Through the years, and some many classic songs coming out of so many albums from different artists, I'd like to know, which was your favourite decade of listening to Rock music?
LOVE Always!
Side-stepping the issue of whether a decade starts with a date ending with 0, or 1, I have to suggest that, for rock music, 1964-1973 were the 10 years that defined my favorite music, starting with Beatlemania and ending just before disco became such an over-played fad.
Otherwise, I'd pick the era of 1961-1970, which marked the transition from 50's pop and doo-wop music to the 60's explosion of newer or re-discovered music forms like folk music, soul, British Rock, and psychedelic rock. What now is referred to as "heavy metal" music had it start in the 1960's with "Born To Be Wild" by Steppenwolf, too.
The advent of newer ways of listening to music, other than the tinny transistor radios of the early 1960's, and the opening, at least in the US, of our FM band (88 MhZ-108 MhZ), with its higher fidelity, meant we could hear much more music in greater fidelity. Here, we were no longer limited to the same 30-40 songs someone "knew" we wanted to hear. It meant that many of us could finally afford to buy our own music choices and players, rather than sharing our parents' stereos.
Something I've always wanted to know, what do you think was responsible for the death of Disco? And do you think the genre can ever make a comeback again in future?
There were many reasons, in my view, that disco died:
1) Over-exposure in the media. No matter where you went, you couldn't help but hear it, whether on radio stations, or even in the news.
2) The monotonous beat often employed in disco gave it an unfortunate "It all sounds alike" quality even though it didn't.
3) There was a perceived elitist, snob attitude among its followers that they were the only people who knew how to dance. I never bothered to learn the various dances that accompanied the music. I din't care to abandon the music I enjoyed for years for what is now just a long-dead fad.
4) Sadly, there was a perception, I've heard, that since disco first became popular in gay bars, that disco was for gays, and not for straights. Whether that was true or not is unimportant to me. I just didn't like it. I don't like rap, and can only take limited doses of older styles of country music. (I can not take blue grass, for example, but, I do like some of the newer forms of country, since it's not too far off from old-time rock music, which, in turn has country music as one of its roots.)
5) I think that it hurt the credibility of many performers,such as the Bee Gees and the Rolling Stones, who made a number of disco-infuenced tunes, only to "abandon ship" once it was clear that disco had died.
6) Sadly, too many people made a mockery of themselves by adopting the clothing styles best left to someone a generation younger. The sight of seeing men in their 70's trying to grow their hair as though they were in their 20's, and while wearing some of the most ridiculous clothes ever seen in the 20th century,is something I hope never to see again. (Imagine a man like Donald Trump, with an even worse comb-over, wearing a pink shirt, green pants, and white shoes and a white belt.) Ugh!
As to whether it can make a comeback, I hope not! :)
I think that it hurt the credibility of many performers,such as the Bee Gees and the Rolling Stones, who made a number of disco-infuenced tunes, only to "abandon ship" once it was clear that disco had died.
It certainly was damaging for the Bee Gees. I know it took them a long time to recover from those years.
I believe it took them a long time to recover back their status, and even when they finally did, it wasn't to their former peek. I most certainly agree with you on those weird and eclectic clothes that were in vogue back then. It makes me wonder who was it that ever started such a movement??
But there were some other band who incorporated Disco into their songs, but weren't actully belonging to the genre, like Earth,Wind & Fire. YOu recall that classic song of theirs September. It's got a disco-like sounding rhythm to it's beats.
Late '60s to late '70's as this was the peak time for Progressive Rock. Bands like Yes, King Krimson, Peter Gabriel's Genesis, Moody Blues, Flower Kings, Strawbs, etc.
Do you still prefer Genesis to when Peter Gabriel was at the helm, or do you prefer their music much when Phil Collins took over?
I would say the '60s as a whole because it encompassed so many different types of music.
It began with Dion's "The Wanderer," Chubby Checker's "The Twist," the Shirelles' "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" and Peter Paul and Mary's "Blowing in the Wind."
It continued with the Beatles "A Hard Days Night," The Rascals' "Good Lovin'," the Mamas and the Papas' "California Dreaming," James Brown's "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" and the Supremes "Back in My Arms Again."
And it ended with the Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love," Jimi Hendrix' "Foxy Lady," the Temptations' "Cloud Nine," Mary Hopkins' "Those Were the Days" and the Doors' "Roadhouse Blues."
Raanan G
I think rock first went on a downward slide around 1972, when many of the established rockers ceased to be creative, much of the new music was just derivative of the old, and too many rockers became self-indulgent with 20-minute solos. This state of affairs continued until around 1978, when the punk and new wave movements breathed new energy into rock.
Disco actually came into being around 1973-74, so yes, it was around that time, but the world at large didn't really hear about it until it exploded in 1975. It came from the Black, Hispanic, Italian-American and gay communities.
Isn't it ironic that the same rock and roll bands/artists who were opposed to the advent of Disco were actually the same ones overbloating Rock?
But how about Springsteen? Wouldn't you agree he helped transend the feeling of Rock?
