HiFi Subjectivist ¦ Audio Forum ¦ NVA User Group

Yes, those two charts reflect what the folk of the day were/are prepared to go out and get. I am sure that if, today, one had to travel to a local record shop and buy what you wanted in some physical format, that the chart would look very different if only in pure numbers.

My youngest son listens to music all day and every day using his own, paid for, Spotify account. Beyond that he has not paid for any music nor does he buy anything physical. Apart from the fact he has nothing to play it on (of his own) I think he'd look at me gone out if I were to suggest he bought a CD or something. "Why?" would be his response.

Obviously, when he's home from Uni, he sees me go through my vinyl rituals so he's well aware of the different ways to play music.

terrybooth wrote: ↑Sat Jan 04, 2020 1:46 pm I think that the 79 chart needs to be put into some context. There's clearly and influence of punk and new wave in there which was a reaction against 'manufactured' and mediocre music of earlier in the decade...

By 1979 "punk" was well and truly dead as a movement, for want of a better word, and most of what passed for punk was seen by punks as "plastic punk," which was aimed at the charts rather than the ethos of making music in a totally non-corporate DIY way. The punk bands had almost all either sunk without a trace, or signed to major labels and had the benefit of promotional pounds/dollars thrown at them.

1979 saw the birth of what was labelled The New Wave of British Heavy Metal. This came on the back of punk and has been summed up by Brian Tatler of Diamond Head who said that aspiring guitarists did not have to be another Richie Blackmore to form a band. Many of the bands who emerged at this time are still going strong.

I remember seeing Def Leppard at a pub venue in South Yorks, well before they broke through.
They were bloody loud and as thrashy as Motorhead. By the time they hit the big time, they had mellowed a lot.

SteveTheShadow wrote: ↑Mon Jan 06, 2020 5:37 pm I remember seeing Def Leppard at a pub venue in South Yorks, well before they broke through.
They were bloody loud and as thrashy as Motorhead. By the time they hit the big time, they had mellowed a lot.

I had the chance to see them when they were virtually unknown but did'nt bother. Seen them a number of times since including Rick Allen's come back appearance at Donnington in 86.

This thread I started a few years ago is appropriate for the topic.

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=48467&hilit=Golden+rock+decade

terrybooth wrote: ↑Sat Jan 04, 2020 1:46 pm I think that the 79 chart needs to be put into some context. There's clearly and influence of punk and new wave in there which was a reaction against 'manufactured' and mediocre music of earlier in the decade. In other words, I don't think the 79 chart is really representative of the 70s. After all the decade started with albums outselling singles. The second half of the decade brought is 'FM' music (e.g. Fleetwood Mac's 'Rumours'), earlier in the decade we had the flowering of prog rock (Genesis, Yes).

It used to be that every 7 years or so, there'd be new craze or sub-genre of music.

1955ish Rock and roll
1962 Beatles
1969 Led Zep rock and Pink Floyd type prog rock
1976 Punk
1983ish New Romantics
1990 Hip hop / rap / rave scene?
1997?
2004? X factor?
2011?
2018?

Lindsayt wrote: ↑Tue Jan 07, 2020 9:18 pm

terrybooth wrote: ↑Sat Jan 04, 2020 1:46 pm I think that the 79 chart needs to be put into some context. There's clearly and influence of punk and new wave in there which was a reaction against 'manufactured' and mediocre music of earlier in the decade. In other words, I don't think the 79 chart is really representative of the 70s. After all the decade started with albums outselling singles. The second half of the decade brought is 'FM' music (e.g. Fleetwood Mac's 'Rumours'), earlier in the decade we had the flowering of prog rock (Genesis, Yes).

It used to be that every 7 years or so, there'd be new craze or sub-genre of music.

1955ish Rock and roll
1962 Beatles
1969 Led Zep rock and Pink Floyd type prog rock
1976 Punk
1983ish New Romantics
1990 Hip hop / rap / rave scene?
1997?
2004? X factor?
2011?
2018?

In the US
1983 Hair Metal
1990 Grunge