Classic Rock is rock music from the 60s/70s, not the 80s/90s. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
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Me, returning to likes and comments. I am…not responding to all of this.😂
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Thanks, Teddy! Always happy to learn something new.
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Every 10 years, the definition of “Classic Rock” shifts forward 10 years.
Prepare to hear songs from your teenaged years as elevator music. One day, maybe not for a while, but one day.
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Correct!
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I'll alert Iron Maiden.
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Exactly! I expect to hear the 70s 80s 90s and today every time I turn on the radio and I am sadly disappointed.
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And some of it is aging hella good!!
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Thank you! Although a few 70s artist, like the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac, did record a lot of classically rock hits in the early early 80s.
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💯
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It’s all relative to your age. Lol
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Some legends of 60s & 70s retain classic rock title as they continue producing gems. Stones, Crosby, Stills, Young, Little Feat, Bruce Springsteen, CCR, Tina & Mitchell. Missed dozens more. RIP Crosby & Tina.
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Tell that to the supermarket and elevator music scene. We have been assimilated.
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the 80s definitely are lol, maybe the late 90s aren’t?
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Truth!
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spit yo shit
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They’re playing Pearl Jam on the classic rock station. Now what?
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Exactly. ‘Classic’ isn’t a marketing term—it’s a timestamp. The 80s gave us hair metal, not timeless legends.
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I'm willing to accept 80s rock but I draw the line at Nirvana. Nothing Nirvana or later is classic rock no matter how old it gets
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Agreed
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While I mostly agree, one could argue that the 80s should be included too.
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But the 80s/90s do qualify as oldies now.🤷♀️
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Facts
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Agreed. If there's synth on it, it's not classic rock. It's a different thing.
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The day just started and you are already so right
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The slow-moving arm of time comes for us all.🤷🏽
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60's and 70's best rock music ever, hands down, no debate, end of discussion. Thank you for your attention to this matter, lol.
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close, Pretty sure ROCK started in the 50's. Chuck Berry, Elvis, Little Richard, Dion.. so YEAH IT'S certainly not the 80's and 90's.
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I feel seen.
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I think the designator in the radio industry where such things were invented is that the music has to be over 30 years old to be considered "classic rock" and in that case, I have some terrible news 🤣
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I had to chuckle. It reminds me of the radio station that I normally listen to. It is supposed to be rock & roll, but they have started filtering in country.Makes me want to tear my hair out!
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Born in 69. So grew up with both 60's and 70's on the radio. My choice to listen as a teenager to 80's music, somewhat 90's. Definately 60's and 70's over the latter. And yes definately classic rock.
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It should also be listed as an alternative religion.
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And early 70s, at that!
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I remember the first time I heard Motley Crue on the classic rock radio station. I wanted to call in, and ask what the heck they were thinking.
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This is not the gutter I will die in.
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I agree but I think and I'm not gonna look it up. The classic age is 25 years old. So, technically it is. To us {gen x} it's 80s and 90s music, respectively. Hahahahah
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Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley… The 50’s were not Classic Rick?
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Truth
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We should just go by decade or genre, I dont know, its too confusing otherwise
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I feel this in my bones. Played the "Rock Classics" playlist on Apple music the other day and it included such classic hits as:
Offspring - Self Esteem Oasis - Wonderwall White Stripes - Seven Nation Army Soundgarden - Spoonman Sublime - Santeria
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Yes. You are correct. I listened to a Senior Project in high school, which compared such schools of music. The example of “classical” music was The Beatles. Nearly bit my tongue through.
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Bingo
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And also, Genesis from the 1970’s, yes. Phil Collins from the 80’s/90’s, hell no!
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If they had radio hits in the 60s or 70s, then hits from the 80s from the same band should count as classic rock.
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If classic rock in the nineties was stuff from the 60s and 70s it stands to reason that the minimum threshold for classic status must only be around a ten year gap. So I'm afraid the foo fighters, strokes, arctic monkeys, blink 182, the white stripes etc are on nostalgia radio
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👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
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Sorry to burst your bubble, but they consider Classic Rock any "Rock" 20+ years old. That said, I was dismayed the first time I heard songs from my youth (1990s) on the Classic Rock station or used as elevator music. Although I didn't entirely hate a Metallica song as elevator music...
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Don't forget AOR.
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Yes. Correct.
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I would like to add that "Oldies" are also pre-1980s. I was quite unhappy to hear Nirvana on an oldies station recently.
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Incredibly succinct!
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U B correct
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Christopher Cross, Michael McDonald, Toto... giving Michael a pass because he was in the Doobies, but those are 80s. ✌🏾n 🫶🏾
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More precisely: From the mid 60's to the mid 80's
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That's funny. I lived in Dallas for 30 years and I would occasionally listen to the oldies radio station. At first it was 60s, then it became 70s, finally ended up 80s.
That's when I discovered, shit I'm an old fucker.
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Soon that will also be the 00s. Classic rock in America is usually defined by the advent of such music around 20 years prior.
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When i heard Firewoman on Classic Rock Radio I was devestated.
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True
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Depends on how old you are.... Classic rock could be from the 50s, or 80s if you're 20 years old or 70 years old😎
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Thank you very much
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💯👏
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I never listened to classic rock until I entered the workforce 37+ years ago
Classic rock back then was as old as the Beatles and as new as Led Zeppelin.
Now it’s as old as Def Leppard and as new as Uncle Cracker.
I can’t stop the march of time, but goddamnit.
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1800's or 1900's!!
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Agree!
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I always thought that was obvious. 🤷🏻♀️
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Down with this. And I claim boomer immunity
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They don't call New Wave New Wave anymore?! They call it "first wave." What?!
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Agreed.
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Talk amongst yourselves: loudwire.com/what-is-clas...
What's Really Considered Classic Rock?
Is it an era or a sound?
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The Tragically Hip had no business being on classic rock radio in the 90's, because they'd started in '84.
54-40 was older than they were.
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Absolutely 👏
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Exactly. 👍👍
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You are absolutely correct and I've been saying this for years.
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For me it’s less than the decade that the music was made and more the band that made it. Not always the case but typically how I view it. Queen, for example, came to be in the 70s and found a lot of fame then. But their last album was in the 90s. That album is still classic rock.
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Amen
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Oldies? Yeah, y’know like from the 80s. Punk.
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I could have done with a little less "I Melt With You" in my life.
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"Classic rock" is from the 60s/70s. End of story.
Yes there was rock music is 80s/90s. Some of it was even made by bands from the 60s/70s. That music, though, does not sound like "classic rock". It was different.
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Saw something talking about Thomas Dolby as classic rock…
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Me the first time I heard Lenny Kravitz on the "Oldies" station.
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Even with all the 80s/90s music in my library, the best pop/rock music was made in the 60s and 70s. Once the 80s hit, too many folks started to make computerized music.
(Says the woman whose computer will have to play much of the tracks of her first recording.)
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100% TRUTH
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Thank you!
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I INSTANTLY felt old when a Nirvana song played on a Classic Rock station, as I was like, "What that isnt THAT old", did the math, and realized it was
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Well you did have alot of the 70s classic rock bands continue making music into the 80s...so personally I'd include the 80s or at least the first half of 80s in classic rock category... but 90s for sure not!
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Agreed. As a person who gets tired of my 80s/90s music being called classic. Not yet !! No boomer here!! lol
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Anyone else in the boat the classic rock is from 70s-80s? 🙋♂️
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Thank you!!!
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So. We all agree most of today's music is shit?
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To the kids of today, 60s/70s might as well be classical rock
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80's music is in its own crazy, coked out bubble...
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Yeah thats hair metal
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Preach.
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Not according my to my 2 local classic rock stations that both play Nirvana.
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I put on BuckCherry the other day thinking "I'll listen to some of my "new" music". I then looked at the back of the CD cover & read that it came out in 2001, so it's damn near classic rock.😣At least everyone in the band is still alive. That can't be said for most of what I listen to.
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I’m not holding my breath, but it would be DELICIOUS if Bongo switched sides.
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Exactly. Led Zeppelin = Classic Rock Guns N Roses 🚫 Classic Rock
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people keep talking about that "hot jazz" and who's charlie "yardbird" parker again?
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IKR when did alanis morissette become "classic rock"?
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60s/70s is “classic rock.” 90s/00s is “modern rock.” 80s is “80s”
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Totally agree.
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I think you mean the 50s/60s.
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Grew up 60s and 70s and agree. But I was also brought up with classical, opera, show tunes, trad Mex, and the basis for what was considered elevator music at the time. Even country music was sometimes a part of the daily feed, cuz some of it crossed over.
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I think that classic rock now is anything older than like 10 years and what we used to call classic rock is now considered ‘vintage” 60-70s now vintage! Sorry, I also feel this very much!
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Classic Rock, the stuff my dad grew up with, like Tame Impala, King Gizzard and Ty Seagall?
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50s too
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I nearly drove off the road when I saw Brittany Spears on a billboard advertising an “Oldies” radio show…
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80s - post punk and new wave. 90s - stupid grunge.😑
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You're so right. I guess some people aren't tuned in enough to really know the era of Classic Rock, to which was one of the greatest eras and great music.
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True, I'm an 80s guy, that ain't classic to me
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Word!
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True
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What if I said Nirvana was classic rock at this point?
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Nope sorry. Ted Leo's Hearts of Oak is classic rock.
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Exactly! On a short road trip today listening to the Beatles White Album! 😁👏👏
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80’s too much except for most hair bands, but yea.
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For those people 50 years old +.... 80s and 90s is already classic rock... They still made some decent music. 60s and 70s transformed into OG rock. LoL
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👏👏👏👏👏
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Yeah…enough with that modern stuff, already! Give me some Yes and Floyd, some Zep and a micro dose of Neil Young and Fleetwood Mac…long live the greatest era in music, ever
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Agreed! (But in all fairness, maybe we're getting older).
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Thank you.
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Facts, lady!
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And it's CERTAINLY not the 2000s. So someone please tell my classic rock station to stop playing Linkin Park.
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What is rock from the 50s? Maybe fundamental?
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And the 50’s. (Says the really old guy in the back)
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Agree. 90s grunge was the Renaissance that followed that weird big-hair-tight-leather-80s-rock dark ages. See you at the Merch table...
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It’s hard to realize my parents were more “hip” than I am. They listened to music that was relatively current in their lives. I listen to music that is 50-60 yrs old.
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Yes. I run the Ruth Walsh Classic Rock Academy for all my grandsons. (4 graduates to date)
After oldest graduated he ran in one day screaming he'd found the best music. "The Beach Boys. Ever heard of them?" Told him I grew up on a farm not under a rock.
They all have EXCELLENT taste.
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Amen
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It sounds like you and I are around the same age … and, like me, in denial. 😁
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In the 70s it was just rock & "classic rock" was from the 50s. It's funny a similar conversation/friendly argument was going on at the bar I had dinner at. Patrons from old to younger Dick Dale, Hendrix, to Green Day & grunge. As someone who worked in music 70s to now, it was fascinating.
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Amen!
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Classic rock typically encompasses rock music from the mid-1960s to the late 1980s, according to MasterClass. It's often associated with album-oriented rock, commercially successful hard rock, and bands that gained popularity during this period.
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When I think classic rock, I think John Dowland and Michael Praetorius.
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Agreed. You cant just move the definitions around. We already have descriptors for 80s and 90s rock.
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🎯
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I think they’re all now under oldies. 😜
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The 80s was the golden Era of music. The 90s was the beginning of the end of good general radio. The only thing that redeemed the 90s was it was the birth of Grunge.
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I think I need to listen to Benny Goodman now.
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Overheard in the grocery store: I hate this oldies station they always play!
It was New kids on the block.
I felt personally attacked.
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Correct, 60s/70s is the Classic period, while 80s/90s is the Baroque period in rock music.
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Classic Metal is 70s 80s and 90s.
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80's and 90's music is classic alternative.
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💯 as the kids say (‘68-73 some of the best music ever) imho respect to current artists who write their own lyrics, create their own music, make a statement, incorporate, melody, rhythm, beat, tempo changes, etc.
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It's like the stegosaurus/t rex/modern times debate. 80/90s is closer to 60s/70s than now. I feel old.
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50s has to count, too.
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Went through a drive thru, the other day, and there was a teenage employee with hair like '80s Bono. When we told him, he said, "Who?" There was a girl working with him, and she also didn't know. This is where we are in the journey 😂
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If this Yacht’s a Rockin’….
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THANK YOU! Spot on!
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‘81 is my cutoff… the eagles ‘I can’t tell you why’ closed out the classic rock era
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Poor take ....but go ahead
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💯 agree
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Sing it, sister
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True. But it's hard to beat Wagner for Sturm und Drang. Can I playfully suggest that all that was added in 70's rock was electricity, substituting for huge forces (e.g. notably Mahler's Symphony No. 8 in E-flat major)
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Best music ever, then they started to get some new stuff coming out that was really good, and somebody ruined it. Most lost their mojo because they were afraid they might say something offensive like a girl crush??? Not in my house you don't!
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- AC/DC – “Back in Black” (1980)
- Joan Jett & The Blackhearts – “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll” (1981)
- Journey – “Don’t Stop Believin’” (1981)
And the list goes on
- AC/DC – “Back in Black” (1980)
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I remember classic rock stations playing seven nation army like a couple years after its release.
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If you live in Arkansas, Classic Rock is mostly just Ozzy Osbourne and AC/DC. Every hour of every day. At least that's what the Classic Rock stations here would have you believe.
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Oh boy.
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Objection! Stevie Ray Vaughn
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Somebody had to say it!
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Hey kids, get offa my lawn!
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It’s as if it means (broadly) specific styles and genres that were not (as much) in the 80s & 90s, which had their own specific styles…
And it nicely differentiates between the umbrella “classic rock” and an identification of a song that has remained meaningful over the years (“a classic”)
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I regret to inform you that anything recorded before 1980 is now considered ‘classical.’
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50s if you include Buddy Holly
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Deep Purple- Highway Star
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Maybe a few songs from 1980-82…
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I thought only boomers thought this.
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Metal, do you consider that rock?
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Wow 😂😂 you kids really are trying to bury us or rip it off as "classics" that are part of "culture" 🤨🤔 go make electronic noises, it's all most "artists" do, and that voice vibration thing 😁 I do it on the washing machine in dry spin, gotta sing and hang on tight at my age and remember the lyrics 🤨
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Music videos started a landslide into the abyss.
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60's 70's music period was the best of the best.
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That is a very broad definition.
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Are you saying that "Pour Some Sugar on Me" ISN'T Classic Rock? Damn. Gotta change the track list for talent night at the home...
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The mid-50s too. The Everly brothers, for example, Frankie Lyman, The Platters, Dion and The Belmonts, and folk artists, et a,l set the stage for what came after. I grew up with 40s music in my family where dad and uncles had an orchestra. Lots of blends came together. Great music and lyrics.
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But England, particularly Northern England, did have a lovely renaissance in the 90s.
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you mean like the clash>? ooops. classic.! i thought it was 1980s. no...1979
we're all now lost in the supermarket, crying.
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Fact.
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Sadness is getting on an elevator and hearing music from your childhood!
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Thank you! 80’s is Alternative and Punk.. if I remember correctly.
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Music was born in 1965 and died in 1991. And even during the 80s it was mostly wheezing along with bad metal and "heartland" rockers.
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Agreed
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I’d definitely include the 80s in classic rock
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The Police would like a word
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True, but they are all collectively "the oldies" now
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I agree with you, but eventually we’re gonna be out voted by the youths
