Perhaps this will inspire a Worst Year In Music thread.
I think he simultaneously inspired and killed that thread, even before it started!
Tell me this is a woosh.
I can’t beleive people have headed 1968 and 1969, but not 1967:
Albums
Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow
The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour
Love - Forever Changes
The Who - The Who Sell Out
Cream - Disraeli Gears
The Moody Blues - Days Of Future Passed
Plus albums from The Byrds, Rolling Stones (x3!!!), The Kinks, The Beach Boys (x2) and Bob Dylan. The Beatles’ Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane single was also released, which is a good contender for the best A-Side/B-Side coupling ever.
Debuts
The Doors - The Doors
Jimi Hendrix: Are You Experienced?
The Grateful Dead - The Grateful Dead
Pink Floyd - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground and Nico
Procol Harum - Procol Harum
Jimi Hendrix and The Doors both went on to release their second albums later in the year! Janis Joplin and the Holding Co’, David Bowie and The Beegees also made their initial releases in '67.
And the worse year? Definately something from the late 80s, late 90s or the 20 hundreds. I’d say 1986, the year of my birth, is not a bad effort.
I think I might toss a vote in for 1971, the year of:
Allman Brothers - Live at Fillmore East
Black Sabbath - Master of Reality
Elton John - Tumbleweed Connection
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV
John Lennon - Imagine
Little Feat - Little Feat
Paul McCartney - Ram
The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers
Cat Stevens - Teaser and the Firecat
Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells a Story
The Who - Who’s Next
The Who - Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy
The Doors - L.A. Woman
Van Morrison - Tupelo Honey
George Harrison - The Concert for Bangladesh
Hey, Sam, you forgot Aqualung - Jethro Tull.
It has to be.
You’ll note I did say '66 or '67. You have a strong case album-wise with '67, but looking at singles I may have to lean '66, which was really a breakthrough year in substance and innovation (for example Revolver has all of the Sgt. Pepper tricks of the trade although the latter album is usually more critically acclaimed).
You’ll never be able to come up with a 2 year span of music that saw more innovation; compare '65 hits to '68. Huge difference. Now compare, say, '80 to '83? '72 to '75? '00 to '03? etc. …
Not if someone can come up with a worse year. I hereby issue said challenge.
I only read the first few posts-- but I have a question. I am of a certain age where it is only natural that songs from around '73 to '78 stick out in my mind as special.
Yet they seemed so damn good… Is it just the feeling I experienced growing up? Or is that period a bonanza of songs for everyone: even those older (50 or 60) and also those that are younger (up to 30 or so). Was it really that good? Or am I a sentimental sucker?
Damn… the stuff sure seems good…
All I know for certain is nobody could possibly claim any year post-1990 was anything worth remembering in terms of music.
I wasn’t alive in the 70s, but it is my favorite decade of music. So it isn’t just those who grew up then who like it. For particular years, though, I think the top nine would be:
1967, 1968, 1969, 1973, 1977, 1988, 1991, 1997, 1998
Having thought about it some more, I’m leaning towards 1991 as the best. Spiderland, Loveless, Laughing Stock, Yerself is Steam, Goat, Screamadelica, Trompe Le Monde, Nevermind, The Real Ramona, Bandwagonesque, Green Mind, Blue Lines…
So 67-69 is the best 3 year span (by far), the 70s the best decade, and 91 the best single year.
Don’t forget Metallica, Ten, Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Achtung Baby, Badmotorfinger, Use Your Illusion, and Out of Time, and all the great songs on them.
What? You don’t like “Shiny Happy People”?
By the way, I seem to remember hearing about something called “The Osmonds” that was apparently big in the 70s…
Yet another reason for a Barfy Smiley :
:
The point is a good one - I wouldn’t include anything past 1974 in my “best years” list. The 70’s brought us “Kung Fu Fighting”, “Seasons in the Sun”, etc. so I can’t nominate the decade for anything. If a decade can be defined as any ten-year span, I’d nominate 1965-1974.
Even though I am a kid raised by the '90s, I would definitely have to say my favorite years in music were the late '60s. Those, too, were my favorite years in modern American politics, history, and culture. The summer of love seals the deal for me.
It’s silly to judge the music of a time period by listening to the bad music. All I care about is the good music - I don’t have to listen to the bad. Also, bad music is more easily forgotten, which means that if you judge based on bad music you are more likely to favor older times, of which you have forgotten most of the bad music.
Based solely on the good music, I’d say the top four years are: 1991, 1967, 1988, 1973.
I do agree with your optimum 10 year span pretty much though; I would just shift it to 1966-1975.
The thing about more recent releases is that post, say, 1991, popular music has become so splintered that it is hard to get any kind of consensus as to what is “great”. 2000, for example, had a bunch of really good releases, but my guess is that a list of them would be received by a collective “huh?” from most people. Or maybe not… here’s 10 arguements for 2000 not being the worst year of music ever…
Sleater-Kinney - All Hands On The Bad One
The White Stripes - De Stijl
Yo La Tengo - And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out
Radiohead - Kid A
Godspeed You Black Emperor! - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven
Fu Manchu - King Of The Road
Giant Sand - Chore Of Enchantment
Johnny Cash - American III: Solitary Man
Neko Case & Her Boyfriends - Furnace Room Lullaby
Jurassic 5 - Quality Control
That said, I don’t think 2000 was the best year in music either… my vote(s) would go to 1979, 1967 and/or 1984
Both of the songs you mention are from 1974.