Eras of Classic Rock

[Nololob]

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

Whatever that means, it doesn't make any sense - at all.

 

[Khor1255]

MTV wasn't a problem until the 90's and beyond.

Think again. From the very start they promoted mediocraty and 'minimalism', pushing CBGB's and coffe house bands to national prominence. It was quaint and kind of kitchy at first but this type of drool has now become the predominant form for popular music. It has yet to recover.

 

[Jake T]

MTV wasn't a problem until the 90's and beyond.

MTV was great until around 1986 or so, IMO.

 

[Khor1255]

I agree, but it's impact on the music industry is what I am talking about.

 

[Death on Credit]

There's a lot of overlap and some gaps, but this about the way I see it.

'20's to '50's - Delta Blues and Early Folk & Country...Robert Johnson, Son House, Woody Guthrie, Hank Williams
Mid 50's to '59 - Electric Blues and Rock 'N Roll...Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Johnny Cash, Buddy Holly, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters
'59 to '64 - Folk Revival and Protest...Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Phil Ochs
'62 to '64 - British Invasion...the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Animals, the Yardbirds, the Kinks, the Who
'65 to '66 - Folk Rock...Dylan goes electric, the Beatles' Rubber Soul, the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Simon and Garfunkel
'67 - The Summer of Love...Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, Syd Barrett-era Pink Folyd, Sgt Pepper's, Janis Joplin, the Doors
'68 to '70 - Back to the Basics...the Band, Led Zeppelin, Beggar's Banquet
'67 to '72 - Proto-Punk...The Velvet Underground, Captain Beefheart, the Stooges, the MC5
'69 to '73 - Singer-Songwriters...Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Jackson Browne, Townes Van Zandt, Leonard Cohen, James Taylor
'71 to '73 - Glam Rock...David Bowie, Lou Reed, T. Rex, Roxy Music, the New York Dolls
'71 to '75 - Progressive Rock...Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Rush
'76 to '79 - Punk Rock...the Ramones, the Clash, the Sex Pistols, Patti Smith, Black Flag, the Talking Heads, Blondie
'79 to '82 - Post-Punk...Joy Division, the Cure, Siouxsie & the Banshees
'74 to '85 - Arena Rock...Queen, Bruce Springsteen, KISS (?), Journey, REO Speedwagon
'80 to '89 - MTV Era...Duran Duran and so on and so forth
'84 to '89 - Hair Metal...Motley Crue, Poison, Guns 'N Roses
'90 to '94 - Alternative Rock/Grunge....Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Sonic Youth, the Pixies, REM
'94 to '99 - Powerpop, or something...Green Day, Oasis
'99 to '03 - Garage Rock Revival...the White Stripes, the Strokes, the Killers, the Black Keys
'03 to '07 - Emo...My Chemical Romance, Simple Plan, Arcade Fire
'08 to Present - Indie Rock...Beirut, the Fleet Foxes, Cage the Elephant, Mumford & Sons

 

[Powerage]

1962 - 1967 - British Blues Boom
1966 - 1969 - Psychedelia
1968 - 1976 - Progressive Rock
1970 - 1976 - Hard Rock
1971 - 1975 - Glam Rock
1975 - 1979 - Punk
1978 - 1984 - New Wave Of British Heavy Metal
1978 - 1987 - Heavy Metal
1982 - 1993 - Thrash Metal
1987 - 1991 - Glam Metal

This is pretty much what I would have gone for. I get extremely pissed off when 1970 - 1976 HARD ROCK gets missed off when talking about rock music in general, happens all the time in the UK, it gets lumped in with Prog rock [though usually by mancunians desperate to tell us how every one of them attended the Sex Pistols gig at the Manchester Free Trade Hall in 1976.]

 

[AboutAGirl]

This is a cool thread. Didn't know anyone other than me thought about classic rock as having eras.

I see it as...

First half of the sixties - Singles wave. Bob Dylan & the folk revival, Beatles, Stones & the British invasion, Yardbirds & the early blues and psychedelic influences.

Second half of the sixties - Experimental wave. Psychedelic explosion with The Doors & the Dead, blues revival with John Mayall, Peter Green, Cream, early hard rock influences.

Early 70s - Heavy wave. Bands are coming out with more angular music, picking up where the sixties left off. Zeppelin, Aerosmith mold hard rock. Pink Floyd, Yes, Rush mold prog.

Mid 70s - Last Wave. Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Van Halen, bands influenced by the earlier eras and leading towards what would happen after in rock and beyond.

I don't consider anyone to debut after that classic rock, personally.

I also find it interesting that some people consider 80s MTV good. Gosh I look at the lists of what they played on those first few days and it's like a nightmare for me. But that's just my opinion of course. 90s MTV was pretty amazing, they even played some decently obscure stuff.

 

[ILoveJimmyPage]

^^^ I was thinking the same about MTV. I thought it was pretty good in the first half of the 90s during the whole Nirvana era through the Alt rock wave that followed it. Sure there were a lot of one or two hit wonders during that time but those bands are still pretty memorable to me.

Though I enjoyed the TRL era I think it really went downhill from there and with the big boy band/pop princess boom and the minute they first aired a reality show it was all gone from that point on. You're lucky to catch an hour or two of music videos... if you're up at 3 or 4 in the morning that is.

 

[Khor1255]

They actually always pushed obscure bands. It's just that the ones they originally promoted were more New York City hipster types.

I also find it kind of funny when 80s bands (even ones I like) get lumped into classic rock. I suppose from a purely chronological standpoint that is somewhat accurate but there is a profound difference between bands that had to be ab;e to successfully play live every night and those that could make it by tweaking their sound in the studio for months or years and rarely have to perform live to support their albums.

The early 90s was a return to the bands that made it through the original route.

 

[Phil B.]

I have to admit that I have a total distaste in attempts to "classify" and "categorize" music into nice little corrals. Just my opinion. Obviously more people than I personally know have a need to place music into neat little folders.

Edit To Add: That last statement sounded snobbish...all apologies. Just the way I feel.