I don't know how somebody can claim that his generation's music is objective superior

[conuly]

when he grew up in the 1970s. Does this man not remember what his grandparents and parents said about that generation of music? It's almost like the problem with today's music is that he's listening with old ears, rather than that the music itself is bad.

Also, if you're going to assert that every song that hit the top 40 in a particular decade aged well, well, first of all, I'm going to want you to name them because otherwise I don't believe you checked, but also, what about the bajillion songs that didn't make it big? Sturgeon's law applied in the 1970s just as much as it does today.

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Comments

[dine]

I was a teen in the 70s, and while there were some great songs, there was also a LOT of dreck. it's not what I'd call the best of decades, music-wise

[conuly]

Same as it always was, then!

Dude's infected with a virulent nostalgia filter. It may be incurable.

[siliconshaman]

Me... I'm wondering how do you get a small herd of young coats into PJs ??

[conuly]

Carefully, I imagine.

[calimac]

The healing hand of time sweeps away mountains of dreck of any period in popular music. I too remember the 70s as composed of mountains of trash with the occasional gem, while what's played of that period now is an extremely selected few.

But whenever I despaired at what I was living through, I gave devout thanks that it wasn't the 50s, the heyday of truly hideous rock.

[conuly]

I wasn't born until 1983, but it doesn't matter. I don't need to remember or even have lived in the decade to know that some things just never change.

[jhetley]

J. S. Bach's music is objectively superior to this generation's.

[conuly]

Not gonna bite, because I think we both know there's a difference between calling out a specific composer and talking about an entire era (however we're defining that).

[calimac]

Yes. I don't personally remember the 50s, but it doesn't take much research to know what the music was like.

[calimac]

Yes. There's a tremendous amount of dull, wallpaper Baroque music out there, and I know because our local classical station likes to play a lot of it.

[larryhammer]

Heck, I would in no way no how claim that every #1 song of the 1970s has aged well. Far too many of them never were all that good. (I've had a lot of fun archive-diving through Tom Breihan's The Number Ones columns.)

[the_siobhan]

Explain "You Light Up My Life" then, sir.

[conuly]

Oh dear.

[conuly]

It's the power of objective reasoning and critical thinking.

The 70s

[smokingboot]

Osmonds, Cassidy, Bay City Rollers... there was some pretty desperate stuff out there.

[marahmarie]

Ah, one of my favorite songs.