Tscott

Gone are the days where EVERYONE watched American Bandstand, MTV and listened to top forty radio.

Today everyone listens to their own songs on their own ipod/cd collection/favorite streaming web link or satellite radio station. Thus there are fewer universally known songs. There will be plenty of songs remembered in 10-15 years by certain groups, but not many that everyone will know.

DVD Josh

Your logic is that since YOU have never heard of them, they can't possibly be popular or have lasting music.

I've never heard of you. Does that mean in 10-15 years, no one will remember you?

DVD Josh

There's two things you've never heard of: these bands and punctuation. The real question should for you should really be whether or not we will be using the question mark in 10-15 years. I hope in your case, that's a negative.

maxinquaye

ugh.

it's really very simple. the times we live in have changed. everything now is corporatized. the radio, the television, the media. the music you hear in those avenues are to move product, not move emotions. granted, occasionally actual good music gets played on a national scale, but that's only when (surprise, surprise) they think it can potentially sell or manipulate.

the point is this. good no longer equates with popular. maybe in the 60s and 70s this was true, but not any more. to find good music, really good music, you have to dig. you cannot be lazy. now, if you are unwilling to dig, or unwilling to not be lazy, then you will not be exposed to these things. good or bad, this is unfortunately where our "culture" is headed- diluted with the slogans/campaigns/logos/jingles of corporate culture to such an extent that we should almost stop calling it our "culture". if you complain that you haven't heard of any of these bands mentioned, then you really have no one to blame but yourself.

if you want music that is challenging, confrontational, technically proficient, emotionally involving, etc., check out some of the bands that have been mentioned. sufjan stevens, wolf parade, xiu xiu, okkervil river, etc., etc., etc. have all put out albums this year that i would personally consider to be really great, if not potential "classics". if you've never heard of any of these bands, that is your fault. the popular media no longer cares to help you find quality. instead of making ignorant declarative statements that "it isn't like the old days", learn to see the situation for what it is. stop eating what they feed you and actually find it for yourself. and again, if you're not willing to do that, then be happy with what they've given you. as for me (and many others), the search to uncover quality, dare i say art, is well worth the time.

the quality of music has not changed, just the culture. great stuff is still out there, you just now have to find it yourself.

Decker

Look, no need to get defensive. Just be realistic, if an artist is largely unknown in the mainstream today and their single is not widely heard shortly after it's release, it's unlikely that any of their songs from this era will be considered classic in 15 year's time.

How many songs from 1990 or 1991 are well known today?
The best link I could find was the 100 best charting singles of those years :
1990
1991

Looking at those lists, the three biggest 1990 songs are certainly remembered (Vision Of Love, Vogue, Nothing Compares 2 U) and further down the list,one will live in infamy forever (Ice Ice Baby). Beyond that you have one dance hit (Groove Is In The Heart), one classic rock standard (Free Falling) and a rap holdover from 1989 (U Can't Touch This). Not much else.
1991 has less semi-classics, though I think most would agree that Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) and Unbelievable are dance classics. Beyond that, there's REM's masterpiece Losing My Religion and The Divinyls' novelty classic "I Touch Myself", but overall pretty slim pickings.

There may be some lesser known songs from 2005 that will stick around for a long time, but I suspect if they weren't well known now, it's unlikely they'll be considered classics in a decade or more.

Tommy Ceez

Were any Black Sabbath songs mainstream in the 70's? Metallica in the 80's?

Im willing to bet more people recognize Master of Puppets now than when it was out.

Decker

Certainly Black Sabbath was a very popular band in the 70's and had several Gold and Platinum albums. I might be wrong, but I believe that Metallica was THE best-selling band of the 80's (if not, they were right up there). Certain songs might become more familiar with repetition over the years as a concert staple and such, but that's pretty different from a largely unknown act having a non-hit that becomes widely recognized years down the road. I'm sure that's happened too, but if so, it's a rare thing. By and large it's the hits that endure, and not many of them age well.

csim

Thank you Decker for getting my back. Atleat you understood my post. I was not talking about finding good music. But long lasting music, and people started attacking, makes no sesence. O'well I guess they got nothing else better to do there life.

Aphex Twin

It doesn't have to be popular in order to be long lasting or remembered down the line.

DVD Josh

Wrong. What doesn't make "sesence" (whatever the fuck that made up means) is that you said that a band couldn't possibly be popular or long-lasting because YOU, the greatest authority on music in the world, haven't heard of them (or spelling, or punctuation, or how to form a proper argument, etc.)

csim

Wow everyone gets so defensive on this site, no wonder why i never post. All i wanted to know is people oppions on if music now well be remember in time the future. And everyone gets so offensive. I mean i love all kinds of music, 60,70,80,90's but the 2000's music, just does not stick in my head. I grew up in the 80's but i still love the 60's and 70's in just shocking that i do not think are current will be remember. O well if you guys like taking shoots at me o well, maybe i will just start a thread in Videogame forum, they like fighting with each other too. hehehe

Michael Corvin

Don't sweat it csim. I'm with you. I like stuff from every decade, but this one which is already half over has nothing going for it, but bubblegum pop and retreads of what was popular in the 90s across every genre.

Exactly. I don't think the original post was intending "what albums from 2005 will you still be listening to in 15 years?" Sure you may have dug though the trash of modern radio to find something that will last to you(who wants the pat on the back?), but will it be remembered on a wider scale? No. Will it be played on an oldies station? Will it still get some play from clubs on occasion? It is rare for even for popular songs to stand the test of time, it is even more rare for a song to suddenly become popular years after its release when it wasn't so in the first place.

I couldn't tell you a single thing that was released this year that will be worthwhile in 15 years. BUT I did pick up some non mainstream discs that I might still be listening to. It is two different points of perspective. I have to agree with Decker, if it isn't popular now on a grand scale(radio, club play) then it isn't magically going to be 15 years down the road and be remembered by people that never listened to it the first time around. Even then it is no guarantee.

The Bus

So let me get this straight. You're denouncing "today's music" (i.e. what ClearChannel and Infinity Broadcasting choose to promote in your local markets) because it sucks, yet radio keeps playing this crappy music.

Then you ask if radio will play today's songs in ten years.

Of course they will. You know very well they will. How many cheesy "modern rock" stations still play Dishwalla?

Now, when we mention worthwhile, quality music, you attack us for being stupid because radio doesn't play their music.

Make up your mind. Do you like radio, or not?

If you like radio, then you bet all of today's favorite hits, like "My Humps" and "The Reason" and "Since U Been Home" will be repeated, forever, and ad nauseum, over the next 20 years. Whether it's on a "new hits" station (that today is still playing Semisonic) or it's during a "Lunchtime Request Power Hour" you're going to be hearing the same stupid, asinine, over-commercialized crap. Over and over and over. For the rest of your life.

The fact that you haven't heard of "our" music is not radio's fault, it's yours.

The Bus

So the "non-mainstream" stuff, was it not released this year?

csim's question, as I understand it, should be phrased as such, Will any of the chart-topping singles from 2005 be remembered in ten to fifteen years?

And that's sort of silly, really. Of course people will remember them. I'm sure, out of this list, you remember at least one song:

• EMF - "Unbelievable"
• Jesus Jones - "Right Here, Right Now"
• Bryan Adams - "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You"
• The Scorpions - "Wind of Change"
• Londonbeat - "I've Been Thinking About You"
• Luther Vandross - "Power of Love / Love Power"
• R.E.M. - "Losing My Religion"
• Extreme- "More than Words"
• Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch - "Good Vibrations"
• Madonna - "Justify My Love"
• DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince - "Summertime"
• Firehouse - "Love of a Lifetime"
• UB40 - "The Way You Do the Things You Do"
• Amy Grant - "Baby, Baby"
• Bette Midler - "From a Distance"
• Damn Yankees - "High Enough"
• Tevin Campbell - "Round and Round"
• Queensryche - "Silent Lucidity"
• Tesla - "Signs"
• Seal - "Crazy"

I'm not saying you should remember every song. But I guarantee you most people will remember one song from that list, if not half of it. Some of us here can hum every single song.

So it's sort of a silly question.

maxinquaye

good to see that you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about; nothing you say from this point has any credence whatsoever.

what you're not getting is that the culture of music has changed. your concept of an "oldies station" in 15 years is not going to even resemble what it does now. and seeing the direction that the mass media is heading, radio in particular, i would also question the relevency of judging music that is "remembered on a wider scale."

there are two questions, really. the first is the question of whether music today is somehow "worse" than in the past. the easy answer is no. the more complex answer is that the distribution models have changed, but many people have not, and thus the access to this music has been curbed, to them in particular, dramatically.

the second question is whether any songs on today's top 100 pop charts will be "recognized" in 15 years as quality songs. reading my previous post, as well as the paragraph above, it could answer the question as to why many of the songs in these charts would not be "up to par", as it were. if a certain brilliant song has no chance of ever reaching the "top of pops" charts, then what relevancy do those charts have in the first place? having said that, i would argue that the shitty pop music of today is just as bad as the shitty pop music of yesteryears. but i suppose that is a matter of taste.

and as far as modern music that will not increase in popularity, i would also disagree. as someone who became a radiohead fan in 1995, i beg to differ. i would wholeheartedly expect someone like sufjan stevens to build on his brilliant '...Illinoise' album this year and eventually reach a level of critical acclaim reserved for those "classic" music-makers like bob dylan and bruce springsteen. is elliott smith the next nick drake? i would say it's a great possibility. but i guess you need to have some vision to be able to even offer a prediction like that, and to be frank, if you don't care enough to find sufjan stevens in the first place, your opinion is pretty much uninformed ignorance.

i don't mean to attack anyone. it just bothers me when this generation is attacked for somehow being artistically lesser than those of previous generations, only because of those who cannot acclimate themselves to today's distribution methodologies and culture. sure, the culture has gone to shit, but the artists surely have not.

maxinquaye

and you're sort of right on the money.

i would go further and say that anyone who's seen a commercial on television knows half those songs, whether they know it or not.

The Bus

That is an absolutely brilliant explanation. Three huzzahs for you.

Mordred

You'd be very, VERY wrong. It's hard to become a best selling artist when 3 of your 4.5 albums don't get radio or MTV play. Puppets peaked at 29 on the charts, Justice reached #6, Ride and Kill 'em All were of course nowhere near there.

Decker

Actually I'm not. There's this thing called "the internet" and it's really useful for research.
http://www.riaa.com/gp/bestsellers/topartists.asp

Top Artists

Totals are derived from cumulative album sales totals (U.S. only)
Artist
Certified Units (in Millions)

BEATLES, THE
168.5

PRESLEY, ELVIS
116.5

LED ZEPPELIN
107.5

BROOKS, GARTH
105.0

EAGLES
89.0

JOEL, BILLY
78.5

PINK FLOYD
73.5

STREISAND, BARBRA
70.5

JOHN, ELTON
69.0

AC/DC
66.0

AEROSMITH
65.5

ROLLING STONES, THE
64.5

SPRINGSTEEN, BRUCE
61.5

MADONNA
60.0

STRAIT, GEORGE
60.0

JACKSON, MICHAEL
59.5

CAREY, MARIAH
57.5

METALLICA
57.0

VAN HALEN
56.5

HOUSTON, WHITNEY
54.0

U2
50.5

atlantamoi

Probably due to my age more than anything, but when I look at the Top 40 singles chart I'm amazed by how little I know. That's coming from someone who listens to oodles of new material all the time. When I look at a singles chart from past decades I recognize a great deal of it.

I'll remember quite a bit of great music from today, but almost none of it will be a hit radio single.

ViewAskewbian

Not to nitpick, or anything, but I am sure the bulk of those sales do not stem from any of the albums listed above but from the "Black" album which, to Metallica's credit/discredit was a HUGE hit and really broke them into the mainstream and, in another respect, away from their smaller fanbase collected in the 80s with the non chart toppers.

Okay, continue on...

Giles

I though the Gorillaz' song Feel Good Inc. to be the most memorable song of the year.

wendersfan

From the same site I got the following information:

Album	U.S. Sales (millions)
Metallica	14.0
...and Justice For All	8.0
Master of Puppets	6.0
Ride the Lightning	5.0
Load	5.0
Garage, Inc.	5.0
S&M	5.0

So, in other words, it looks like "The Black Album" accounts for a significant but not overwhelming percentage of the band's total sales.

Obey The D

If you look at the sales figures before the release of "The Black Album" they were alot weaker (although still not bad).

Kill 'Em All
Gold 5/89

Ride The Lightning
Platinum 5/89

Master of Puppets
Platinum 7/88

...and Justice for All
2x Platinum 7/89

lordwow

I give out "of the year" awards on my blog, and man, this year blew for Song of the Year. I don't think any of these songs will still be popular in 15 years.