Best Era for Pop Music

[Beau Geste (imported)]

I seldom listen to music on the radio, but I was tuning through the local stations the other day, and I was struck by the fact that the only music which sounded good to me, was oldies from years ago. In fact, I can't think offhand of a song that has really become a hit that everybody knows, in the last ten years or more. A lot of the recent stuff sounds unmusical, and most rap sounds angry to me.

And that raises the question of which era in the past had the best music. A lot of people who grew up in the big band era liked that sort of music, but most of them are either passed away or in rest homes, and you rarely hear that type of sound on the radio. Myself, I tend to like music from the original rock and roll era, in the 1950's. Doo Wop, Elvis, Jerry Lee, Buddy Holley, Little Richard, the Platters, and so on. But I suppose there are a lot of people who would go with later rock and hard rock. I can't name even one song that Britney Spears sang.

[JesusA (imported)]

I suspect that most of us would agree that the best pop music was that created when we were teenagers. For me, it's definitely late 50s and early 60s.

Some of the young'uns here (Plix, Tanglog, Thefraj, etc.) would probably pick the 80s and 90s for the best pop music of all time.

[kristoff]

Hell, I like most of it, big band, bee bop, rock, classical, jazz. Most rap is crap, but there is some that is quite good. I like a lot of the current hits, as well. OTOH, I can't appreciate a lot of the finer nuances of music, because of hearing loss. I just make up for it with a bit of volume and some base. Ever try Beverly Sills with heavy base?

[Riverwind (imported)]

I think the turn of the century, that 1700's to 1800's. Remember all music was once new.

River

[Blaise (imported)]

Goosh, I think that good music emerged and emerged in any era. I don't think anyone was ever any better than the Kinks, but then I am probably insane. However, they have been around since the sixties. The Velvet Underground did some great stuff. The Grateful Dead had a brilliant run.

[A-1 (imported)]

I suspect that most of us would agree that the best pop music was that created when we were teenagers. For me, it's definitely late 50s and early 60s.

Some of the young'uns here (Plix, Tanglog, Thefraj, etc.) would probably pick the 80s and 90s for the best pop music of all time.

Late 60's, early 70's.

I enjoyed the disco era, too.

[Blaise (imported)]

Late 60's, early 70's.

I enjoyed the disco era, too.

My former wife liked disco. I never liked it, but I agree that the late sixties and early seventies were a high point. I think about the era of LP rock--of the Animals, the groups that included Eric Clapton, the Dead, the innovations created by the Who, the great period of the Beatles, the Grateful Dead, the Rolling Stones, and many others. I think Disco was better than my dislike of it.

[radar (imported)]

Frankly, the more I listen, the more I appreciate the music my parents listened to, the music of the 40's and early 50's. It was melodic, often quite romantic, and usually requiring more talent to perform than anything that's come along since. I like the variety of the stuff I grew up with (mid-60's to mid-70's), and I still enjoy most of what came along up until around 1990 or so, which was the point when the record company money men started driving what gets released. Since then, it's been a seemingly endless parade of either sound-alikes or angry profanity. Certainly not the dynamic, creative arena that existed previously. Just my opinion.

[twaddler (imported)]

"

Some of the young'uns here (Plix, Tanglog, Thefraj, etc.) would probably pick the 80s and 90s for the best pop music of all time.

"

I could not pick an era for 'best pop music'. I love all music, and listen to pretty much everything (I really don't know any good country though, besides Ryan Adams' stuff?). But the 80's and 90's would definitely be the eras I'm most familiar with, having grown up in that pop culture, inundated with MTV and such.

[tugon (imported)]

I would have liked to have been an adult in the 50's and 60's living in New York and going to the jazz clubs. I would loved to have heard Billie Holiday live. I would also have enjoyed Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald, Helen Humes, Nina Simone, Peggy Lee and so many others. I love hearing a woman sing about troubles with her man. Huh, I wonder why?