Being the 70's music lover I am, there was an interesting topic posted on Womanist Musings in which Renee and Sparky debated 70's versus 80's music.You know I had to say something about it.
I was a teenager in the 70's. There's no comparison. The 70's, no matter what genre you listened to, beats the 80's hands down.
Now just focusing on the R&B end of it...hmm.
Earth, Wind and Fire, WAR, The Brothers Johnson, The Commodores, Angela Bofill, Phyllis Hyman, Diana Ross, Parliament-Funkadelic, The Jackson Five, Bootsy's Rubber Band, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight and the Pips, The Whispers, Shalamar, Chic, The Emotions, The Staple Singers, Curtis Mayfield, Graham Central Station, Al Green, Barry White, Teddy Pendergrass, Lou Rawls, Rick James, Teena Marie, LTD, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, Deniece Williams, Natalie Cole, Donna Summer, Change, Gil Scott-Heron, Minnie Riperton...
And that's just scratching the surface of it.
Even the artists you could counter with that had success in the 80's such as Cameo, Michael Jackson and Prince all released hit records in the 70's.
Luther Vandross? Released two hit singles with Change, sang backup with Bowie.
The Sugarhill Gang's 'Rapper's Delight' was released in 1979 and used Chic's 'Good Times' as its music track.
As a matter of fact, without music from Parliament-Funkadelic, Chic and James Brown to sample, most 80's hip hop/rap wouldn't exist
Face the facts 80's music fans. The concerts were flashier and better, the music groups more talented, and may I point out, had to use real instruments and read and write music to do so.
And how many 80's artists won four consecutive Album of the Year Grammys as Stevie Wonder did, much less have their songs spark legislation or become signature anthems for various social issues such as Freda Payne's 'Bring the Boys Home', Marvin Gaye's 'What's Going On', Diana Ross' 'I'm Coming Out' , McFadden and Whitehead's 'Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now' or 'Wake Up Everybody' by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes?
The Philly Sound, P-Funk, Disco, Motown jazz fusion and rap all either began or evolved during the 70's
Game, set and match to the 70's as the best and most innovative music decade.