Which has been the best decade for music? (1 Viewer)

[NeilTHI]

Which has been the best decade for music?
50's
60's
70's
80's
90's
00's

If you fancy having a vote go to
This Day in Music.com

 

[Ron-P]

Two hands down, the 80's.

 

[Gary Seven]

LOL!!! The eighties.... too funny.

 

[Ron-P]

Actually, the 80's and the 70's are my two favorite decades. But, all the bands listed by Joseph above, I cannot stand.

 

[TravisR]

I subscribe to the Chris Rock theory that whenever you started getting laid, you think that whatever era of music you were listening in that time is the best music ever made.

I don't like most of the bands around today but in 20 years, there will be guys who are teenagers today that will be thinking that 2009 was the high point of music.

 

[nolesrule]

Nah, I prefer 80s music to 90s.

But I probably like 50s/60s better because that's what my parents listened to while I was growing up.

 

[Mikael Soderholm]

I'd say from around 72-73 to 88-90, or thereabouts.
The rock of the 70s, punk in the late 70s, new wave 80s, synth and industrial 80s, reggae/ska of 70s, new dance music/techno/acid of late 80s, yeah, that about covers it

Any decade with a Bowie release is fine with me though...

 

[Andy Sheets]

The 60s is probably the objectively "correct" answer because of so many influential bands beginning then, but in terms of bands I actually listen to I'd have to say the 80s were best.

 

[AnthonyC]

90s > 60s > 80s > 70s > 00s > 50s

 

[Ockeghem]

The 1960s (1961-1970).

 

[Henry Gale]

I had a couple of different decades in mind when I saw your topic.

Sadly, when I got to the first post my decades of choice were not included.

I loved the best of the 50s and 60s music, I was there.
But having explored a whole lot of recorded music during my life, the 30s would be my choice. No doubt about it.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

The '80s are best.

The 1780s, that is!

As for my real answer, I'd probably go with the '70s for all the classic and prog rock, although a lot of my favorite stuff came out in the '90s and '00s from more obscure groups (most of that was heavily influenced by '70s music, though).

 

[PaulDA]

My favourite decade is the 70s. The "best" in terms of influential is the 60s (whether one likes the music and bands from that era or not, they exercised more influence on subsequent music than any other decade in the 20th century). All of this applies to pop/rock in the broad sense of the term.

If we're talking jazz, then I'd say the late 40s to mid-60s were, indisputably the "best" and my favourite. Coltrane, Davis, Brubeck, Baker, Adderley...(I could go on and on and on and...)

If we're talking classical (in the broad sense, not the technical sense), then I'd say late 17th century to early 20th century (I'm a big enough fan to appreciate music from across that span, but not knowledgeable enough to reduce it to a specific decade or two). As for favourites, I'm most partial to mid-to-late 19th and 20th century Russian composers (Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Prokofiev and Shostakovich, among others) and early 20th century English composers (Vaughn Williams, Elgar and Bax, among others), though I enjoy music from a wide variety of composers.

 

[Vegas 1]

The 60's for me. I think it has more to do with what decade you were a teen than anything.

 

[Ockeghem]

That may be true to some extent. But I just missed that cutoff, as I wasn't a teen until 1971.

 

[Adonis012]

Hey,

Why you said 80's is so funny. Whats the reason with eighty? The 60's for me.

 

[JohnRice]

A lot of the music I listen to doesn't qualify for the answer, but under the clear intentions of the question I have often thought the best music ran roughly from 1967 to about 1976 or 1977. I guess the 70 edge it out then. Since I was born in 1964 I guess I was getting laid at such a young age I can't even remember it. Anyway, in my case I guess that rules out both the sex and teen theories.

 

[Marty M]

I am guessing that most people are going to choose the decade that they were teenagers. This seems to be the time when music is the most important part of a person's life, at least it was for me. So, the 60s are the most important and best decade of music for me.

 

[Tim Tucker]

The two most important decades in popular music in the 20th century were the 1920s and the 1960s.

The '20s were the first flowering of jazz, blues and country. It was also time of the Broadway/Tin Pan Alley composers that created the Great American Songbook. These styles dominated music until the '60s.

The '60s, of course, remains the fountainhead for everything that's come afterwards. Every current musical style can be traced back to that era.

Which makes me think that either we are on the verge or in the midst of another cultural shift that we won't recognize until much later.

 

[StephenA]

I wouldn't wouldn't pick the decade I was a teen in, which was the '90s. I was listening more to '60s and '70s stuff than to was popular then. I got the mix of the '60s and '70s from my dad and mom.