Sunday, August 8, 2010

OPINION: The 60's versus the 70's - Who Had Better Music?

Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. closeup...Image via Wikipedia
By Sam Qamand Jack M Mack

The 60's and 70's produced some of the best music ever created. Due to the political and social situations around the world and the rapid development of music and music technology at that time, music groups became megastars and helped shape society as a whole. The big question is: which decade produced the best music?

The 60's

Counterculture in the 60's saw many facets of society reject conventional social norms and no more so than in the world of music. New genres of psychedelic rock music produced some of the greatest musical icons in history and have become a testament to this decade.

The Beatles - You know them, you probably love them. The Beatles was the first pop band and created a sound which has influenced music and culture ever since.

Jimi Hendrix - Arguably the greatest electric guitarist in history and a major influence on the way in which people use the guitar. His ingenuity has greatly affected heavy rock, blues, funk and even hip-hop.

The Rolling Stones - With about 55 albums and 32 top 10 singles The Rolling Stones are one of the best selling rock bands ever.

Bob Dylan - He has been an icon in popular culture for 5 decades and was a major accent of the civil rights movement and the emerging counterculture revolution. Bob Dylan has massively influence countless genres of popular music.

The 70's

The 70's saw the death of some of the 60's greatest stars (Hendrix, Joplin, Morrison - all at the age of 27) and ushered in a rise in the popularity of soft rock and, later in the decade, in a response to this, hard rock.

Pink Floyd - still touring today, they were marked as one of the most influential bands in the 70's progressive rock era. A critically acclaimed and commercial behemoth, Pink Floyd has produced some of the most prized albums in history, the concept albums 'The Dark Side of the Moon' and 'The Wall' among their greatest.

Led Zepplin - One of the founders of hard rock and heavy metal, their brand of heavy guitar driven rock have influence legions of metal and rock bands to this day. The band disbanded in 1980 after the death of their, arguably the greatest drummer in history, John Bonham.

Black Sabbath - The most influential heavy metal band of all time, defined the genre in the 70's. They helped ignite huge bands such as Slayer, Judas Preist, Guns n Roses, Metallica, Pantera, Iron Maiden and Megadeath.

The Ramones - The first punk rock group ever instigated the punk movement and influenced every punk band ever since, and were cited in Spin magazine in 2002 as the second most influential band in history, just behind the Beatles.

Conclusion

The debate goes on. The comparison to modern day music and entertainment can also be made, but with DJ agencies and karaoke hire more common forms of popular entertainment. It is impossible to choose which of these great decades was better as each have helped define practically all music in the following decades (OK, maybe the 60's). Some would say that no decades since have even come close to this period in music history. Which do you think is greater?

Sam Qam is an entertainment writer looking into modern popular pastimes such as karaoke hire and DJ agencies.

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