# If you had to pick a single decade of music to listen to from now on **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [July 3, 2024, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-a-single-decade-of-music-to-listen-to-from-now-on/1003663 "2024-07-03T02:43:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-a-single-decade-of-music-to-listen-to-from-now-on/1003663/61 "2024-07-04T14:25:46Z")
I think 1926-1935 would be best for me. There’s Blues, expanding varieties of Jazz, Crooners, the remnants of Tin Pan Alley, old fashioned Country (would have been called Hillbilly Music then), Folk music, and stuff that doesn’t fit any of those categories. On the classical front there’s Holst, Gershwin, Prokofiev, Respighi, Holst, Janacek, Richard Strauss, Stravinsky, and others. And, given it’s the Fourth of July, John Philip Sousa was still around! I would really miss hearing music from the Baroque, Classical, and (most of) the Romantic periods, and not having any Bluegrass or Rock and Roll. On the plus side I wouldn’t be subjected to Disco or Techno music either. That ten years of music could keep me very happy. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-a-single-decade-of-music-to-listen-to-from-now-on/1003663/62 "2024-07-04T14:28:05Z")
Fortunately, there was a resurgence of Ragtime thanks to **The Sting** , so I get to enjoy mister Joplin along with my ELO. Yay! ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-a-single-decade-of-music-to-listen-to-from-now-on/1003663/63 "2024-07-04T16:54:09Z")
1930-1940. I want the whole Great American Songbook, but this period is representative enough, and includes many of my favorites. If I must make it ten years only then 1930-1939. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-a-single-decade-of-music-to-listen-to-from-now-on/1003663/64 "2024-07-04T17:00:58Z")
1985-1994. I was born in 1980, so this really captures the backdrop of my formative years. Alt rock, glam rock, hip hop, grunge, electronic… I feel like the post- post-punk era was just awash in interesting genres, blending of genres, and experimentation. Lots of amazing albums, not only from newcomers, but from seasoned musicians in the second decade of their careers putting out some of their best work. Runner up would be the decade immediately preceding… 1975-1984. Which, to be honest, would probably be my first choice if I didn’t have such a sense of shared cultural excitement that came along with the music of my early teens. ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-a-single-decade-of-music-to-listen-to-from-now-on/1003663/65 "2024-07-04T17:11:42Z")
Started junior high in the fall of 1970 and graduated college five months into 1980. Growing up for me was the 70s so that is my choice. ---
**Author:** ![Scoobysnax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Scoobysnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoobysnax)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-a-single-decade-of-music-to-listen-to-from-now-on/1003663/66 "2024-07-04T17:47:11Z")
That is pretty much my answer too. Covers senior year of high school through to my early adulthood. I still listen to a lot of Soundgarden, Tool, Stone Temple Pilots, Nirvana. I might move it back a few years to cover the better GnR and Metallica albums. I would miss the 70s rock though. ---
**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:** [July 4, 2024, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-a-single-decade-of-music-to-listen-to-from-now-on/1003663/67 "2024-07-04T17:50:08Z")
> [@Scoobysnax](#): > > That is pretty much my answer too. Covers senior year of high school through to my early adulthood. I still listen to a lot of Soundgarden, Tool, Stone Temple Pilots, Nirvana. Same. I graduated in '93, so this is the decade that I was probably paying the most attention to new music. It was also the soundtrack to some of the most formative years in my life. I’d miss the Beatles, but I guess I’d still have the Anthology albums. ---
**Author:** ![Scoobysnax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Scoobysnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoobysnax)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-a-single-decade-of-music-to-listen-to-from-now-on/1003663/68 "2024-07-04T17:54:54Z")
Are we allowed to cheat that way? There were several Beatles, Led Zeppelin, etc. best of collections/remasters that came out in that era. Now I need to go and listen to the Metallica S&M. Probably their last album that I truly enjoyed from start to finish. Probably because it was all of their hits from the 80s. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-a-single-decade-of-music-to-listen-to-from-now-on/1003663/69 "2024-07-04T17:57:18Z")
No cheating in that way, please. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-a-single-decade-of-music-to-listen-to-from-now-on/1003663/70 "2024-07-04T18:02:52Z")
What about something like the Taylor Swift (Her Version) albums where she actually re-recorded and re-released albums from earlier? (I’m gonna have so much Taylor Swift to listen to…) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-a-single-decade-of-music-to-listen-to-from-now-on/1003663/71 "2024-07-04T18:06:53Z")
Can we just not try to find workarounds and be true to the premise? ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-a-single-decade-of-music-to-listen-to-from-now-on/1003663/72 "2024-07-04T18:09:23Z")
If it’s okay with the OP, we should encourage everyone to provide at least a brief explanation for their choice. Most people are, but there are several that don’t or just say, “me, too.” “I’d pick 1724-1733,” just makes me curious 🤓… ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-a-single-decade-of-music-to-listen-to-from-now-on/1003663/73 "2024-07-04T18:13:16Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > If it’s okay with the OP, we should encourage everyone to provide at least a brief explanation for their choice. I’d picked 1977-87. As with a number of others, that period represents, for me, when I first became really interested in music; I was 12 at the start, and 22 at the end, meaning that it also represents my high school and college years. I could probably start my span a year or so earlier (and cut it off a year earlier, as well), and still capture most of the music that I enjoyed the most from that period in my life; much of it is music that I still listen to today, and most of my very favorite songs and artists are from that timeframe. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-a-single-decade-of-music-to-listen-to-from-now-on/1003663/74 "2024-07-04T18:18:29Z")
The key phrase in the OP title for me is “from now on”. I’ve already mined my favorite years of music; that’s why I chose 1957-1967. I was only 4 when that span ended and I’m astounded how bottomless the well of obscure but awesome records is for those years. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life listening to the same records I wore the grooves off of when I was a teen. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-a-single-decade-of-music-to-listen-to-from-now-on/1003663/75 "2024-07-04T18:28:22Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Can we just not try to find workarounds and be true to the premise? Eh, was just a question to stay true to the premise. I don’t need to “find a workaround” because the event is never happening anyway. I would answer that music recorded in that period (or immediately before for release in that period) is part of the package. Which would include live/concert albums and in-studio re-recordings but not things like Best Of, Anthologies, Remasters or “We found these old unreleased 1963 B-sides and are going to release them for the 30th anniversary of artist’s death…” > [@Stratocaster](#): > > If it’s okay with the OP, we should encourage everyone to provide at least a brief explanation for their choice. I already gave some reason but my thinking is that there’s a ton of albums I like from 1960-present but I’ve never been the type to only listen to the hits from my high school days or the peak of classic rock, etc. So any period I pick will cut out a lot of albums I would have otherwise listened to. However, I currently listen to a lot of music from the present era as well AND the sheer volume of music recorded in the last ten years dwarfs any previous period. Since I have to listen to these songs exclusively forever, that’s important to me. Furthermore, since individual tastes never fully go out of style, I would be able to find music in any genre within my pool. I’m not going to be too early for grunge or too late for flower-child folk songs. So I’m willing to cut bait on a bunch of albums from my past (though I would have been cutting a good percentage anyway no matter the 11-year period) and just settle in to mine the depths of the music recorded in 2014-2024. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-a-single-decade-of-music-to-listen-to-from-now-on/1003663/76 "2024-07-04T18:30:49Z")
That is the very reason I choose 1780-1790. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-a-single-decade-of-music-to-listen-to-from-now-on/1003663/77 "2024-07-04T18:38:21Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > we should encourage everyone to provide at least a brief explanation for their choice. > [@Railer13](#): > > Another vote for 1967-1977 My reasoning is that this covers my high school, college, and post-college years. Spent a lot of time listening to music in those days. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-a-single-decade-of-music-to-listen-to-from-now-on/1003663/78 "2024-07-04T18:44:37Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > That is the very reason I choose 1780-1790. You were four in 1790? Well, you look good! 😊 ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-a-single-decade-of-music-to-listen-to-from-now-on/1003663/79 "2024-07-04T19:02:40Z")
1985-1994. Goth, shoegaze, C86, 4AD, indie, dream pop, Red Wedge, Madchester, Industrial, EBM, post-punk, grunge, Riot Grrl, college rock, alternative hip hop, house, acid, trance… a Golden Age. ---
**Author:** ![kahunamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@kahunamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kahunamoon)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-a-single-decade-of-music-to-listen-to-from-now-on/1003663/80 "2024-07-04T19:30:23Z")
I would have to go with 1965 through 1975. Just in time for the most adventurous music of the Beatles, Beach Boys, & Dylan and cut off just before disco reared its ugly head. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-a-single-decade-of-music-to-listen-to-from-now-on/1003663.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-a-single-decade-of-music-to-listen-to-from-now-on/1003663.md?page=5)