btw - the 80s are IMO, the worst decade in music. but that is not my point.

 

I really have nothing of substance here, except to counter with QUEEN WAS AN 80’S BAND!

 

Yeah, yeah… you were talking about the industry as a whole and weighing that against the modicum of great bands.  I totally get it.  However, I have to say that there are very, very few bands that came out in the ‘00s or even the ‘90s that could fill a stadium like Queen.  Or The Police.  Or U2.  Or Genesis.  They weren’t just huge, they were world powers!  (a bit of tongue-in-cheek here, of course)

 

The reason I defend the ‘80s to hard is because I have had to listen to my students whine about how terrible ‘80s music was for the last decade.  Every time one of them says it (which happens quite often) I immediately counter by naming one of those bands.  Care to guess what percentage of my students just stare at me blankly, wondering who on Earth I’m talking about?

 

When I explain to them that there was a time that any one of those bands could attract a 100,000+ crowd, they think I’m making it up.  And I want you guys to think about that.  How many bands have come out in the past 10 to 15 years who could do that?  Anyone?  Rush played Nashville last week.  They sold out a 70,000-seat stadium months ago within days of the tickets going on sale.

 

But there was some very fine, artistic music in the 80s as well.  Cyndi Lauper was fantastic.  I also loved REM, Peter Gabriel, Bruce Hornsby, Bruce Springsteen, Phil Collins’ solo stuff, Roy Orbison, The Highwaymen (the country super band!), and --of course-- my many awesome Midnight Oil recordings that span the entire decade.

 

So was it the best decade?  I like the 90s better that any other, but I was really moved by the Seattle music scene, eclectic music like Radiohead, Concrete Blonde, and Pumpkins, pop punk like MxPx and Green Day, and the advent of hardcore.  That would also be the decade I stepped onto a stage with my own ‘alternative’ band trying to figure out what people wanted to hear so that we could get invited back to places.  [I wanted to play more serious, socially conscious music and the other guys wanted to play fluffy stuff to appeal to the girls.  We broke up long before we were famous.  :o) ]

 

I think the last decade was the worst.  Few tunes and very few bands really stick out as inspiring.  Too much rap.  Too much Black Eyed Peas.  Need some art.

 

Maybe this decade will cycle around and I’ll find some gold.  Missy Higgins is pushing her way to the front of my collection, so there’s hope!

 

:o)

--Terry

 

Oh, heh.  For anyone still reading it looks like I’ll be climbing back on that stage next month.  I’m fronting a short 30-min. gig with a couple of solid bandmates for a community deal.  We’re going to sneak in (no kidding!) an acoustic version of Word Up by Cameo!  I don’t know if this particular audience will know the song at all, but the last time it got played in a bar it brought down the house!  Maybe I should post this creation to youtube…