It dawned on me when I was watching The Kids Are All Right – When I was a youngster, I didn’t listen to any old pop music.* I was a fan of the best of the best. The Who, Led Zeppelin, Stones, Beatles, Clapton, Hendrix, Janis, etc. These people didn’t play by the book, they wrote the book. Hell, they invented the printing press. They defined everything that we hold dear about rock. 99% of what defines rock can be summed up between 1966 and 1968, it seems.
Or maybe I’m wrong, but that is my perception.
Has there ever been another period in rock history to match that? I understand that Michael Jackson, U2, and Britney enjoyed unprecedented commercial success, but did they ever actually change the landscape of the genre? Did anyone? And if so, who?
Yes, I understand that punk, hip hop, and grunge were pretty big movements.
*To my shame, I also listened to Black Oak Arkansas, J Geils Band, and ELP. So shoot me.
And if you listen to classic rock radio, 99 percent of rock was recorded between 1966 and 1968. I do think that the Woodstock generation has pretty much cemented that period, give or take a few years, as the apex of rock music.
The music scene is more fragmented today. I don’t think you’d find a lot of bands right now who have the same sweeping influence.
There’s only so many times you can get away with re-inventing the same thing. Rock and roll was invented in the early 1950’s, re-invented in 1962, and re-invented again in 1967. After that, people were only working within an existing genre.
Grunge was actually a fairly short-lived movement. It is notable as a turning point in rock though. 1991 saw a shift from the testosterine-filled hair-band party rock of the 80s to the melancholy, introspective “grunge” sound of the 90s. Nirvana’s Nevermind and Pearl Jam’s Ten were the defining albums, however Alice and Chains, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots and other Seattle based musicians also enjoyed success. While the Seattle grunge sound only lasted a few years, their influence can be heard in a plethora of pop alt-rock bands since then - Nickleback, Creed, Live, Bush, Lifehouse, Staind, Fuel, etc, etc, etc.
But for what you describe, I think you would have to turn to rap/hip hop to see the same kind of groundbreaking effect on music that Zeppelin or the Beattles had. My vote goes to the various members of NWA, specifically Dr Dre and Ice Cube and Dre’s protegee Snoop Doog for popularizing the gagsta style. Later, Puff Dadda (or whatever he calls himself now) and Notoriaous BIG for popularizing the current style of “bling bling” corporate mafia rap.
I think the problem is listening to mainstream radio and assuming that’s the best, most interesting or most innovative of the music being made today. It isn’t. And I say that not in a music snob way, because I’m fairly indifferent about most music. But my husband’s ipod library reads like a Who’s Who of Bands You’ve Never Heard of, and none of it sounds like anything I’m familiar with. I don’t like most of it, but it is very different, and there’s definitely a “scene” that’s been influenced by stuff I’ve never heard of. There’s lots of weird, groundbreaking stuff out there besides hip-hop, it’s just not going to be played by Clearchannel.
I think it is worthy to point out that Pearl Jam is still very active recording and touring, and enjoy a HUGE fan base… in fact, some think they are the best band ever.
Hm. I’m going to say Trent Reznor comes close to Beatles-quality, insofar as redefining rock. Just close, but he really changed things, and popularized the change.
After that… what built Emo? From Goth, I suppose, I hear a lot of Bauhaus in it.
No, for one group that really, really changed things, the only thing I can think of is Trent. Everything else is evolutionary, not revolutionary.
You bring up a good point. One of the interesting things about the Beatles, for instance, is that they were both innovative and wildly popular. Not many bands can claim that.
Now I expect a drove of more musically literate posters to list about a hundred bands showing that I’m wrong.
You simply cannot compare the likes of Zep, Floyd, Beatles, Stones, U2 to much of anything else. The defined a genre, a melodie, a veritable way of living that cannot be compared today…
I think it’s you who keeps making this point in various threads about today’s music. (If not, I apologize. Somebody always does, though.)
And it’s me who keeps countering with the point that if nobody’s heard their names, they don’t count. You can’t be truly influential unless you’re truly popular (with some rare individual exceptions). No generation of music fans will grow up being influenced by Bands You’ve Never Heard Of.
Cream rises. That’s why Cream named itself Cream. If you think the overwhelmingly best bands are Bands You’re Never Heard Of, the problem most likely lies with you and not Clear Channel - which doesn’t control radio in the first place. Stop blaming mainstream radio for these bands lack of popularity or even awareness. There are too many other mass music outlets for that to be true, not to mention that every single metro market in the country has competitive corporate outlets that don’t take their cues from one another.
I think you misunderstood my poorly worded OP. When I said I didn’t listen to any old pop music, I meant just any old pop music. As in I was selective, not that I shunned anything over 3 years old.
Although, as it turns out, I shunned anything over 3 years old. And I wasn’t all that selective.
But the first records I ever owned (or stole from my siblings) were The Who, ELP, Black Oak, CSN&Y, Santana, Zep, and Jeff Beck. With a few exceptions, a pretty good list. And none of them were oldies. At the time. Sonny.