Entertainment For Lively Minds
The Pop Challenge
On my last day at work before the Christmas holidays, I had a discussion with a younger colleague about music. My contention was that the Golden Age of Pop was from 1965-1974. He argued that pop music today was just as good as it has ever been. He challenged me to put together my top 20 pop singles from my period, burn them on to a CD and he would listen to them before delivering his verdict. In turn he would put together a similar CD from the last decade. The only rules were that the songs had to be chart singles, and we would limit ourselves to one song per artist.
Now I’m well aware that I may be suffering from an advanced case of nostalgia, and I reckon most of us do think that the music we grew up with is best. So I’m not trying to convince anyone that my chosen period is unquestionably superior to any other. That after all is a matter of opinion. I simply want to elicit your opinion. What would your favourite pop period be; and what 20 singles would you choose to illustrate its general greatness? Does anyone else believe that the last 10 years are as good as any other period in pop history?
Here's my CD (and I know I've left so many great tracks out):-
1. Superstition: Stevie Wonder
2. We Can Work It Out: The Beatles
3. No Woman, No Cry: Bob Marley
4. I Heard It Through The Grapevine: Marvin Gaye
5. Waterloo Sunset: The Kinks
6. God Only Knows: The Beach Boys
7. Reach Out (I’ll Be There): The Four Tops
8. Bad Moon Rising: Creedence Clearwater Revival
9. The Israelites: Desmond Dekker
10. Paint It Black: The Rolling Stones
11. In The Midnight Hour: Wilson Pickett
12. I Can See For Miles: The Who
13. Like A Rolling Stone: Bob Dylan
14. Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay: Otis Redding
15. Starman: David Bowie
16. Virginia Plain: Roxy Music
17. Big Yellow Taxi: Joni Mitchell
18. Son Of A Preacher Man: Dusty Springfield
19. All The Young Dudes: Mott The Hoople
20. You Keep Me Hangin’ On: The Supremes
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It's posts
like this that can take large chunks out of one's day.....must resist!
Personally I'd go from 1977 up to whenever MIDI recording kicked in, about 1985.
Yeah
Think that would be my second favourite period with lotsa punk & New Wave tracks e.g. Watching The Detectives.
Nope, I'm with you, Wezz
Right years, good selection - could run off 50 different CD's before the content quality drops.
When one considers
how many hundreds of thousands of pop songs have been written since 1965, and how much harder that makes it to come up with something of quality, I think it adds weight to the idea that now is a golden age of Pop. Furthermore, one could also argue, using the same logic that it's incredible that there is any music worth hearing being made today, at all, in any genre.
That is not to disparage your era of 1965 - 1974 (your list is superb), just to pose a different take on the original question
I'm fully behind the OP...
...but would narrow down the "golden age". Just look at this little lot from 1965 to 1967. It was extremely hard to stop at 20.
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - Rolling Stones
I Feel Fine - The Beatles
A Change Is Gonna Come - Sam Cooke
California Dreamin' - The Mamas & The Papas
Like A Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan
My Generation - The Who
The Sound Of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel
Stop! In The Name of Love - The Supremes
Good Vibrations - Beach Boys
Reach Out I’ll Be There - Four Tops
I’m A Believer - The Monkees
What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted - Jimmy Ruffin
Pretty Flamingo - Manfred Mann
A Whiter Shade Of Pale - Procol Harum
Light My Fire - The Doors
Happy Together - The Turtles
Respect - Aretha Franklin
Somebody To Love - Jefferson Airplane
Ode To Billie Joe - Bobbie Gentry
Waterloo Sunset - The Kinks
But it's all a matter of personal taste, of course. And doesn't age count for a lot? I think you love the pure pop of your childhood and teens with a passion, for many reasons - not least, you start out hearing stuff on the radio and buying singles cos that's all you can afford. Though I'm not sure that holds quite so true these days when you can pick up individual album tracks cheaply. But it used to.
You could argue the "golden age of pop" began with The Beatles first hits and ended shortly after the Summer of Love, when everything was starting to get distinctly more "rock".
Age is the key
I really started listening to music in 1978 and I am sure i could argue for 1978-82 and provide many lists.
That said I appreciate music from all eras including the current stuff (Horrors album is magnificent as an example).
Each to their own I guess.
I started around the same time
But would never put 78-82 above 66-70 say, much as I love a lot of records from the later of the two periods.
Can I just ask
the, around here, highly regarded Horrors album, would that be the one my daughter said, "turn it off Dad, its all out of tune" or is there another one? Have to say, I agreed with her.
With you exactly, Wheaty.
Apart from the Horrors album.
An excellent list
You make a good case for the Golden Age being even shorter than I suggested.
Too short
I think you've probably encompassed the era that will always be remembered but I think you have narrowed it too much. I would at the very least have continued it until 1976 (to include ABBA's heyday) and I think I would have included a lot of the punk/new wave era. Perhaps you start your timeline a few years too late as well.
The main "problem" with modern music is that it's audience is far more fractured so there isn't nearly as much consensus as there was in the 60s & 70s. There was recently a thread extolling the virtues of The Feeling as a fine pop band. I love my pop music but I've heard of them but never knowingly heard them. That would have been less likely in the past and at least now I should be able to easily check out what I've been missing which would have been virtually impossible in the 60s & 70s when all most of us heard was what the BBC wanted us to hear.
Wot?
No Lieutenant Pigeon?
Yeah right
And where's "I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman?"
Right here that's where...
If you get a chance, Wezz
could you post the 20 tracks that your colleague put together as well?
In the New Year
I'll do this when I'm back at work again in January, Ivan. I'm looking forward to hearing it as I don't know much about modern chart music. So, hopefully, I'll learn something.
Excellent list wezz.
Excellent list. Mine would be different, but not better.