Was the 80's the best decade for music and movies?

BUDFORCE

BUDFORCE

BUDFORCE

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Just been watching old Top of the Pops programmes on BBC4, they do random years.

It's becoming a regular Friday evening event (sad I know) - but I'm realising the ones from the 80's I'm not only enjoying the most but recognising the vast majority of songs from, even when they are running through the top 40, I'd say I'm familiar with the majority.

Unlike the ones from the 90's or later.

I was born early 80's so would have been too young for the early 80's stuff, although I guess things are played several years after, and still today in a lot of cases.

I also think 80's movies were by far the best, they had a good mix of still relying on more traditional camera on actors, acting, but also started getting really good special effects to back it up, before everything turned to CG and got ruined.

I'll admit I'm guilty of living in the past, and maybe I'm getting old but I honestly think the 80's was the best era for music and movies.
 
I'd normally say that we connect to whatever decade we were young enough to appreciate music in. But I've been seeing a resurgence with 80s music for awhile now with younger people, probably thanks to how media is consumed.

I think the 90s are where serious experimentation ended for the most part. We saw refinement of some of the 70 and 80's staples but it all wittered out come the early 00's.
 
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Gray2233 said:
I'd normally say that we connect to whatever decade we were young enough to appreciate music in. But I've been seeing a resurgence with 80s music for awhile now with younger people, probably thanks to how media is consumed.
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That always happens. Fashion and music gets recycled again and again. Decades come and go in and out of fashion in cycles.
 
My answer is a resounding no with regard to music. I can find music in every decade that i appreciate but...

- 80's was when image started becoming as important as the music, partly due to the rise of MTV and the music video but also because of the huge increase in cocaine consumption within the industry.
- 80's was responsible for that god awful Phil Collins snare drum that polluted countless records.
- Lots of the music from that period sounds cold and dated due to digital recording still being in its infancy.

Id take pretty much every other decade since 1960 over the 1980s when it comes to music.

That said some positives from the 80s (mostly the late 80s)

- old school hip hop
- the beginnings of rave culture
- the start of rock music becoming good again (death of hair rock, rise of alternative/grunge).
 
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Hades said:
That always happens. Fashion and music gets recycled again and again. Decades come and go in and out of fashion in cycles.
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Usually I would agree, but the cycle seems a bit out of turn currently to my mind.

Not that I'm fussed either way, I'd love to see the old huge messy haircuts and stuff come back tbh!
 
I think there was some really good music from the 70's as well, but if I had to pick id take 80's.

Also don't think movies were anywhere near as good in the 70's, with the odd exception.
 
For music, the 70s > 90s > 80s are my favourite decades.

The pop music of the era has tended to be looked upon with some scorn, although it seems to be undergoing a renaissance, but there were so many other forms available or taking root. 1980 and 1981 are particular favourite years of mine; in fact, I own more albums from 1980 than any other year (born 1983 for context).
 
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Aye, being a teenager in the 80s was RAD! Home computers / 80s Sci-Fi / Zero mobile phones so the freedom was real disappearing all day with your mates getting up to all sorts. And music, especially acid dance / house birthing in the late 80s in to the early 90s with house. Oh man, those times were easily the best in my life from a freedom perspective.
 
darkgen said:
Aye, being a teenager in the 80s was RAD! Home computers / 80s Sci-Fi / Zero mobile phones so the freedom was real disappearing all day with your mates getting up to all sorts. And music, especially acid dance / house birthing in the late 80s in to the early 90s with house. Oh man, those times were easily the best in my life from a freedom perspective.
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For me the thing that stands out about the 80s and 90s was that freedom. No phones. Less technology. More reliance on yourself to have fun and explore. Less oversight and control from the government (again because of less technology). The music and films of that time reflect that freedom.
 
I think from a technical point of view 80 & 90s was peak. CDs coming out meant recordings had to be much higher quality. There was still a lot of money to be made from recorded music so it meant there was money to be spend on good equipment and good producers. And it was worth bands spending time on their music.

In the last 20 years we've moved away from quality to convenience. People are paying much less for recorded music and often the listening equipment they're using is lower quality. Although recording technology has improved massively this has done more to make recording more accessible and faster.

Bands are having to focus more on touring because this is now where the money is.
 
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