WXPN wants to know: What was the greatest year in music?
That’s what we’re asking you to discuss with us about now through the Fall, when in November, we’ll play back music from the year (and years) that matter the most.
The polls are now open for you to vote. Vote here for up to five of your suggestions for the Greatest Year In Music.
As many of you are aware, since the Fall of 2000, WXPN has had an annual countdown of 885 “somethings,” during which we’ve asked you to vote for the greatest rock songs, albums, artists, essential XPN songs, most memorable moments, best desert island songs, and road trip songs. This year we’ve decided to evolve the countdown. While we won’t be playing 885 songs, we will take a week to play back our several month long conversation, ultimately declaring one year as the “Greatest Year In Music.”
This idea was insipired by this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer written by music critic Dan Deluca called 1965: Music’s greatest year ever?”. Deluca argued somewhat convincingly for 1965:
Was it the greatest single year in the history of pop music? It’s hard to argue with James Brown’s “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag,” the Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” and Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone.”
It was not only the year that Dylan made Pete Seeger really mad by going electric at the Newport Folk Festival, it also saw the release of not one but two of his greatest LPs: Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited.
Similarly, the Beatles let loose both Help! (an underrated masterpiece that began their ambitious music-making period in earnest) and Rubber Soul, and their bad-boy counterpart the Rolling Stones were also quite busy, with three U.S. releases – The Rolling Stones, Now!, Out of Their Heads, and December’s Children.
That’s not to mention such soul cuts as Wilson Pickett’s “In the Midnight Hour,” and Otis Redding’s “Respect,” Motown hits like the Supremes’ “Stop! In the Name of Love” and the Temptations’ “My Girl” or hippie twists like the Byrds’ “Turn! Turn! Turn!” or Sir Douglas Quintet’s “She’s About a Mover.”
Deluca is right: 1965 was an incredible year for music.
The polls are now open for you to vote. Vote here for up to five of your suggestions for the Greatest Year In Music.
But as the programming staff at XPN began to debate the question internally, other years started to pop up:
What about 1975? This year saw the release of Springsteen’s Born To Run, Physical Graffiti by Led Zeppelin, two of the greatest live albums ever – Bob Marley & The Wailers’ Live!, and Kiss Alive!. Patti Smith released her debut Horses, and Dylan released Blood On The Tracks and The Basement Tapes with The Band. Bowie released Young Americans.
How about 1986? Paul Simon released his groundbreaking Graceland, The Beastie Boys dropped Licensed To Ill, Run DMC released Raising Hell, and Peter Gabriel made what some consider to be his best album, So. The Jesus & Mary Chain brought their feedback soaked Wall of Sound to the masses with Psychocandy, Steve Earle made country history with Guitar Town, and a collection of African music called The Indestructible Beat of Soweto made many music critics best of lists for the year.
Then there was 1991: Nirvana’s Nevermind alone would chart the course of history for years to come, Pearl Jam gave us Ten, U2 released Achtung Baby, A Tribe Called Quest put out one of the most influential hip-hop albums ever with The Low End Theory, and Massive Attack released the blueprint for trip-hop, Blue Lines.
In the coming months there will be a lot of great music to talk about, listen to, and debate the importance of. Was there one year that definitely says: “greatest year in music?” We’ll find out, but we want to hear from you. Let us know what the greatest year (or years) in music were. Join the conversation with #xpngreatestyear
The polls are now open for you to vote. Vote here for up to five of your suggestions for the Greatest Year In Music.
Photo credit: via: http://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/related/184nwa/serbian_album_cover_check_out_the_legs/
24 comments
This is voice text, so excuse the punctuation and omission of capital letters… … Hi Bruce, I graduated in 75 as well, and put together a great four hours of music for my 40th HS anniversary coming up in November, and I’ll say my favorite album of 75 was “the rotter’s club” from Hatfield and the north, but… A very influential year for me was 1973. Aside from the Darkside of the moon we had Springsteen’s first AND second albums I think, The Stones goats head soup, innervisions from Stevie, brothers and sisters from the almanns, tubular bells, selling England by the pound from Genesis, topographic from yes, birds of fire from Majavishnu, for every man from Jackson Browne, countdown to ecstasy from Steely Dan, Aladdin sane from Bowie, Desparado from the Eagles, Loggins and Messina put out full sail, Greg Allman’s first solo called laid-back, goodbye yellow brick road, brain salad surgery, Dave Mason’s “it’s like you never left,” And one of the coolest live albums I’ve ever heard by Wishbone Ash called “live dates,” –just to name a few! Cheers!
I had not read Deluka’s article but he definitely nailed it and Like A Rolling Stone, which has arguably been considered the greatest R&R song of all time, was only ranked 41 on Billboard for that incredible year. In addition to his examples there were also You’ve Got That Loving Feeling and Unchained Melody by The Righteous Brothers, I Got You Babe by Sonny and Cher, Mr Tamborine Man by The Byrds, Hang on Sloopy by The McCoys, It Ain’t Me Babe by The Turtles,Tell Her No by The Zombies, The Same Old Song by The Four Tops, We Gotta Get Out Of This Place by The Animals, Tired Of Waiting and All Day And All Of The Night by The Kinks, and Go Now the first of many great songs by the Moody Blues
I really liked 1968
That’s when
Ironbutterfly was
Popular along with
Steppon wolf the doors and the who
I really liked 1968
That’s when
Ironbutterfly
The doors steppenwolf
&the who
We’re
Popular along with
Moody blue’s
1977- Punk
1965/6-Garage
1956-Rockabilly/Rock’n’roll
Hands down: 1991 with an honorable mention to 1984
Every year has its killer albums. For me, this list is just bonkers and hard to dispute for those that were middle teenagers in 1991 and into 1992. The release date is what we are going by, not when the music really gained traction. Remember, in 1991, there was no internet, so we were completely dependent one way or another on radio (friends recommendations were influenced by radio!). For me, it was always WXPN, with some WMMR influence.
To name a few all-time classics–
U2: Achtung Baby
REM: Out of Time
Nirvana: Nevermind
GnR: Use Your Illusion I & II
Pearl Jam: Ten
Matthew Sweet: Girlfriend
1984, well, yes. Hard to argue against…
Born in the USA, Thriller, Reckoning, Unforgettable Fire, 1984, Purple Rain,
The 70s and especially 1976 and 1977 were my favorite years of music. They still are although I do like a lot of other years.
Don’t sleep on 2014… We welcomed Hozier into the world and watched his star rise quickly. St. Vincent took home the grammy for best alternative rock album; the first time a female had done this in over 20 years (her best and most daring album to date)! Nickel Creek reunited to celebrate 20 years as a band and gave us some of their best music since. The world was introduced to Lake Street Dive who brought jazz and pop music together to pave the way for a more sophisticated pop sound. Damon Albarn put out his first solo album (other than the Gorillaz stuff- haha). The Districts star rises, Broken Bells follows up a much anticipated debut with a solid record, and Philly-local favorite, The War on Drugs blew us all away after losing Kurt Vile. Sam Smith uses his voice as an instrument as he climbs the ranks of pop royalty and our hearts. Courtney Barnett… enough said (David Dye)! The Philly scene is on fire! Dr. Dog records/puts together their first live album and Strand of Oaks get national attention. Jenny Lewis, Field Report, Puss N Boots, Trigger Hippy, Ingrid Michaelson, and the Black Keys all put out great efforts. Old Crow Medicine show puts out another huge hit with the help from Bob Dylan…. AND, BECK WINS THE GRAMMY FOR BEST ALBUM; a win that was completely out of the blue and a sign of the change (main stream pop is on the decline- thank God). Was 2014 the greatest year in music… I’m not sure, but it was incredible and experiencing it with WXPN made it that much better.
It has to be either 68 or 69, depending on your taste. In 68 we got Astral Weeks and Lady Soul, Duane Allman arrived in Muscle Shoals, Hendrix released Electric Ladyland, Stones in great form, and Marvin Gaye recorded I Heard it Through the Grapevine. There was also some great Southern soul and let’s not forget Elvis’s Comeback Special.
However 69 was huge. Led Zeppelin, CSN, Bowie, Santana, and the Allman Brothers all arrived on the scene, there was Woodstock, Tommy (the album), Easy Rider and Elvis recorded Suspicious Minds.
You definitely got that right! 1969 is THE year! I was just under the radar, age wise for Woodstock, but I would have loved to have been there! Right on ’69!
With these things it’s sometimes best to go with the first answer that pops into your head via the expressway from either your gut or your heart, depending on how you view intuition, instinct, whatever.
The number “1969” exploded in my head.
Could be because we still had so many iconic artists who were performing at a high level, including The Beatles, Stones, Who, Doors, CCR, Dylan, Hendrix, Joplin, and on and on. Also Woodstock, other large festivals.
Pretty good year…
On my drive to work this morning, amidst a bourbon- and cigar-induced haze from last night out in Philadelphia, I contemplated a question offered on the local radio station, 88.5 WXPN. The simple question to which, as you will shortly find has led me to a not-so-simple answer reads:
“What is the greatest year in music?”
The station has been offering this as a topic for debate all week and I can’t say for certain why it resonated with me this morning in a different way but I began to consider how I would answer this question if I were asked directly. I began thinking of those years that are generally considered the greatest. Who, for example, could possibly argue with 1965? Dylan going electric at Newport Folk Festival, the Stones, Help! … or my god, 1975! Born to Run, Bob Marley in his prime, Bowie’s Young Americans… or the emergence of Nirvana in the early 90s complimented with bands like Radiohead, Green Day, and Weezer. I think this is the reason this debate sparks such heated, passionate discussion is that you could make such a strong case for so many years… Or better yet, take the condition of “year” out of this equation and try to make an argument for the greatest “era” of music and you’ll be sitting here for another week writing your thesis on the pros and cons of each musical regime.
Which has led me to answer this question a little differently than most… rather than try to isolate a distinct year or even time in the history of music, I think that truly the only way to answer this question is that the greatest year in music is the one we’re living in today.
When this thought crossed my mind as I drove down 95 South towards Wilmington this morning, it all suddenly clicked. Think about your favorite bands, your favorite albums, your favorite songs. Each of these tell a story… but not just about the music or what the particular piece is about – they tell a story about the time in our lives when we first fell in love with them. I look back fondly on every step of my musical journey and would never change anything. Who doesn’t remember their first time as a little kid cutting out the stickers from the Columbia House or BMG music catalog to glue them to the order form and get that package in the mail? Or for me, shortly thereafter I remember one of my first musical influences (my older cousin Luke) who introduced me to the sweet, soothing sounds of Slayer, Slipknot, Pantera, Static X, Deftones, and others at the ripe old age of 12 at our small cabin by Lake Como in upstate PA… or I think of growing up, sitting at the foot of the bed listening to my Dad play Richard Thompson’s 1952 Vincent Blank Lightning on the guitar or delicately playing Stairway to Heaven in its entirety.. or at backyard BBQs with my dad ALWAYS playing Steely Dan’s Aja. My dad loves Grateful Dead, Zeppelin, the Who, and countless other classic rock bands – but for him, Steely Dan’s Aja always seemed to be the album of choice for our backyard celebrations. Summertime in the pool in the backyard, the image my Dzia Dzia (grandpa) sitting by the picnic table he and my Dad built for us with Donald Fagen and Walter Becker crooning in the background. Then I think of when my older brother went to high school and came home with a seemingly endless assortment of Punk music from the old Repo Records store in Wayne. Bands like NOFX, Millencolin, Lagwagon, Bouncing Souls, Strung Out, Pennywise, Satanic Surfers – the list goes on and on. THEN, I think of that fateful summer of my freshman year of high school when we discovered Dashboard Confessional. I’ll simply refer to those years as the Emo Years. My best friend and I picked it up from Tunes On The Dunes on the boardwalk in Ocean City, NJ. We sat in the back room of the shore house his parent’s had rented for the week and sneakily drank the rest of the Yuengling’s and Gin his parents had left in the fridge and flipped on the CD. I can still smell the evergreen aroma of the gin spilled on my shirt and taste the salt of the tears streaming down the face listening to it as I sobbed to my best friend about how my older brother was going away to college and it would never be the same without him around. I grew up with three brothers and I was convinced that once he went to college that was it – no more brothers. To this day, every time I hear those opening chords of The Brilliant Dance from “The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most” I think back to that night at the shore crying with my best friend about how life is changing.
But it never stopped there and it continues to this day. Every major step of my life, each moment, each life-changing event is earmarked by the music of that time. The music is a chance for us to step back into that time machine and revisit the feelings we had then. It reminds me of a study that Stanford Medicine conducted back in 2007. The researcher team showed that music engages the areas of the brain involved with paying attention, making predictions, and updating the event in memory. Peak brain activity occurred during a short period of silence between musical movements (or a song change) – when seemingly nothing was happening. And I think that is just it – whether there is some science to it or not – music leads us to be truly present in the moment and provides a gateway for us to revisit those moments. With so many distractions in the world today between our smart phones, television, or media in general – it’s so easy to miss the beauty of things around us. Music, at least for me, cuts through all of that. There’s a reason why I have music playing 95% of the time in my daily life. Whether I’m in the shower, making breakfast, getting ready for work, driving to work, sitting in my office, at the gym, running home from the gym, falling asleep — all of my normal activities are punctuated by music — an omnipresent soundtrack for my life.
What I’m trying to get at is that it’s impossible to decide on a definitive “greatest year in music”… because that is like asking somebody, “what is the greatest year of your life?” Music is life. It’s a connected part of our being and will always be there. So when you ask my Dad the question, he’s probably going to think of running home from the record store in 1969 with his best buddy Joe Ben with their copy of The Who’s Tommy and listening to it on their parent’s record player in awe. Surely! – 1969 must be the greatest year in music, right? Abbey Road, Zeppelin’s I and II, Let It Bleed, The Band, Nick Drake’s Five Leaves Left. But the reason why that time was so great for my Dad and so many others is he is transported back to that living room with his buddy Joe Ben – imagining what it would be like to be up there on stage like Pete Townshend or Jimmy Page. That’s what keeps bringing us back to music and these bands. It’s like a junkie always trying to get back to that first, perfect high. It will never be quite the same because the perfection of these songs and this music is encapsulated by the memories and the moments surrounding them. People are truly mad about music. And I don’t mean an angry, bitter mad. I mean that obsessive, thoughtless, joyful mad depicted by Kerouac in On The Road. “The only people for me are the mad ones – the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.” That is how people love music. Those moments when you’re a 16 year old kid driving home from the Saves the Day concert at the Trocadero in your beat up Honda Civic with the city in your rearview mirror and Conshohocken looming on the right… playing your favorite songs with the sound at absolute max volume, the windows down, wind in your hair, screaming along with the words with your best friends in the world.. or turning on that perfect song when your friend jumps in the car as you embark on that weekend trip down the shore. You will never, ever forget those moments. So I could say – well perhaps one of those years would be the greatest year in music for me. But that’s not it either – and when it all comes down to it – I don’t think that it’s important or even matters – and I think that’s the greatest thing about this question. To posit that a certain year is the greatest year in music is an impossible contradiction to what music is and means to so many people all over the world.
I turn 30 in a few days (the early celebration of which has led to the aforementioned bourbon and cigar hangover) and I am truly at one of the happiest places in my life. During this time in my life, with no exaggeration, I’ve been to more than 50 concerts in the past year and discovered so many great new bands. We’re in a time of unprecedented musical access between Spotify, Soundcloud, Bandcamp, and all the other musical platforms out there. This has led to artists being forced to tour now more than ever (this is an entirely separate topic for debate that I will live out of this) – and has enabled me to see these incredible musicians performing live on-stage – enabling me to truly be present in their musical creation. I think that is why I am such a junkie for live music is that is enables me to truly be absolutely present in the music as it’s happening right before my eyes. At each show I love to close my eyes and mentally step away and think about the place in my life at that moment. I take a picture at every show and usually put it on my Instagram. It’s not only a way to remember the show – but it’s a way for me to chronicle not only my musical journey but also my journey through life. Each one of those pictures depicts a specific time in the universe during the past year or two which has proven to be one of the most fulfilling and transitional times in my life on my path towards true introspection.
A movie comes to mind when I think about this premise. On the surface, it’s a silly rom-com of sorts, but the movie is, “Midnight in Paris” written and directed by Woody Allen starring Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams. It tells the story of a present-day writer and his fiancé who travel to Paris. The writer (Owen Wilson) is a classic romantic. He lustfully exclaims to his fiancé about how great it must have been to live in the city in the 1920s with the likes of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemmingway. During the movie, he is magically transported back in time where he spends his evenings exploring the Paris of the 1920s that he so idolizes (accompanied by these heroes of his) whereupon he meets the likes of Pablo Picasso, Gertrude Stein, Salvador Dali, Cole Porter, and others. The reason why this comes to mind and why it’s particularly poignant for this discussion (and my biggest takeaway from the movie in general), is the part where he finds himself talking to Pablo’s love interest (Adriana). Owen (the writer in the movie) had offered his manuscript to read and he asks about her thoughts on the opening lines. Adriana replies that “the past has always had a great charisma for me.” Owen Wilson, amidst his nostalgic utopia agrees with her, explaining how he feels he was born too late. Adriana agrees and explains how for her, Belle Epoque Paris (the “beautiful era” of the late 19th century in Paris) would have been perfect. “The whole sensibility, the street lamps, the kiosks – the horses and carriages,” she explains. Shortly thereafter, Owen and Adriana find themselves at Maxim’s Paris and the Moulin Rouge to meet Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Gauguin, and Edgar Degas whereupon he asks them what they thought the best era was. The three, after a brief argument, decide it surely must have been the Reniassance. At this point, Owen begins to realize upon going back in time (to the era that he idolizes as the “greatest era in the history of mankind”) that these very heroes of his were meanwhile looking back to their own nostalgic earlier years lamenting how they wish they could go back in time to THAT point. Owen ultimately has the epiphany that despite the allure of nostalgia, it is truly better to live in the present.
And I think that is how I would best sum up my answer to this question. It’s truly impossible to posit that any particular year is the greatest year in music because each person will answer differently and nobody will be necessarily wrong in their assertions. My dad could go back in time and meet Jimmy Page or Joe Ben could meet Pete Townshend and excitedly tell them about how they’re living in the greatest year of music – but I bet Jimmy would disagree and tell them that truly the greatest year of music was when Elvis Presley released “Baby Let’s Play House” (cited by Page as being his inspiration to take up the guitar in the first place) or Pete would explain that surely it was the era of his blues and jazz heroes like Ray Charles or Jimmy Smith.
And that’s just it – there’s an inescapable nostalgia or desire to reconnect with the past… and music affords us the ability to do that… but we should remain cognizant of this truth: Love the songs, love the music, and love it all for what it is – but most importantly remain present in the moment and realize that at the heart of it all – the greatest year in music is the one we are living in now, and always has been.
#xpngreatestyear
Blow by Blow, Katy Lied, Toys in the Attic. Fandango, Captain Fantastic, Venus and Mars, the Tubes, Fleetwood Mac, Wish you were Here, Blues for Allah, Wind on the Water, Captured Angel, Bongo Fury, One Size Fits All, Shaved Fish, Fool for the City, Frampton, Tonight’s the Night, Zuma, Nils Lofgren, Hissing of Summer Lawns, Schoolboys in Disgrace,Teaser, Nighthawks at the Diner, Against the Grain, Last Record Album, 10cc, Evening Star Fripp Eno, Let’s Do The Time Warp, Searching for a Rainbow, Outlaws……75 Hands down!
I would argue for 1969. The Beatles “Abbey Road”, “Led Zeppelin I & II”, Neil Young’s “Everyone Knows This is Nowhere” (Down by the River is an absolute monster of a jam), “Let it Bleed” by the Stones, “Trout Mask Replica” by Captain Beefheart. How about the Brown album by The Band, “The Velvet Underground” by Velvet Underground, The Stooges debut album, CCR’s “Green River” AND “Willy and the Poor Boys”, Sly and the Family Stone’s “Stand!”, Bowie’s “Space Oddity”, Cash at San Quentin, Joe Cocker’s “With a Little Help from My Friends” and so many more. I don’t think I would even want to live without the music from this year.
1976! Still my favorite year ever spent on this planet, and the biggest reason was (and is) the MUSIC. Let’s explore the Bicentennial Year, shall we…
Fist off, I was 15 years young and had just recently discovered FM radio. My parents had separated in ’75 and I was ruling my own little part of the world on my terms. Pop and rock music were my best friends. And how could you go wrong with the stuff we had:
All time classic albums- Hotel California, Fly Like An Eagle, Dreamboat Annie, Boston, Night Moves, 2112, Songs In The Key Of Life, A Night At The Opera, and Year Of The Cat.
Pop/Rock gems- “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper”, “Dancing Queen”, “Lido Shuffle”, “Rich Girl”, “Calling Dr. Love”, “Blitzkrieg Bop”, “Let Your Love Flow”, and “New York State Of Mind” .
FM standards- “Don’t Take Me Alive” by Steely Dan, “Cowboy Song ” by thin Lizzy, “A Trick Of The Tail ” by Genesis, “Back In The Saddle” by Aerosmith, and “TVC15” by David Bowie.
Light rock’s heyday- “Really Love To See You Tonight”, “Monnlight Feels Right”, “So Into You”, “Still The One”, “You Are The Woman”, “Couldn’t Get It Right”, “This Masquerade”, and “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine”.
Dance Music/Urban Soul/ Funk- “Car Wash”, “Give Up The Funk”, I’ll Be Good To You”, “Play That Funky Music”,”Rubberband Man”, Turn The Beat Around” and “You Should Be Dancing”.
In addition, there were debuts of influential artists (Warren Zevon), a rising number of female artists, (Heart, The Runaways, Donna Summer), novelty hits (Kung Fu Fighting), porn stars making records, and , with the good comes the bad… “Disco Duck” (Yuck…WTF)
There’s my pitch for 1976. Debate amongst yourselves. Aloha.
I’m torn between 1969, Woodstock and the attendant debut of multiple of the performing bands, not the least of which was CSN&Y, and 1971 with the close of the Filmores East & West – I had the great good fortune to have recently obtained a reel-to-reel tape deck and recorded the WNEW-FM broadcast final show of the Filmore East, closed out by the Allman Brother’s Band who had recently recorded their hit At the Filmore album .
For me it was 1973. Back then it seemed like two or three major albums were released every week from groups such as Pink Floyd, Yes, ELP, Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, Genesis, Renaissance, Bruce Springsteen, etc. I could go on and on. All of this music is as vital today as it was then. I would listen to Scott Muni on WNEW-FM every Friday to hear what was coming next. I would then go buy them (and still have them). On first hearing this music, you knew immediately that it would live forever.
For me its the summer of 1971 between finishing high school in June and going off to college in the fall. The theme tune for the summer was Rod the Mods Maggie May. Your list of great albums that came out that year brings back many memories of an exciting time, however you are missing Rod’s Every Picture Tells a Story. As well as the title track this had Reason to Believe and I’m Losing You. “Nostalgia ain’t what it used to be!”
They say the music you love at 14 is the music you love forever. For me that’s true and the year was 1974. Starting with Genesis’s Lamb Lies Down , Frank’s Apostrophe, Tom Waits’ Heart of Saturday Night and Randy Newman’s Good Old Boys all of which I wore out several vinyl copies. Add to that list Kink Crimson’s Red, Supertramp’s Crime of the Century, Bowie’s Diamond Dogs, Joni Mitchell’s Court and a Spark, Steely Dan’s Pretzel Logic, Bad Company’s Bad Co., Roxy Music’s Country Life, Spark’s Propaganda, Gram Parsons’ Grievous Angel and CSN&Y’s So Far. It was an incredibly wonderful year for music.
Hands down, the greatest year in music has to be 1786. That’s the year that Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro premiered. There’s no concrete evidence one way or another, both he and Beethoven were in Vienna so there’s a chance that the two of them might have actually met.
1964 british invasion nuff said
For me the answer is “this year”. It is all about discovery: new ideas, new interpretations, new inspirations. That’s why I love WXPN!
I would have to vote for 1964. As a new teen, The Beatles hitting the U.S. was an absolute turning point in my life. Yep, I am an “original” Beatlemaniac, even to this day. The Beatles were/are amazing, and opened the door to the British Invasion. The Beatles will always be No. 1 in my book, but my music taste is so eclectic and I credit that to them (and WXPN, of course). So many great groups came to be as a result of 1964… the best year!!
it is really hardto pick one but 1994 stands out to me.
With albums like The Downward Spiral, Jar of Flies, Under the Pink, Grace, Superunknown, Vitalogy, Monster and Purple. Of course there was Woodstock. Also there were some great movies with accompanying sound tracks like Forest Gump, Natural Born Killers and The Crow. The list just goes on and on. Then I may be partial to this year because there are somanygood memories also attached to this year, but isn’t that what music is all about, evoking memories and feelings.