Comment by fitsumbelay | Hacker News Reader

Comment by fitsumbelay | Hacker News Reader

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The years that are most consequential to my taste are '77 to '82, where there seemed to be an explosion of high quality output across so many genres - disco/uptempo R&B, funk music, hard rock, progressive jazz, punk rock, reggae, synth pop and electronic music -- some of these being emergent genres. But '76 was a pretty full year for music across genres too, as was '83. And '75, and '74, and '84, and '85 ...

There's literally no year that isn't a rabbit hole of very interesting hits, progressions where one thing is going out of fashion while another thing gains attention as it moves from edge to center, marginalia, you name it when it comes to music.

I suppose there are examples of like late '92 when grunge blew up beyond reasonable proportions where one could point to a specific time range and place for a sea change like Nirvana and fellow indy rockers triggering Glam Rock/Hair Metal's decline. But those kinds of events are less frequent or at least less consequential and that probably has to do with the average josephine liking a wide range of musical genres, which was very much not the case until maybe the mid to late 90s.

Seriously, folks' musical tastes were monosyllabic af

Shouts to giving Franky Valli his props. One of my favorites of his songs is a disco groover called "Who Loves You".

Interestingly there was a bit of a resurgence in 50's style and culture during the mid '70s, probably due to the movie Grease's and lead Travolta's success

I agree about late 70s - early 80s being so good across a wide variety of genres. Especially if you're willing to narrow 78-83.

Such a variety of sounds which somehow all seemed somewhat original.

You had the new wave thing in pop music while the hard rock had resurged with Van Halen/Boston/AC-DC/ZZ Top/etc. Early metal (Metallica). Early hip-hop (Sugar Hill Gang/Houdini). Bands which had emerged in the late 60s like the Rolling Stones/The Who/Pink Floyd still putting out quality.

^^ Factual ^^

The 50s resurgence actually started in 1969 with the creation of Sha Na Na (who even played at Woodstock, weirdly enough). Grease was more of a result than a cause of the trend (and Sha Na Na actually performed in the movie of the musical as the fictional band "Johnny Casino and the Gamblers")

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sha_Na_Na

This is the correct answer. It was Sha Na Na not Grease

>> I suppose there are examples of like late '92

Loveless, 4 November 1991

Lazer Guided Melodies, 30 March 1992

Nothing like them since, my ears are open, I'm still waiting. Getting old here.

I got turned on to Spiritualized later in the 90s. What a band. I get _somewhat_ similar but different but similar vibes from Lost Under Heaven

I remember also being blown away by Bucketheadland so much that every other album I put on sounded simple and linear. And we're only a couple of years away from the whole Bristol-led Downbeat sound (Portishead, etc) and Notorious B.I.G's debut.

I'm there with you on age. It gets harder to catch my attention because the differences between what I hear now vs what I heard then are so slight. So new stuff I like, eg. Lost Under Heaven, is a few measures of familar combined exactly correctly with a few measures of tastily strange; perhaps not "brand-new" strange but strange in stylistic juxtaposition(s) I suppose?

I agree completely something really good started in the '77. That time period is still in heavy rotation for me now even while I discover new to me music.

76 was Boston's debut album. Van Halen debut in 78.

But it was a fairly slow burn .. rock didn't really resurge into the national consciousness until about 79 ... airwaves were dominated by disco.

I think Disco Demolition Night (summer of 79) had something to do with it.

That first Boston album is butter. Van Halen is a huge band that comes up when I think about that period Id put The Cars and even Cheap Trick in there as an example of rock plus varying levels of New Wave - higher with former, a bit lower for the latter

I was thinking about bands like Talking Heads and the Clash.

I think the first Boston album was produced in a home studio. Home studios also developed during this time.

OMG Talking Heads had mindshare among hipsters by the mid to late 80s; the weirdest punks in America

I see that studio belonged to the MIT grad in the band. I think Eddie Van Halen's activities probably gave makers among musicians a boost as well. Can't think of a harder tinkerer. Maybe Robert Fripp?

Robert Fripp is brilliant, and is hugely present on social media. King Crimson inspired so many of the more experimental bands of the 90s, and into current day (especially harder music).

Robert Fripp also had a large hand in ambient electronic music, as well as Brian Eno, as far as ambient that reached American audiences. In regards to Talking Heads, I was born in 1979, and I can remember my dad listening to them often (along with all their videos on the brand new MTV). There are still bands with punk influences that are heavily inspired by Talking Heads.

A more modern experimental band is Melted Bodies, who incorporate punk, metal, and electronic with lyrics about current times (being popular, authoritarian control over people, insurance companies, generational trauma). They really remind me of a Talking Heads resurgence, with a grittier, more psychedelic feel (as far as psychedelia being fun and thinking differently, but also nightmarish and bad-trip territory).

Good points Eno's Music For Airports is another butter album.

Speaking of 'Heads, if you haven't already, check out the David Byrne/Eno collab My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts ('81). It's something like a snapshot of what what was emergent and most interesting sounds from that time from what I think are American vs European persepectives; some funky drum machines and samples (Byrne/US), some funky northwest African and Middle Eastern vibes (Eno/UK). There's a nice jam called Regiment that I can imagine Khruangbin playing

Adrian Belew played on one of the better Talking Heads album and in King Crimson.

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