Talkin' bout YOUR generation...


Hello.

A lightweight thread here, folks. Just want to see where we are all coming from - YOUR generation, that is.

We all had a defining band growing up. In your formative years, who was that band??? The only rules are that you have to pick a band from the time when you were somewhere between the ages of 11 and 17, and they have had to be current at the time - still together and vibrant. For example, at age 34, I can't pick The Beatles, Stones, Zeppelin, or The Who, even though I may have listened to them a great deal. As such, I doubt any of us will be able to choose Haydn or Vivaldi...

It would be that if CDs were in cars at the time, that would be blaring when you picked up your friends. It doesn't mean you have to still be listening to them today. Heck, you may even hate them now.

I think it will provide a little insight into our backgrounds and a special time of our lives. OK, so let's have some fun with this!

MY choice in my time period(1980 - 1986) would have to be Van Halen, and I don't even listen to them anymore
trelja
Well Gladys Knight still performs today,so does Patti Labelle,no Pips or Blue Bells.Stevie Wonder,late 60 all the way to the 80s.Bloodstone,Blue Magic,Temptations,Stylistics,Chi-Lites,Dells,Trammps,Main Indgrident all these groupsare still together today.There are so much more,Even SANTANA and MANDRILL.I can keep on,but I'll stop here.
Color Me Bad's "I Wanna Sex You Up" or Bobby Brown's "Just Dance" are probably symbolic of the late-80's/early nineties emergence of hip hop in mainstream music. I fell under the evil spell back then, only to wake up years later realizing how horribly tasteless I was.

NWA's "Straight Outta Compton" monumental release brought rap into the mainstreem. I'm sure there were other rappers that brought rap into its own (Grand Master Flash, Run DMC, etc), but, for me, NWA introduced Black underground political speach into popular music.

U2's "Joshua Tree" is monumental. Quite possibly the best album made in the late 20th century.
i was around 14 or 15 yrs old when i first heard it & thats when it all started for me & hasnt let up yet,the album was miles davis BITCHES BREW,i still like rock music but i find that it has lost most of its former zeal,i can still listen to most of the mothers of invention & also most of the frank zappa collection but for the most part jazz & fusion is the ticket for me,ill always remember the look on all my hippie friends faces when we would listen to music & do a number & i would put some miles davis or john lee hooker on my stereo,they thought i was insane,i wonder how many of them got caught up in the disco era,god remember the disco era.
Trelja,

I'll stick to one band as per your request. Initially I figured it must be the Beatles because of the huge effect they had on my generation. Besides, I was about as big a fan as a anyone. But "defining" being the key word I must go with the greatest American band ever, Buffalo Springfield. Buffalo Springfield and all the groups and individual artists that splintered from them make the Beatles truly seem lightweight. The effect this band had on America from politics to fashion is recognized by very few of my peers. I was so taken by their music that I wouldn't even bother to hose some gal that didn't include them as being among her favorite bands. Well, maybe that's a stretch. ;)

Other honorable mentions include:

The Beatles
The Beach Boys
The Kinks
Cream
Animals
Dylan
The Temptations
The Four Tops
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
John Mayall
Traffic
Roy Orbison