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There's no confusing a 1930s song with a 1940s song, or a 1950s song with a 1960s song. The pattern sticks until roughly the end of the 1980s. It's not easy to tell whether a song came from 1990 or 2000.
Given all the threads about popular music in foo lately, I wonder if any of you have opinions on this?
I think the assertion has some merit. Take for example some cutting-edge music from 1990: Jane's Addiction or Nine Inch Nails. They could be played back-to-back with contemporary artists and neither would sound out of place. You could easily assemble a random playlist from the last 16 years without anything in the mix sounding awkwardly "retro".
By contrast, throw in a little Duran Duran, and suddenly you're treading into the oldies. I remember vividly how Howard Jones already had that flavour of nostalgia in 1992.
I'm trying to be unbiased, though given my age I admittedly have an affinity for music of the 80s, and the new artists I enjoy tend to evoke a reminiscence of New Wave (e.g. Hot Hot Heat, Caesar's Palace, She Wants Revenge...)
My music was the 60's, 70's and to a lesser extent the 80's. I am not sure if music has stagnated during the last 15 years or whether it is just my advancing years, but I seldom hear anything new that I like now.
Rap? Cr@p!
I agree about the different decades being clearer musically in the past. I still wonder what the current style is. There isn't really one.
It's probably just down to musical progression. In the 60s, pop had not been refined, so along came acts like The Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel to shape it.
In the 70s, prog rock and heavy metal had not been defined much, so again it was a whole new genre to develop. Now that's all been done.
In the 80s, it was electronics becoming mainstream, hip-hop, dance (raves) and a wonderful (at least to me!) fusion of synths and guitars.
In the 90s, there was a backlash against the synths, so in came heavier guitar bands like Nirvana.
One thing to add is that technology has always been a driving force in changing music. When synthesizers and drum machines came along, it revolutionised music. The same happened when samplers became cheap. And then computer software became the No.1 way to record and edit music, leading to bands like Nine Inch Nails utilising the cut-up effects packages like Pro Tools give you.
Other factors are an influence, such as recording media - the shift from vinyl, with a limited length per side, to CD, with a lot longer available on the disc, and much clearer quality.
Now we have digital music and the internet, which is again changing things.
Where do we go from here? I don't know, but I think music hasn't really got many new styles to offer! Unless we can see a greater use of non-American genres such as Asian or Arabic or Indian styles coming into pop. I will definitely welcome this myself, as there have already been some excellent fusions. (Anyone remember Monsoon?)
Mind you, you could have said classical music was finished after the likes of Beethoven and Mozart had gone, but now we see all kinds of amazing modern styles from the likes of Glass and Reich, so who knows? Maybe in a few hundred years, pop will find a whole new set of styles to dazzle us.
Just because you don't understand it, doesn't mean it's crap.
If I must "understand" music to make it sound good then surely that is not my problem?
I will now rephrase this ..
Rap? Sounds cr@p to me!
I didn't have to understand the Beatles when I was 17. I just new that they sounded good.
The Rolling Stones were magic, even if they were a bit rude.
Simon and Garfunkel, Motown, Redding, Dylan, I listened to them all, even Ian Gillan.
"Understanding" and analysis were not part of the game.
Nowadays with all the pretentious cr@p things are not the same ;)
Music used to be made to be listened to and enjoyed.
When I listen to MnM and stuff I just get annoyed.
(The above lyrics are supplied under the public domain and may be used freely on websites or top ten hits).
