I feel bad for GenX'ers that missed out on the 60s and 70s.

I’m listening now to a stream of the Temptations’ "My Girl". It was "new music" when I first heard it in 1965, I was 13 years old. It meant little more to me then than a good dance/party tune. Cool tune, but, eh, no big deal. That is definitely NOT my experience with that song, or any of that music, today...steaming in 2021 from Tidal off my macbook to an iFi hip dac to my Grado Hemps (not my main setup..just working at the desk). Good God...I almost missed it then, and I was living in it. It just washed over me. But today, old salty dog that I am now, I can appreciate it’s art and it’s genius. I was too inexperienced back then to fully recognize it. And I certainly didn’t have the tech then I have now. I listened to that record on 45 rpm, spinning on my mom’s Sears/Roebuck turntable, embedded in a hulking piece of furniture. I’m not so sure if youngster’ have missed out, but I realize today I didn’t always know what gold I had in my hands back then either. Ah..the paradox of finally figuring it out, but nearer the end of everything. Thank God for these recordings...in whatever decent format they can be found. I use them all, but prefer vinyl, though I’m not hung-up on which format is best. Just listening to all that wonderful genius again, appreciating it. Bliss.

I'm 70 years old and as far as I'm concerned, there's been plenty of wonderful music that I love and plenty of rubbish in any decade you care to mention. If I start going on about how 'today's music is no good', please remind me not to be my parents. 

Yes I was born in jan 1952...my grandfather always had the radio on.There was always music in my house.My uncle used to tape American band stand after school it was on every week day,and he had a Reel to Reel.My Stepfather had a nice Rca stereo ,then have it to my grandfather and he bought a Motorola  stereo with reverb.OMG the Beatles in Reverb,Four Seasons ,Stones.He used to play it for hours on Sat and Sunday mornings,.Bway show songs ,Dean Martin ,Nacy Wilson, Nate King Cole.I wasn't aloud to play  at it ,but when he went out lol...my music played.I remember going to a neighbors house and seeing his AR speaker a amp and tuner ,reel to reel and turn table ,man it was crazy nice...That got me from high school until now I have been buying audio equipment. But ,going to concerts were so cheap 4 or 5 bucks .I lived in Astoria, Queens NY ,right over the bridge to Manhattan. There was music played live every where.What ever you wanted Classical,jazz,rock of soul.To be a teenager in the 60s,and 70s was Great.

@recluse: have you heard Mary Gauthier, Iris Dement, Lucinda Williams, or Julie Miller? There are dozens more like them, but they're not on radio or TV. You have to dig to find them. Check out the No Depression website and/or print zine.

And boomers missed out on the 80s 90s.  🙄

If you think you've missed out then you got stuck in your teens, like most people, and haven't kept pace with the great music that followed.

Remember, the 60's gave you a lot of songs like Yummy, Yummy, Yummy by Ohio Express which reached #4 on the charts. Pop was just as bad then as it is now. And "album rock" is also generally better now. The difference is the choices now are exponential compared to back then. You don't have to wait for a label to pick you up. Anyone with a $300 PC can release a well-produced album. You just have to dig a lot more to find the gems. For instance, I think the best rock guitar album in the last 30 years is Nick Johnston's Remarkably Human, and if I'm not mistaken, it's a self-release. So only other guitar players know about it.

It was the backdrop of what happened during the 60s and 70s that made the music of that era so memorable, along with what were at the time, some technological advances that helped fuel the fire (FM stereo, the lowly cassette), along with live events like Woodstock and the Monterrey Pop Festival. Social upheaval drove much of what made the music probably more relevant than it's been since.....the Kennedy/King/Kennedy assassinations, the Vietnam war, man landing on the moon (take that Elon Musk/Richard Branson!), the Kent State shootings, and Watergate all happened within a ten-year span. Throw in the deaths of some of the major rock-stars (Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Duane Allman and Jim Croce) in the early 70s and the hits just kept on comin'. A big cultural touchstone of the mid-60s that I left out was the Civil Rights Act, maybe the most important single event of that era. Make no mistake - the music played a big role in helping everyone survive that seemingly continuous $hitstorm, and even helped inform our moral responses to the madness. This is why the music from that period remains in the forefront of the memories of those who endured that particularly horrendous time-frame.

@jssmith - have to agree that pop music of every decade has/does suck. Pablum doesn't get better over time. I was born in '56 and was in high school before we even had an FM station - and the Rexall Rangers fire bombed it for playing that 'devil music'.  So...there was that as well. I happen to think much of the best music did come from that era, and by the 70's we started having some great concerts and venues locally. Saw Tull doing Benefit and later Aqualung, shows of a lifetime there (although we saw Ian Anderson probably 10 years ago with an incredible young violinist - Lucia Miccarrelli - doing a version of Kashmir that was to die for as well!). Also saw Led Zeppelin doing the second album, only to watch Bonham pass out halfway through the drum solo on Moby Dick...just the 3rd song, Clapton and Muddy Waters together, sound system so bad it was unlistenable.  So it was definitely a mixed bag back then. I listen to the music still, and a great deal in between, and in the last several years I have also become a huge fan of symphonic metal ala Nightwish (we have tickets to their LA show in May '22), Within Temptation, Epica, Evanescence, Theater of Tragedy, Sirenia, Delain, etc. Still a lot of great music being made today.  If, however, all I had to listen to were broadcast stations, and their Pop drivel, I wouldn't bother.  Now, if I can talk the wife into Wacken in the next couple of years...

@tostadosunidos,

There's a ton of 'new' lions out here in music. You just have to be open to hear them. For example, Erykah Badu, who's voice is hauntingly familiar to Lady Day's, Billie Holiday. Ericka can sing her face off. 

Esperanza Spalding. A massive young talent who can record in any genre of music.

D'Angelo, who single handedly brought back music soul back to music with him reintroducing us to the Fender Rhodes and the band actually playing and singing.

I feel bad for baby boomers missing out on their youth in the 80s. The generation that completely changed the music. Often referred to as Rocks First Wave.  The only thing that was good from the 70s was the birth of punk rock. Disco sucked, and the Beatles were horrendous. Rock was ok.
80s saw the birth of a new sound, New Wave, HairBands, Metal, Pop, post punk, Country music superstars,  raves, Acid House music, electronica, EDM, Rap becoming main stream by the end of the decade to name a few. Arena Rock was takin to the next level with better technology , stages, lighting, and special effects bringing the band closer to the audience than ever before.  Having freedom of music to listen on your own terms with Creating mix tapes then moving to CDs and it’s increased dynamics and bit rate and increased audio quality.  Newer and better technology for speakers, amps and CDs and cassette players. The 808 Synthesizer Was at the heart of this new sound and could be heard in any genre.  The birth of MTV that took music to the next level and completely redefined pop culture . 1982, 1983 the most influential years in music and for this new decades wave of music.  Then the clubs.  Bass that made your hair stand up on your neck, the eclectic style and nature that spawned more top artists than any decade combined. Period.

The 60s and 70s……..well you can have it with your 8 tracks, horrible fuzzy audio, shitty sound equipment, disco, and racist culture. I thank God I didn’t experience that time period.  It’s 2021 and the basic sound of music still closely resembles all from the 80d. So profound that we are still waiting for Rocks second wave to come along.

The initial threads wording is somewhat antagonistic, many responses are crotchety.

Music appreciation has nothing to do with when someone was born or even what system they use.  It has to do with passion.

I appreciate the constructive aspects of this forum and certainly some of the banter.  Though I'm not sure how much is the banter is really friendly after this thread and some others.

I’m a boomer. Started listening to Motown and Elvis along with the stuff our parents listened to... Perry Como Dean Martin Eddy Arnold Tony Bennet... still singing... Johnny Mathis Andy Williams and so on. Then The Carpenters came out ... what a voice. As I matured into the early 70’s I discovered stereo... blew me away. THEN I discovered Led Zep BOC Pink Floyd Bruce Springsteen and on and on. Wow what a time. Yes later generations did miss out on the time... the lifestyle and the lack of cell phones and social media. We laugh and say our social media site was a beer keg in the woods. The link below is Live Aid. My girlfriend who is now my wife of 32 years were there. I took the picture.
https://www.getdieselpower.com/gallery/upload/2019/07/14/20190714064426-1d2f05de.jpg
Seen many many concerts including Yes Peter Frampton and Gary right at the JFK stadium in Philly with 120,000 other people... same venue Live Aid was at. Also same venue Peter Frampton / Lynyrd Skynyrd / The J. Geils Band / Dicky Betts / Great Southern

Great times for sure. Partied a little much though LOL

Check out the concert list of JFK Stadiums 103 concerts starting in 1966 with the Beatles. I posted the last page of the list first because that’s how it listed.
https://www.concertarchives.org/venues/jfk-stadium?page=5#concert-table

I was born in the 60’s, and you are welcome to keep listening to the same old classic rock crap - if I never here another Zeppelin, or Eagles song again, I’ll be perfectly happy. There is so much music out there, that it blows my mind that classic rock stations still exist. Listening to “Whitest Boy Alive”at the moment.

"And boomers missed out on the 80s 90s.  🙄"

LOL - sorry to break it to you, but we're still here. Didn't miss them, and don't miss them!

@khughes: Being almost as old as you, I can relate. Back in the day my first album was Black Sabbath's Paranoid. And I went to concerts by Heart, Kiss, Styx, Bob Seger, etc. I still listen to some old stuff like Sabbath, Trower, Rush, Zeppelin, The Beach Boys, etc., as well as owning blu-rays of Rush, Styx and Sabbath concerts, but I didn't get stuck in that era. In fact, I added a just-released death metal album to my library this morning.

I'm familiar with all the bands you mentioned and their stunning vocalists. Speaking of vocalists, how many "stuck" people will never discover the stunning vocals of Floor Jansen, or Disturbed's David Draiman singing The Sound of Silence, or Oceans of Slumber's Cammie Gilbert singing The Banished Heart, or the unique ethereal haunting vocals of Trees of Eternity's Aleha, or the shock value of Tatiana from Jinjer on the song Pisces (Live Session video)? 

These days I lean toward death metal with some groove (Aeon - Aeons Black), heavy non-monotonous thrash (Warfect - Exoneration Denied, Sylosis - Conclusion of an Age) or epic doom (Trees Of Eternity - Hour of the Nightingale, Draconian - Sovran). Along with some tangents to non-metal artists like Buckethead, David Maxim Micic, Pentatonix and Sade.

The question and the responses just seem to prove that this is a venue for old men…..   Will this hobby survive when all the old men die off?

The earlier 'catagories' rattled off by some self appionted judge who would only claim "classical music" leaves important questions unanswered:  When the London Symphony Orchestra or the Frankfurt Ensemble or Pierre Boulet in Paris play Frank Zappa compositions along side Jimmy Carl Black what "kind" of music is it?  There are only 2 pure types, Good Music and Not Good Music, with many stops inbetween.  It's just like penguins in bondage, boys!

We're all "self appointed judges", aren't we? ;-)

"The question and the responses just seem to prove that this is a venue for old men…..   Will this hobby survive when all the old men die off?"

Hate to be a bearer of bad news, but when we old Boomers die off, they'll be another generation of old guys right behind us. . . which means even you will be old, one day. 

 “ I Feel bad for Gen - X er’s “. It sounds more like “ I need to put you down, so I can feel good” . But you probably had to walk to school both ways uphill through the snow . I was Driving down Highway 99 last Thursday from Fresno to Kingsburg with a former member of Tower of Power . We spent the whole trip reminiscing about Bay music from the 60’s and 70’s . The only person we felt sad for was  Bruce Conte , as he recently passed away . But since I didn’t have a TT in my Denali  , I had to listen with my modified Bose system to some of that crappy Tidal/CD stuff . I remember buying gas at .26 per gallon , but I made $ 1.35 per hour. I think newer music like Collective Soul, Pink, and The Killers is pretty good . Happy sniveling , Mike B. 

"But you probably had to walk to school both ways uphill through the snow"

Yes, with only half a small banana for breakfast and rabid wolverines to fend off along the way. . .   

@jasonbourne52  I agree.  Classical covers many centuries of music.  Jazz 20th C. is close (love the 50's & 60's straight ahead and fusion type).  Pop music, musicals with singable melodies until the 1990s.  Sure, I like rock but from the 50s to the 80s.  Current rock rarely sounds like music to me.  Everything up to hip hop and rap can enthrall me.  Hearing music performed by great musicians of great music live in a great venue is the ultimate.  That's why classical and some jazz performances are still my preference with current rock having lost it's appeal. 

Born in '52. Loved what I heard in the 60s and 70s. Love what I hear today from Derek Trucks, Keb Mo, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Amos Lee, Bela Fleck and Sierra Hull. Not a fan of rap or hip hop, but we live in an era of great musical diversity and great live studio recordings.

My sons are Gen X at ages 43 and 37 and they heard all of the 60s and 70s greats on our home stereo...and stood on the wings of Festival stages as kids watching David Grisman, Johnny Cash and Emmy Lou Harris.

In the day, they had an SA5500 II Pioneer system and Bose 601s in our 1980s household...and when they visit dead old dad now, the grand kids groove to my throwback pro audio rig made from AE Techron serviced Crown PS 200s (rescued out of local churches) driving a mellow medium room size array of Onkyo towers and a REL T5i sub on one floor...and a similar system on the other floor with a TEAC 400U managing the content into some throwback 1990 Cerwin Vega bookshelves and a high output connected plate amp powered Jensen sub.

Two generations behind us and they haven't missed a thing :)

Elvis, The Doors, Aretha Franklin, The Ramones, Drake. Who will remember who they are in 200 or 300 years?
Beethoven will sail through the centuries without missing a beat.

If you were born in 55’, as I was, it was a truly special time. Color TV and home computers had yet to be invented. Who remembers watching Gunsmoke on Sunday nights on a BW television. Much of the music created in my generation was dictated by the times. Frank Sinatra still crooned throughout the 60’s. If you were into Motown, and Jazz, as I was, you developed a special appreciation for the musicians of this period. Miles didn’t peak until BB in 1969. Coltrane was at his height in the early 60’s. There were so many musicians from RNR to Motown! Motown was created by a man who had the foresight to explore the best jazz artist’s performing in his communities nightlife and employ them to create an in house band like no other. Without them, there would not have been the success of Motown. And I enjoyed the musical ride from 1960, just before the Beatles arrived on the scene, through the wave upon wave of musicians with names like The Beach Boys, Lovin Spoonful, Janis Joplin, Otis Redding, on and on, and on. The music scene for a 17 year period was special and endless! It’s the finest musical period in history defined by one thing. Musical hits. We had hits. Besides the gifted Whitney Houston in the nineties there’s been no true hits. Music today has no such movement. And it’s not defined by the times in which we lived. Tower of Power, War, Santana. I could go on but what’s the point, you know who they were. We lived with a simple AM radio and listened to these hits, one after another. Carol King, Carly Simon, Aretha! It seems there were thousands of artists who created genuine hits. Today’s music, not so much.

Not to be argumentative @coltrane1, but I must disagree. My first concert was The Beach Boys in the summer of ’64, The Beatles the following year. After that it was up to San Francisco to see The Dead and The Airplane in Golden Gate Park, then a LOT of shows at The Fillmore Auditorium (Cream’s first USA tour), Winterland (Hendrix, The Kinks), The Avalon Ballroom (The Who), The Berkeley Community Theater (The Band), etc.

Yet there is music being made today that is as good as I’ve ever heard. Rodney Crowell, John Hiatt, Marty Stuart, Jim Lauderdale, Los Lobos, Emmylou Harris, Mary Gauthier, Iris Dement, Buddy & Julie Miller, Lucinda Williams, Gillian Welch, hundreds of others. And that’s just in the Americana genre! No, you don’t hear them on radio or see them on TV, but with a little effort they are easy to find.

@hshifi 
 
If you were born in 1970 then you still missed out. Half of the acts you mentioned such as Queen and Elton John heyday ended when you were like 5 years old in 75. 

You still missed out young'un

@punkrock67

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

Seeing them live in concerts doesn’t mean they are part of your generation, by this logic Elvis Presley is part of my era (because I saw him live when he was way past his heyday) and he was just seen as this guy who made bad movies and his music was on a decline then.

The 60s acts I mentioned such as The Beatles, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Jimi Hendrix, Velvet Underground, Otis Redding, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sly Stone etc etc had their peak (keyword peak) before you were even born. You had to be there to actually say they were part of your generation to have experienced their impact.

I’m sorry to say but you simply missed out. Seeing them live in concerts years after their prime ended and when their artistic decline happened doesn’t count. Music is generational.

The Beatles peak was until Let It Be (you would have been 3 years old in 1970), Aretha Franklin’s peak was from 66-69 which we both know you certainly missed out. Jimi Hendrix died before you could even speak.

Now I understand the jealously. Maybe if you were born earlier than 67.

@bdp24, no disrespect but there will never be the number of hit records there were between 62’ and ‘75. Observe the number of Motown’s hits. Black music today no longer contributes to pop hits, when in the 60’s it did. If you have to search for a hit, it’s not a hit. End of story. But I can’t understand anyone comparing the music of the 60’s to today’s music. If you were born in the 50’s you were exposed to the real deal. If you weren’t you simply have no idea how big the music scene was. 

@coltrane1 I agree with you there. That's what I've been saying, GenX'ers wouldn't know what they missed out no matter how many times they watch it on YouTube, buy DVDs or buy records. They had to be there to truly grasp it 64-75 was the best period to be a music fan. Motown, real rock music, funk, reggae, pop and many more. 

If you were born between 67-70 you simply missed out

@michaelsherry59, I feel it’s laughable to suggest one can simply listen to the music and identify with the times. That’s like how many steps removed from the actual experience? No. If you wanted to experience the music you had to experience the scene first hand. And if you didn’t, as you said, you missed out. 

@coltrane1 I agree with this. It was a cultural event, we were spoilt then. We had it all every musical genre was at its peak and the talent pool was just incredible. 

@ms59, yes, even a group called the Mamas and the Papas had mega hits. Where’s the next California Dreamin?

I feel sorry for Boomers that think that good music was only during the 60’s and 70’s…

Every decade has had good music…and bad.

@bkmaxey - I agree with you.

Though I do feel for those that only know a connected world - the internet and social media.

The music industry seems so completely gamed now that it’s difficult to come up organically through talent. You could be the most talented song writer in the world, but if you’re not on social media and have a big following, you don’t really stand a chance.

I feel fortunate to have grown up in the 80s and 90s around glam rock, metal, grunge, hip hop and rave culture and skateboarding. And the vinyl scene and building car sound systems etc.

But too be sure, any era where musicians could rock up to a proper studio, press the most amazing wax and then never be heard from again because a brand new scene was in full swing - and there was real participation and identity (no phones, no worries) was something special. And I fear my son will never experience that.

Gen X'er here.....I believe (of course I wasn't there) that a lot of the music from the last 60s thru early 70s were partially (mostly??) inspired by the social changes going on at the time. A large change in society translated into great music.

That said, I am a little disappointed with the music of today with what is going on in the world and society. I would think that it would inspire better music like what happened in the late 60s and early 70s.

Hope that makes sense.

@zerofox, your comments are spot on!!! You’d think with global warming there’d be such a movement of songwriters. Mums the word. 

Remember in 1971 Marvin Gaye sang about Ecology? Well, that’s now come to pass, and still not a word. What the heck does this generation stand for?

Yeah we lived through it but were now old men....they have it ag there finger tip,and are still young....we bought,lps,8trs,cassettes, reel to reels,vhs,laser disc,dvds,blue rays....we spent a fortune trying to find the right sound...they don't have to...most of the other crap is long gone....

A Chinese couple, born in 1974. Western Rock fans in this region Is neglected， I'm very surprised myself for into the discussion area .
One of the few Chinese rock music fans like me, our rock enlightenment comes from a special thing called " Saw-Gsah ", from the early 1990 s ， Large scale Inventory processing from the American music industry. ！The darkness of the industry chain！！(if someone is interested in the industrial chain, it is worth particularize, I can try my best to explain to you, but not sure whether to get your understanding) 。

Can i say that: i  never "missed out on" 60s/70s, As an outsider？

Had Dad & Moms records.   

Going back to the original post. The OP saw the Velvets live? That’s what’s being said. I’d appreciate some clarity on that. First time round seems unlikely. Comeback tour, or, just a name casually thrown in to sound impressive? Etta James? Hmm. Does she belong on that list? One great album at best. The OP also apparently saw the Beatles. 

I found the OP incredibly patronising. I’d guess few Gen X’ers look at people like the OP and feel sorry for them because of all the recent great music they’ve missed but equally it seems likely to me that the OP most likely didn’t see most of those artists either.

It’s pretty obvious to me what the OP meant; “being alive and receiving stuff like ANY Beatles album, ANY Miles Davis album, ANY Dylan album, ANY Charles Mingus album, ANY Stevie Wonder album, ANY Bowie album, ANY Ornette Coleman album, ANY Stooges album, ANY Motown single, ANY Velvet Underground album, ANY Sly Stone album, Pet Sounds…(my goodness we could go on and on) is something people born in the late-60s-and-up missed out on.”

As I kid born in ‘82, even as a 9/10-year-old kid in the early ‘90s, I KNEW already I had missed out.  I knew my parents had MLK, Malcom X, counter-culture movement, and the best music.  As I got older, more mature and more learned, I realized I missed out on waaaay more than that.  When I was a kid I figured the only thing my generation had was Michael Jordan.  
Looking back, I’m not sure I was so far off.

Belive me, Nirvana is the reason I ever got into music in the first place and I could wax rhapsodically about any number of great artistic works from the early ‘90s until today.

I don’t think it’s anything to get one’s panties in a bunch over if someone says, “yeah…Beat movement, watching the process of the formation of the entire universe of popular music and filmmaking unfold in real time, from James Brown to Run-DMC and everything in between, from Federico Fellini to David Lynch and everything in between…that was probably better than the ‘90s, ‘00s, and ‘10s.”

I have to say those were the days, I grew up in Ann Arbor MI, counterculture, New Left, intellectuals. 1967, Summer of Love, I saw it first hand as young adolescent, certainly spoke to me. Observed a novel non-conformist way to live, has greatly influenced life choices ever since.

 

Music surely played huge role in the zeitgeist of those times, can't even begin to list all the great concerts I attended over those years!

 

Replaying those times is now only nostalgia, my music horizons have expanded so much from those days, still finding both new and old recordings that amaze. Between the ever increasing sound quality of my audio system and new discoveries I find with streaming, these are the days!

I know a fellow and he seems pretty believable, says he went to a friend's house and low behold Jimi Hendrix showed up and they  smoked a joint together. Yes I smoked a joint with Hendrix is what he says. I want to say somewhere in New York? I'm assuming this is before he got famous?  I never got anymore details and never asked again but I'm thinking I will.  Or maybe a lot guys lay claim to this? I'm sure Jimi smoked with thousands of folks. Lot of us missed out. 

As long as there are those who do not recognize the difference between objective and subjective, this thread will go on and on and on. . . with people continuing to talk past one-another.  

 

go backwards towards the source-Classical and everything in between, there is ENDLESS discovery to be heard.

A friend of mine recently asked me why I didn’t expand my musical horizons by embracing new music. I told him I could discover "new" music without listening to anything recorded after 1995. Just yesterday, on this forum, I was made aware of a Tower of Power album from the 1970s that I had never heard. I agree with the OP. For contemporary music, the 60s and 70s were the golden age.

As long as we have ears, the human race will listen to music; right now my left ear is playing back Gimme Shelter by the RS and the right ear is playing back Schubert's  String Quintet .....not sure which will win out.......oh wait the Rolling Stones are being shoved out by Band-Maid's Obsession......fickle brain......

Brings to mind that wonderful line from Keenan Thompon on SNL, mocking grumbling Boomers and their whiny Millenial children: "I’m Gen X.  I just sit on the sidelines and watch the world burn.”