Janszoon

I do like 60s music. I just thought your list didn't make a very convincing argument for the 60s being so amazing. As I said it seemed like a really generic list.

I first started buying music in the mid 80s and I certainly don't remember it being hard to find good music. It's true people back then didn't have the internet resources we have now (which of course was also true in the 70s, 60s, 50s, etc., even the most of the 90s) but college radio was a big source of music exposure for me as was the fairly wide variety of music magazines at the time. If you wanted something you didn't see on the shelves of your local music store, you just ordered it. It wasn't that hard. And keep in mind that there were actually more little local music stores back then than there are now, since MP3s have pretty much killed that industry.

mr dave

right. but, if you weren't in a relatively urban area (or on its outskirts) you wouldn't have access to that college station. can't order what you don't know exists, and it's not like columbia house carried every label out there.

the small stores were great but they also had to turn a profit so they couldn't really just fill their shelves with whatever they thought was good instead of what they knew would sell, again it depends on the area.

the 80s weren't a total wasteland but i'm sure you'll agree where you lived played a far more significant factor in what you were able to hear than it does now.

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jackhammer

I guess because of the sheer size of America, it was a lot more difficult for bands to (metaphorically) spread their wings in the 80's. Although British radio was extremely limited in the 80's we had the luxury of John Peel and a smaller land mass so bands were more accessible to us. Not excessively so I hasten to add but the means were there if you cared to look.

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Minstrel

John Peel's DJing is something I, as an American, greatly envy in the UK. The idea of radio being a vehicle for a personality you cared about and an exploration of music, mainstream or underground, is almost alien to me.

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Zombeels

Generic. I listed some really great artists from the 60's. Unlike the 80's you don't have to search for obscure or non mainstream acts to find good music from the 60's. I'm sure if I listed Rockadrome or Plastic Cloud, 99% of the people here would say who?

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Janszoon

That's where ordering albums comes in. I didn't live in an urban area growing up, I lived in the suburbs, but I was still able to find good stuff. And even if you lived out in the sticks somewhere I'm sure you could find albums by the likes of the Pixies or Jane's Addiction or Talking Heads or Love and Rockets at the local mall.

Let's keep in mind that the 80s are being contrasted here with Zombeels' 60s. Do you really think it was easier to find cool obscure stuff in the 60s than it was in the 80s?

Like Cream? Are you kidding me?

I would say it's about the same. The 60s had some good pop music: the Beach Boys, the Zombies, Dick Dale. The 80s had some good pop music: REM, New Order, the Smiths. But in both decades the best stuff flew in a bit under the radar.

Brad Stengel

Yeah but that has absolutely nothing to do with the argument. The issue is over quality of music, which has nothing to do with availability. Now if we were discussing the quality of mainstream music, then I would agree, the sixties were far superior. Although we have to keep in mind, what gets played on the radio from the sixties now is very different from what was played back then. Jimi Hendrix, for example, wasn't all that popular back then compared to what he's grown to today. And bands that may seem somewhat mainstream now, or at least very close to the surface of the underground, like The Velvet Underground, were very unpopular at the time.

In conclusion, timeframes are moot. Every decade has its fair share of great music, and shit. And in 50 years, on a forum just like this, ALL of our opinions will be obsolete, because fans of music from the 2030's will be arguing with people who thought the last good record ever made was "The Future" by the band ROBOTS, made in 2016.

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FaSho

I love you Wayfarer.

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Brad Stengel

If you actually read my post, you would see that I was saying the same thing you are. Arguing over which decades have higher quality is pointless.

But instead let's bitch about people bitching in a thread where the entire point is to bitch about things, seeing as the title is "Things that piss me off about music".

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FaSho

Well you have to consider the arguement had almost nothing to do with an item on the list.

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