Ah, 2009. January has disappeared already, and as a snow-filled February starts, there are only 10 months left not only of the year, but of the decade. In musical terms, a decade is a big deal. The 60s gave us Motown, The Beatles, and a series of successful bands and singers that are too numerous to list. The 70s gave us Bob Marley, disco, and punk. The 80s gave us bad music and bad fashion, but at least there was Michael Jackson and Madonna at the height of their talents, and the emergence of hip hop. The 90s had Britpop, techno, grunge, boybands and girlbands. So what does this decade (are we really calling it the Noughties?) have to say for itself? Will we look back at this decade with fondness, or with a bad taste in our mouths?
If we look at this decade in terms of album sales, it makes for bad reading. It goes a lil’ something like this:
2000: Beatles – 1
2001: Dido – No Angel
2002: Robbie Williams – Escapology
2003: Dido – Life For Rent
2004: Scissor Sisters – Scissor Sisters
2005: James Blunt – Back To Bedlam
2006: Snow Patrol – Eyes Open
2007: Amy Winehouse – Back To Black
2008: Duffy – Rockferry.
I don't know about you, but the only list Dido and James Blunt should be on is ‘Top 10 People You Wish Were Dead.’ From this it would seem that this has been the easy-listening decade. And that is rather depressing. It also makes you ask who bought all those Dido albums, and if they have somehow suffered since.
What about critically? The Mercury Prize seems to be the best way of finding the top album from each year, so it’s well worth checking the winners of that:
2000: Badly Drawn Boy – The Hour Of Bewilderbeast
2001: PJ Harvey – Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
2002: Ms Dynamite – A Little Deeper
2003: Dizzee Rascal – Boy In Da Corner
2004: Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand
2005: Anthony & The Johnsons – I Am A Bird Now
2006: Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
2007: Klaxons – Myths Of The Near Future
2008: Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid
That list looks a lot better to music enthusiasts, but you wonder how many of them are actually household names. Your nan may have heard of Arctic Monkeys if she reads the newspaper, but is less likely to know about nu-rave (Klaxons) or transgender singers (Anthony And The Johnsons). This, rather nicely, takes us into genres of music.
We know that the 70s was disco. We know that the 90s was Britpop. It’s hard to think of an all-encompassing genre that sums up this decade. Garage has gone back underground it seems, and the euphoria of nu-rave has passed quickly. Grime occasionally threatens to break through. You could say that traditional pop music has been one of the most dominant genres, thanks to the glorified karaoke contests of X Factor and Pop Idol. The real winners of this were Girls Aloud, who forged a somewhat respectable pop career, as well as several magazine shoots. And we thank them for that. But we don’t want to remember this as their decade, do we?
I think what we should really do is consider these ten years as the decade of the band. Like the 60s, you can look back and think that there have been bands that have been influential. While few bands have come along and changed the face of music, there have been many that have influenced other bands already. Arctic Monkeys brought about a wave of ‘chav-rock’ inspirees. The Libertines seemed to make everyone want to be in a band, much as The Strokes inspired garage rock in America. Thanks to the internet, it is easier for bands to gain a following, and to get noticed by record companies. There are more festivals for bands to showcase themselves at, and more music television channels to be seen on.
Critically, bands have been successful as well. Arctic Monkeys, Bloc Party, Coldplay, Editors, Elbow, Muse, and probably more that I have missed, have made consistently good albums, but will any of these be remembered as all-time classics?
It remains to be seen how this decade will be reflected on, but I have high hopes for it. It’s not quite the 60s, but it’s definitely not the 80s. Bring on the Tenties!
Posted In Features, Feb 04 2009.
Words - Paul