[Music] Is the 80’s the best decade ever for Pop Music ?

[Live by the sea]

Apologies if this has already been discussed but I couldn’t see it ,

Taking into account all the manufactured garbage that has come from the likes of Pop Idol & X factor etc , ie Sam smith , Ollie Murs , little mix etc was the 1980’s the best era for pop music .

I accept the 1950’s & 60’s was great for rock and roll and soul music etc but had there ever been a better decade for pop .

Look at the Calibre of artist in the 80’s and this is just off the top of my head

Michael Jackson
Prince
Madonna
David Bowie
U2
Whitney Houston
Simple Minds
Tears for fears
Duran Duran
Spandau Ballet
Paul Young
George Michael / Wham
Culture Club
New Order
ABC
Aha
Queen
Lionel Ritchie
Phil Collins
Bryan Adam’s
Tina Turner
Depeche mode
Billy Joel
Bruce Springsteen
The cure
The police
Pet shop boys
REM
Adam and the Ants
Human league
Roxy music
Level 42

The list goes on and on . All original - no one manufactured

Why has the last 30 years been so poor in comparison ?

 

[Eeyore]

I prefer the mid-late 70s. Such a weave of different genres. A few of those were around too.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Yes hence the fact the youngsters are all over the 80s, it had so many great groups and great songs

 

[Wozza]

Yes.

 

[1066familyman]

That's a pretty crap list. So it's a No from me.

Entice me with others and I might say maybe.

 

[banjo]

Apologies if this has already been discussed but I couldn’t see it ,

Taking into account all the manufactured garbage that has come from the likes of Pop Idol & X factor etc , ie Sam smith , Ollie Murs , little mix etc was the 1980’s the best era for pop music .

I accept the 1950’s & 60’s was great for rock and roll and soul music etc but had there ever been a better decade for pop .

Look at the Calibre of artist in the 80’s and this is just off the top of my head

Michael Jackson
Prince
Madonna
David Bowie
U2
Whitney Houston
Simple Minds
Tears for fears
Duran Duran
Spandau Ballet
Paul Young
George Michael / Wham
Culture Club
New Order
ABC
Aha
Queen
Lionel Ritchie
Phil Collins
Bryan Adam’s
Tina Turner
Depeche mode
Billy Joel
Bruce Springsteen
The cure
The police
Pet shop boys
REM
Adam and the Ants
Human league
Roxy music
Level 42

The list goes on and on . All original - no one manufactured

Why has the last 30 years been so poor in comparison ?

https://nortr3nixy.nimpr.uk/showthread.php?366752-80%E2%80%99s-Music
Yes I agree.

 

[GT49er]

Apologies if this has already been discussed but I couldn’t see it ,

Taking into account all the manufactured garbage that has come from the likes of Pop Idol & X factor etc , ie Sam smith , Ollie Murs , little mix etc was the 1980’s the best era for pop music .

I accept the 1950’s & 60’s was great for rock and roll and soul music etc but had there ever been a better decade for pop .

Look at the Calibre of artist in the 80’s and this is just off the top of my head

Michael Jackson
Prince
Madonna
David Bowie
U2
Whitney Houston
Simple Minds
Tears for fears
Duran Duran
Spandau Ballet
Paul Young
George Michael / Wham
Culture Club
New Order
ABC
Aha
Queen
Lionel Ritchie
Phil Collins
Bryan Adam’s
Tina Turner
Depeche mode
Billy Joel
Bruce Springsteen
The cure
The police
Pet shop boys
REM
Adam and the Ants
Human league
Roxy music
Level 42

The list goes on and on . All original - no one manufactured

Why has the last 30 years been so poor in comparison ?

I would say the last 40 years have been so poor in comparison to what went before.

.... and Bowie, Queen, Springsteen and The Police were from the 70s - as was Tina Turner (who was actually from the 60s if you count her time with Ike)'

 

[BadFish]

It really depends on when you were born and what your 'era' was.

 

[jessiejames]

Noticed on digital radios lots of 80's music channels

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Yes (good thread by someone I have on ignore by the way )

I think the reason is simple. Since the early 60s pop music expanded exponentially, under 25s with money to spend increased exponentially, and a market emerged. Pop (I'm not talking about contemporary music, artwork music, rock music here, I am talking mainstream 'popular' 'chart singles' music) got a bit samey and TOTP became an embarrassment of miming nonentities. I love to love, but my baby just wants to dance.

Then we had punk, 'new wave' and by 1980 we had the Banshees, U2 and the like on TOTP. The 80s were then fantastic, with album bands gracing the singles charts and independent lable music reaching the masses. That was the peak of 'pop' music for me. There again I wouldn't say I have ever really liked 'pop' and I certainly didn't like 'pop culture'.

But then we had fragmentation, new scenes, dance music ('raves'), 'goth', 'ambient', 'shoegaze', 'grunge', and so 'pop' music as a thing, where TOTP, Smashy and Nicey, and radio 1 made all the rules, simply faded away as a cultural entity.

I just asked our 10 year old who her favourite artist is. 'Katy Perry' apparently.

However, in my book, new music is better now than ever. I listen to 30 or more brilliant new tracks a week. But it is niche, does not require exchanging money for vinyl, and is personal. The idea of 20 million people watching any sort of music programme on the telly and charging out to buy product, with millions of people liking the same stuff, now, is absurd.

So yes, 80s is best for pop, but contemporary music is better now than ever.

Edit: other opinions are of course available

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

It really depends on when you were born and what your 'era' was.

Quite.

There’s plenty of decent music, “pop” or otherwise, in every decade.

 

[Easy 10]

The answer is yes - the 80s was without question the best era for music. It has endured more than any other.
My son is 25, and its by far and away his favourite (I'll admit to some influence, but I hardly twisted his arm).

The sheer variety, the vibrancy, the inventiveness in embracing and using new technology, and the sheer SPUNK of it all

Marvellous.

 

[sams dad]

No, the sixties were the best. Lots of new and innovative ideas, Motown was at it's peak, British bands were producing great music, it was simply the best.

 

[KZNSeagull]

Late 70's to mid 80's was the most inventive and diverse musical time I would think with lots of different genres taking off at that time - punk, new wave, hip hop, rap, ska, electronic and that new romantic bobbins amongst others.

 

[studio150]

an alternative list of the 80s

Nick Berry
Anita Dobson
Black Lace
Coast To Coast
Edelweiss
Frank Kelly
Haysi Fantayzee
Keith Harris & Orville
Letitia Dean & Paul Medford
Stefan Dennis
St. Winifred's School Choir
The Snowmen
Chris De Burgh
Joe Dolce
Jason Donovan.......


Not so great now

 

[albionfan37]

Give me the 90s thanks

 

[zefarelly]

Its easy to say yes to the 80's ( although I wouldn't) because it was the video colour glitzy era, production got over blown and unrealistic , although largely still analogue, so it basically had maximum appeal to a wider audience.

Record companies had shit loads of money to play with too. There was plenty of 'manufacturing' going on.

 

[Juan Albion]

Yes (good thread by someone I have on ignore by the way )

I think the reason is simple. Since the early 60s pop music expanded exponentially, under 25s with money to spend increased exponentially, and a market emerged. Pop (I'm not talking about contemporary music, artwork music, rock music here, I am talking mainstream 'popular' 'chart singles' music) got a bit samey and TOTP became an embarrassment of miming nonentities. I love to love, but my baby just wants to dance.

Then we had punk, 'new wave' and by 1980 we had the Banshees, U2 and the like on TOTP. The 80s were then fantastic, with album bacnds gracing the singles charts and independent lable music reaching the masses. That was the peak of 'pop' music for me. There again I wouldn't say I have ever really liked 'pop' and I certainly didn't like 'pop culture'.

But then we had fragmentation, new scenes, dance music ('raves'), 'goth', 'ambient', 'shoegaze', 'grunge', and so 'pop' music as a thing, where TOTP, Smashy and Nicey, and radio 1 made all the rules, simply faded away as a cultural entity.

I just asked our 10 year old who her favourite artist is. 'Katy Perry' apparently.

However, in my book, new music is better now than ever. I listen to 30 or more brilliant new tracks a week. But it is niche, does not require exchanging money for vinyl, and is personal. The idea of 20 million people watching any sort of music programme on the telly and charging out to buy product, with millions of people liking the same stuff, now, is absurd.

So yes, 80s is best for pop, but contemporary music is better now than ever.

Edit: other opinions are of course available

Oi, you leave Tina Charles out of it. She got a page in my special scrapbook.

 

[Badger]

I have to agree.

I was born in 1984, so it wasn't really my era. Yet I still listen to more 80s music than anything else. I love discovering "new" 80s music on Spotify and adding it to my library.

 

[Swansman]

Most things - movies, music, tv-series, fashion - from the 80s should have stayed in the 80s.

Of course there is good stuff but its a shite decade. I'm sure it was a fun time to live in, but culturally its a shitshow.