A song from every year since 19__

[Ether's Bane]

So, this is an experiment which I felt like conducting.

I decided to look at every song on my MP4 playlist and pick a song that I like from a different year dating all the way back to 1964 (with Google’s and Wikipedia’s help, of course), as that is the year of the oldest song I own.

(By the way, my first four picks are all The Who, not because I’m that big a fan of them, but because it’s the only music I have from before 1968.)

Here's what I ended up with.

(YouTube links possibly to come in the future)

1964: The Who - I Can't Explain
1965: The Who - My Generation
1966: The Who - The Kids Are Alright
1967: The Who - I Can See for Miles
1968: Creedence Clearwater Revival - I Put a Spell on You
1969: King Crimson - 21st Century Schizoid Man
1970: Black Sabbath - War Pigs
1971: Led Zeppelin - When the Levee Breaks
1972: Alice Cooper - School's Out
1973: Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free Bird
1974: Deep Purple - Stormbringer
1975: Aerosmith - Sweet Emotion
1976: Rainbow - Stargazer
1977: Heart - Barracuda
1978: Van Halen - Eruption
1979: Molly Hatchet - Flirtin' with Disaster
1980: Motörhead - Ace of Spades
1981: Journey - Don’t Stop Believin’
1982: Iron Maiden - Hallowed Be Thy Name
1983: Dio - Rainbow in the Dark
1984: Metallica - Creeping Death
1985: Yngwie Malmsteen - I’ll See the Light, Tonight
1986: Slayer - Angel of Death
1987: Guns n’ Roses - Sweet Child o’ Mine
1988: Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys
1989: Skid Row - Youth Gone Wild
1990: Judas Priest - Painkiller
1991: Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
1992: Blind Melon - Tones of Home
1993: Angra - Carry On
1994: Soundgarden - Fell on Black Days
1995: Oasis - Wonderwall
1996: Koji Kondo - Slider
1997: Radiohead - Karma Police
1998: Nightwish - Passion and the Opera
1999: Children of Bodom - Aces High
2000: Stratovarius - Freedom
2001: Muse - Feeling Good
2002: Avantasia - The Seven Angels
2003: Limozeen - Because, It’s Midnite
2004: Lamb of God - Laid to Rest
2005: Avenged Sevenfold - Bat Country
2006: DragonForce - Revolution Deathsquad
2007: Within Temptation - What Have You Done
2008: Black Tide - Shockwave
2009: Amberian Dawn - He Sleeps in a Grove
2010: Firewind - Heading for the Dawn
2011: Bronyfied - My Little Metal Medley
2012: Inky - The Happiest Homestuck Song Ever

The years where I had a hard time choosing because there were too many great songs were 1968, 1970, 1971, 1980, 1991, 2000, 2003, 2009, 2010, and 2012.

The years where it was difficult for me to even come up with a song were 1985, 1997, 1999, and 2011.

(If you have the time on your hands, you might want to try this. Start from the oldest song you own and work forward.)

 

[Teh Ebil Snorlax]

All of these are based on their appearances in albums and may not reflect when they were released as singles.

1957 - "Come Fly With Me" by Frank Sinatra
1959 - "Blue Rondo A La Turk" by The Dave Brubeck Quartet
1962 - "Just A Gigolo" by Thelonious Monk
1964 - "Big River" by Johnny Cash
1965 - "Desolation Row" by Bob Dylan
1966 - "Eleanor Rigby" by The Beatles
1967 - "She's Leaving Home" by The Beatles
1968 - "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" by The Beatles
1969 - "Come Together" by The Beatles
1970 - "Mother" by John Lennon
1971 - "Wild Horses" by The Rolling Stones
1972 - "It Ain't Easy" by David Bowie
1973 - "The Great Pretender" by The Band
1974 - "Rebel Rebel" by David Bowie
1975 - "Shine On, You Crazy Diamond" by Pink Floyd
1976 - "Pastime Paradise" by Stevie Wonder
1977 - "Paradise By The Dashboard Light" by Meat Loaf
1978 - "Dancing in the Moonlight" by Thin Lizzy
1979 - "The Trial" by Pink Floyd
1980 - "Another One Bites The Dust" by Queen
1981 - "Don't You Want Me" by The Human League
1982 - "Thriller" by Michael Jackson
1983 - "Sunday Bloody Sunday" by U2
1984 - "Dancing in the Dark" by Bruce Springsteen
1985 - "Time" by Tom Waits
1986 - "You Can Call Me Al" by Paul Simon
1987 - "With or Without You" by U2
1988 - "Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Joy Division
1989 - "Perfect Skin" by Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
1990 - "Nothing Compares 2 U" by Sinéad O'Connor
1991 - "The Show Must Go On" by Queen
1992 - "Let the Mystery Be" by Iris DeMent
1993 - "Mr. Krinkle" by Primus
1994 - "What Do You Want From Me" by Pink Floyd
1995 - "Too Much Love Will Kill You" by Queen
1996 - "Man That You Fear" by Marilyn Manson
1997 - "Where Do We Go Now But Nowhere?" by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
1998 - "Sugar" by System of a Down
1999 - "Smooth" by Santana
2000 - "Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of" by U2
2001 - "Deer Dance" by System of a Down
2002 - "The Scientist" by Coldplay
2003 - "Cannonball" by Damien Rice
2004 - "Rebellion (Lies)" by Arcade Fire
2005 - "The Man Of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts" by Sufjan Steves
2006 - "Welcome Home, Son" by Radical Face
2007 - "Fake Empire" by The National
2008 - "Skinny Love" by Bon Iver
2009 - "Charlie Darwin" by The Low Anthem
2010 - "Within the Rose" by Matthew & the Atlas
2011 - "Love Love" by Take That
2012 - "Breaking the Same Old Ground" by Marilyn Manson

 

[Adriane]

1. 1959 — Naima - John Coltrane
2. 1963 — Summertime - Sonny Rollins
3. 1975 — Veloce - Claude Bolling & Jean-Pierre Rampal
4. 1977 — The Great Gates of Kiev - Emerson, Lake & Palmer
5. 1978 — Silver City - Sonny Rollins
6. 1986 — Master of Puppets - Metallica
7. 1987 — Neptune, the Mystic (The Planets, Op. 32) - Charles Dutoit
8. 1988 — Castle Pandaemonium - Nobuo Uematsu
9. 1989 — Morocco - The Rippingtons
10. 1990 — Tropic of Capricorn - The Rippingtons
11. 1991 — Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, BWV 1050 - Rudolf Baumgartner
12. 1992 — Astral Dance - Mike Frost
13. 1993 — Dear Friends - Nobuo Uematsu
14. 1994 — Aria Di Mezzo Carattere - Nobuo Uematsu
15. 1995 — Sonata in G Minor, BWV 1020 - Julius Baker
16. 1997 — Black Diamond - The Rippingtons
17. 1998 — Harmageddon - Apocalyptica
18. 1999 — 8th Commandment - Sonata Arctica
19. 2000 — Kismet - BOND
20. 2001 — Weballergy - Sonata Arctica
21. 2002 — Awakening - Kumi Tanioka
22. 2003 — Brooklyn - Youngblood Brass Band
23. 2004 — Hunter's Chance - The Black Mages
24. 2005 — Elegy, Pour Flûte Et Orgue (M. C. Baker) - Similia
25. 2006 — Sanctuary (F. Ticheli) - North Texas Wind Symphony
26. 2007 — Helden - Apocalyptica (with Till Lindemann)
27. 2008 — Benny Goodman: Memories of You - The United States Army Field Band
28. 2009 — Wish I Were Here - Tom Kitt
29. 2010 — Russian Christmas Music (A. Reed) - Aiken Concert Band
30. 2011 — On Green Dolphin Street - Corea, Clarke & White
31. 2012 — Liberty City - USCA Jazz Band (with Mike Frost)

Possibly some inaccuracies.

 

[Cerberus87]

Rock died after grunge, and grunge died with Kurt Cobain's suicide, so my list would only go up to 1994... Even though the old acts kept releasing stuff later on, but it just wasn't as good.

 

[Datura]

Rock died after grunge, and grunge died with Kurt Cobain's suicide

no

 

[Cerberus87]

no

Can't say the Foo Fighters and Nickelback are good heirs to rock music, so yeah.

Modern trends...

Not a fan of nu metal. Listened to Limp Bizkit, disgusting stuff. Mixing hip hop and metal, WTF.

Post-grunge. It sucks. Rock music conceived to sell. Guys pretending to have psychological issues.

Don't like Avenged Sevenfold. Metal for teens.

The only band I've heard that does something in the vein of classic rock nowadays and has become fairly mainstream, are the Black Keys. The rest of the good records are made by the same guys who made them 20, 30 years ago. Which IMO is worrying because it means rock is not evolving. Who are the new Beatles? Who is coming to cause a huge impact in the musical scene as rock artists? Maybe saying rock is dead is an exaggeration, because there's still good rock music being made, but not by fresh blood.

After I read your post I googled "death of rock and roll" and found an article supporting the idea. One of the comments in disagreement was, "but the most packed concert of the year was from AC/DC". This IMO doesn't disprove anything. The AC/DC guys are what, older than 60 nowadays? And AC/DC is not a band which you can say has evolved through the years. Bon Scott dies, Brian Johnson steps in, the sound is the same. Even Brian's voice, is a parody of Bon Scott's. Heck, AC/DC's best music IMO was from the Bon Scott era, not even Back in Black tops it. Not like Black Sabbath for example, when Dio replaced Ozzy the band sounded entirely like another act. So much that they decided to call the reunion with Dio in the lineup "Heaven and Hell" instead, not Black Sabbath.

I'm naturally attracted to rock n' roll, I'd even say it's in my genes. But I can't see a good future for rock, the way things are now.

 

[Teh Ebil Snorlax]

I think the stupidest thing about the post just before mine is the insinuation that rock genres are purely sequential. But that's only the most stupid thing, there are others, like the general dismissal of entire subgenres. Any genre can be done right and most genres are done right by at least a handful of bands.

And even then, your criticism is weak. Guys pretending to have psychological issues? Everyone has psychological issues and, just off the top of my head, Adam Gontier of Three Days Grace is a recovering drug addict, so some of them even have serious psychological issues. Jesus dick, you call post-grunge "rock music conceived to sell" and then cite The Beatles, one of the most shamelessly commercial bands in music history. Fantastic musicians and innovative songwriters but just about the most money-hungry shower of bastards you ever met.

Also, the pandering to the unbelievably irritating and self-defeating rock critic culture consensus that all the best music in rock has already been made, which is just ridiculous, especially since a lot of the bands of the 60s, 70s and 80s are lauded as being so influential yet apparently not so influential that their influence has produced comparable bands since then.

Arcade Fire, Brand New, Cursive, Fair to Midland, The Gaslight Anthem, Interpol, The National, Jack White, Muse, Mother Mother, People In Planes, The Protomen, Shooter Jennings, Sore and, yes, The Black Keys are all phenomenal rock bands who've produced absolutely stunning albums since the death of Kurt Cobain. No, not all of them are like the "rock gods", but that's because they've, uh, done that whole evolving thing you're complaining about not being done in rock music while at the same time completely dismissing all the modern trends in rock music (or what you perceive as the modern trends, you named literally two laughably easy targets and a band, because apparently there have been no other movements in rock since 1994).

Honestly, I don't even know why I'm spending so much time responding to you, given that Datura pretty much summed up everything that needs to be said in his post, but dammit if I don't have a serious difficulty with letting stupid opinions stand unassailed. And I'd like to make a distinction here between opinions I disagree with and opinions that are stupid. Because I can respect an opinion that opposes mine as long as it's well-thought-out and well-supported. But your opinion is not only self-contradictory and self-defeating but it ignores the historical fact that there are more genres in modern rock than nu-metal, post-grunge and whatever Avenged Sevenfold are supposed to be. Holy crap this annoyed me so much.

EDIT: Also, you ask who's going to be as influential and genre-changing as The Beatles. Um, I dunno, why don't you wait a few years to see who cites the bands of the current era as influences and who demonstrate lessons in style learned from those bands? Because that's the only reason we know The Beatles were influential. Because we saw who they influenced. After time passed. Because that's how time works.

EDIT 2: Oh wow, I just caught this.

Mixing hip hop and metal, WTF.

"Wah, rock isn't evolving! Ew, rock is touching other genres! No, don't let it do that! It might, I dunno, change or something!"

 

[Cerberus87]

I think the stupidest thing about the post just before mine is the insinuation that rock genres are purely sequential. But that's only the most stupid thing, there are others, like the general dismissal of entire subgenres. Any genre can be done right and most genres are done right by at least a handful of bands.

And even then, your criticism is weak. Guys pretending to have psychological issues? Everyone has psychological issues and, just off the top of my head, Adam Gontier of Three Days Grace is a recovering drug addict, so some of them even have serious psychological issues. Jesus dick, you call post-grunge "rock music conceived to sell" and then cite The Beatles, one of the most shamelessly commercial bands in music history. Fantastic musicians and innovative songwriters but just about the most money-hungry shower of bastards you ever met.

Also, the pandering to the unbelievably irritating and self-defeating rock critic culture consensus that all the best music in rock has already been made, which is just ridiculous, especially since a lot of the bands of the 60s, 70s and 80s are lauded as being so influential yet apparently not so influential that their influence has produced comparable bands since then.

Arcade Fire, Brand New, Cursive, Fair to Midland, The Gaslight Anthem, Interpol, The National, Jack White, Muse, Mother Mother, People In Planes, The Protomen, Shooter Jennings, Sore and, yes, The Black Keys are all phenomenal rock bands who've produced absolutely stunning albums since the death of Kurt Cobain. No, not all of them are like the "rock gods", but that's because they've, uh, done that whole evolving thing you're complaining about not being done in rock music while at the same time completely dismissing all the modern trends in rock music (or what you perceive as the modern trends, you named literally two laughably easy targets and a band, because apparently there have been no other movements in rock since 1994).

Honestly, I don't even know why I'm spending so much time responding to you, given that Datura pretty much summed up everything that needs to be said in his post, but dammit if I don't have a serious difficulty with letting stupid opinions stand unassailed. And I'd like to make a distinction here between opinions I disagree with and opinions that are stupid. Because I can respect an opinion that opposes mine as long as it's well-thought-out and well-supported. But your opinion is not only self-contradictory and self-defeating but it ignores the historical fact that there are more genres in modern rock than nu-metal, post-grunge and whatever Avenged Sevenfold are supposed to be. Holy crap this annoyed me so much.

EDIT: Also, you ask who's going to be as influential and genre-changing as The Beatles. Um, I dunno, why don't you wait a few years to see who cites the bands of the current era as influences and who demonstrate lessons in style learned from those bands? Because that's the only reason we know The Beatles were influential. Because we saw who they influenced. After time passed. Because that's how time works.

EDIT 2: Oh wow, I just caught this.



"Wah, rock isn't evolving! Ew, rock is touching other genres! No, don't let it do that! It might, I dunno, change or something!"

Are you done throwing your toys out of the pram?

Seriously, take a look at the mainstream. Pop, hip-hop, rap. Those bands you listed may have produced "stunning albums", but what was their impact? Are Muse the new Beatles? New The Who? New Zep? Are they going to be remembered in 20 years? 30? 40, FFS? History is full of obscure bands that played during the time of the greats, and you have to really dig into stuff to find them (granted, Muse is not obscure, ha ha).

Sure, The Beatles were commercial. As were The Rolling Stones. But they marked a generation. Can't say Muse will do the same.

I go to rock bars, there are three good ones here in my town. I don't think I've listened to anything newer than the 90's in those. And they're not dedicated to classic rock either.

Major movements in rock music, there haven't been any lately. We're still in post-grunge era, with Nickelback stronger than ever. Indie and less known bands aren't strong enough to lead a movement. Muse doesn't belong to one either.

And, of course, major chronology is linear. The art within it may not be, as all the time there's a "rediscovery" of something which wasn't in the spotlight. Stephenie Meyer earned millions with such a rediscovery in the book market. But to move forward, a rediscovery isn't enough. You have to mix it with something new. Something fresh. Grunge is fondly remembered because it was the last time there was a significant artistic evolution in rock, one that ironically came from the alternative tunes that were scoffed at by the major labels.

I'm definitely not against rock touching new genres. But it should touch quality stuff. For me the worst genre rock could touch is hip-hop, lol. Limp Bizkit is trash. I remember getting an album from them, I shelved it after the third song. Sorry, not a fan. I believe the only reason rock spread into hip-hop is because rock + something has already been done so many times. Rock spawned from country and blues. Pop/rock is a cocktail for commercial success. Rock and electronic, there was Duran Duran (panned as a boy band, but miraculously survived the test of time), Rush did something into that as well. Rock this, rock that, it has already been done.

The Black Keys interested me because they took that 70's sound and breathed new life into it. But I'm not sure they'll establish themselves as giants like the classics.

Don't know why I've answered to your post, as your absolutely rude tone (while I wasn't rude to Datura) should've earned a blatant ignore on my part, but my opinion is, I can't say there's anything new being done in rock music. New in artistic merits, of course, as new songs pop all the time. The biggest news in modern rock are the reunions of old bands. That should be telling.

 

[Tarvos]

It's true that they don't do rock and roll the way they used to. That's because rock and roll was a fad that passed away, like PRETTY MUCH EVERY GENRE EVER.

People don't sound like Cream anymore because, fuck, Cream sounds like Cream! Nirvana sounds like Nirvana (no, actually, they sound like the Pixies). Etc. If I want to sound like other bands, I'll just fucking play in a cover band. Else I'll do something that sounds like I want it to sound (i.e. something in the vein of Nightwish probably, just because I wouldn't avoid the "orchestral" sound because I love how powerful that is). Or I would just play folk songs.

If you are going to follow modern music, go indie or underground metal if you so wish (although I am sick and tired of metal).

I don't have a list because I don't care enough, but the one reason I stopped following most music is because most music nowadays sucks and the scene is saturated as all hell. If I want something I'll listen to a golden oldie or delve down the back catalogues of older classic artists.

 

[Adriane]

If you're going to keep this up, please create your own thread and leave this one to its original intent.