# I was born in 1979. What awesome music did I miss? (60s/70s music)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-in-1979-what-awesome-music-did-i-miss-60s-70s-music/403972>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [May 13, 2007, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-in-1979-what-awesome-music-did-i-miss-60s-70s-music/403972 "2007-05-13T23:56:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Gozu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gozu/32/6615_2.png) [@Gozu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu)\
**Post date:** [May 13, 2007, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-in-1979-what-awesome-music-did-i-miss-60s-70s-music/403972/1 "2007-05-13T23:56:58Z")

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I grew up listening to Michael Jackson and Madonna and was never really into the music scene. I was into videogames and books. I didn’t have a walkman, I had a gameboy. I’ve never even paid money to go to a concert. Most of my exposition to music came from the radio and sporadic exposure to mtv during my summer vacations.

My music collection is a mishmash of memorable songs, anything from the mediocre to the great. Here is a random 12-song selection from my itunes Party Shuffle list:

-Fields of Gold (Sting)  
-I am a man of constant sorrow (“O Brother, Where Art Thou” movie soundtrack)  
-Viva Las Vegas (Elvis Presley)  
-Ghetto Superstar (Pras f/mya & O.D.B)  
-Djobi Djoba (Gypsy king)  
-Smooth Criminal (Alient Ant Farm)  
-Dinosaurs Will Die (NOFX)  
-Butterfly (Aqua)  
-Circle of life (Elton John)  
-Self Esteem (Offspring)  
-No Diggity (Blackstreet)\*\* \<— Why do I like this song so much?\*\*.  
-Gangasta’s Paradise (Coolio)  
The only albums I have that predates the 80s are Bob Marley’s. Since my aquisition of an iPod and my use of music enhancing products such as good speakers, headphones and _others_, I have come to believe that I am living in mortal sin. No more. I am yours to save.

So what are some of the greatest songs of the 60s and 70s I ought to check out? Please don’t just recommend whole albums. Recommend invididual songs. I like variety so I’m not going to impose any conditions but if your favorite tracks are obscure ones, please mention it so I can configure my search accordingly. \*\*I vow to listen to all the tracks I can find. \*\*

All countries and languages are welcome. I understand spanish, french and arabic but I don’t need to understand the lyrics to enjoy a a nice voice and a good melody. (I didn’t understand the english songs I grew up listening to and I enjoyed them just fine).

I’ll try to come back and let you know which songs made it to my favorites list. I can’t say I’m a set of virgin ears or that I won’t be biased by previous exposure but the results might be interesting.

As usual, thank you for your time.

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**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-in-1979-what-awesome-music-did-i-miss-60s-70s-music/403972/2 "2007-05-14T00:00:56Z")

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Might I recommend some [Motown.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=8568730&postcount=1)

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**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-in-1979-what-awesome-music-did-i-miss-60s-70s-music/403972/3 "2007-05-14T01:05:27Z")

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All of it. IMHO, music hit its peak in 1977. 😉

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**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-in-1979-what-awesome-music-did-i-miss-60s-70s-music/403972/4 "2007-05-14T02:31:34Z")

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Don’t worry. The sixties wasn’t a big decade for music.

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**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-in-1979-what-awesome-music-did-i-miss-60s-70s-music/403972/5 "2007-05-14T02:43:22Z")

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If you started listening to the all the good music of those two decades, you’d be well over 30 by the time you got to the end to 1979.

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**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-in-1979-what-awesome-music-did-i-miss-60s-70s-music/403972/6 "2007-05-14T02:47:27Z")

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[QUOTE=Little Nemo]  
Don’t worry. The sixties wasn’t a big decade for music.  
[/QUOTE]

:eek:

The sixties gave us SIMON AND GARFUNKEL!!! I was born in '82 but S&G will always be my favorite band. I’m not a big fan of most of their big hit songs, but here are some I really like:

For Emily, Wherever I May Find Her  
The Boxer  
American Tune  
Patterns  
Cloudy  
Kathy’s Song  
Scarborough Fair  
April Come She Will  
Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall  
The Dangling Conversation  
The Boxer  
Homeward Bound  
A Poem on the Underground Wall

Most of them are on their “Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme” album.

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**Author:** ![Gozu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gozu/32/6615_2.png) [@Gozu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-in-1979-what-awesome-music-did-i-miss-60s-70s-music/403972/7 "2007-05-14T02:53:24Z")

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[QUOTE=flickster]  
If you started listening to the all the good music of those two decades, you’d be well over 30 by the time you got to the end to 1979.  
[/QUOTE]

Very true. That’s why I only asked about the **greatest songs**. Good songs won’t do, there are too many of them.

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**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-in-1979-what-awesome-music-did-i-miss-60s-70s-music/403972/8 "2007-05-14T02:55:27Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> :eek:

No, it was more like this:

\>\>\>\>\>whoosh\>\>\>\>\>\>  
\>\>\>\>\>\> :eek:\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>

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**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-in-1979-what-awesome-music-did-i-miss-60s-70s-music/403972/9 "2007-05-14T03:28:46Z")

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Nothing like an open ended question. I’ll leave off the obvious Beatles, Rolling Stones and Who oeuvre. Here’s some random thoughts:

Instant Karma (We All Shine On) - John Lennon  
Imagine - John Lennon  
Respect - Aretha Franklin  
Light My Fire - Doors  
Good Vibrations - Beach Boys  
Purple Haze - Jimi Hendrix  
Whole Lotta Love - Led Zeppelin  
All Along The Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix  
Mr. Tambourine Man - Byrds  
Proud Mary - Creedence Clearwater Revival  
Somebody To Love - Jefferson Airplane  
Eight Miles High - Byrds  
Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival  
Oh, Pretty Woman - Roy Orbison  
Blowin’ In The Wind - Bob Dylan  
Wild Thing - Troggs  
I Got You (I Feel Good) - James Brown  
Evil Ways - Santana  
Me And Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin  
Oye Como Va - Santana  
Layla - Derek & the Dominos  
What’s Going On - Marvin Gaye  
Proud May - Ike & Tina Turner  
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face - Roberta Flack  
Black Dog - Led Zepplin  
Killing Me Softly With His Song - Roberta Flack  
Do It Again - Steely Dan  
Walk On The Wildside - Lou Reed  
Lust For Life - Iggy Pop and the Stooges  
Space Oddity - David Bowie  
Ziggy Stardust - David Bowie  
Suffragette City - David Bowie  
Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon and Garfunkel  
The Boxer - Simon and Garfunkel  
God Save the Queen - Sex Pistols  
Anarchy In The U.K. - Sex Pistols  
Accidents Will Happen - Elvis Costello  
London Calling - The Clash  
Rudie Can’t Fail - The Clash

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**Author:** ![Roonwit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/54ee81/32.png) [@Roonwit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roonwit)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-in-1979-what-awesome-music-did-i-miss-60s-70s-music/403972/10 "2007-05-14T03:47:59Z")

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[QUOTE=Happy Lendervedder]  
Might I recommend some [Motown.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=8568730&postcount=1)  
[/QUOTE]

Amen. Marvin Gaye’s _What’s Goin’ On_ is a _must_-have.

_Gangsta’s Paradise_? Try \*‘(For The Love of) Money’ \* by the O’Jays.

Rare Earth’s _I Just Want To Celebrate_. Blue-eyed soul, kickass guitars.

(Loved all that ‘We need to talk about this shit’ music.) 😃

Santana’s _Soul Sacrifice_ will put you right smack in the middle of the crowd at Woodstock.

But I think the quintessential 60s/70s song is _Feelin’ Alright_. Written by Dave Mason (for Traffic), every other band in the world did a cover of it, each in their own style. Most were good. Some were _excellent_. Joe Cocker’s version is probably most famous (I like Three Dog Night’s version from _Captured_ best).

ETA: What **Daryl Lict** said.

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**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-in-1979-what-awesome-music-did-i-miss-60s-70s-music/403972/11 "2007-05-14T04:03:18Z")

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Go find:

_A Song for You_ by Leon Russell  
_Coming Back to Me_ by Jefferson Airplane  
_Rainy Night House_ by Joni Mitchell  
_Room to Move_ by John Mayall  
_Ocean Gypsy_ by Renaissance  
_Mad, Mad Me_ by Wendy Waldman  
_Golden Lady_ by Stevie Wonder  
_Uncle John’s Band_ by The Grateful Dead  
_I Ain’t Marchin’ Anymore_ by Phil Ochs  
_Pearly Queen_ or _John Barleycorn Must Die_ by Traffic  
_Tam Lin_ by Fairport Convention  
_Hot Summer Day_ by It’s a Beautiful Day  
_Inside_ by Jethro Tull  
and of course _Koeeoaddi There_ by The Incredible String Band 🙂

Oh and **Gozu** , I had big dumb dog named **Diggity** so I love that stupid song, too.

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**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-in-1979-what-awesome-music-did-i-miss-60s-70s-music/403972/12 "2007-05-14T04:06:04Z")

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Pretty much any Jethro Tull or Pink Floyd album from the 70s, just throw a dart and listen to that song. I will try to come back and make specific recommendations tomorrow, but seriously, those are two awesome bands and their best stuff was in the 70s.

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**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:** [May 14, 2007, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-in-1979-what-awesome-music-did-i-miss-60s-70s-music/403972/13 "2007-05-14T04:30:55Z")

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[QUOTE=Gozu]  
Please don’t just recommend whole albums. Recommend invididual songs.  
[/QUOTE]  
Um, the concept of whole albums may be one of the things you missed.

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**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-in-1979-what-awesome-music-did-i-miss-60s-70s-music/403972/14 "2007-05-14T04:34:02Z")

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No, I said I’d try to come back tomorrow with specific recommendations, but that any individual song on there would be good in the meantime.

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**Author:** ![Roonwit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/54ee81/32.png) [@Roonwit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roonwit)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-in-1979-what-awesome-music-did-i-miss-60s-70s-music/403972/15 "2007-05-14T05:24:18Z")

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[QUOTE=OpalCat]  
No, I said I’d try to come back tomorrow with specific recommendations, but that any individual song on there would be good in the meantime.  
[/QUOTE]

How about

1)_Minstrel In The Gallery_  
2)_Wish You Were Here_  
3)…oh, hell no. 😉

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**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-in-1979-what-awesome-music-did-i-miss-60s-70s-music/403972/16 "2007-05-14T06:13:32Z")

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[QUOTE=OpalCat]  
No, I said I’d try to come back tomorrow with specific recommendations, but that any individual song on there would be good in the meantime.  
[/QUOTE]

I don’t think **Thudlow Boink** was addressing you. 🙂

I think his point was that by asking only for individual songs and not whole albums, **Gozu** is missing out on the fading concept of an album as a “single” work, where the songs are meant to be heard together and often in order.

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**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-in-1979-what-awesome-music-did-i-miss-60s-70s-music/403972/17 "2007-05-14T06:23:31Z")

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Tom Waits: “Tom Traubert’s Blues,” “Step Right Up,” “Romeo Is Bleeding.”  
Dick Dale: “Miserlou.”

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**Author:** ![some\_white\_dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b487fb/32.png) [@some\_white\_dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/some_white_dude)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-in-1979-what-awesome-music-did-i-miss-60s-70s-music/403972/18 "2007-05-14T06:35:47Z")

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For the love of man, don’t forget The Kinks! Check out “You Really Got Me” and “Lola.”

I’ll take a stab at The Who: “A Quick One While He’s Away,” “I Can See for Miles,” and “Baba O’Riley” make up a pretty good sample, I think.

Other random suggestions:

Television - “Marquee Moon” (the song, not the album)  
Talking Heads - “Psycho Killer”  
The Ramones - “Blitzkrieg Bop”  
ELO - “Livin’ Thing”  
David Bowie - “Queen Bitch”  
The Zombies - “Time of the Season”  
Bob Dylan - “I Want You”  
The Beach Boys - “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”

Those are all pretty well-known tracks, IMO.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-in-1979-what-awesome-music-did-i-miss-60s-70s-music/403972/19 "2007-05-14T06:53:03Z")

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Try:

**Warren Zevon** - _Desperados Under the Eaves_.  
**Warren Zevon** - _Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner_  
**Warren Zevon** - _Lawyers, Guns and Money_  
**Pink Floyd** - _Comfortably Numb_  
**The Band** - _The Weight_  
**The Band** - _The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down_  
**The Guess Who** - _American Woman_  
**Don Henley** - _Dirty Laundry_  
**The James Gang** - _Funk 49_  
**Lowell George** - _What Do You Want The Girl To Do_  
**Meatloaf** - _Paradise by the Dashboard Light_  
**Supertramp** - _From Now On_  
**Supertramp** - _School_  
**Supertramp** - _The Logical Song_  
**The Stray Cats** - _Stray Cat Strut_  
**The Tragically Hip** - _New Orleans is Sinking_  
**The Tragically Hip** - _Boots or Hearts_  
**Van Morrison** - _Moondance_  
**The Who** - _Baba O’Reilly_  
**The Who** - _Behind Blue Eyes_  
**The Who** - _Won’t Get Fooled Again_

These are all _great_ songs. Some a little more obscure than others, but all great.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Gozu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gozu/32/6615_2.png) [@Gozu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-in-1979-what-awesome-music-did-i-miss-60s-70s-music/403972/20 "2007-05-14T07:21:45Z")

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A quick update.

The O’Jays- For the Love of Money  
David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust  
Killing Me Softly  
James Brown - I Feel Good  
Oh Pretty Woman  
Layla - Derek and the dominoes  
Somebody to Love - jefferson airplane  
Imagine - lennon  
Whole Lotta Love - zeppelin  
Aretha Franklin - Respect  
The Beach Boys - Good Vibrations  
Scarborough Fair  
Rare Earth’s I Just Want To Celebrate

I knew all of the above songs and either had them or wanted them. So they were very good guesses.

I have only given the most cursory preview to most of the songs so far and the last one I previewed (Soul Sacrifice by Santana) sounds promising. I’ll probably adopt more songs after I listen to them in their entirety a few times.

[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink]  
Um, the concept of whole albums may be one of the things you missed.  
[/QUOTE]

That is true. Go ahead and recommend albums, just be sure to specify the one or two best songs on each. I’ll check out the rest of the album if those songs pan out.

[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-in-1979-what-awesome-music-did-i-miss-60s-70s-music/403972.md?page=2)