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Originally Posted by not_so_new

I really doubt there is any other 12 year period that has this many artists who's songs, love'm or hate'm are still around today.....

See, I just don't think that's a great measure though. In the 70s the oldies radio that existed probably played 50s and early 60s music, then on into the 80s and 90s, we got "classic rock" radio & stuff like that. Now oldies stations play less and less say Leiber and Stoller stuff and more stuff from the 70s. This is simply a function of demographics and economics. There is a little bit of 80s new wave or 90s alternative nostalgia on some radio stations but it's still pretty small because there's a much smaller audience for it. Once the boomers are gone you're not going to see Mercedes commercials with Janis Joplin or Zeppelin songs anymore. So I think this "staying power" is somewhat illusory.

Originally Posted by not_so_new

That's cool man... just in case I have not said it enough, my WHOLE point is not to say the Beatles are better than the White Strips, I like both bands. My point is that CULTURALLY the Beatles had a much bigger impact.

I agree that bands in those days seemed to have a bigger cultural impact. I think this was largely do to the influence and relevance of radio and the lack of other entertainment options for teenagers. It was just the beginning of TV shows and movies that were targeted specifically to teenagers. But again, demographics played a huge part in this. A huge generation all came of age at once at a time when the concept of the "teenager" was just coming into existence. Then take a look at Gen Y who rival the size of the boomers and you'll see why Britney and the rest of them were so huge at a time when these kids were in their pre-teens.

Oh, and the Beatles were obviously better than the White Stripes.

Originally Posted by not_so_new

First, I hate when people say that about Zep but it's all good.

I was only kidding of course. But it is sort of amusing to think about what would happen if a young band came out today, covered another artist's song and gave themselves songwriting credit with no recognition of the original artist. Think of what Gearslutz would say about that! There would be hell to pay!