# What was your favorite decade for Music? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 8, 2012, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-decade-for-music/630907 "2012-08-08T22:30:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-decade-for-music/630907/21 "2012-08-09T02:23:57Z")
Overlap between the 60s and the 70s. Start with the Beatles and end with Springsteen. That gives us a nice 12-13 years period of great music. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-decade-for-music/630907/22 "2012-08-09T02:27:46Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > Does categorizing music into decades make that much sense any more, though? It used to, sure: The styles of the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s are all distinct and recognizable. However, everything made since the 90s onwards (in fact, everything since, approximately, the Pixies) sounds contemporary to me, and if there’s a music of the 2010s that’s distinct from the 2000s, then I sure don’t know what the difference is. > > Not saying that this is a bad thing, though. The 90s were my favorite decade, so if they’re still going, that’s awesome. > > (Then, of course, I could just be hopelessly out of the loop. And what are those juveniles doing on my lawn anyway? Hang on, since when do I even have a lawn?) Nice analysis! I agree that styles have morphed and spread out over time much more since (approximately the Pixies ;-)). As a musician, I enjoy almost all genres and times, everything from Vivaldi to Shpongle. I did choose 1980 - 1990 though, if only because that was when I listened to more ‘popular’ music than any other period. Since the advent of online music, my tastes have become remarkably … errr… eclectic. Yeah, eclectic. That’s the ticket. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-decade-for-music/630907/23 "2012-08-09T02:38:36Z")
I like Baroque music, so…the 1730s? Ish? If we have to stick to the 20th century, I guess I’d do 1920s. IIRC, we have some Benny Goodman, Paul Whiteman, George Gershwin, Franz Lehar and Sigmund Romberg from that era. Even Django Reinhart. Pretty decent musical cross section. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-decade-for-music/630907/24 "2012-08-09T04:38:47Z")
1940s followed by '50s and '60s. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-decade-for-music/630907/25 "2012-08-09T04:55:36Z")
65-75 ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-decade-for-music/630907/26 "2012-08-09T05:12:06Z")
For me, it will always be the '70s, for so many reasons. Chief of which is my birthdate: 1959. I have a theory: Everybody likes best, or has an enduring soft spot for, the music that was happening when they were 18. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-decade-for-music/630907/27 "2012-08-09T05:21:16Z")
Another vote for '65 to ‘75 (roughly.) Everything Beatles, Motown, The Mamas and the Papas, Beach Boys, the song Born To Be Wild, Leon Russell and Todd Rundgren, Bette Midler and Carole King and Melissa Manchester…Hendrix and Joplin, the Kinks…just to name a few. Some of those whiny protest songs were Blowin’ In the Wind, Has Anybody Seen (Abraham, Martin and John) and What’s Going On. (Don’t want to forget Crosby, Stills & Nash, The Band, The Commodores, the Eagles…) Basically melodic _and_ stirring. It was a magical time. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-decade-for-music/630907/28 "2012-08-09T05:34:56Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > For me, it will always be the '70s, for so many reasons. Chief of which is my birthdate: 1959. I have a theory: Everybody likes best, or has an enduring soft spot for, the music that was happening when they were 18. Maybe it’s just the company I keep or that the wheel o’ nostalgia hasn’t quite come around yet, but I don’t think I know anyone my age who really likes what was happening in mainstream music during the late-90’s early-2000’s when we were 18-ish. Most of the people I grew up with (myself included) listened to grunge and early alternative, but really didn’t like what happened in the mainstream rock around 1995 or so. Instead, we went back and started listening to the stuff from the 80’s back to the 60’s that influenced the stuff we heard in the early 90’s, which was suddenly very accessible with Napster and the other file-sharing services that cropped up at that time. I think going forward in the days of digital music, a lot fewer people are going to automatically identify with the pop music of their youth. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-decade-for-music/630907/29 "2012-08-09T14:33:14Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > I have a theory: Everybody likes best, or has an enduring soft spot for, the music that was happening when they were 18. At 18 in 1995, I was a huge music buff: I spent my money buying records, and my time listening to music and playing bass. I had and still have zero interest in the music made then. My late teen days were filled with music by Pink Floyd, Rush, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Sparks, The Beatles, Jethro Tull, Genesis, 10cc, Kansas etc., or stuff that was made before I was born. In the mid- '90’s, I remember my friends raving about Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Oasis and Blur, but they are just vague names from a decade best forgotten, to me. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-decade-for-music/630907/30 "2012-08-09T14:41:42Z")
Moving thread from IMHO to Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-decade-for-music/630907/31 "2012-08-09T15:01:43Z")
Like numerous other posters, my favorite period was 1965-75. (I might refine it to 1964-1973.) In the poll, I had to go with the 1960s mainly due to the Beatles, but the 1970s is a close second. (And not surprisingly, 1965-1975 encompasses my teenage years.) ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-decade-for-music/630907/32 "2012-08-09T15:15:26Z")
2010-present. I don’t see how people ever got by before Ke$ha became popular. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-decade-for-music/630907/33 "2012-08-09T15:20:35Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > For me, it was the 70’s. Hard rock and progressive rock were king. I thought that bands could venture out farther and do weirder things than any other time. > > Led Zeppelin became Gods. > Punk was born > Yes, Genesis and Rush were free to do whatever the fuck they wanted! > > I still like music from all the decades but the 70’s was the best! (and some of the worst!) I concur with every word. What’s with the 80s doing well in this poll?? Oh, yeah… “Rio,” by Duran Duran. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-decade-for-music/630907/34 "2012-08-09T15:26:15Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > For me, it will always be the '70s, for so many reasons. Chief of which is my birthdate: 1959. I have a theory: Everybody likes best, or has an enduring soft spot for, the music that was happening when they were 18. Good god, not in my case. I was 18 in 1988, when about the only thing that didn’t suck was REM, the Pogues, and some rap. My music tastes peak the year I was born – 1970 – and decline slowly from there, in both temporal directions. If I have any soft spot for music occurring in real time, it would be circa 1993 to 1997, when I was in my mid-20s… Beck, Red Hit Chili Peppers, Natalie Merchant, Cafe Tacuba… ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-decade-for-music/630907/35 "2012-08-09T15:45:30Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > I concur with every word. > > What’s with the 80s doing well in this poll?? > > Oh, yeah… “Rio,” by Duran Duran. 😉 Well, as one who picked the '80s and has basically no use for the dinosaur/blooze rock of the '70s, here are some reasons for my choice: Husker Du The Replacements R.E.M. Prince (all his best music was made in the '80s) The Jesus and Mary Chain The Pixies The Beastie Boys The Feelies Sonic Youth New Order Public Enemy The Smiths The Cure Robyn Hitchcock The (English) Beat X De La Soul U2 Squeeze Run-DMC The Psychedelic Furs The Go-Betweens The Stone Roses The Housemartins The Pogues Dinosaur Jr. Billy Bragg Pet Shop Boys Echo & The Bunnymen Living Colour Midnight Oil The The etc., etc. There were also a bunch of acts who started in the '70s but did great work in the '80s: Elvis Costello, The Jam, The Clash, XTC, Queen, Rush. And those who started in the '80s and went on to do more in the '90s: Nirvana, Yo La Tengo, Superchunk, The La’s, Morrissey. A great decade, if you know where to look. ---
**Author:** ![tomcar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tomcar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomcar)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-decade-for-music/630907/36 "2012-08-09T15:51:06Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > Like numerous other posters, my favorite period was 1965-75. (I might refine it to 1964-1973.) In the poll, I had to go with the 1960s mainly due to the Beatles, but the 1970s is a close second. (And not surprisingly, 1965-1975 encompasses my teenage years.) This is my view too. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-decade-for-music/630907/37 "2012-08-09T15:51:56Z")
Woody, I actually agree with everything you wrote. Tons of folks were making wonderfully melodic pop, creative music videos, discovering “world music”, and rockin’ out in the 80s. Good to be reminded that it wasn’t just Madonna and Freddy Goes to Hollywood. But I’m still a bit surprised it’s doing so well in this poll, given the other choices. ---
**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:** [August 9, 2012, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-decade-for-music/630907/38 "2012-08-09T15:54:46Z")
I’d go 1965-1975. Second choice is 1930-1940. ---
**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:** [August 9, 2012, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-decade-for-music/630907/39 "2012-08-09T15:55:31Z")
80s, and **woodstockbirdybird’s** list could have been mine (with the addition of a stack of other 4AD bands and Goth stuff) ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-decade-for-music/630907/40 "2012-08-09T16:03:26Z")
I picked 2000-2010, even though my age demographic would have predicted the previous decade. My favorite music of 2000-2010 comes from bands that were active in the 90s (Like Linkin Park, Tool, Green Day) but got better as time went on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-decade-for-music/630907.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-decade-for-music/630907.md?page=3)