I feel bad for GenX'ers that missed out on the 60s and 70s.
I feel sad for GenX'ers and millennials that missed out on two of the greatest decades for music. The 60s and 70s.
Our generation had Aretha Franklin, Etta James, James Brown, Beatles, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Joni Mitchell, Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, Jimi Hendrix, Donna Summer, Earth Wind and Fire, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, The Kinks, The Stones, The Doors, Elton John, Velvet Underground and loads more
We saw these legends live during their peak, concert tickets were cheaper, music was the everything to youth culture, we actually brought album on a vinyl format (none of that crappy CDs or whatever the kids call it).
"The problem now is not that there isn’t enough "good music" (define as you wish) being made, but rather that there is so much of it! It’s not on radio or TV, but so what?"
Yes-- there seem to be a lot of Boomers these days who complain about the supposed "lack of good music" who are simply too lazy to do anything beyond turning on a radio! (Not that logging onto Spotify requires much effort!)
@discopants:
"OK Boomer"
As a Boomer, myself, I don't tend to welcome this expression but in this case I have to say the OP fully deserves it!
When the Beatles first came to the states, my parents started off saying things like “you want to buy a record by bugs?” to words I can’t say here! Although my mom ended up liking Carol King and Abba. My sister actually took her to see Mamma Mia and she really enjoyed it.
Boomer here. Yes I regularly went to concerts, relatively cheaply, including The Who, Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, Jimi Hendrix, The Beach Boys, Buddy Guy, Pink Floyd, Albert Collins, Jefferson Airplane, Alice Cooper, Cream, Janis Joplin, The Temptations, Eagles, Bonnie Raitt, etc, etc, etc. I also remember paying 21 cents a gallon for gasoline. Let's not forget that I was making $1.60 to $4.00 and hour during those times, so no, the concerts were not cheap. For me, those were a time of coming of age. Growing up, learning new things, getting new freedoms with a great soundtrack is indeed a great memory. To think that I'm in the only generation to have such an experience would be pompous and closed minded. GenX had great music, spiraling inflation and a generation of great music behind their own...so they had a larger library to choose from for their "coming of age soundtrack". I never have delved deeply into music from the 50's...not my thing. You can keep "good golly miss molly" and the like. If anything genX had it better with the previous music being available. Feeling bad for GenX amounts to looking down your nose at them and placing higher importance on the music of one's own generation over any others. I say BS.
I would welcome any advice you have on new (last 20 years) music that you think is great but under one condition. If you honestly think that anything Dylan has done in the last 20 years is as good as anything he did in his first 10, then don't bother because I know anything you suggest will not be great. I've searched for what I consider to be great new music and I just don't have much luck. Not a fan of hip hop or rap, although I've tried hard to understand both. I've had two people tell me that The Strokes are the last great rock band, so I went and listened to their first album (it's supposed to be their best) all the way through. They use the same mundane, repetitive guitar picking on almost every song, have no backup singers or non-typical rock band instruments, and just generally bore except for the song Last Night. I'm sorry, but one decent song does not make for a great rock band.
You almost make it sound like the new generation does not have access to the old music. Other than concerts they still have all the same access we do. In fact we also have access to all the new music too. That is what make music the incredible medium it is. It is for ever and it is always changing. I will never say one was better than another. Even back in the 70’s and 80’s there was crap I did not like. This is like saying that the 1970 Bears could beat the 2021 bears. It is alway a nice argument but in reality the 2021 team would destroy the 1970 team. Like what you like debate all you want for the fun of it and enjoy the music, any music.
I have friends much, much younger than me and I listen to a lot of their music and they also to mine. I try to keep and open mind and not stay stuck in the same decade or two of recordings. There are many great artists beyond what's played on top 40 radio.
In the 60's,70's, we had to listen to FM stations to hear much of the good stuff. Thank God I had a few friends with extensive record collections who turned me on to stuff I'd otherwise never have known about.
@mwinkc167 Thank you for articulating so well what I could not. I can see how growing up in the era of rock’s formative years was awesome. And I’m very thankful for the music born from it. Fortunately, we have access to all of it and more. I’ve spent a good deal of money on music from that period for my personal library. And I continue to support today’s artists as well. Glad music is a thing we can all enjoy.
I'm with Orgillian. There's nothing like hearing Are You Experienced come out of nowhere and turn the music world upside down. If you hear later stuff first then you miss out and fail to realize the impact that had at the time. If you hear Amy Winehouse (who I do like) before you hear 60's soul then it's not the same. Where are the groundbreaking bands, the innovators, today? Not that there aren't really good musicians around now, but it mostly sounds recycled, or worse--inbred and watered-down.
I would read your post to my 15-year-old, but then I would have to hide the fact that I’m spending time on here. He would laugh at who you are and how you sound, but then I would be embarrassed to be affiliated with a group that has such low standards for admission and protects those that serve hot garbage in flaming dumpsters as a substitute for meaningful discourse.
I was being too hard on the 1980’s. That decade was filled with great music continuing to be made by artists and bands who had emerged during the 70’s---Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe, Ry Cooder, Richard Thompson, Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, Loudon Wainwright !!!, Marshall Crenshaw, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Petty and Springsteen (assuming of course one likes them), REO Speedwagon (just kidding ;-), plenty of others. Not a good decade for Dylan though.
But the decade also witnessed the emergence of a bunch of great new artists, including Los Lobos, John Hiatt, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, The Pretenders (a good live band. I saw them on their first USA tour at The Palomino!), Lucinda Williams, Dwight Yoakam, The Blasters, The Long Ryders, Prince, U2, Dire Straits, REM, The Bangles (surprisingly good live), The Replacements, Journey (just kidding ;-). Not bad!
IMHO this is a rather strange thread. Good music is good music regardless of genre. There is plenty of good music created today. The main problem is there is way more garbage. You use to have to be good to get a record contract. Now anybody with a computer and an ego can pump out files of rubbish. But then you have Arctic Monkeys, Fiona Apple, Haley Williams, Jack White and many more. My kids grew up listening to a vast collection of music. I turned them on to all the older music, they turn me on to new music I did not trip over myself. My kids also listen to Beethoven and Brahms. But the vast masses just listen to the popular music of the day as it has always been.
Urg….. please, do not weep for me. As a former record store owner and musician I missed nothing. In fact I can do you one better- I can cherry pick only what I like as an outsider. I am so happy that punk rolled in and washed all that hippy BS down the tubes where most of it belonged. Ill take the MC5 , Stooges, Radio Birdman, NY Dolls, Heartbreakers, Ramones,Dr. Feelgood etc. over any patchouli drenched love and flowers. Rock and roll is blue collar and should stay that way. FTW
"OK boomer"? Like most everything about the overly privileged generations that came after the boomers, even your putdowns are lazy. Learn to put together a good put down, you conceited, lazy, crybaby about literally everything (don't take that personally, it was meant for all generations after the boomers). Boomers didn't sit around complaining, they worked their butts off so you could have a better life. Even your music is lazy, all stripped down, uninteresting, and totally dependent on not much more than a loud beat.
I was born at the greatest time ever, the birth of NWOBHM, metal, crossover scene /metal/hardcore/punk. My personal fav that, classic 80’s thrash sound,..if your a rivet head,you know the sound. birth of metal, the decline of it from those scuzzy Seattle bands. And the rebirth of metal ......
And I feel bad for my fellow Baby Boomers who, believing there is not music as great as that of their youth, have missed out on the music of Phish, String Cheese Incident, Green Day, Foo Fighters, 10,000 Maniacs, .moe, Keller Williams, Cranberries, G'ovt Mule, Susan Tedeschi and some amazing newer groups like Goose and Turkuaz. Art keeps moving forward and some of the music being created today is so much more nuanced as musicians learn from those before them, just like painters learn and photographers and engineers. Cars today are SO much better than the really cool cars of the 60's and 70's (tho tough to find many U.S. cool cars from the 70's). There's amazing music being created. Get a subscription to Tidal and discover what's going on. A friend of mine says that, "No good music has been written since 1989." He's a nice guy, he's also an idiot. We can argue that the music of the 60's and 70's was incredibly influential, incredibly important, but the best that's ever been made?? Nah, brah, not even close.
I am Gen X. And I love music from 60s-80s. Great music was made then. And I enjoy music from all eras. The problem is during 50s-80s the music production was limited and probably they had quality over quantity. Now-a-days any Tom/Dick/Harry without proper vocals can make music using auto-correct.The point is modern music has lost the "staying power" that the older generation of music had. At least from my observation, this is happening throughout the world. Think of the "most watched" music videos of the past 3-4 years ago. I would not listen to them today. They have been overplayed. During the 60-80s, music was not this overplayed. It was scarce and radio was probably the biggest source, unlike streaming or CD or Napster.
While I think great music was made then, even now there are amazing artists making great music that has the "staying power". In my view though, these artists are not in the main pop music but rather in other genres like Jazz, Folk, Indie, etc.
Why cant modern people enjoy the music and music history of the past? After all, I’m sure you’ve listened to some music that was written 100s of years before you existed. Your post shows a closed-minded viewpoint and I feel sorry for you to have it consider listening to some music that’s not 40-60 years old and studying up on music history many decades could claim the same as you claim for the 60-70s
Still have the records from my parents, and wife’s uncle gave me his box of records when they moved to AZ.
GREw up listening to Waylon, Willie, Clarence Brown, Etta james, muddy waters, T-Bone walker. Lots of blues and old country, thin lizzy, wishbone ash. A handful of British and American rock bands.
Then I was sent a Paul Samson cassette in the very early 80-81 from an old tape trading buddy, Uwe. We traded a lot of stuff, I would send him demos and such from the Tampa, west coast, east coast and Chicago. I still have a small box of the ones that still play, napalm death, Mercyful fate, Samson, tank, Raven, venom, I was smart and dubbed them to cr02 cassettes. Many after only a few listens turned into a warbly mess, I did put the tape in a new cassette case, and a small wipe of oil. Anyway,
I have since recorded the cassettes onto my computer and boosted, cleaned them best I could using audio lab 3.0 burned to taiyo yuden cd-rs’ they don’t sound that great, but it’s the memories I like flooding back when I press play on them. I miss the 79-90 metal. Also, amassed a nice LP collection over the years of rock from the 60’s til 80’s. Used of course, as I wasn’t even an itch in ol Dad’s bag in the 60’s and a wee young to enjoy music in early 70’s. Only child, so I turned to music and books to get me through the evenings. My love for music only grew over the years. Never liked any of the so called hip hop or rap rock/metal stuff. Music after 2000 (a few exceptions) is mostly computer made, the voice help for singers, terrible. The singers of the 60’s and 70’s were talented. Didn’t need help, they sang amazing, with amazing range.
I don’t feel I missed out at all, I grew up listening to all of that music and continue to discover music from that era, as well as music from my generation and the new music. I actually look forward to hearing music for the first time old and new. I wish we had the technology that we do now when I was a kid to discover new music. I could not handle listening to the same thing over and over again. The music from the 60’s and 70’s is great but to judge music based on your most influential years just may cause you to discriminate. The music of the 60’s was influenced by the music that came before it and the music that came after the 60’s was influenced by the 60’s plus what came before. I go to see a lot of live music these days now that I live in a place that supports it and I am always amazed of the level of talent that is out there. Music evolves and so should we pick up some new music and give it a try, you might like it.
I feel sad for GenX'ers and millennials that missed out on two of the greatest decades for music. The 60s and 70s.
Maybe it's more wise to not dwell on things we cannot change, especially if creating a negative emotion like anger, sadness, etc. Perhaps it's better to relish in your good fortune to know of and be able to enjoy your favorite music genres - live in gratitude. The audio gear is much better nowadays. Compassion is an honorable trait that should be used wisely but not unconditionally - guard your mind and heart
Go listen to Stevie Wonder Talking Book, Innervisions, Fulfillingess’ First Finale, Songs in the Key of Life in order.
With the help of Marvin Gaye, those Stevie Wonder albums, changed the game.
And that doesn’t even mention the five greatest rock bands of all time in order (my opinion): 1. The Beatles 2. Led Zeppelin 3. The Who 4. Rolling Stones 5. Queen
How soon they forget. I will take, The Jimi Hendrix Experience any day, over the so called greatest rock (and roll) band or album of all time.
Hendrix was absolutely amazing, but 3 studio albums is not enough quantity to put him above any of the others on my list. And of much, much less importance (maybe even zero significance to some, to me it matters), Hendrix never had a song go higher than 20 on Billboard. People weren't rushing out to buy his albums on the day they were released like they did with The Beatles and the Stones.
"Maybe it's more wise to not dwell on things we cannot change, especially if creating a negative emotion like anger, sadness, etc. Perhaps it's better to relish in your good fortune to know of and be able to enjoy your favorite music genres - live in gratitude. The audio gear is much better nowadays. Compassion is an honorable trait that should be used wisely but not unconditionally - guard your mind and heart"
Stuartk +1 Nostalgia certainly enters picture, I romanticized 60's thru early 70's music into 80's, thought contemporary music crap in comparison. Finally found some local FM stations playing more adventurous contemporary music, turned me on to new genres. Ever since then I've been as much the music fan as I was in those early years. Streaming has turned me on to so much more music than I had access to previously. every listening session can go from nostalgia to formerly unknown artists with mere touch of my tablet. This is the golden age for music fans, and to think it will only get better!
michaelsherry59 thanks for the laugh, I think I’m going to hangout on your lawn for awhile. You sound butt hurt. I sure as hell can state that Aretha, Diana Ross, Ray O, and the rest were within my generation performing. They may have started in your time, but they like all great musicians and singers transcend generations, and luck for Gen X were still performing well into their Golden years with amazing voices, we are the last best generation. We are the last generation that new analog music, bought vinyl and had some great FM radio stations before the destruction caused by satellite and streaming music services. We were the last generation for drive ins and good movies, the last generation to enjoy being a kid, and just living. Gen y will have had some experience but not like we did. Music makes memories and I have many memories seeing some great acts from the 60’s and many I missed due to tragic deaths. Way to keep an open mind Boomer I think your recliner is calling, no crank up that tv so you can hear it and have your microwave meal
Music is like anything else, there are a certain percentage that are timeless. That era i.e. the 60s and 70s had great music and lots of new technology to play with. I would be excited and creative too. But I also hear music from that era that just doesn't interest me anymore. I listen to new/old, experimental/mainstream. Streaming has let me listen to the old stuff that I never listened to seriously. Grateful Dead concerts, listen to a whole album for example. I can name numerous artists.from all decades(and centuries) that are great. So pitting one era vs another is not worth bothering with. Now, we have people putting out You tube videos, more than ever to sort through. And lots of good stuff. Now that I have a nice sytem, it's like listening to it all for the first time. And retired time to do it.
Don’t feel bad for me and my generation. I’m under 40. I have access to all generations of music and if I like the album, I’ll get it in vinyl to listen to on my VPI Avenger Reference with Lyra Etna. I’m not sure it can get much better than that.
schubert7,162 posts08-07-2021 2:51pmMissed out what? Music that ensures a man 60 year old has the brain of a teen-ager forever ?
That's a nice start. They missed out on seeing ELVIS up close for 12 bucks. The music of our youth is the music that changed the world. I can't say the change was for the better, but there'll never be another generation come down the pike that includes an Elvis and The Beatles and Sinatra and Miles Davis, John Coltrane, David Bowie. These young twits have 'Ok Boomer' and 'Netflix & Chill', which I can't say I'm not a little jealous of.
Oh sweet child, 60s and 70s? Give me a break! I feel sorry for you boomers that missed out on the real music of the 30s and 40s.
You post war generation that had everything handed to you on a silver platter will never understand the golden years of swing and big band, the birth of stars like Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. There will never be another period in music that's as influential as those decades were.
Anyone with an iota of taste know for a fact that 30s and 40s were indisputably the best time to be a music fan.
lol Don’t worry about us, gramps!!!We appreciate your music greatly, but also love our generation’s contributions. I do wish I had been able to see led zepp, CSNY, Dead, Woodstock etc...But we created burning man, many other music festivals.
I do think that ease of recording music has made it simple for many to flood the airwaves with mediocrity, making it difficult to spot the modern gems...but we have publications and friends to help with that. I hope every music lover and audiophile pays attention to all generations of music. My daughter listens to Taylor Swift and I have to say - She is a damn good lyricist and i'm not sure if she composes her stuff but it's done very well!
I had this feeling all my life that something was missing. Then this magical moment happened, when I discovered, neigh, was blessed by a sage Boomer's grace and sympathy for my hollow and meaningless genX experience... And lo, my life is just as it was before.
The best year to be born in this country music-wise was 1947. This would make you thirteen in 1960. It is also the worst time to be born draft-wise. Is there a coincidence between the effect of music on culture and politics? I think so.
Wanna feel old? "None of those crappy CD's or whatever kids call (them)". Guess what? Kids have no idea what a CD is. Worse, nearly all of the kids will be alive way after we are dead, and hopefully being composted for our favorite plants. As a 1960's kid, I know what my favorite plant was. Wanna feel really old? I showed a 30 year old a 45 rpm record. He asked, "What is that, an 8-track?" He thought it had to hold 8 songs. If 45's had actually been that high tech!
I did enjoy the music of the 60s and 70s growing up, on the radio, just as the OP did most likely. There are local radio stations and sirius tunein etc that have the same format as we did, today.
I did go to concerts albeit of a later generation and experience that, fwiw.
I came to the realization that concerts are in reality less about the music, and especially large venues are overrated and really not all that.
So, what am I missing? Is your post in reality pulling from the universal nostalgia of youth? Many of us can sympathize.
There is a book out on Steve Goodman called "Facing the Music". Does anyone have it? There is a CD in the back with twenty some rare Goodman tracks. I did the CD for the author Clay Eals. He was in town a couple of years ago. He was invited to give a talk to a college class at Muhlenburg College. The professor is a friend of mine so I was invited to sit in on the talk. Now these two men are the epitome of the sixties. Intelligent, articulate and likeable. BUT, tried as they did to convey how good Steve Goodmans music is and why younger people need to hear it was LOST on the entire class. (Maybe 30 students). Some asked questions and tried to understand and appreciate what was said but there were no converts that day. It was an interesting hour however. Joe
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