Quote:
Originally Posted by jastrub
Most music lovers seem to scornfully look upon the 80's as a stain on the history of popular music.
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Most? Really? I'm not sure about that. Of course those that grew up in the 90s would scorn it because they are from a different era and prefer dour grunge/rock music, and many of them also probably like some of the worst hip-hop, shoegaze and electronica of the 90s as well.
The 80s certainly had much more good pop music (chart and indie). Electronica had its roots before the 90s (in the 80s and 70s), hip-hop started properly in the 80s, shoegaze started in then too, the roots of indie rock were also very much in the 80s. Dance music as we know it also started in the 80s, far far more good pop-dance back then as well.
I think some people's perspectives are limited by American music which while it had some good things was not really what defined the era. There is far more to the 80s than American groups like Bon Jovi and REM. British music for example had far more variety and - like in the 70s - there was other good music (particularly pop) in other parts of the world like Italy and Japan. Also rock critics can give a distorted view of the 80s focusing on just a few biased favourites like The Cure when there was much more than that.