# Current top 40 music **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 7, 2016, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-top-40-music/759290 "2016-07-07T05:23:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-top-40-music/759290/101 "2016-07-14T11:18:20Z")
On the other hand…😉 I read in the NYTimes, behind their paywall, about how Justin Bieber has moved his merch line more towards a full fashion label. One of the photos is a sleeveless T from the back with a Metal-Font Bieber logo. On top of that in huge letters is the phrase BIGGER THAN SATAN. :smack: So this generation’s Mick Jagger is Justin Bieber. Okay. (Bieber’s proven himself durable and has solid songs, but is not the Stones) But to me, that says more about Rock’s place in our culture than Music, per se. Fashion and Pop Music see Rock as a genre to reference in a meta way. People see that Bieber is putting on a Rock pose. No different than Maroon 5 reference Moves Like Jagger. Rock is a historical source referenced by style curators when it meets their needs. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-top-40-music/759290/102 "2016-07-14T21:31:03Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > I heart radio was clear channel … So there are even fewer channels than I thought! ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-top-40-music/759290/103 "2016-07-14T22:56:35Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > 80s: D (hair bands and synthesizers, birth of rap) Really? You label the 80’s as the worst decade of music, in part, because of rap? Rap is only the most original new form of music to come out of the second half of the 20th century. Ay caramba. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-top-40-music/759290/104 "2016-07-14T23:01:56Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > Really? You label the 80’s as the worst decade of music, in part, because of rap? Rap is only the most original new form of music to come out of the second half of the 20th century. Ay caramba. Nope, rap was the only bright spot. Hair bands and synthesizers were really, really bad. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-top-40-music/759290/105 "2016-07-14T23:10:44Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Nope, rap was the only bright spot. Hair bands and synthesizers were really, really bad. Honestly, for true Top-40, the 90s were worse. Most of the rebirth of rock bands never really hit the tops of the Billboard charts and there was just a glut of slow jam and boring down-tempo R&B type songs ruling the airwaves. The 90s were awful for Top 40, and I’d put them second worst, if not worst, behind the 70s. I mean, here’s the [heart of the 90s here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Year-End_Hot_100_singles_of_1995). Compare [the middle of the 80s.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Year-End_Hot_100_singles_of_1985) Then the middle of the first decade [of the 2000s](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Year-End_Hot_100_singles_of_2005). Hell, even [2015](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Year-End_Hot_100_singles_of_2015). ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-top-40-music/759290/106 "2016-07-14T23:10:57Z")
Ah, ok. I was about to experience righteous outrage. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-top-40-music/759290/107 "2016-07-14T23:39:33Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Nope, rap was the only bright spot. Hair bands and synthesizers were really, really bad. Yeah, no. There was a lot more to the 80s than hair bands and synthesizers (for one thing, there were still plenty of guitars). Looking at some of the [years’ #1s from the decade](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=744358), I see some pretty solid songs, especially from the first half of the decade. I’m biased because I was a teenager during the 80s, but I enjoy the “top 40” hits from that decade much more than those of subsequent decades. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-top-40-music/759290/108 "2016-07-14T23:41:37Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Honestly, for true Top-40, the 90s were worse. Most of the rebirth of rock bands never really hit the tops of the Billboard charts and there was just a glut of slow jam and boring down-tempo R&B type songs ruling the airwaves. The 90s were awful for Top 40, and I’d put them second worst, if not worst, behind the 70s. I mean, here’s the [heart of the 90s here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Year-End_Hot_100_singles_of_1995). Compare [the middle of the 80s.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Year-End_Hot_100_singles_of_1985) Then the middle of the first decade [of the 2000s](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Year-End_Hot_100_singles_of_2005). Hell, even [2015](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Year-End_Hot_100_singles_of_2015). When I think of 90s radio, I think of Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, and Nirvana. Looking briefly at the billboard charts, it looks like those weren’t charting, I just was listening to rock stations, not pop. So yep, agreed with your point. I stand corrected. > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Yeah, no. There was a lot more to the 80s than hair bands and synthesizers (for one thing, there were still plenty of guitars). Looking at some of the [years’ #1s from the decade](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=744358), I see some pretty solid songs, especially from the first half of the decade. > > I’m biased because I was a teenager during the 80s, but I enjoy the “top 40” hits from that decade much more than those of subsequent decades. I was also a teenager in the 80s (born in 1970) and I thought 80s pop was utter dogshit. Pet Shop Boys, Howard Jones, Madonna, Winger? Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-top-40-music/759290/109 "2016-07-14T23:54:40Z")
I still like “Dizzy” Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, & “Duke” Ellington. But hey! What do I know. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-top-40-music/759290/110 "2016-07-15T00:24:07Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > When I think of 90s radio, I think of Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, and Nirvana. Looking briefly at the billboard charts, it looks like those weren’t charting, I just was listening to rock stations, not pop. So yep, agreed with your point. I stand corrected. Yeah, you had to listen to the alternative stations for that. Which is exactly what I did, too. > [@](#): > > I was also a teenager in the 80s (born in 1970) and I thought 80s pop was utter dogshit. Pet Shop Boys, Howard Jones, Madonna, Winger? Ugh. I’m with you on Winger; don’t know Howard Jones by name, but Pet Shop Boys and Madonna were awesome, so our mileage varies, I guess… ---
**Author:** ![Jamicat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c67d28/32.png) [@Jamicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamicat)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2016, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-top-40-music/759290/111 "2016-07-17T19:27:09Z")
Just a few gems to ponder… The pretty reckless. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=818PmUa-BGE) cherri bomb. alice in chains apocalyptica There is stuff out there. It’s just not very popular on the radio circuit anymore. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2016, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-top-40-music/759290/112 "2016-07-17T20:13:03Z")
Yeah, but that’s what we’re complaining about. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-top-40-music/759290.md?page=5)