What went wrong with so many artists/bands from the 60s and 70s throughout the 1980s?
 

What went wrong with so many artists/bands that had huge success commercially and critically throughout the 60s and 70s once the music world entered into the 1980s? Commercially or critically they fell off badly in the 80s.

I'll name a few... Stevie Wonder, Donna Summer, Joni Mitchell, Earth Wind and Fire, Elton John, David Bowie, Queen, Aerosmith, Diana Ross, Barbra Streisand, Aretha Franklin, Barry White, AC/DC, Bob Dylan and many more?

Was it because of MTV? The technology of the 80s? Trend chasing? Creative juice was out?

What do you all think?

idk i was not born during that time but i know once the 80's hit everything change not only in music but monsyl everything else

it was prob a mixture of alot of stuff plus the upper tier of bands that started in the 60's just got older and IMO its hard to have a 30+ year career in music at least back then

The 80's sucked in general, but I'm a little curious how you got these artists? AC/DC got a new singer, but had some of their biggest albums in the 1980s. I think Back in Black was 80.

Elton John had major hits in the 80s, I'm Still Standing, I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues, and I Don't Wanna Go On with You Like That.

Queen iirc did well also? I mean I think they were getting back together in the 80s ahead of Live Aid so I'm sure that contributed.

Dylan absolutely sucked, as did Springsteen, but in general the 80s took all the overbaked jazz-inspired noodling and made it corporate. People traded in their acid for cocaine and they bought power suits and synths.

Actually, Let's dance was Bowie's biggest success. So was Born in the U.S.A. if I'm not mistaken.

But anyway, apart from a few exceptions, I think it's very rare to see any musical artist still producing great work more than 10-15 years into their careers. Unlike many other forms of art, musicians don't normally get better with age.

What artist does?

Writers, painters, sculptors, film directors, actors etc...

The greatest pieces of most art disciplines were not created by people in their 20s, unlike most great contemporary music.

I think there's quite a few that have gone on too long...
But some have gone on 30+ years..Cliff Richard's later CD's are much better than a lot of his earlier ones..Some of that is because of the quality of the lyrics..

I realise he is more UK popular of course.

The Rolling Stones still rock...

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I think The Who have done good, even though they lost half of them along the way...
Many had early deaths as well....
Not being really ageism..after all I am 72 myself....but look about 18 years old now...haha

Yer what??? I thought you were in your 50s! You're older than my mother and she can barely use whatsup, let alone chat on an internet forum and link images! Dang, lady! :clap:

I think that pretty much sums it up for the most part. Cocaine & synths are a dreadful combination.

You missed one band that is probably the best example of a great 60's band gone south in the 80's- Jefferson Airplane/Starship. (ugh!)

What was next for AC/DC after Back In Black? They fell off after 1980 if you remember.

Yes Elton John had some hits in the 80s but the quality of his work was awful then, his peak was from 1970-1975 his "golden era" as he has referred to it himself and GoodBye Yellow Brick Road was his peak.

Queen, same thing what I said about Elton John applies to them.

His heyday were in the 70s.

Tom Waits and Scott Walker only got better with age... but honestly, there's something to it. Of the punk generation, MES was a freak of nature but Kate Bush and Robert Smith, for example, who were always all about song craft rather than explosive energy, had their levels of creativity drop off very palpably around or just after 30.

I'll give it to the french. They get the most out of life.

I know this is an adjacent point but Elton John had some great albums after the 80s. I love Songs from the West Coast. And hate all you want but late-80's queen has some great additions on my running play list.

Their biggest-selling album and also stark evidence of creative decline.

The trajectory from the pop of The Caterpillar and Close to Me to something like Friday I'm in Love (a hook so cheap it could've been written by the Killers or any of those indie r&t@ards) is not a happy one.

A hook so cheap the uneducated masses enjoy it. Disgusting!

I also love Songs From The West Coast too and it was Elton finally going back to his old routes but what I'm saying is that musically speaking his music was on a decline after 1975

But that's just a product of when they weren't rich. I mean every artist loses it. That they can produce stuff after the fact is a testament to their greatness.

Agree to disagree (I do like End though)

The Kinks did not go off during the 80's but brothers in conflicts caused a real slow down after that..until recently where they have been in the studio again recording...
https://happymag.tv/the-kinks-reunion-confirmed/

If I remember correctly you helped show me the ropes for posting images etc.

thanks for that..:bowdown:.hey grand child, well not of mine.:wavey:..

I dunno, I would think my preference for The Cure's chart hits from the 80s over The Cure's chart hits from the 90s might be due to factors other than my level of education.

I guess. I can't say I loved the Montreal show in 2016 but it was not due to him specifically. With that drummer and Reeves Gabrels and whoever else was on stage besides RS then, they just sounded like a middle of the road rock band rehashing Cure classics.

I saw a video of him do a solo acoustic version of Fire in Cairo, just him and a guitar, and it was a thousand times more compelling.

Yep

I wouldn't know. I think the Cure sucks.

They never reached the dizzy heights of Arctic Monkeys, The Killers, Franz Ferdinand, The Kings of The Diner, The Apple Music Indie Algorithm and all the other greats, that much is true.

You have to just hate electric guitar to not be into Slayer on some level.

:stupid:
You just slay me with your Metal humor!

Yeah but seriously, the 80s sucks cause of The New Wave of Hair Spray Ballad Heavy Metal, which replaced the NWOBHM.

Zing! After a burn like that maybe I'll finally hear the artistic value of Can.

It's more about the aesthetic I think. That moody boy in all black at the party who feels no one understands him vibe, its pathetic bordering on social disease. Elliot Smith fans are like this as well. Just ****ing pathetic.

As a show of good faith I'll listen to a Cure album in the hopes that I'm wrong. What would you recommend?

Is Wish buttrock? I'll spin both now.

Except there was way more metal than that but you wouldn't know.

I also vote Disintegration. It's probably the most well rounded of their albums and has the best collection of songs. It's still moody and atmospheric but that's offset by gems like these:





I think Lullaby alone has at least 3 different equally iconic riffs which would have made any pop song stand out.

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Brilliant.

The fuck? I thought that only happened if you're in third world countries. The first video is Pictures of you. You can find it easily I think...;)

I have the album pulled up but I'll note that track. Also, I just wanted to bust balls.

See them in Sunny France..No Problems.
and turned off Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers to listen Shoeman...
all good, like the Cure.
Here's TP&TH..80's

The Cure's one song with a nearly universal appeal to Americans seems to be Just Like Heaven, the single that broke them into the Top 40 there.

A gorgeous pop song, and not as eccentric as their previous pop masterpieces.

Not many people know I toured with Petty. Taught him everything he knew. :laughing:

More than "Friday I'm in Love?"

Yeah we're in America.