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Off the top of your head, most iconic musician from each decade (1960s-2010s)

fknhippie

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Looking at the lists, it sure seems that music drove off a cliff after the 70's
 

Used 2 B Hu

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Looking at the lists, it sure seems that music drove off a cliff after the 70's

I have so often said the same thing. Sure, I listened to some 80's artists but for the most part that decade was terrible.

Prior to 79, you could purchase an album and nearly every song on it was enjoyable. There would be a theme, or a feel, to the entire album. In the 80's, there would maybe be one or two songs on an LP that were good, and the rest absolutely sucked.
 

beardown07

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I have so often said the same thing. Sure, I listened to some 80's artists but for the most part that decade was terrible.

Prior to 79, you could purchase an album and nearly every song on it was enjoyable. There would be a theme, or a feel, to the entire album. In the 80's, there would maybe be one or two songs on an LP that were good, and the rest absolutely sucked.
Commercially it was. There was great music in the 80's, it just didn't get any airplay.
 

Clayton

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Commercially it was. There was great music in the 80's, it just didn't get any airplay.
Agreed.

I'm looking through the years and I think I honestly don't start seeing the dropoff until 1998. You see the rise of the boy bands, nu metal, and you saw all of the pop-punk sell-out. I think ska was popular at the time. The alt rockers ran out of good material. Madonna went into techno. I think Garbage was the best rock act that year.

Dark days.
 

Omar 382

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I remember having a VHS copy of "The Year Punk Broke" but I don't know where it went. It probably ended up with the old pron tapes that I know my mom tossed out.

Just because your kids are old and only visiting doesn't mean that they want to take days off from jerking it, goddamnit woman!
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Omar 382

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I think commercial '80s was good. Genesis, Phil Collins, Michael Jackson, Bowie, Prince, etc. I mean looking at the top 5 from the decade in sales

1. Prince
2. Madonna
3. U2
4. Michael Jackson
5. Bruce Springsteen

I like all of them to varying degrees except U2.

Looking at the '90s
1. Mariah Carey
2. Madonna
3. Celine Dion
4. REM
5. U2

I dislike all except the few songs I've heard from Madonna aren't bad. And REM's "Losing My Religion" is great, but that and "Everybody Hurts" or whatever are the only two songs I know.
 

beardown07

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Agreed.

I'm looking through the years and I think I honestly don't start seeing the dropoff until 1998. You see the rise of the boy bands, nu metal, and you saw all of the pop-punk sell-out. I think ska was popular at the time. Madonna went into techno. I think Garbage was the best rock act that year.

Dark days.


Even then, there was great music, you just had to look harder to find it.

Popular music has always kinda sucked but, I would say that is the biggest difference between Classic era rock and the 80's and 90's...the popular music was better back then, which is as much a testament to retarded fans as it is good music, or lack thereof.

You could blame MTV and maybe the emergence of FM radio, but the public themselves share a lot of that responsibility for being gullible and malleable.
 

Omar 382

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Who/how/why the fuck is Celine Dion in the top 5 in any decade? I don't even know a single song from her, and yet I still hate her. That means she must have really sucked.
 

Omar 382

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Even then, there was great music, you just had to look harder to find it.

Popular music has always kinda sucked but, I would say that is the biggest difference between Classic era rock and the 80's and 90's...the popular music was better back then, which is as much a testament to retarded fans as it is good music, or lack thereof.

You could blame MTV and maybe the emergence of FM radio, but the public themselves share a lot of that responsibility for being gullible and malleable.
Meh, the public can like whatever it likes. I don't care much for Beyonce, but her music reaches a certain part of the population and resonates with them. I think the problem is, with the exception of me, we're all old motherfuckers. We hate Justin Bieber just like Elvis and Chuck Berry fans hated Led Zeppelin:2cents:
 

Omar 382

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Are Beastie Boys worth getting into? I've been meaning to listen to them.

Check this out, I was born in 1997 and literally cannot name a single Beastie Boys song.
 

Omar 382

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Uhh...Woodstock happened in August 1969?
My dad was born in '62. One time, the family was traveling back from Vermont (where his grandparents lived and his parents grew up) to Delaware. My dad was 7, but in his family of 6 kids, the oldest brother, born in 1952, was a huge hippie, and had heard about this awesome concert in upstate NY. They were going by it anyway to get back to Wilmington, so my uncle kept pleading and pleading to let them go. My grandfather, who was apparently a very straight-laced and strict motherfucker, obviously knew nothing about the concert so he was considering it. They ended up deciding at the last minute to skip it, but my grandfather almost took his entire family, including a 7 year old boy, to Woodstock.
 

shopson67

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Are Beastie Boys worth getting into? I've been meaning to listen to them.

Check this out, I was born in 1997 and literally cannot name a single Beastie Boys song.

Absolutely. Licensed To Ill is a bit dunder-headed (but I still like it), but after that they had several great albums (Paul's Boutique, Check Your Head, Ill Communication). I didn't follow as closely after that.
 

Clayton

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Even then, there was great music, you just had to look harder to find it.

Popular music has always kinda sucked but, I would say that is the biggest difference between Classic era rock and the 80's and 90's...the popular music was better back then, which is as much a testament to retarded fans as it is good music, or lack thereof.

You could blame MTV and maybe the emergence of FM radio, but the public themselves share a lot of that responsibility for being gullible and malleable.
Eh. There was some great music but there wasn't as much of it. And honestly, most of it didn't age very well.

You had the rise of techno around that point. I'd argue about 95% of that aged very poorly even if it was experimental.

Most of the good music of that era is hip-hop. You started moving into a period where Korn, Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach and Linkin Park represented rock. You had Radiohead go from rock band that experimented a little bit to depression band that made sad IDM.

I think there is a lot less good music after 97 than before it even if you're digging.
 

Montalban

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By most iconic, I don't necessarily mean the most records sold (though it would hard to be iconic without being up there in music sales I think). But basically, the question is; for each decade, which music artist do you think of?

The only criteria is that only the music released in that decade counts. So, for example, Bob Dylan isn't any more iconic in the '60s because of music he released in the '70s or later. Also, post your list first without looking at music sales.

Here's my list:

1960s- The Beatles

1970s- Led Zeppelin

1980s- Michael Jackson

1990s- Whitney Houston

2000s- Beyonce

2010s- Ed Sheeran

Here is the list of the top sellers each decade. I didn't look at this list before creating mine.

1960s-
1: The Beatles
2: Elvis Presley
3: The Rolling Stones
4: Bob Dylan
5: The Beach Boys

1970s-
1. Elton John
2. The Rolling Stones
3. Pink Floyd
4. Abba
5. Led Zeppelin

1980s-

1. Prince
2. Madonna
3. U2
4. Michael Jackson
5. Bruce Springsteen

1990s-

1. Mariah Carey
2. Madonna
3. Celine Dion
4. REM
5. U2

2000s-

1. Eminem
2. Madonna
3. Britney Spears
4. Coldplay
5. U2

2010s-

1. Taylor Swift
2. Adele
3. Justin Bieber
4. Eminem
5. Drake

Sources- List of best-selling artists of the 2010s in the United States - Wikipedia
Who were the most successful artists of each decade?
60s is obvious - The Beatles
70s - The Eagles
80s - Maybe Bruce Springsteen though he's nothing special to me
The rest of the decades no one has stood out with any talent except maybe U2 and REM.
 

Montalban

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I also almost went with Elton John for the '70s. He's number 1 in record sales FWIW.
Good choice. He was the answer to a Final Jeopardy question once which was "Who is the only artist to have a number one song in 4 different decades?". That's certainly longevity if nothing else.
 
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