# The music of the '70s vs. the music of the '80s **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 18, 2010, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-music-of-the-70s-vs-the-music-of-the-80s/547115 "2010-07-18T12:04:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-music-of-the-70s-vs-the-music-of-the-80s/547115/1 "2010-07-18T12:04:14Z")
In one corner you have the '70s, which was: the decade that birthed arena rock; when Led Zeppelin became rock gods; when the Rolling Stones both still mattered _and_ started regularly playing stadiums; when punk and disco were born; when the outlaw country movement (and Willie ‘n’ Waylon’s careers) came to prominence; when radio started to strictly regiment music into different formats; when the Concert for Bangladesh took place. In the other you have the '80s, which was: the decade where rap crossed over into the mainstream; when synth pop became a viable commercial force; when such seminal groups as R.E.M., U2, and Midnight Oil (yes, Midnight Oil; _always_ Midnight Oil) started achieving mainstream success; the decade of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”, “We Are the World”, “Hands Across America”, “I Ain’t Gonna Play Sun City”, Farm Aid, and, of course, Live Aid; when MTV was born and still played music videos (that’s _all_ they played, in fact) and was a marketing force to be reckoned with. So? What say you? I have to go with the '80s, primarily because that’s the decade wherein I came of age. ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-music-of-the-70s-vs-the-music-of-the-80s/547115/2 "2010-07-18T12:09:45Z")
The eighties, I like the major trends better (new wave, electro, synth-pop) and it’s when all four of my favourite artists (Michael Jackson, Madonna, Kate Bush and Prince), plus two of my favourite groups (Pet Shop Boys, Culture Club) released their best work. Not to mention the countless other songs and albums I count among my favourite ever that were released in the eighties. Do love the seventies, but the eighties by a long way. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-music-of-the-70s-vs-the-music-of-the-80s/547115/3 "2010-07-18T12:54:25Z")
I think the contrived, cheesy hair metal of bands like Dokken, Motley Crue, Ratt, Poison, Warrant, etc pretty much cancels out most of the positive stuff from the rest of the 80’s genre, so I’ll have to go with the 1970’s on the strength of bands like Led Zeppelin, Stevie Wonder, The Stones, Wings, Elton John, Pink Floyd, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-music-of-the-70s-vs-the-music-of-the-80s/547115/4 "2010-07-18T13:03:31Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I think the contrived, cheesy hair metal of bands like Dokken, Motley Crue, Ratt, Poison, [del]Warrant[/del], etc pretty much cancels out most of the positive stuff from the rest of the 80’s genre… Heh…and then there are those of us who voted for the 80’s because the bands you mention _are_ the positive stuff. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-music-of-the-70s-vs-the-music-of-the-80s/547115/5 "2010-07-18T13:12:25Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > Heh…and then there are those of us who voted for the 80’s because the bands you mention _are_ the positive stuff. Ha, I know. I used to love those bands when I was a teenager. I find them painful to listen to now. I do believe honestly that the 1970’s music has “stood the test of time”, if you will, better than most of the 80’s stuff… ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-music-of-the-70s-vs-the-music-of-the-80s/547115/6 "2010-07-18T14:11:33Z")
I am going to cheat and say the 80’s because you could always listen to the stuff made in the years before that. 😉 Which is better? Its all good, and bad, equally. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-music-of-the-70s-vs-the-music-of-the-80s/547115/7 "2010-07-18T16:22:37Z")
> [@MTCicero](#): > > …you have the '80s, which was: the decade where rap crossed over into the mainstream; when synth pop became a viable commercial force; when such seminal groups as R.E.M., U2, and Midnight Oil (yes, Midnight Oil; _always_ Midnight Oil) started achieving mainstream success; the decade of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”, “We Are the World” I mean, like, gag me with a spoon. Even the _1880s_ compares favorably to that slop. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-music-of-the-70s-vs-the-music-of-the-80s/547115/8 "2010-07-18T16:33:25Z")
I started high school in 1981, so I consider myself a ‘child of the 80’s’. So for me, the answer was incredibly simple; give me the music of the 70’s please. PLEASE! ---
**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 18, 2010, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-music-of-the-70s-vs-the-music-of-the-80s/547115/9 "2010-07-18T16:44:35Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I think the contrived, cheesy hair metal of bands like Dokken, Motley Crue, Ratt, Poison, Warrant, etc pretty much cancels out most of the positive stuff from the rest of the 80’s genre Is that really worse than disco, and/or the schlockiest of 70s AM-radio lite rock? I voted for the 80s, mainly because, like the OP, that’s when I musically came of age; and because (in addition to the 80s-specific bands) plenty of the greatest artists from the 60s and 70s were still making music that was interesting and vital enough that it caught my attention and got me to go back and check out their earlier masterworks. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-music-of-the-70s-vs-the-music-of-the-80s/547115/10 "2010-07-18T18:09:06Z")
The 70s had disco counting against it, but it also had fine work from the 60s bands (Rolling Stones, the Who, Pink Floyd, the Kinks, the Grateful Dead) plus Progressive Rock, Punk and New Wave. The 80s has Squeeze and a general blandification of music that continues to today. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-music-of-the-70s-vs-the-music-of-the-80s/547115/11 "2010-07-18T18:13:16Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Is that really worse than disco Oh hellz yeah, disco was _awesome_! “Everybody was dancing…_yeah_!” ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-music-of-the-70s-vs-the-music-of-the-80s/547115/12 "2010-07-18T21:25:06Z")
I hated disco, and was so glad when punk came along – it was almost the antidote to disco. Unfortunately, after the Sex Pistols misfired, punk morphed into New Wave, and became extremely commercialized (give me The Clash from London Calling on back instead of what they turned into from Combat Rock onward) leading into an embarrassing collection of one hit wonders, such as The Romantics and Dexy’s Midnight Runners, etc. As to pre-disco, I hated the whole singer/songwriter thing in the early 70s, but there was promise from about 1973 with groups like The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, the Stones, etc.; it was just too bad about the Arena Rock thing. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-music-of-the-70s-vs-the-music-of-the-80s/547115/13 "2010-07-19T00:36:36Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > The 70s had disco counting against it Now, see, I look at disco as a largely positive musical force. I certainly don’t have the knee-jerk (possibly racist/homophobic (not accusing _you_ or anyone else here of same, though, you understand)?) reaction that a lot of people have concerning that style of music (e.g., “disco sucks”). I think it’s a genuinely interesting musical genre that, just like any other, rewards serious investigation, and that has influenced a wealth of really good, creative bands that came in its wake. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-music-of-the-70s-vs-the-music-of-the-80s/547115/14 "2010-07-19T00:40:04Z")
> [@In\_Winnipeg](#): > > I hated disco, and was so glad when punk came along – it was almost the antidote to disco. I think that a lot of the early punks found disco more interesting than, say, Pink Floyd or Yes or ELP, and as such would’ve (and maybe still would) characterized their music as more an antidote to that than to disco. I also could be way off the mark. ---
**Author:** ![Manwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Manwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manwich)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-music-of-the-70s-vs-the-music-of-the-80s/547115/15 "2010-07-19T02:13:05Z")
Voted 70’s mostly because even the records of good bands started to sound shit from overproduction in the 80’s. Most of my favourite 80’s records are cheaply recorded or good _despite_ the heavy studio effects. For the type of music I like, real bands playing instruments, disco was a negative force. I love 60’s dance music, and I can admit there are tons of great disco songs. But disco seems to have helped the trend away from live music and away from dance music made by bands. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-music-of-the-70s-vs-the-music-of-the-80s/547115/16 "2010-07-19T02:39:54Z")
I was a kid in the '70s and a teen in the '80s. My favorite band was the Police (aside from the Beatles), and favorite singers were solo Sting and Billy Joel. Clearly, advantage: '80s. And yet… when I listen to the '70s and '80s stations on the radio, I think my chief enjoyment of the '80s stuff is born of nostalgia, of the “aw man, I remember listening to ‘Bette Davis Eyes’ while working at my first job at the frozen yogurt shop! I remember watching videos & dancing along w/‘Straight Up’!” variety. Whereas the ‘70s is the music I _still_ love either rockin’ out to (Led Zeppelin!) or singing along with (The Eagles! Steeley Dan! Donna Summer!) or dancing to (disco, baby). So I guess my choice is the '70s. But it’s a damn close call. ---
**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 19, 2010, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-music-of-the-70s-vs-the-music-of-the-80s/547115/17 "2010-07-19T02:56:00Z")
I went with the 80s–although it’s really close–the late 70s/early 80s are my favorite music era; if I could pick the music era from about 1978 to about 1982, that would win. But, since I can’t, I’ll go with the 80s for: The Smiths, XTC, The Stone Roses, Sonic Youth, the Pixies, My Bloody Valentine (although my favorite album of theirs was '91), New Order, Jesus & Mary Chain, the Replacements, R.E.M., the Pretenders, Metallic, Slayer, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-music-of-the-70s-vs-the-music-of-the-80s/547115/18 "2010-07-19T03:13:17Z")
> [@MTCicero](#): > > I think that a lot of the early punks found disco more interesting than, say, Pink Floyd or Yes or ELP, and as such would’ve (and maybe still would) characterized their music as more an antidote to that than to disco. > > I also could be way off the mark. No, you’re on the mark. That’s why Blondie recorded their disco homage “Heart of Glass,” John Lydon used disco beats all throughout his Public Image Ltd. project, The Clash recorded the discoish “Magnificent Dance” and “Rock the Casbah,” Pete Shelley of the Buzzcocks recorded “Homosapien,” and on and on. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-music-of-the-70s-vs-the-music-of-the-80s/547115/19 "2010-07-19T03:28:12Z")
The 70s featured too many of the worst songs ever written to be taken seriously: “Feelings” “Muskrat Love” “Billy Don’t Be a Hero” “One Is the Loneliest Number” “You Light Up My Life” "One Tin Soldier"_et ectera ad nauseum_. Arena rock was an embarrassment, aptly lampooned in _Spinal Tap_. And the 70s cannot possibly overcome the stigma of disco. The early 80s were an era when music videos allowed creative musicians/artists to take back the music from the hands of tasteless corporate executives (for a brief time, until MTV came on the scene and videos went corporate). The late 80s gave us a thriving college radio/alternative music scene (that gave rise to the great acts catalogued by **pulykamell** , and many others). The only thing I’ll say for the 70s is that the _late_ 70s gave birth to the acts that influenced that burst of musical creativity in the 80s-- such acts as The Clash, Talking Heads, The B-52’s, The Sex Pistols, Devo and the Ramones. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-music-of-the-70s-vs-the-music-of-the-80s/547115/20 "2010-07-19T04:08:58Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > And the 70s cannot possibly overcome the stigma of disco. It’s such a stigma that contemporary artists like Kylie Minogue, Lady Gaga, Scissor Sisters, and who knows how many others are doing their damnedest to put '70s disco flavor into their new recordings. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-music-of-the-70s-vs-the-music-of-the-80s/547115.md?page=2)