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This is true “pop” history: `The Twist' is top song of Billboard Hot 100 eraAccording to the article the hit song from the 1960s had the strongest airplay relative to its time. The runners up?
Santana's "Smooth," featuring Rob Thomas, is the No. 2 most popular, followed by Bobby Darin's "Mack the Knife," Leann Rimes' "How Do I Live" and "The Macarena" by Los Del Rio.
Musicians from different eras likely had different hurdles and advantages from other eras. In the 1960s, for example, the amount of competition was likely lower so there were fewer musical groups competing for pop airplay. On the other hand, the higher barriers to entering the music scene had to be crossed in the first place before anyone might notice you. Today there are more musical styles created and given airplay so it's undoubtedly harder for any one song to "crossover" and appeal to different sections of the listening market.Does this mean the quality of pop music was higher in the '60s or today?
pop in the 1960's kicked butt IMHO.look at the aforementioned "Mack the Knife"...just cooolllMotown sound, the music just flowed.Early Beatles...just so refreshing and new.No comparison IMHOI can't put into words how I feel, just pull out some of the oldies and listen...
This is true "pop" history: `The Twist' is top song of Billboard Hot 100 eraAccording to the article the hist song from the 1960s had the strongest airplay relative to its time. The runners up?
Santana's "Smooth," featuring Rob Thomas, is the No. 2 most popular, followed by Bobby Darin's "Mack the Knife," Leann Rimes' "How Do I Live" and "The Macarena" by Los Del Rio.
Musicians from different eras likely had different hurdles and advantages from other eras. In the 1960s, for example, the amount of competition was likely lower so there were fewer musical groups competing for pop airplay. On the other hand, the higher barriers to entering the music scene had to be crossed in the first place before anyone might notice you. Today there are more musical styles created and given airplay so it's undoubtedly harder for any one song to "crossover" and appeal to different sections of the listening market.Without doing the research, I remember the Kingston Trio from that era. I'd just be guessing at runners up, though.Does this mean the quality of pop music was higher in the '60s or today?
Music was all around better in the 60's…Heck I will throw in the 50's and the 70's as well. It was real and not manufactured as it is now. Then you needed real talent. Most artists came straight out of their garages, played in some rough places and had take the knocks before they became the legends we know today. they wernt trained and senthasized and manufactured like today. Listen to the sun records recordings of Elvis And Johnny Cash. Listen to the early stones and Beatles. CCR, Grateful Dead, Floyd and the Who. Even if your not into that kind of music you can apprciate the depth, which is what todays music lacks (with a few exceptions of course). No message, just shallow bubble gum crap, even Country music has sold out and gone pop. Maybe pop,rock and country have gotten to far from their roots.Maybe it was disco that killed the radio star.
Didn't Menudo get big in the 70's and you can't forget Disco. I would say that the 70's are a toss-up.
A lot of the music from the 60's spilled over into the early 70's. Donnies right, how could I have forgotten Zepplin? Skynard was another that was a great 70's band, ZZ Top another. Bob Seger and Springsteen both got their start in the seventies.
I am not saying there werent great bands in the 70's, Floyd, AC/DC, Jackson Brown among others. I am simply pointing out that what was popular then was about as aesthetically pleasing as the leisure suit, much like the saccharin music of today.
I think much of this has to do with the fact that popular music seems to represent the culture of the time, in more ways that one. The popular music of today may be rather superficial, but this is only one of the ways it reflects society. It is also keenly marketed to today's audiences and is generally bought by people who aren't necessarily interested in deeper or socially-conscious messages. This market-based approach to music undoubtedly is a reflection of our consumerist mentality.It may be a chicken-and-the-egg scenario...is the market responding to people's musical choices or are people's musical choices the result of what some corporate big-wigs think will make for a hit tune (i.e. "profit")?
