Music from your teens - your favorite era?

[Dawn]

Over the years I've read a number of assertions that for many people, the music that was popular during their formative years - ages 12 to 23 - is the music they tend to prefer the most even when they are older. There are a number of reasons speculated for this preference, but a common theme seems to be that the songs get associated with landmark events in people's lives, and hold special meaning for them as a result.

I thought it would be interesting to see if we here on the Click fit that assertion, or whether we are the exceptions. If you are the exception, is your preference for music before or after that era?

I must admit, I am one who doesn't fit that scenario very well. The music that was popular during that age range for me came out in 1980 through 1991. While I do like most of the music from 1980 through 1984, after that it starts getting very hit or miss, and by 1987 or so and after, I like only the occasional song.

Probably 80% of my music collection consists of music that was recorded during the years 1964-1984, and a lot of my favorites were released before I was even born, or was too young to experience at the time. While it's true that I did listen to some of the older songs during my teen and young adult years (for example, the Beatles), a lot of it I didn't discover until I was older.

How about you?

[H2IZCOOL]

I think that is a very good question, Dawn. In a way I think that the "heard it first" premise that we sometimes use to discuss originals and covers is actually a corollary of the premise that you make here. The songs that we first heard in our formative years become our favorites.

The association with landmark events, I think is valid. When you are in your teens, every day is a landmark event of some sort, whereas when you get into middle age and (ahem) beyond, all the days and all the events kind of run together. I know that when I think of my favorite songs (looking at my top 250, which is now a top 405 heading for 500) I find many songs that are on the list for no other reason than they ARE associated with events. The last song I listened to driving to the Metro this morning was "Satisfaction" by the Stones. In June of '65, during my college Senior Week activities, that song was everywhere. The song has become a favorite of mine because of that.

Now - my 12-23 age span falls into the years 1956-67. Aside from that making me an old fart today, I feel very lucky about that. I entered my formative years at the time that rock was being born, and left those years during the segue from British Invasion to Classic Rock eras. So --- do I prefer music from those days?

- 1956-63 were really the years of the singles. And singles really didn't start taking a back seat to albums until about '67. A great number of my favorites, I have to admit were hit singles, both from my formative years and beyond. I think I was more or less "trained" to go after the singles. My appreciation of Classic Rock and albums in general came much latter than when they appeared on the scene, and my learning of music in those areas continues to this day.

A lot of people consider the 1960-63 time period to be the weakest of the years we consider to be the rock era (1955- 1990, shall we say). I disagree. I have a large number of pre-Invasion favorites. One of my top 2 or 3 favorite years for music is 1961. My senior year in high school. Landmark events again.

Another way you could assess what my favorite songs are today may be how I listen to XM radio. I'd say I give more or less equal time to each of the '50s, '60s, '70s and Classic Vinyl. The first three are either from my formative years or a result of my formative "singles training." Classic vinyl was learned later. Then beyond those, I listen a little to '80s and Classic Rewind, and even less to Deep Tracks and Hair Nation (or whatever that station is called). Beyond that? Nuttin!

So, I'd say that there is a lot of truth in the formative years/landmark event premise.

[Jughead]

My timeline would be from 1993 to 2004.

I can honestly say that the EARLY part of that time (being 1993-1995) had a lot of hits that I listen to today. I can even say that the period of 2000-2002 had a lot of songs that remind me so much of those carefree days when I was living in Ottawa on my own.

But, unfortunately, my formulative years were filled with such "wonderous artists" like the Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys, N Sync, Jessica Simpson, and Britney Spears. So, in my case, at least, my favourite era in music is NOT my formulative years by far.

But, again, the 1993-1995 portion I felt was very good. 1994 in particular was one of my favourite years for music in the nineties.

[Dawn]

Jan 5, 2010 15:40:41 GMT -5 H2IZCOOL said:

I think that is a very good question, Dawn. In a way I think that the "heard it first" premise that we sometimes use to discuss originals and covers is actually a corollary of the premise that you make here. The songs that we first heard in our formative years become our favorites.

The association with landmark events, I think is valid. When you are in your teens, every day is a landmark event of some sort, whereas when you get into middle age and (ahem) beyond, all the days and all the events kind of run together. I know that when I think of my favorite songs (looking at my top 250, which is now a top 405 heading for 500) I find many songs that are on the list for no other reason than they ARE associated with events. The last song I listened to driving to the Metro this morning was "Satisfaction" by the Stones. In June of '65, during my college Senior Week activities, that song was everywhere. The song has become a favorite of mine because of that.

Now - my 12-23 age span falls into the years 1956-67. Aside from that making me an old fart today, I feel very lucky about that. I entered my formative years at the time that rock was being born, and left those years during the segue from British Invasion to Classic Rock eras. So --- do I prefer music from those days?

- 1956-63 were really the years of the singles. And singles really didn't start taking a back seat to albums until about '67. A great number of my favorites, I have to admit were hit singles, both from my formative years and beyond. I think I was more or less "trained" to go after the singles. My appreciation of Classic Rock and albums in general came much latter than when they appeared on the scene, and my learning of music in those areas continues to this day.

A lot of people consider the 1960-63 time period to be the weakest of the years we consider to be the rock era (1955- 1990, shall we say). I disagree. I have a large number of pre-Invasion favorites. One of my top 2 or 3 favorite years for music is 1961. My senior year in high school. Landmark events again.

Another way you could assess what my favorite songs are today may be how I listen to XM radio. I'd say I give more or less equal time to each of the '50s, '60s, '70s and Classic Vinyl. The first three are either from my formative years or a result of my formative "singles training." Classic vinyl was learned later. Then beyond those, I listen a little to '80s and Classic Rewind, and even less to Deep Tracks and Hair Nation (or whatever that station is called). Beyond that? Nuttin!

So, I'd say that there is a lot of truth in the formative years/landmark event premise.

Very true about there being fewer "landmark" moments and things tending to run together as we get older. I know that while I have lots of memories associated with specific songs from my childhood, I'm finding that as time passes, those get fewer and farther between.

I have said this many times, here and elsewhere, but I must admit, I envy you, MC, Woody, and others who were old enough to experience the incredible early years of rock firsthand. The quality and quantity of the music recorded during that time is amazing, and will probably never be surpassed or even equaled.

You and I have something in common in that we tend to be more singles-oriented. That has been changing somewhat over the years as I've gotten acquainted with more albums as a whole and tracks that weren't hits, but I still have a soft spot for singles.

I agree that the music of the early '60s tends to be underrated. While I don't own as much music from that era as from later on, I always enjoy hearing the songs. While it may not have been as groundbreaking as the late '50s or mid-to-late '60s, the groundwork was being laid for the great advances music would take, and the transition itself is interesting to hear.

[Dawn]

Jan 5, 2010 17:02:22 GMT -5 Jughead said:

My timeline would be from 1993 to 2004.

I can honestly say that the EARLY part of that time (being 1993-1995) had a lot of hits that I listen to today. I can even say that the period of 2000-2002 had a lot of songs that remind me so much of those carefree days when I was living in Ottawa on my own.

But, unfortunately, my formulative years were filled with such "wonderous artists" like the Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys, N Sync, Jessica Simpson, and Britney Spears. So, in my case, at least, my favourite era in music is NOT my formulative years by far.

But, again, the 1993-1995 portion I felt was very good. 1994 in particular was one of my favourite years for music in the nineties.

It's interesting that we both tend to prefer the music from the earlier part of our formative years more than the later.

I agree that the music from the mid '90s seemed to be better overall than that at the beginning and ending of the decade. If I were to make a list of favorite songs from the '90s, probably 70% of them would be from the years 1993-1996.

[Ken]

Dawn, you and I are very close in age so my formative years are almost identical to yours.

1980 - 1991 - For the past several weeks I've been listening to a lot of my favorite songs from the '79 / '80 period (The Cars, Blondie, The Knack, Joe Jackson, Rockpile etc) and I still really enjoy them very much, the tunes still sound great!

There was a lot of great music from '80 - '84. Then I started to notice that by '85 things were slowly starting to shift, and by '89 the top 40 charts were REALLY in trouble and there has been steady decline ever since.


I would say that around 90% or so of my music collection consists of band from the '64 - '84 era.

During my teen years I was listening to a lot of what was current (Def Leppard, Bryan Adams, Huey Lewis etc) but my faves from the 60's and 70's like The Beatles, KISS, Stones, were always right there all mixed together.

Even through the decline in the late 80's / early 90's there was still the odd band that I discovered and became a fan of for example The Smithereens and the Black Crowes.

[Dawn]

Jan 5, 2010 17:59:57 GMT -5 Ken said:

Dawn, you and I are very close in age so my formative years are almost identical to yours.

1980 - 1991 - For the past several weeks I've been listening to a lot of my favorite songs from the '79 / '80 period (The Cars, Blondie, The Knack, Joe Jackson, Rockpile etc) and I still really enjoy them very much, the tunes still sound great!

There was a lot of great music from '80 - '84. Then I started to notice that by '85 things were slowly starting to shift, and by '89 the top 40 charts were REALLY in trouble and there has been steady decline ever since.


I would say that around 90% or so of my music collection consists of band from the '64 - '84 era.

During my teen years I was listening to a lot of what was current (Def Leppard, Bryan Adams, Huey Lewis etc) but my faves from the 60's and 70's like The Beatles, KISS, Stones, were always right there all mixed together.

Even through the decline in the late 80's / early 90's there was still the odd band that I discovered and became a fan of for example The Smithereens and the Black Crowes.

I agree with you that a lot of great music came out during 1979 and 1980. A lot of people tend to dismiss those years as being mostly disco, but there was so much more to it than that.

Like you Ken, when I was in high school, I listened to current music, but I always loved the older music from my childhood and before as well. Unfortunately, at my high school, very few other people were into older music - "older" being pre-1980 - so I was something of an anomaly at the time. I got a lot of questions and eye rolls, some good-natured and some not, about the Beatles, ELO and Boston tapes in my car. People wanted to know why I listened to such "old" music!

I think that's why I was so intrigued by the music board on YL. Finally, I had found people close to my age who also loved older music. I knew I was among kindred souls when I read a post you made about the Rubettes' "Sugar Baby Love" - I'm willing to bet that not many people our age remember that one!

[Ken]

Jan 5, 2010 18:40:09 GMT -5 Dawn said:

Jan 5, 2010 17:59:57 GMT -5 Ken said:

Dawn, you and I are very close in age so my formative years are almost identical to yours.

1980 - 1991 - For the past several weeks I've been listening to a lot of my favorite songs from the '79 / '80 period (The Cars, Blondie, The Knack, Joe Jackson, Rockpile etc) and I still really enjoy them very much, the tunes still sound great!

There was a lot of great music from '80 - '84. Then I started to notice that by '85 things were slowly starting to shift, and by '89 the top 40 charts were REALLY in trouble and there has been steady decline ever since.


I would say that around 90% or so of my music collection consists of band from the '64 - '84 era.

During my teen years I was listening to a lot of what was current (Def Leppard, Bryan Adams, Huey Lewis etc) but my faves from the 60's and 70's like The Beatles, KISS, Stones, were always right there all mixed together.

Even through the decline in the late 80's / early 90's there was still the odd band that I discovered and became a fan of for example The Smithereens and the Black Crowes.

I agree with you that a lot of great music came out during 1979 and 1980. A lot of people tend to dismiss those years as being mostly disco, but there was so much more to it than that.

Like you Ken, when I was in high school, I listened to current music, but I always loved the older music from my childhood and before as well. Unfortunately, at my high school, very few other people were into older music - "older" being pre-1980 - so I was something of an anomaly at the time. I got a lot of questions and eye rolls, some good-natured and some not, about the Beatles, ELO and Boston tapes in my car. People wanted to know why I listened to such "old" music!

I think that's why I was so intrigued by the music board on YL. Finally, I had found people close to my age who also loved older music. I knew I was among kindred souls when I read a post you made about the Rubettes' "Sugar Baby Love" - I'm willing to bet that not many people our age remember that one!

I remember that "Sugar Baby Love" post!


I recall watching "Entertainment Tonight" quite along time back and they did a 70's flashback type of show and when it came around to the music, disco was the only genre mentioned ().

[Dawn]

Jan 5, 2010 23:20:18 GMT -5 Ken said:

Jan 5, 2010 18:40:09 GMT -5 Dawn said:

I agree with you that a lot of great music came out during 1979 and 1980. A lot of people tend to dismiss those years as being mostly disco, but there was so much more to it than that.

Like you Ken, when I was in high school, I listened to current music, but I always loved the older music from my childhood and before as well. Unfortunately, at my high school, very few other people were into older music - "older" being pre-1980 - so I was something of an anomaly at the time. I got a lot of questions and eye rolls, some good-natured and some not, about the Beatles, ELO and Boston tapes in my car. People wanted to know why I listened to such "old" music!

I think that's why I was so intrigued by the music board on YL. Finally, I had found people close to my age who also loved older music. I knew I was among kindred souls when I read a post you made about the Rubettes' "Sugar Baby Love" - I'm willing to bet that not many people our age remember that one!

I remember that "Sugar Baby Love" post!


I recall watching "Entertainment Tonight" quite along time back and they did a 70's flashback type of show and when it came around to the music, disco was the only genre mentioned ().

Yep, that was right around the time I joined YL. I remember it was one of your "Do You Remember?" posts - I always enjoyed those.

[m c dornan]

Well that assertion partially fits. My favorite music is the late 60s-very earliy 70s. And I was in the 14-18 range. But I started listening to the radio about three years before. That music I heard , I like very much, but it's not what I really fell in love with. So it's not simply being imprinted with what you heard first in your life.

That time (late 60s-early 70s) had lots of landmarks for me (the politics of the day) , so that part of the theory fits.

I've branched out into other music since then, but it's generally going backwards (40s-50s) rather than into newer songs (80s on)

i think one aspect of the music I like most is that that in that period, I was listening to it with friends much more than music from earlier and later times. Going to peoples' houses just to play LPs and such.

[Dawn]

Jan 6, 2010 13:34:04 GMT -5 m c dornan said:

Well that assertion partially fits. My favorite music is the late 60s-very earliy 70s. And I was in the 14-18 range. But I started listening to the radio about three years before. That music I heard , I like very much, but it's not what I really fell in love with. So it's not simply being imprinted with what you heard first in your life.

That time (late 60s-early 70s) had lots of landmarks for me (the politics of the day) , so that part of the theory fits.

I've branched out into other music since then, but it's generally going backwards (40s-50s) rather than into newer songs (80s on)

i think one aspect of the music I like most is that that in that period, I was listening to it with friends much more than music from earlier and later times. Going to peoples' houses just to play LPs and such.

MC, you bring up an interesting point about the social aspect of music.

I too remember going to friends' houses and listening to LPs, 45s and later on, cassettes, and those were fun times. But it makes me wonder - do many people listen to music as a social activity anymore? It seems like more and more, music is becoming a solitary enjoyment - for example, with iPods, smart phones and the like - or if it is played in a group setting, it's more as background rather than the focus. It's sad to see that changing.

[dave910]

Just after Thanksgiving - which was only six weeks ago - I attended my 20th high school reunion! Damn, I'm getting old! Anyway, our class president had three CD mixes of 80's tunes. He even gave me one the CD's at the end of the night. It was quite an eclectic mix, everything from the Cure, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Guns N' Roses and even De La Soul! But like most 80's shows, they pick the cream of the crop and tend to filter out some the shlock or stuff that hasn't aged well. Be honest, I can't think of any one my age craving to buy that Mr. Mister remastered CD! I don't think it's in print for that matter! This is just my opinion.

I was in college when Nirvana burst on the scene. I enjoyed because it was a breath of fresh air from what was on the radio at the time. But when Cobain, committed suicide, everyone was claiming he was the voice of a generation! Excuse me, but I've never been comfortable with putting any musician as some sort of demi-god! Yes Cobain was talented and a had great songs, but he was also deeply troubled!

Now being in my late thirties, I still enjoy the stuff from the 60's through 90's but I also enjoy some of the new stuff that has come out in the past ten years. Alicia Keys, Dashboard Confessional, Guster, John Mayer & Lady Gaga come to mind. If I hear something that catches my ear or moves me in some way, I'll keep an open mind.

Did I mention I have Madonna's "True Blue" remaster playing on my computer? I got it for Christmas.

What say you?

[Sith Penguin]

hmm...i'm still in that age range so i don't know if this will count or not.

most of the music i still enjoy to this day is from bands that either started or i became aware of from junior high to the present. however, some older bands (like nirvana, metallica, smashing pumpkins, etc.) have regularly played on my local radio station for years, in which it took a while for me to catch onto the fact that most of these bands hadn't been in existence for quite some time.

[55dodger]

I've always thought the best 10 years of music was 1964-1973, corresponding to when I was 9-18 years old. 2nd best 10 years, 74-83, again fitting into the formative years. And the bulk of the music I listen to falls into that 20 year period.

[H2IZCOOL]

May 7, 2010 18:45:59 GMT -5 55dodger said:

I've always thought the best 10 years of music was 1964-1973, corresponding to when I was 9-18 years old. 2nd best 10 years, 74-83, again fitting into the formative years. And the bulk of the music I listen to falls into that 20 year period.

Hey Woody! Haven't seen you here for a bit. I think a lot of people consider '64-'73 to be the best decade of music. With the British invasion and the birth of Classic Rock, it's hard to argue with.