American Pie 2

gidrah

Here is what this newbie polkster thinks on the whole thing:

60's - they wrote about alot because they had alot to write about. The Beatles, Bob Dylan
70's - they didn't write about much, but they had fun with it. Disco (nuff said)
80's - they didn't write about much, but the whole MTV thing was cool. U2, Tears for fears,REM vs. Motley Crue, Whitesnake come back (shoulda' left it alone), Police. Also Supertramp, Van Halen
90's - they wrote about what they care about, and were pissed about it! (+ the dawning of "young country"), GRUNGE
20's - they're selling anything from T&A to Burger King. J'Lo, Backtreet Boys (compared to Boyz 2 Men, come on). It's not as if there was nothing being sold before, but I remember when being a performer meant that you were in a traveling arts group, not milking one thing for as many other things as humanly (or agently) as possible.
The decade is new. I think that society as a whole is going in multiple directions. I also think that the general state of society is mostly dictated by their youth. I further believe that the youth is highly influenced by their surroundings, (TV, music, videogames, peers, parents).
I cannot tell you which of the decades is the best, but for my money, put it on the conviction. Regardless of the situation, deal with it. If there is no situation, be festive not fodder

jdelan

Better Beer? Yeah, I would have had Budweiser instead of The Beast...

But I STILL would have had some Boones Farm, Strawberry Hill...Hell, when in the Military on the Military Budget that stuff was the best. At $1.95 a bottle. 2 Bottles and you were set for the evening!

As for the Music of Today....Sex Sells...And young sex sells more...
I remember when People were appalled with Hot for Teacher Video by Van Halen...That is VERY tame compared to what we see now on MTV with the so called Hip-Hop and Teen Band videos...

But at least none of them sound as good as that song did/does...

Whitesnake? Not real familiar with their 70's stuff but familiar with the 80's and all I got to say is Cheap Zepplin Clone...

But i like them better than Zep...Go figure...

Micah Cohen

>>
70's - they didn't write about much, but they had fun with it. Disco (nuff said)
80's - they didn't write about much, but the whole MTV thing was cool. U2, Tears for fears,REM vs. Motley Crue, Whitesnake come back (shoulda' left it alone), Police. Also Supertramp, Van Halen
<<

They didn't write about much in the 70s? Think about that. Some of the best lyrics ever came out of the 70s: Billy Joel, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Don Henley, Jim Steinman, etc etc. Don't forget Jethro Tull, Ian Anderson is a genius. The 70s were also the years of Van Halen, which was pretty much OVER by 1980. WhiteSnake's best stuff was late 70s, early 80s, as was SuperTramp's. The 70s was the decade of Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, The Who. Boston. Ramones. Disco doesn't even figure into it, at least till '77 ("Saturday Night Fever" made it legit).

For me, the 80s was post-glam rock (considering Glam was really a 70s thing: The Dolls, Alice Cooper, etc.), "hair bands," and hot chicks at Hammerjacks (local rock club). The whole alterna-scene never even made it onto my radar (where's REM now?). It was Crue, 'Snake (lame lame stuff compared to the 70s stuff, try "Trouble" or "Come An' Get It" ifin you wanna hear some WhiteSnake that ain't "cheap Zeppelin clone"!), Guns & Roses, solo Ozzy (with Randi Rhodes -- I listened to "Diary" this weekend on my new EX3 sound system in my car, and W-O-W, crimony that's amazing stuff!), etc etc.

>>
I dunno man, I just think we have a different frame of reference than the younger crowd. They will be saying the same things we are in a few years...
<<

I agree. It's just weird to have this new perspective. This whole new thing: white guys rapping to metal and this veneration of "new country music" as the sort of glam-metal of the 90s, is just weird. It doesn't make much sense and I don't see much quality in it. For example: the very first Sabbath album is basically a live jam; this crappy dirty band just jamming in the studio. But, it's pretty freaking great. And it displays a level of talent, of musical knowledge and songwriting skill, that just seems to be missing today. "New country" is weird, too, man. What's the deal with that? How strange. I don't know what to make of it. It's so far removed from "real country," Hank Williams (and even what Lyle Lovett is doing now), that I don't even know what it is. And that ugly Dixie Chick ruins the whole thing for me.

MC

TroyD

I would actually say that the best generation of song writers were in the 70's.....I would also add Gordon Lightfoot, a lot of people don't care for him but if you get to see him live, he is great.

Micah,
Now you know what our parents went through...it'a a rite of passage....


Troy

Micah Cohen

Now you know what our parents went through...

Yeah, WOW! True, true.

I am OLD now.

Altho, you know that "if it's too loud, you're too old" thing? It's still never too loud for me. Unless it's crappy stuff.

Feeling my age, MC

gidrah

I will admit that you were right about the music of the 70's. I still listen to all those bands, but my mind set was more towards the sell-out factor at the time.

You mention Black Sabbath! SABBATH RULES! No hairband ever came close to the shear angst, power & musicianship (is that a word), but OZZY wouldn't have been on the cover of TEENBEAT.

DISCO=(GLAM-ROCK+/-METAL)-FUNK + $.
I was so strong about Disco because; while it happened late, it took hold and wouldn't let go. Xanadu, SNF. Disco was everywhere! That's why we blew it up!

Lightfoot is great.