Favorite artist/band of each decade?
 

Here's my list:

50s: Chuck Berry
60s: The Beatles
70s: The Who
80s: Bruce Springsteen
90s: Blur
00s: The White Stripes

are we going by when bands formed or when they were active?

In terms of who were the best act each decade(not when they were formed), I'd go with...

50's - Elvis
60's - Beatles
70's - My head tells me Led Zeppelin but hey, I'll be honest! I'm going with the calming influence of the Eagles!
80's - Bruce Springsteen
90's - R.E.M.
00's - Bell X1

50's- Chuck Berry
60's- Bob Dylan
70's- Sex Pistols
80's- Echo & The Bunnymen
90's- XTC

I haven't heard enough modern music to really give a favorite artist for the 00's.

50's: Hmm...Mingus
60's: Simon & Garfunkel
70's: King Crimson
80's: Tom Waits
90's: Public Enemy
00's: Spoon

50s: Thelonious Monk
60s: The Beatles
70s: King Crimson
80s: The Smiths
90s: RHCP
00s: Isis

50s: Howlin' Wolf
60s: Bob Dylan
70s: Brian Eno or Elvis Costello
80s: Pixies or Dinosaur Jr. and maybe Rites of Spring, and Fugazi if they count. 80s is a hard one for me.
90s: Modest Mouse
00s: Against Me!

50s: Miles Davis
60s: Beatles
70s: King Crimson/Pink Floyd
80s: Metallica
90s: Burzum
00s: Pain Of Salvation

Some of my favorites like Rush, Testament, Opeth & Radiohead couldn't be placed in any particular decade.

50s:none
60s:Pink Floyd (Barrett lead era)
70s:Joy Division
80s:Sonic Youth
90s:Blur
00s:Radiohead

50's: Johnny Cash
60's: Oh i don't bloody know. Jimi Hendrix Experience. Maybe.
70's: David Bowie
80's: The Smiths
90's: PJ Harvey
00's: Too early to say! At the mo, The White Stripes.

When they were active.

50s: Count Basie
60s: The Red Krayola
70s: Iggy and The Stooges
80s: Spacemen 3
90s: Lilys
00s: Souls She said

50,s ray charles
60,s the beatles
70,s led zeplin
80,s u2
90,s oasis
00,s cold play

50s - Johnny Cash
60s - The Beatles
70s - Led Zeppelin\Joy Division
80s - RHCP
90s - Radiohead
00s - Radiohead

50s Elvis
60s Beatles
70s Have to get back to you (that's not a band)
80s Stone Roses
90s Oasis
00s Arctic Monkeys

That definitely should be a band.

50s Elvis
60s The Beatles
70s Pink Floyd
80s Guns n Roses
90s Radiohead
00s Sigur Ros

actually that is a great title for a song...is there such a song?
I'm gonna look in to it

Not according to allmusic.com. Someone needs to write it. It has great potential.

50s-hmm i guess elvis
60S-the doors
70s-joy division
80s-pixies/sonic youth/the smiths...er not sure.
90s-smashing pumpkins.
00s-interpol.

its hard to narrow it down
50's: Little richard
60's: The doors
70's: Joy Division
80s: The cure
90s: radiohead
00s: radiohead

50s: Chuck Berry
60s: The Beach Boys
70s: Big Star
80s: The Stone Roses
90s: Teenage Fanclub
00s: Radiohead

50s: Johnny Cash
60s: O **** I don't know...Beatles I guess
70s: Pink Floyd
80s: Nick Cave
90s: The Flaming Lips (Ween is 2nd, Nick Cave 3rd)
00s: I don't know...I guess I liked that Lou Reed album...so it's Lou Reed.

60s: The Beatles
70s: Pink Floyd/Yes
80s: Michael Jackson
90s: Radiohead/Bjork/Smashing Pumpkins
00s: Radiohead/Bjork/Flaming Lips

Lou Reed is your favorite artist from the last 8 years?

I really need to add Led Zeppelin to the 1970s and the Violent Femmes to the 1980s.

I listen to his 'Ectasy' album and that other one more than any other album from the 00s.

50's: Buddy Holly
60's: The Who
70's: The Ramones and The Clash
80's: Descendents
90's: Lagwagon and At The Drive-In
00's: Underoath, though I'm REALLY digging The Mars Volta. I'm gonna download some more of them tomorrow.

I've been meaning to do one of these...

50's: Charles Mingus
60's: The Pretty Things
70's: Wishbone Ash
80's: KRS-One
90's: Elliott Smith
00's: Porcupine Tree

50s- Ummm...
60s- Beatles
70s- Queen
80s- Billy Joel or U2
90s- Weezer (yes, I'm absolutely serious)
00s- Radiohead

pinkerton was a good album... even with thewhiny weirdo bull****

50s: Jerry Lee Lewis
60s: Yardbirds
70s: Thin Lizzy
80s: U2
90s: Soundgarden
00s: Strapping Young Lad

There's absolutely no way I come up with just one for each decade so here are several for each decade instead:

50s: Eddie Cochran, Chuck Berry, Charles Mingus

60s: Esquivel, Pink Floyd, Miles Davis, Beach Boys

70s: Television, Bauhaus, Stevie Wonder, Lou Reed

80s: Foetus, Alien Sex Fiend, The Cure, Joy Division, Tom Waits, Ministry

90s: Trans Am, The Church, My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, Swans, Mr. Bungle, Godflesh

00s: The Microphones, Kill Me Tomorrow, Secret Chiefs 3, Matmos

Which has been the best decade for music?
 

50's / Elvis, Chuck Berry and Rock & Roll

60's / The Beatles and The British Invasion, Motown, Psychedelia and the beginnings of Heavy Metal

70's / Arena Rock, FM Radio, Punk, Drugs and Rock & Roll. And disco

80's / New Wave, House, Hair Metal and MTV

90's / Grunge, Alternative, RockCountryPop and Boy Groups

00's / Pop Idol, The X Factor, American Idol, everybody reforms and every possible Genre and subgenre imaginable

50's / Elvis Presley>Jerry Lee Lewis
60's / The Kinks>Velvet Undergorund>Beatles>Dylan>Byrds>Zombies>Who>Stones .
70's /David Bowie>Neil Young>Pink Floyd>Led Zeppelin.
80's /The Smiths>Prince>The Cure>REM>Sonic Youth>The Replacements.
90's / Pavement>Wilco>Radiohead>Pulp>Tindersticks>Blur>Be lle & Sebastian
00's /The National>TV On The Radio>Modest Mouse.

50's-Charles Mingus
60's-Jimi Hendrix Experience
70's-Frank Zappa
80's-RHCP
90's-Clutch
00's-Mastodon

My Ying and Yang for each decade

60s: Stones >< Beatles
70s: Black Sabbath >< Bowie
80s: Slayer >< XTC
90s: Pantera >< Radiohead
00s: Mastodon >< The Shins

As some groups crossover decades, I`ve put where I most like their stuff.

50`s Chuck Berry, Elvis
60`s The Doors, The Beatles, The Who, Jimi Hendrix Experience.
70`s Led Zeppelin, The Who, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Yes, Rush, Wishbone Ash, Cheap Trick, Styx, Kansas, Fleetwood Mac, David Bowie, Aerosmith, Alice Cooper.
80`s Fleetwood Mac, Kate Bush, Toto, The Cars, The Tubes, Slayer, Megadeth.
90`s Nirvana, Sepultura, Pantera, Soundgarden, Meshuggah, Monster Magnet, Dream Theater, Radiohead.
00`s As of yet undecided.

50s - Jerry Lee Lewis
60s - The Beatles
70s - Journey/Foreigner
80s - Damn, so many to choose from! Well anyway Exodus/Overkill/Megadeth/Iron Maiden/Judas Priest/80s Pantera/Def Leppard/Bon Jovi (like them or hate them, they made some very fun and catchy music during the 80s)
90s - Paul Van Dyk/In Flames/Daft Punk
00s - Deadmau5/Benny Benassi/Sonata Arctica (pre Unia)

50's - Bing Crosby, Miles Davis, Sun Ra

60's - Fever Tree, Quintessence, Golden Earring

70's - Yes, Terry Callier, King Crimson, Rush, Camel, Return to Forever, Gentle Giant, EW&F, 10cc, Comus, Can

80's - It Bites, Talk Talk, Level 42, The Rippingtons, Talking Heads, Mr. Sirius

90's - Faith No More, Goldie, Mercury Rev, Screaming Headless Torsos, ATCQ, Global Communication, Jellyfish, Mansun, Ozric Tentacles

00's - Pain of Salvation, maudlin of the Well, eufonius, Mew, Moon Safari, Coil, Fleet Foxes, Opeth, Six Organs of Admittance, The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble, Thievery Corporation

Trying to limit it to one per decade.

60s - The Beatles
70s - Pink Floyd
80s - Skinny Puppy
90s - Fugazi
00s - Pinback

Pretty predictable, I guess. Seems like this decade is the hardest to decide on...surprisingly I have more albums from this decade than any other. I think we figured that out in another thread. So I guess it's not so surprising.