Has there been any meaningful music since the 70's???

[Howard]

I have noticed that many of today's generation are into the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Grateful Dead etc, and I personally cannot think of any major artists who have had the same impact or be remembered as long as the Artists of that era?

I don't like Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, that style of music, my personal taste, but I still listen to Dylan and have bought all of Rod Stewart's recordings of the songs of the 40's and 50's.

 

[unclemick]

Heh heh heh

I stopped listening after Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and the Beach Boys.

Although I am partial to Johnny Russell's - Red Necks, White Socks and Blue Ribbon Beer.

The rest is sort of background noise.

 

[Nords]

I personally cannot think of any major artists who have had the same impact or be remembered as long as the Artists of that era?

"Impact", "meaningful"-- are you talking financially or artistically?

The only artist/group that springs to mind is Kurt Cobain & Nirvana. I just don't know how many of the acts kicking around in the '80s weren't already paying their dues in the '70s-- Bruce Springsteen & John Cougar Mellencamp for example. A five-minute search through the "'90s Top 100" and "'80s Top 100" didn't exactly fill me with hope for future generations...

Your question would explain why our radios are tuned to classic rock stations. I'm gonna have to get my music-trash-talking daughter started on a research project to find out who hit it bigger in the '80s & '90s compared to the '70s. I guess we'd have to adjust our calculations for inflation or for CDs vs vinyl.

 

[justin]

You guys are just getting old!

I was shocked to hear my 8 and 10 year old nephews singing Can't Touch This (from MC Hammer, of course). If memory serves, this was pretty popular around 1990 (oddly, when I was 10 years old). Although I think MC Hammer is a far cry from a classic artist.

 

[grumpy]

You guys are just getting old!

I was shocked to hear my 8 and 10 year old nephews singing Can't Touch This (from MC Hammer, of course). If memory serves, this was pretty popular around 1990 (oddly, when I was 10 years old). Although I think MC Hammer is a far cry from a classic artist.

justin,

I think they are singing it because it is currently being featured in several TV commercials, not because MC Hammer has remained popular for his musical abilities.

Grumpy

 

[nearly50]

Pixies, Throwing Muses, Thin White Rope, fIREHOSE are 4 that come immediately to mind. YMMV.

 

[wildcat]

I think great music comes with major cultural changes in society whether it be economic changes, political struggles, mainstream lifestyle changes, etc.  I also believe the music biz has become too commercial and too big business whereas it seemed to be all about the music back in the days.  I am in my 20s and I totally dig the old stuff - Led Zepplin is one of my favs.  Nords is right - Nirvana was the last great one to come along and make a meaningful change in music.  Thank God they put the big hair rock n' roll days of the 80s to rest.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

You guys are just getting old!

My first thought too.

All you guys go out the front door right now and yell at the kids to get the hell off your lawn. You'll feel better.

The good music is out there. I just wouldnt look for it on the major labels or the top 40. Those are now the bastions of homogenized crap that broadly appeals to the masses for 15 minutes at a time. Speaking of which, wasnt Britney going to go to school to become a CSI because it looked really, really cool?

Mainstream music has become what mainstream movies have become.

 

[Marshac]

Has there been any meaningful music since the 70's

Yes. It was called the 80s.

 

[justin]

The good music is out there. I just wouldnt look for it on the major labels or the top 40. Those are now the bastions of homogenized crap that broadly appeals to the masses for 15 minutes at a time.

That explains why I like top 40 music - I only listen to it for 15 minutes at a time (on my way to/from work, or running errands). I don't like it at all for more than a few hours at a time, since the same songs keep playing over and over and over.

I like the top 40 music because it is "fresh" - constantly changing each week/month. Most of the tunes are catchy. I used to be a "music snob" and look down at the "masses" listening to their top 40 drivel. Then I figured out the music was pretty good (in limited doses) and I was too young to be acting like an old guy.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Most of the music i've been listening to lately is "mary had a little lamb" and "the wheels on the bus go round and round". So dont look at me for salvation.

I've even caught myself humming this **** in the shower when i'm not paying attention.

 

[Jay_Gatsby]

I've found that most of the good rock songs were written in the 1970s, the purported "golden age of rock".  The 80s were okay, but rock was invaded by hair bands I'd just as soon as forget ever existed.  The 90s had no really respectable rock songs (grunge rock never did it for me).  Today (2000-present) there have been a few few decent rock songs, but I'm still waiting for a band that offers: (a) highly-technical precision with their instruments, and (b) lyrics that could be award-winning poetry in their own right.  The former is usually the result of a true love of music in its own right (i.e., would play music even if no one ever heard it) and hard work in becoming truly proficient with one or more instruments.  The latter usually comes from being widely read in both classical and contemporary literature/poetry.

IMHO, the 1970s bands that demonstrate the foregoing include: Rush, Pink Floyd, Kansas, the Eagles, and a few others.

 

[Nords]

The former is usually the result of a true love of music in its own right (i.e., would play music even if no one ever heard it) and hard work in becoming truly proficient with one or more instruments.  The latter usually comes from being widely read in both classical and contemporary literature/poetry.

I'm trying to reconcile those requirements with... Prince.

 

[Jay_Gatsby]

I'm trying to reconcile those requirements with... Prince.

You're absolutely right in implying that artists like Prince wouldn't make the cut. This is not to say that they don't make a contribution to the music scene, but I don't consider them of the same caliber as those who came before them.

 

[Nords]

You're absolutely right in implying that artists like Prince wouldn't make the cut.

Uhm, no, that's not what I'm saying.

Prince makes lots of music that no one listens to. He plays over 30 different musical instruments yet he's hardly ever taken a lesson. And he's written over 3,000 songs, a record eclipsed only by that other award-winning contemporary poet-- Dolly Parton.

My point is that successful musicians don't have to be Juilliard alumni to be successful rockers. For which Keith Richards & Sir Mick are thanking their lucky stars every day!

This game could be fun-- maybe we should start another round. Instead of "Prince", how about "Joe Walsh"?

 

[Jay_Gatsby]

Uhm, no, that's not what I'm saying. 

Prince makes lots of music that no one listens to.  He plays over 30 different musical instruments yet he's hardly ever taken a lesson.  And he's written over 3,000 songs, a record eclipsed only by that other award-winning contemporary poet-- Dolly Parton.

My point is that successful musicians don't have to be Juilliard alumni to be successful rockers.  For which Keith Richards & Sir Mick are thanking their lucky stars every day!

This game could be fun-- maybe we should start another round.  Instead of "Prince", how about "Joe Walsh"?

Sorry for the misinterpretation. As for Joe Walsh, I think he was with a band called the Eagles (although he did have a fairly successful solo career before joining the band).

 

[BUM]

Yo Yo Yo gotta bust on FI/RE
Gonna grab da &itch gottta re-tire.

Never mind if it might sting,
Jus' cut back some on dat bling!

Yo Yo Yo who says I can't sing.


Other genres`?

 

[yakers]

Ok, its alos (late) 70s music although its still going strong but nobody mentioned Bob Marley. Talk about music having an impact. Still great Reggae music being made and all around the world.

 

[flipstress]

Yes. It was called the 80s.

I used to like the Police, Talking Heads, U2, and REM from the 80s. 

I stopped paying attention to rock/pop bands in the 90s--getting old, indeed.

 

[Nords]

I used to like the Police, Talking Heads, U2, and REM from the 80s. 

Nice avatar, Flipstress.

I bet Alan Greenspan is also thanking his lucky stars every night that ol' Mick didn't follow through on that economics degree...

 

[flipstress]

Nice avatar, Flipstress.

The photo came up for my 56% celebrity look-alike per the link that () posted.  I look nothing like him, but he was sexy, warn't he?

Don't know much about him (Econ degree, really?) but do like the Stones' music although they were not as popular as the Beatles were when and where I grew up.

 

[ladelfina]

I second Talking Heads.. U2..

I think the "problem" lies in the fact that there isn't a monolithic media delivery system anymore. While everyone might concede that "The Pina Colada Song" isn't "great" music.. everyone (over 40) knows it.

The fragmentation of American pop culture means that a band with 1000 or 10,000 fans gets to have a CD or an MP3, and can hear podcasts and so forth tailored to their own tastes. Which is good, on the one hand...

On the other hand, there's no vast communality to it. The public-at-large is much less likely to be aware of the 'biggest' new hit in certain scenes, unlike 20-30 years ago...

The same thing is happening with news (everyone used to listen to Uncle Walter; now the stage is shared with the likes of  John Gibson.. brrrrrr..), the same thing is happening with movies (who actually goes to the theatre, what with DVDs, Net Flix, pay-per-view, etc.?)..

It's hard to say if there are or aren't any worthwhile new groups out there.. we used to be force-fed the stuff until it became a de facto hit. Now unless you make a big effort to tune in and sift through it all, you won't notice.

 

[Jay_Gatsby]

Actually, there is an exception to my characterization of rock from the 1970s as being rock's "golden age"

http://www.i-mockery.com/shorts/starwars-xmas/
(please excuse the popups) -- make sure you scroll down the page a bit...

 

[Howard]

Mick Jagger attended the London School of Economics, one of the most, if not the most ,prestigious Institution in the world.

He is not stupid.

Bob Marley, definitly.

 

[HFWR]

Well...

Joe Walsh with James Gang, and his first couple of solo efforts were good; then he started doing whatever you wanna call it, tripe. Get a copy of James Gang Live.

Same for Mark Knopfler...

One word: Jazz. Saw Al DiMeola recently; that mofo can play a geetar.