this post was submitted on 28 Jun 2023
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#unpopularopinion (poptalk.scrubbles.tech)
submitted 2 years ago by pootriarch@poptalk.scrubbles.tech to c/popheads@poptalk.scrubbles.tech
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We pop fans are pretty used to shade, but each of us has unpopular opinions that could cause bar fights even among us.

One of mine is, even though Born This Way is a caricature of itself, I reach for it more frequently than any other Gaga album.

I also still like "Never Gonna Give You Up."

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[–] ReCursing@kbin.social 1 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Apparently my preferred Gaga album being Art Pop is controversial. I'm honestly not sure why

But my real #unpopularopinion is that, barring a few stand outs, the 1980s is the decade pop music forgot. It;s a nadir of song writing and production with manufactured cheese at it's worst and most bland. You can find exceptions, but they're just that - exceptions. Pop music now is better than it has ever been, and it was better is the 50s*, 60s, 70s, 90s, 00s and 10s than it was in the 80s by a wide margin!

* starting at the 50s because that's widely accepted to be the birth of pop music as we know it. There was some seriously good music before that too, though, such as the Rite Of Spring by Stravinsky

[–] ajsadauskas@aus.social 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

@ReCursing @pootriarch On the 1980s, I'm not so sure.

Yeah, there was a lot of terrible pop in that decade, but there's a lot of forgettable pop in every decade.

It was the peak of the MTV era in the US, and a lot of the music videos from that time are quite experimental.

It was the decade where synths, MIDI, and digital sampling technology improved by leaps and bounds, and first really entered the mainstream in a really big way.

As for pop artists, there was a decent crop of artists from across the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and NZ.

Think Prince, Janet, MJ, Madonna, Kylie, Whitney, George Michael, Irene Cara, The Eurythmics, Phil Collins, Culture Club, Dead or Alive, The Bangles, Bananarama, Robert Palmer, and all the New Wave acts.

There were a number of legacy acts that released some of their best tracks during the decade too. Think Tina Turner, Elton, John Farnham, Billy Joel, David Bowie, and Queen.

A number of artists that aren't generally associated with the '80s also had charting hits during the decade. Including The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones, Diana Ross, and three of The Beatles (George Harrison, John Lennon, and Paul McCartney).

Stevie Wonder just called to say I love you in the '80s. Lionel Richie was dancin' on the ceiling in the '80s.

And for better or worse, the world wouldn't have Rick Astley, List Lobos' La Bamba, Joe Dolce's Shuddup Ya Face, Ray Parker Jr's Ghostbusters theme, etc., without the '80s.

Whether that's to your taste or not is up to you, but for better or worse pop music certainly didn't forget the '80s.

#Music #1980s #PopMusic #pop

[–] croselund@mastodon.energy 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

@ajsadauskas @ReCursing @pootriarch

That's an excellent point about technology; I personally loved the way that synths were used unashamedly, without trying to imitate another instrument.

So many people hate on 80s music, but it was a time of breadth and experiment. While much of it may or may not be considered pop, I'm of the opinion that the 80s gave us some of the best music ever made. Talking Heads, Eno's collaborations with Byrne, Daniel Lanois and others, and Bauhaus just to name three.

[–] ajsadauskas@aus.social 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

@croselund @ReCursing @pootriarch Very true, and that synth technology was evolving and coming down in price rapidly.

Sure, there were synths in use in the '70s (and even the '60s), but they were often just somewhere in the mix of a disco track. See Manfred Mann's cover of Blinded by the Light or 10CC's Rubber Bullets for examples.

By the early '80s, you had the early Yamaha synths and computers like the C64 (released in 1982) making it affordable for musicians to use.

That progressed rapidly to the Atari ST offering Midi out of the box, and the Amiga offering sampled audio in 1985.

There was a lot of hype at the time about how synths and computers would put symphonies out of business.

So this was cutting edge stuff, and a lot of artists were figuring out how to use them for the first time.

Admittedly, some of that experimentation hasn't held up well, but it really paved the way for a lot of the modern EDM/hip hop/R&B/pop that's around today.

And a similar rapid evolution was taking place with computer animation and video. A lot of the experimentation — before Steve Jobs and John Lassiter were making full-length feature films at Pixar from the mid '90s — happened in music videos.

(As an example, just compare the warewolf morph in MJ's Thriller to the morph effect in Black or White to see how much technology improved over the span of just a few years.)

#Music #PopMusic

[–] croselund@mastodon.energy 1 points 2 years ago

@ajsadauskas @ReCursing @pootriarch Yeah, personally I just loved the weird shit people were doing at the time. Like Bowie's Ashes to Ashes video.

There's that moment when technology first arrives in a major way; in the hands of someone with style and imagination it can be a beautiful thing.

[–] pootriarch@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 2 points 2 years ago

my internet branding is based on kylie, hence i've stayed out of this one. i do have thoughts

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