Top 5 musical artists of each decade
My dad, my brother, and I all went out to dinner tonight, and while we were waiting for our food to come we started talking about music. Something to pass the time. After a few words, we decided to come up with lists of our favorite artists from each decade, starting in the '50s when rock & roll was born. We did a bunch of jawing and came up with a very loose consensus between the 3 of us on the top 5 artists from each decade, never mentioning any artist twice. Now, the term "artist" applies to both a single musician like Dylan and a group like The Beatles. I thought we had a consensus, but my brother wants you to know that this doesn't represent him since his taste in music is so pretentious. So I guess this really is my list. Anyways, here you go (and I want some arguments, because I know I'm not right).
-1950-1959-
Little Richard
Chuck Berry
Elvis
Buddy Holly
Jerry Lee Lewis
-1960-1969-
The Beatles
Bob Dylan
The Rolling Stones
The Beach Boys
Eric Clapton
-1970-1979-
Led Zeppelin
Pink Floyd
Bruce Springsteen
Creedence Clearwater Revival
The Eagles
-1980-1989-
Guns & Roses
Michael Jackson
Aerosmith
AC/DC
U2
-1990-1999-
Nirvana
Radiohead
Pearl Jam
Green Day
Sublime
We stopped here. The 90s were hard, but at least they're over, so I did them anyways. So tell me what you think, remembering that this is my list, not my dad's or my brother's, so you're just arguing with me.
8 comments:
The Eagles were not together during the majority of the 80's.
True story. They were meant to be in the 70s, that's why there was only 4 there, and U2 was the last 80s band. Sorry for the mistake, but it's fixed now.
How can you forget about the late great Johnny Cash?
He's got to be up there.
Johnny Cash was certainly great and is a legend, no arguments there, but the reason I didn't include him was because, in my opinion, he was never in the top 5 of any certain decade. He spans many decades, but in the '50s he was a rockabilly artist, and all 5 of those guys I listed were better at it than he was. In the '60s rock & roll was at it's peak, and those 5 that I listed were better at it than he was. In the '70s he was a country music star, but I think those 5 I listed were better musicians than he was. That's just my opinion, but now you know my justification for leaving him off.
Counterpoint?
I would put NWA up somewhere. Most influential rap artist/group ever and it can't make your list? I'd put them over U2 anyday. Even though I'm noticing a heavy rock and roll tilt to your list.
Also, small nitpicking point. With you putting Clapton as a top artist in the 60's. I will never argue that Clapton isn't one of the best musicians ever, it's just that for most of the 60's he was still in Derrick and the Dominoes. It wasn't really until the late 60's and 70's that he made a name for himself.
I wanted to put a rap artist up there, and it would have been NWA, believe me, but it was just suck a rock based list, like you said, that I had to leave them out. But, if I did a 2000s list, I would probably put Jay-Z on it, so I would have had to put NWA. On the Clapton thing, I had to put him somewhere, and there was room in my 60s. He and Bob Dylan are both that could be in probably 3 of those decades, maybe the Stones if you like their later stuff, but he just fit in the 60s.
Thanks for the comment though. You should make this list on your blog and we'll see how they compare and differ.
Shoulda put Bowie in there somewhere too.
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