DECADES OF MUSIC

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60'S

In the 1950’s people were still reeling from the devastation of the war. Music around this time generally consisted of a solo artist supported by an orchestra or big band. However the 1960’s saw the emergence of a highly competitive band scene. It was in this decade British music really exploded onto the international scene.


For the first time, British people had money in their pockets to spend on music. An underground music movement began to materialise to light up the teen scene. This overtook the cosy cardigan comfort music that people’s parents and grandparents enjoyed listening to. It was an exciting time for young people and this new, fresh and vibrant style overwhelmed the country.

Things really started to hot up when The Beatles arrived. With their catchy melodies and strong personalities, they captured the hearts of Britain. Along with media hype, Beatlemania swept into other countries and soon Britain was considered to be the centre of the music world. The Americans have even termed this as the “British Invasion”. They continued to dominate the decade, becoming the most influential band of all time.

The legendary rock group, The Rolling Stones was also a leading member of the British Invasion. They were a heavier alternative to The Beatles, and by 1966 had become one of the most experimental and trendy rock groups around. As with The Beatles, they had a huge following and many many hits.





There was almost a rivalry between these two great bands. The Beatles were seen as a nice, clean-cut bunch whereas the Rolling Stones were “naughty” and a band your mother would not approve of. (Although no doubt The Beatles weren’t quite as well-behaved as they seemed…)

In the mid to late 60’s came the Hippy Movement. The way of the Hippy was to dress, behave and live life in a manner that did not conform to society’s standards. They had a liberal attitude and lifestyle and greatly believed in the importance of peace, love and freedom.

Another movement of this decade was feminism and the rise of women in society, economy and family, which was mirrored by the chart successes of Lulu, Dusty Springfield, Sandie Shaw and Cilla Black.

Other major British bands/artists of this time are listed below.

The Kinks,
Gerry and the Pacemakers,
The Who
Tom Jones
The Hollies
The Dave Clark Five
Cream

70'S
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Also remembered as “the decade that taste forgot”, the 1970’s brought with it glam, glitter and stadium rock as well as punk, soul and the dance music that many (very) secretly loved….disco!

The 70’s began with a major increase in LP sales from acts such as Led Zeppelin, The Who and Deep Purple. However, the decade itself also brought with it various fads, with term “One Hit Wonder” making its first appearance, with acts including Pilot and The England World Cup Squad.
In 1971 The Beatles confirmed the rumours that they were separating. Paul, George and John all went onto successful careers. Ringo went on to Thomas The Tank Engine.
The first big new sound of the decade was “Glam Rock”, the main advocates of this were Sweet, Slade Marc Bolan’s T-Rex and of course Gary Glitter. In the bleak political backdrop, these larger that life British bands and characters brought a welcome relief with their platform boots, sequins, nail varnish and colourful hair.
Intellectual artists also emerged, for example David Bowie. Bowie was a master of reinvention and is thought of as more vibrant and creative than the average rock star of this time. In 1972 he achieved an international breakthrough with “The rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” about a gender-bending rock star from outer space.
In this decade the first manufactured British boy-band, the Bay-City Rollers, appeared to great teenage delight. This tartan-clad Scottish band generated a massive cult following known as “Rollermania”, and had many hits, such as “Bye Bye Baby” in 1975.



Also in this decade, Elton John had his first top ten hit with “Your Song” and the kings of disco, the Bee Gees spread Saturday Night Fever and had many successful dancefloor hits. The great rock band, Queen emerged in the 1970’s and proceeded to have a number of hits, including the unforgettable “Bohemian Rhapsody” which was also the song that launched the pop video. This pioneering promo only cost £3500 to make and three hours to shoot, but helped Bohemian Rhapsody reach a worldwide audience.
Punk-rock exploded across Britain towards the late 70’s, spitting in the face of musical trends of the time. Angry and frustrated young men and women reacted against the system and rejected almost anything institutional. Great British bands of this scene were The Sex Pistols and The Clash. The Sex Pistols caused outrage across the nation especially when they swore on the Bill Grundy TV show and a cult was born. The Punk style of Mohicans, bondage clothes, safety pins, piercings, bovver boots and sneering attitude was a perfect front for their rebellion.
Roxy Music, fronted by Bryan Ferry, was a wildly influential and experimental rock group at this time. Dressed in bizarre, stylish costumes, their art-rock with pop undertones produced many hits. Roxy Music lifted the trend and was to influence the start of the 1980’s.

Other major British bands/artists of this decade include:Pink Floyd
Rod Stewart
The Police
Leo Sayer
ELO
10CC
Adam and the Ants



80'S
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By the 1980’s, popular music was part of everyday life, whether in soundtracks to films or in the background of commercials. Also the introduction of the Compact Disc (CD) replaced vinyl and the quality of sound recordings vastly improved.

The 1980’s were an interesting musical decade. It brought the last waves of disco and music splintered into many different styles. Advances in technology resulted in genres from acid house to death metal to glam rock to techno-pop.
However, musical styles changed fast in this decade. One of the most significant of these was the birth the New Romantics, such as
Soft Cell, Duran Duran, Human League and Spandau Ballet. With bold make-up, sculpted hair, pirate costumes, kilts and leather jackets with scarves, these bands had their own fantasy-driven style and kids lapped up the outrageous glamour.
Electropop was a genre of synthesised pop music which thrived during the early 80’s and produced a cold, robotic, electronic sound with catchy melodies which has continued to influence artists since. British successes in this area were New Order, Depeche Mode and OMD.
Adam and the Ants were a great success in the early eighties, combining a punk and New Romanticism style. They were pioneers of pop videos which thrust their individual style and theatrics, including the infamous
white stripe across his face, into prominence. With his stunning looks and colourful costumes, Adam Ant proved to be a popular pin-up and enjoyed many hits throughout the 80’s.
Within the political climate of the 80’s, commonly known as “Thatcherism”, the power of pop was utilised for the roles of musicians as politicians. Protest songs were released in increasing numbers. For example in “Ghost Town”, The Specials were scathing in their opposition to Thatcherite Britain and response to rising unemployment. In the same way, the name of the group “UB40” was also the code of the dole card.
Bob Geldof, a singer with Boomtown Rats, achieved a magnificent political and musical feat in 1984. He brought many artists together to form Band Aid, a project to help the starving people in Ethiopia. They produced a No.1 hit with “Do they know its Christmas?” In 1985, he organised Live Aid – two huge concerts held at the same time via satellite, one at Wembley Stadium in London and the other at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. These concerts were listened to on TV or radio by 1.5 billion people across 130 countries, as well as the 160,000 people who attended. Millions of pounds were raised for the African people.
Wham! had many hits in the 1980’s, proving hugely popular with the teenage market. Towards the end of the decade, Pop-Mogul Pete Waterman enjoyed considerable success with his own brand of cheesy music, such as Rick Astley.
Other British bands/artists in this decade include:Erasure
Pet Shop Boys
Culture Club
Bucks Fizz
Bananarama
The Smiths
Madness
The Specials
Kim Wilde
Boomtown Rats
Simplyred

90'S

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The 1990’s brought with it the phenomenon of “Britpop”. Largely of the indie genre, this music provided the soundtrack to British youth of this era. Crucial to Britpop were the melodies and catchy choruses, all having a distinctly “British” taste. There were many British bands that emerged under this title. “Mad fer it” Oasis occupied the grittier side of the scene, whereas bands such as Blur and Pulp were more art-rock and middle-class.

With Oasis and Blur came a well-documented rivalry. This culminated in the race for number 1 between Blur’s “Country House” (the winner) and Oasis’ “Roll With It”.
The city of Manchester contributed greatly to the Britpop scene with The Charlatans, Stone Roses,
Happy Mondays, James, Inspiral Carpets and, of course, Oasis, earning the term “Madchester” for the city.

In stark contrast to the Britpop style came the success in this era of British boy bands. Take That were the most successful boy band of the 1990’s, having eight No. 1’s. East 17 were another boy band who, whilst being in the shadow of Take That, had ten top ten hits between 1992 and 1998. Girl bands had their moments too, such as All Saints and The Spice Girls. The latter were a national phenomenon and became massive export, with people all over the world watching with intent at the antics, styles and charisma of Baby, Sporty, Posh, Ginger and Scary Spice.
Dance music also became hugely popular throughout this decade. This brought about the growth of clubs and the birth of Superclubs, such as Cream, Gatecrasher and Ministry of Sound, and the international successes of DJs including Carl Cox and Pete Tong. Clubbing entered the mainstream and incorporated a number of distinct genres, ranging from garage to drum and bass to commercial dance/house to hardcore trance. In the early-90’s, rave culture was massive and heavily influenced by the widespread use of drugs – thought to add to the spiritual rave experience.

Other successful British bands from this decade include:Supergrass
Suede
Elastica
Simply Red
George Michael
The Prodigy

00'S

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The beginning of the 21st Century has so far seen music become more fragmented.


There has been a massive growth in manufactured pop with boy-bands such as Westlife, Blue and 5ive providing plenty of squeals of delight from teenage girls across the country. In fact, Westlife set a new record with their first 5 singles going in at No.1.

Along with this has been the appearance of TV programmes, such as “Pop Idol”, producing acts such as Gareth Gates and Will Young. Pop Idol proved to be a huge British success that it then moved over the Atlantic to American success.

After the clubbing theme of the 90’s, dance conformists argued that rock had been killed for good. However, this has proved to be far from the case, with bands such as The Darkness becoming more popular as well as Coldplay, Radiohead, Travis and Stereophonics enjoying great success.

Increasingly, R&B has had a dominant presence in British charts, with home-grown artists such as The Sugarbabes,
Big Brovas, Ms Dynamite and Craig David doing well.

Despite our charts having a heavy American feel, the world continues to look at the UK for its evolving styles, talent and creativity.