Was Music From the ’60s Really The Best?
Given my obsession with popular music, for the last half-century I’ve been grilling adults of all ages on their favorite music. No surprise that many prefer the sounds from their high school and college years. They usually claim those years as the best ever for pop or rock music.
But I’d like to make the case that our era, basically the 1960s, was the all-time best music decade. (I know we early Baby Boomers are considered cultural narcissists, but music-wise we have a right to be.) During our adolescence, a disproportionately large percentage of history’s greatest pop artists were filling the airwaves—and staring at us from the windows of Cutler’s Record Shop.
We had the Beatles, Stones, and Dylan in their prime, not to mention Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix, the great Motown artists, and many more. The Beatles, as you may know, are the biggest-selling musical act of all time, with over a billion units sold to date, and are the best musical act of all time, according to most pop industry polls. And they broke up within a year of our graduation. (Coincidence?)
Rolling Stone magazine—which caters to pop music fans of all ages—published a list of the 200 greatest artists of all time in 2011, chosen by musicians, writers, and music executives. Of their top 50 artists, 32 had records on the charts during the 1960s.
Of Rolling Stone’s greatest 50 albums of all time, 20 were released in the 1960s. Of their greatest 500 songs of all time, 196 were released in the 1960s. (That’s 39.2%, for those of you who weren’t math majors.)
There’s even a case to be made that during our Yale years alone—between early September, 1965 and late May, 1969—the most influential and consequential music in pop history was burning up the charts. Rolling Stone’s five greatest albums of all time peaked during our Yale years. They are:
- Sgt. Pepper by The Beatles
- Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys
- Revolver by The Beatles
- Highway 61 Revisited by Bob Dylan
- Rubber Soul by The Beatles
It’s no wonder the songs of the ’60s keep getting recycled. In fact, I just now heard the Beatles’ “Help!” in a TV ad.
In order to create a playlist for the Reunion … and have a little fun … we decided to ask all Classmates to tell us about YOUR favorite artist, album, and song of this greatest musical decade ever. Please take three minutes and fill out this survey.
I think Symphony for the Devil was by Salieri.
John: When my girls were in their early teens (mid-1990’s) I vividly remember the two of them saying “Gee dad, when you were growing up you had the best music.”
I’ve heard many similar stories, Scott. But of course I’m biased. When it comes to rock music of the 60s I’m an unabashed exceptionalist. 🙂
We were understandably preoccupied with American music in the 1960s but at the same time, Africa was going through a post-colonial musical flowering that in my opinion far exceeded what was happening in the US. I didn’t catch up to it until the late 70s when I got into shortwave radio and listened every evening to Africa Numero Un, an amazing station sponsored by the French Government in Libreville, Gabon. Because of the time difference between Gabon and east coast US, late night partying in Africa peaked around 5pm east coast US time with hours of nonstop dance music. The Four Stars. Tabu Ley Rochereau. The best representative now in Europe of the style called Soukous is Kanda Bongo Man, although he’s way past his prime. Africa Numero Un is still on, too – and now online, for better reception than was ever possible via shortwave. But the music featured now is just a pale imitation of what was available 40-50 years ago. For a taste of what Soukous used to be, YouTube has Kanda Bongo Man’s first two albums from 1981-2, re-released under the name of his lead guitarist, Diblo Dibala, and called “Non Stop Non Stop”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx8cjexcgac