse, Outkast, Coldplay

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Reply #22 posted 08/22/14 2:32am

SuperSoulFight
er

Okay, if it's popularity we're after, then in the 1970s we should mention Queen and Abba.
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Reply #23 posted 08/22/14 5:34am

MotownSubdivis
ion

SuperSoulFighter said:

Okay, if it's popularity we're after, then in the 1970s we should mention Queen and Abba.
They're contenders.
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Reply #24 posted 08/22/14 6:45am

SirComeSpectio
n

At my house:

60's: James Brown, Smokey Robinson, B.B. King

70's: Isley Brothers, P-Funk/Bootsy, Ohio Players

80's: Prince, Michael Jackson, Peter Gabriel

90's: Prince, Mint Condition, Teddy Riley

20's: Prince, Outkast, Baby Face

[Edited 8/22/14 7:07am]

Pop music is becoming the all purpose, non purpose music of the ages.
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Reply #25 posted 08/22/14 6:46am

missfee

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60's: Beatles, Rolling Stones, James Brown

70's: Led Zeppelin, The Bee Gees, Stevie Wonder

80's: MJ, Prince, Madonna

90's: Mariah Carey, Tupac, ?

00's: Beyonce, Kanye West, ?

I will forever love and miss you...my sweet Prince.
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Reply #26 posted 08/22/14 7:59am

thedoorkeeper

Where the hell are Al Green, Credence, Aretha, Beck,
CSN&Y, Sly Stone, Pink Floyd, The Temptations?
mad
[Edited 8/22/14 8:00am]
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Reply #27 posted 08/22/14 10:02am

MickyDolenz

avatar

daingermouz2020 said:

It has always seemed to me Prince is a lot more respected artist by his peers and fans than Mike or Whitney.

That may be so, but critical acclaim doesn't sell records or make a song a hit. lol In a lot of cases, it's the music they don't like that sells a lot. Such as Journey, Toto, Barbra Streisand, Huey Lewis & The News, Kenny G., REO Speedwagon, Duran Duran, Barry Manilow, Phil Collins, Motley Crue, KC & The Sunshine Band, New Kids On The Block, etc.

You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton
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Reply #28 posted 08/22/14 10:36am

ginusher

avatar

.

I do love myself some lists. Going by my gut feeling and only having glossed over this thread, my suggestions are:

.

60s: Elvis, Beatles, Stones

70s: Stevie Wonder, David Bowie, Elton John

90s: Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey

00s: Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Rihanna (who run the world? Girls!) [note: I don't even like Rihanna, but she was big in the 2000s]

.

Also, while I was only 2 years old by the time the 80s ended, I would think that MJ was more iconic than U2 throughout the decade. While Thriller and Bad were his only 2 releases in the decade, Off The Wall had come out in late 1979, and it was still enjoying massive success in the early 1980s, which included the single releases 'Off The Wall', 'She's Out Of My Life', and 'Girlfriend'. The album influenced the sound of many of MJ's contemporaries in the early 80s who tried to emulate it (credit to Quincy Jones for masterminding Off The Wall). Thriller was the logical next step.

.

Also, those videos off Bad blew up. 'Smooth Criminal' from Moonwalker, 'The Way You Make Me Feel', 'Liberian Girl', 'Bad' itself; the MTV audiences were lapping it up.

.

I guess these things mostly come down to personal preference, but I feel that Duran Duran comes closer to representing the 'signature' sound of 80s pop music than U2 does.

.

I don't want your rhythm without your rhyme
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Reply #29 posted 08/22/14 10:51am

HuMpThAnG

SuperSoulFighter said:

(No, not Elvis, he was an icon, but not an innovator.)

nod

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