Yep, that was me and I still listened to plenty of Beatles growing up (though, as mentioned, I was more partial to the Stones).
But yeah, I get your point and as Jackmanni said, “generation” is kind of an ill-defined thing in general.
I was born in 1980, which puts me in kind of a grey area where I’m either a really young Gen-Xer, or a really old Millennial. But it’s probably still Nirvana. While Kurt Cobain died when I was in middle school, they were still popular among my cohorts. If not them, then Pearl Jam or Alice in Chains, which were still going strong when I was in high school.
I don’t know how you can pick just one for the 80’s but in the spirit of the OP I shall try.
U.S.A. For Africa
Beatles for Boomer me.
But the Beach Boys were a close second.
Did they cover Depeche Mode?
Damn it! Depeche Mode. Duran Duran. They all blur together after awhile! I said I was a boomer. I’m old.
You were probably hopped up on Bartles & Jaymes.
::sigh:: There’s no getting away from it, it’s the Pistols. A generous estimate would be two good songs in a career (Pretty Vacant and maybe Bodies). But they were never out of the headlines. Maybe they were enablers for a thousand better bands. It’s debatable.
I’d like to claim Bowie, but I’m a hairsbreath too young. Starman was the first grown up song that grabbed me; but it was only much later that I found Hunky Dory. But hey, yeah, can I claim Bowie please?
j
I was born in '73 and I also did not feel that Nirvana spoke to my particular angsty vibe. Which isn’t to say I don’t enjoy an angsty vibe: I like a lot of emo, for instance, and I think that a grungy angsty vibe is more exemplified by the first hits of Our Lady Peace than anything by Nirvana. You can just hear the disaffectation in the singer’s voice.
That said, Nirvana is still obviously the defining band of my generation. The only other choice that would come close, since they are the defining grunge band, would be some late 80s hair band like Bon Jovi. Because while I like new wave/post-punk nowadays, it was a little before my time except for the lingering remnants of it in the late 80s in which I could just hear that the sound was already getting tired despite never having heard it before.
Yeah, I’m a Boomer, and it’s the Beatles.
I had a friend – a guy! – back in the day who loved that stuff.
Probably not a “defining” band, but the Byrds deserve a mention. They started out making Dylan songs “palatable” to the Beatles crowd, and by the later 60s were well on their way (with Gram Parsons) to creating the country-rock genre.
Born in 1957, and I’d say for me, the Ramones.
I remember the British invation in full swing and the Summer of Love in all its glory. There was a lot of really great music from both movements that I loved at the time and still do to this day, but I wasn’t old enough to feel any of that was “the voice of my generation.” As a boy who turned ten in August of 1967, I sure as heck wasn’t going to tie-dye all my T-shirts and hitchhike to Haight-Ashbury. (My mother did, however, let me tie-dye a couple, but I was by God staying home.)
A lot of people point to bands that were popular when they were in high school. The Ramones’ first album came out a year after I graduated, but they were the first group that really resonated with me to the extent that they did. It was all so simple and direct.
I wouldn’t call myself a particularly devoted Sex Pistols fan but I would be more generous than you regarding noteworthy songs. I can listen to Holidays In The Sun, Anarchy In The UK, EMI and although not a real Sex Pistols song my personal favourite would be Silly Thing. With Pretty Vacant probably my favourite real song of theirs.
But when it comes to cultural significance releasing a song like God Save The Queen (and for clarification to anyone unfamiliar it was not a version of the National Anthem) and doing it, a song with the line ‘they made you a moron’ in the Queen’s jubilee year. The band made themselves historic.
TCMF-2L
For someone coming of age in 1966 LA, I can definitely see that, just like someone in England might select the Sex Pistols as defining their generation. If I combined my generation with my geography and social group the answer would be X or the Go-Go’s. The influence can be seen in the way many 50-60 year-olds still dress in Southern California.
Led Zeppelin
Well, you might expect that from a French teacher. (She wasn’t likely to play the somewhat scandalous 1974 hit, “Je t’aime” in a classroom.) For the rest of us, though, “Dominique” was “ugh!” Thought so then, think so now.
“Dominique” was one of two foreign language songs that hit #1 in 1963. The other was “Sukiyaki,” by Japanese singer Kyu Sakamoto. Top of the charts for three weeks. Now that is a great song. No knowledge of Japanese is needed to enjoy it. I was in a store once and when that song played on the sound system, people all over the store could be heard whistling during the whistling parts. Including me, to my wife’s embarrassment.
Beatles, hands down. Saw them in 1965, I was 14.
[Envious glare] Seriously, what a great thing to have seen. Damn.
I had a cube-mate in the 90s who’d been at Altamont. He claims the raised-lighter-for-an-encore thing started there. I wish I’d been old enough to see some of these events.
I mentioned earlier the Stones were the defining band during my era, but my personal collection was more Janis, Mama, Procol, Steppenwolf, Doors, and even Herman’s Hermits. (OK, go ahead and laugh at the last one – I liked them for some reason)
From what I’ve read, you certainly wouldn’t have been hearing them at one of those shows.
These days we hold up our phones with the flashlight on.