Definitive Gen X song?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SLTS is overrated rubbish. A one hit wonder if Cobain never died.

It's fine if you don't like it/them but it was a massively popular song and they had 2 successful albums with a number of hits.

Right, and I’ll add, I’m not a nirvana fan, but it’s not just the success of the albums. It’s that they fundamentally were part of the culture shift with music and in terms of the whole grunge scene. They weren’t the only part of that culture shift, but they were a big part of it.

I don’t think that people are saying that SLTS is a song we should all automatically love. It was more that this song, the video, the other albums, Nirvana in general, and the grunge movement was definitive for GenX and that song sort of represented that more than any other.

The song and video was parodied by weird Al so it definitely had a cultural impact.

NP and + 1 million. I wonder if that PP was even alive back then? It was like Mariah Carey and Madonna and a bunch of cheesy hair bands and soft rock and then suddenly…Nirvana/grunge. It was a huge cultural shift.

No the culture shifted took place in the mid to late 1970’s with the punk music scene out NYC and London. That Sex Pistols tour had a huge impact spinning up bands. By the late 1970’s early 1980’s hardcore, punk, speed metal, alternative, rap and grunge were all over in the place but were “underground”. This is when the first genx’ers were in their late teens.

By mid 80’s these new bands were getting play on college radio and alternative stations(like 99.1 WHFS). When Madonna and etc were being pushed by the big record labels(by annoying boomers) a whole another scene had developed and the culture had changed. Even Madonna was reflecting this culture in her early style. Madonna had a bigger impact on style vs Taylor Swift.

I remember when I went to college in 1984 and got involved in college radio. The radio station was playing Little Feat, Grateful Dead, etc. By my sophomore year all that had changed. The older kids were the last boomers, were graduating and being replaced by genx. The music changed. Genx had taken over.

Soundgarden(1984) was the first grunge group followed by Mudhoney(1988 who everyone thought would make it big). Nirvana’s Dave Grohl acknowledged that the drum intro for Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was taken from the Bad Brains song "How Low Can a Punk Get?". Bad Brains 1976-1986, Teenage Idles(1979-80) and Minor Threat(1980-83) all had a major impact on Grohl, Nirvana and countless other musicians. Those bands were around a few years before Madonna. Also they were DC hardcore bands.

The interesting thing was Fuguzi(1987-2003) would have been the been bigger vs Nirvana but refused to sign with a record company.

The punk scene never caused a mainstream cultural shift like Nirvana did. And I love Fugazi, but they would not have been bigger than Nirvana.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm older gen x, and my definitive songs are 80s songs, not 90s and grunge.

Material Girl, Like a Virgin, Thriller, Born in the USA,

[Anonymous]

MTV, music videos. Prince when doves cry, Aha take me on, come n Eileen etc

[Anonymous]

Money for Nothing

[Anonymous]

Did Girls Just Wanna Have Fun get mentioned? I just watched the video of Cyndi singing it with Cher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Money for Nothing

Boomer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm older gen x, and my definitive songs are 80s songs, not 90s and grunge.

Material Girl, Like a Virgin, Thriller, Born in the USA,

I suggested Material Girl and Thriller back on page 1. I considered Born in the USA but rejected it because -- while it was very popular when I was in MS and I loved the song and owned the album -- it was definitely aimed at the boomers who were then in their 30s and struggling with the economic slump of the early 80s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did Girls Just Wanna Have Fun get mentioned? I just watched the video of Cyndi singing it with Cher.

I mentioned it on page 1, I think. I think this is a legitimate pick, but maybe less so for the youngest of the Gen X. I still love the music video for this. Apparently Cyndi just called a bunch of her friends and told them to show up for the filming. I don't think they even did hair/makeup or anything.

[Anonymous]

Black Coffee in Bed, Squeeze

[Anonymous]

Mountain Song

[Anonymous]

New Kids on the Block - The Right Stuff

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MTV, music videos. Prince when doves cry, Aha take me on, come n Eileen etc

Take on Me by Ah-Ha is the correct answer and he is still amazing!

[Anonymous]

Fight the Power — Public Enemy

[Anonymous]

Rapper's Delight. The Sugarhill Gang

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know these songs you all are listing.


Michael Jackson – “Rock With You” or "Billie Jean"

Prince – “Purple Rain”

Anita Baker – “Sweet Love”

Luther Vandross – “Never Too Much”

Sade – “Smooth Operator”

Cameo – “Candy”

New Edition – “If It Isn't Love”

Mary J. Blige – “My Life” / “Real Love”

Boyz II Men – “End of the Road”

Jodeci – “Come and Talk to Me”

TLC – “No Scrubs”

Maxwell – “Sumthin’ Sumthin’”

Ginuwine – “Pony”

D’Angelo – “Lady”

SWV – “Weak”

EU's "Da butt because School Daze was an accurate description of what it was like to go to an HBCU in the '80s and '90s.

You think that “Candy” by Cameo is in the running to be the definitive song of a generation?

Yes, I do

Picking Candy over Word Up is insane