That’s the way I see it. Top 40 was and always has been pretty meh.
Looking at the charts from this site, I see about the same proportion of “good” songs to cringe-worthy garbage in the first half of the 80s as I see in the latter half.
I think you are being too harsh on the late 80s. The Top 40 charts from 86-90 included some pretty good stuff from Whitney Houston, Madonna, Heart, U2, etc. And the quintessential 80s hair metal bands that people associate with the 1980s of Bon Jovi, Whitesnake, etc. had their biggest hits in the late 80s.
Well, it’s a safe bet the OP and I have very different ideas on what constitutes good msuic. Be that as it may, let’s take a look at the #1 singles from the three eras he creates.
1979-81
“Too Much Heaven” - Bee Gees
“Le Freak” - Chic
“Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?” Rod Stewart
“I Will Survive” - Gloria Gaynor
“Tragedy” - Bee Gees
“What a Fool Believes” The Doobie Brothers
“Knock on Wood” Amii Stewart
“Heart of Glass” Blondie
“Reunited” Peaches & Herb
“Hot Stuff” Donna Summer
“Love You Inside Out” Bee Gees
“Ring My Bell” Anita Ward
“Bad Girls” Donna Summer
“Good Times” Chic
“My Sharona” The Knack
“Sad Eyes” Robert John
“Don’t Stop 'Til You Get Enough” Michael Jackson
“Rise” Herb Alpert
Pop Muzik" M
“Heartache Tonight” Eagles
“Still” Commodores
“No More Tears (Enough is Enough)” Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer
“Babe” Styx
“Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” Rupert Holmes
“Please Don’t Go” KC and the Sunshine Band
Rock with You" Michael Jackson
“Do That to Me One More Time” Captain & Tennille
“Crazy Little Thing Called Love” Queen
“Another Brick in the Wall, Part II” Pink Floyd [12]
“Call Me” - Blondie
“Funkytown” Lipps Inc
“Coming Up” Paul McCartney
“It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” Billy Joel
“Magic” Olivia Newton-John
“Sailing” Christopher Cross
“Upside Down” Diana Ross
“Another One Bites the Dust” Queen
“Woman in Love” Barbra Streisand
“Lady” Kenny Rogers
“(Just Like) Starting Over” John Lennon
“The Tide Is High” Blondie
“Celebration” Kool & the Gang
“I Love a Rainy Night” Eddie Rabbitt
“9 to 5” Dolly Parton
“Keep on Loving You” REO Speedwagon
“Rapture” Blondie
“Kiss on My List” Daryl Hall and John Oates
“Morning Train (Nine to Five)” Sheena Easton
“Beatles Medley - Stars on 45
“Bette Davis Eyes” Kim Carnes
“The One That You Love” Air Supply
“Jessie’s Girl” Rick Springfield
“Endless Love” Diana Ross and Lionel Richie
Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)” Christopher Cross
“Private Eyes” Daryl Hall and John Oates
“Physical” Olivia Newton-John
Opinions will vary about this era, but to me? This was a DREADFUL period for top 40 music. Mostly boring disco and cringeworthy easy listening crap. The OP couldn’t be more wrong about the overall quality of top 40 music in this time span.
Now, let’s look at 1988-1989:
“Faith” George Michael [1]
January 9 “So Emotional” Whitney Houston [2][3]
January 16 “Got My Mind Set on You” George Harrison [4][5]
January 23 “The Way You Make Me Feel” Michael Jackson [6][7]
January 30 “Need You Tonight” INXS [8][9]
February 6 “Could’ve Been” Tiffany [10]
February 20 “Seasons Change” Exposé [12]
February 27 “Father Figure” George Michael [13]
March 12 “Never Gonna Give You Up” Rick Astley [15]
March 26 “Man in the Mirror” Michael Jackson [17]
April 9 “Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car” Billy Ocean [19]
“Where Do Broken Hearts Go” Whitney Houston [21]
“Wishing Well” Terence Trent D’Arby [23]
“Anything for You” Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine [24]
“One More Try” George Michael [26]
Together Forever" Rick Astley [29]
“Foolish Beat” Debbie Gibson [30]
“Dirty Diana” Michael Jackson [31]
“The Flame” Cheap Trick [32]
“Hold On to the Nights” Richard Marx [34]
“Roll With It” Steve Winwood [35]
“Monkey” George Michael [39]
September 10 “Sweet Child o’ Mine” Guns N’ Roses [41]
September 24 “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” Bobby McFerrin [43]
“Love Bites” Def Leppard [45]
“Red Red Wine” UB40 [46]
“Groovy Kind of Love” Phil Collins [47]
“Kokomo” The Beach Boys [49]
“Wild, Wild West” The Escape Club [50]
“Bad Medicine” Bon Jovi [51]
“Baby, I Love Your Way/Freebird Medley” Will to Power [53]
Look Away" Chicago [54]
“Every Rose Has Its Thorn” Poison
“My Prerogative” Bobby Brown
“Two Hearts” Phil Collins
“When I’m with You” Sheriff
“Straight Up” Paula Abdul
“Lost in Your Eyes” Debbie Gibson
“The Living Years” Mike + The Mechanics
“Eternal Flame” The Bangles
“The Look” Roxette
“She Drives Me Crazy” Fine Young Cannibals
“Like a Prayer” Madonna
“I’ll Be There for You” Bon Jovi
“Forever Your Girl” Paula Abdul
“Rock On” Michael Damian
“Wind Beneath My Wings” Bette Midler
“I’ll Be Loving You (Forever)” New Kids on the Block
“Satisfied” Richard Marx
“Baby Don’t Forget My Number” Milli Vanilli
“Good Thing” Fine Young Cannibals
“If You Don’t Know Me By Now” Simply Red
“Toy Soldiers” Martika
“Batdance” Prince
“Right Here Waiting” Richard Marx
“Cold Hearted” Paula Abdul
“Hangin’ Tough” New Kids On the Block
“Don’t Wanna Lose You” Gloria Estefan
“Girl I’m Gonna Miss You” Milli Vanilli
“Miss You Much” Janet Jackson
“Listen to Your Heart” Roxette
When I See You Smile" Bad English
“Blame It on the Rain” Milli Vanilli
“We Didn’t Start the Fire” Billy Joel
“Another Day in Paradise” Phil Collins
Now, was this a great period for music? Of course not. But is it worse than the first era? No- in fact, it’s almost the same!!!
Madonna and Paula Abdul = Donna Summer and Amii Stewart.
Richard Marx and Phil Collins = Christopher Cross and the Air Supply
Bon Jovi = Rick Springfield
Once again, a lot of boring disco (though no one was using the term “disco” any more, it’s still electronic dance pop) and cringeworthy easy listening crap.
That’s pretty much what the top 40 ALWAYS is! Dance pop and treacle. The best music (or, at any rate, the music I like most) rarely reaches the top 40. So it goes.
I do like the first group a lot more, although there are songs in the second I like as well.
I am not sure if we would really disagree about what music is great. I am not saying that the Top 40 was ever the go-to joint for the best music, but some period have been better than others…
No, I don’t agree. I see something of a continuum in the 80’s sound throughout most of the decade. There was no sharp transition like when we left disco or entered grunge, rap and hip hop.
The shift to crap came in 1990, and the polls people have been doing in Cafe Society proved that to me. While the late 80’s faltered a bit, 1990 was the first year I had trouble finding something I would really enjoy listening to. I was honestly surprised by how sharp the transition was and how it coincided with the change in decade. And it gets worse the longer the 90’s go on.
I graduated high school in '95, for the record. I spent my teens mostly loathing the music my peers listened to.
(Also, for the record: We have very different musical tastes. You say “Only the rise of grunge saved us from one of the worst eras in pop music ever” but I would say that the rise of grunge was PROOF of one of the worst eras in pop music ever. Give me a choice between listening to Nirvana’s greatest hits or an hour spent looping We Built This City, and I’ll take the latter.)
Oh noooooo! But I will say this: You are the wind beneath my wings.
In the 80’s we saw the same cycle we have seen several times in rock history. In the early to mid 80s we saw some “grass roots” acts that made it to the top, and that is when music is at its best. The newly popular medium of music video opened cracked the door open for these new, creative acts, and they kicked it in.
By the late 80s the corporate masters had reasserted control, and we were force-fed music from the top down. Corporate-imposed music is almost always awful. (This is why discerning listeners were tuning in to college radio in those days and enjoying the truly great alternative music of the era.)
We’ve seen this pattern other times:
In the 50s, rock ‘n’ roll was the grass roots music that bubbled up from the bottom. By 1960, the corporate masters had gained control and we got a lot of musical pablum.
Mid-to-late 60s gave us a new bottom-up music, with The Beatles leading the charge. Early 70s, we were mostly back to You Will Listen to This corporate rock.
Early 90s, alternative music bubbled to the top. By the mid 90s, the corporate masters had coopted the descriptor until it lost all meaning.
Oh hell no. Early '70s was a brilliant blossoming of groundbreaking creativity and genius. It was the year 1978 when the suits wrested the controls back and music started to suck again. The quality of rock declined precipitously, and if it weren’t for Talking Heads+Eno, the last 2 years of the '70s would have been a blighted desolation.
OK, now you’ve gone too far :mad:
I’m going to agree with the OP. I’ve often thought about the '80s in much the same way. Around mid-decade the general overall production sound of commercial music had become overly bombastic, too busy, and too far into the “more is more” aesthetic.
I would just add to the list of exceptions to the rule - freestyle dance music (Exposé, Sweet Sensation, et al) which had its heyday in the later '80s, and there was also some good house music in the charts at that time… (you have to like dance music though).
About the same can be said for any recent decade, can’t it? The early 1960s was different from the latter part. 1970s, the same.
Sure, but different doesn’t necessarily mean worse.
It’s an oversimplification to call 70s music “70s music” as well:
1970-1972: Continuation of late 60s
1972-1977: The 70s proper
1977-1979: Disco revival, new wave
This, again, is for Top 40, and of course you can slice it and dice it different ways. I think the music of 70s Top 40 was overall pretty high in quality, though. (Yes, there were horrible songs in the Top 40, and a lot of the best music never made it there. I think the point of the Top 40, then and now, is that it’s music we can share as a country and maybe even as a planet, and I think there is value to be had in that. People like to share art. That is why I am not a music snob and why I root for popular music to be good, instead of just rooting against pop music.)
Well…and The Police and The Cars and Joe Jackson and Split Enz and Neil Young with Crazy Horse and The B-52s…
And the Records, Korgis, Devo, David Bowie, Joy Division…
I agree with the OP, since declaring 1985 the worst year for music in the last 50 in this thread.
I agree. Something happened between 1984-1987 that changed the music forever.
In my opinion the culprit is the shift from analog to digital technology. Yamaha DX7 was the first affordable digital synth, samplers were on the rise, audio effects and other production tools went digital.
Buzzing and beefy timbres were out of fashion, everything became breathy, thin and crystalline.