1970s – Not just because of punk rock but mostly because of punk rock. I know it’s a cliché but punk rock changed my life as much as ,say, the Lebanese Civil War or my father’s death changed my life. I went from being a music fan to a music fanatic. I have lived and breathed music ever since 1977. BUT, that’s not all, on the early side was soft rock, LA, pub rock and soul, on the later side was disco morphing into house on one side and hip hop on the other. And there was just enough where you could have a handle on everything you needed to.
2000s – The music distribution business was going through a metamorphoses and indie labels were on the rise, meanwhile house and hip hop were meeting somewhere in the middle and it was the last chance of a middle ground for popular music. The sheer number of bands was mindboggling and it was all so new and thrilling. I wish I’d started rock nyc in 2003 instead of 2009.
1960s – There was music in the cafes at night and revolution in the air. Maybe a touch too smug to be as great as it had the potential to be, still the very best of it, Motown on one side, UK invasion on the other, is the greatest music of the post-jazz era.
1950s – Invented rock and roll and the best of them, all of them were the best of them, had the thrill of the new and the young. Like its drug of choice, amphetamines, it was a speedy, thin, sexy beast. Also, jazz? Coltrane and Davis changed the face of everything.
1990s – Grunge was good and hip hop has never been better… everything else was kinda lame. It is like the 1980s didn’t want to let go their grip.
2010s – It is just like the 2000s only there is more of it and it isn’t as good. The past three years have been like Ironman 3 –it’s alright but been there done that and it was more fun the first time. Everybody, I mean every single band, seems to be a little disappointing on their latest album.
1980s – The worst musical decade in the post-Jazz, rock era and post-rock era ever. Synth pop sucked, hip hop sucked, rock and roll sucked. What didn’t? Michael Jackson, the Replacements and the Minutemen. This was the beginning of the end for rock and roll –it never fully recovered from Genesis.