history lessons: 1979

Trying to think back on what must have been the most revolutionary periods for pop music... It's been well over a decade since the last time a year or two-year period contained such a wealth of amazing records. And while there has yet to be a period of pop history when there were zero shitty records for a year straight, there have been times when both the mainstream and underground were simultaneously fresh-sounding.

Regarding true revolutions, this happened twice in the 90's: The first was the hugely eventful Pixies' era (89-91), which was followed soon afterwards by a second takeover of New York hiphop (93-94). The 80's experienced one truly amazing year with 1982, a year when record labels and Top 40 radio reacted to New Wave bands becoming marketable and more accessible than ever.

Keeping in mind that we're speaking of periods that contained an abundance of incredible music that is nearly impossible to keep up with... Let's face the facts.. These years have existed, and 2011 is hardly one of those. This is not a reaction to getting older and being like "kids these days..." This is the reality of our current situation. There is no modern equivalent to what's happening in the video posted below...

So anyway, the video makes 1979 seem like it must have been one of those revolutionary times... It's not nearly as common to witness a show like 20/20 featuring any modern day revolutions in pop music, probably because there's nothing remotely close to this type of excitement happening today...