POLL: In which decade was radio the most enjoyable?*

The 70's?!?
No friggin' way!!!

 

...with a lot of over-bloated crap!

 

Amen.

"Symphony Sid" gets slagged a lot for his over-the-top announcing style, but can you imagine tuning in to local late-night radio in New York City and hearing a live broadcast of Charlie Parker? I truly enjoy those old jazz and country live broadcasts that managed to get reissued years later, it is like listening to a time capsule from the past.

 

1965-1974

 

AM radio was wonderfully full of diversity in the 1960s. But FM radio in the 1970s was on a whole other astral plane.

 

It’s gotta be the 70s... and I wasnt even listening yet...

 

What about the 1930's? People loved listening to the radio back then. The whole family used to gather 'round and listen.

 

I personally didn’t find that enjoyable.

 

1970s no contest, and looks like its leading by a good margin. Which of course makes perfect sense to me!

 

I'd be interested to see how many people picked a decade during which they weren't a teenager or young adult.

 

I picked the 60s, teenager in the 70s. Some of those 70s songs are forever stuck in my head though, whether I liked them or not.

 

For those of you that were not a part of 50's & 60's top 40 radio, did you realize that many records were produced and mixed with AM fidelity in mind? Phil Spector's style is a perfect example. A hot mix was used to fill up that "hollow" sound of AM . The advent of FM brought about a more "natural" production.

 

To me it doesn't neatly divide into decades. The period of free-form FM rock radio, roughly 1968-75, represents the peak for me. You could turn on a station like KMET FM in Los Angeles and, in rapid succession, hear Jimi Hendrix, John Prine, and then someone you'd never, ever heard of. But the marketing drones swooped in pretty quickly and started reducing things to formulas.

 

I think this is the correct answer. The mid sixties AM top 40 was such an eclectic mix it is hard to beat. Then by the early 70s FM radio emerged and there were album rock stations that introduced us to the deep cuts, extended versions of bands not geared for 2:30 singles. Also country radio was pretty darn good during this period as well.

 

I picked the time frame from age 7-16. Those songs from my pre-teen years, Brandy, Buttercup, Backfield in Motion, Galveston, Wendy, etc. are forever special in my mind.

 

Can we put this claim to rest? I've seen a number of posts from people naming the best decade as being one in which they were NOT a teenager.

 

Apart from Galveston, which I presume refers to the Jimmy Webb/Glen Campbell song, I have no idea which songs these are.

 

If you can believe stories, they used to gather round and WATCH.

 

You are very lucky to not be familiar with those songs. Think sugary AM hits.

 

70s for me (UK). Not the Top 50 but things like the John Peel Show, In Concert (taping shows onto reel-to-reel, then later onto cassette), Alan Freeman's Saturday afternoon rock show, documentary series like "Beatles At The Beeb", "The Story Of Pop", Stones, Bowie docs, ...
A special memory of taping the Hendrix BBC sessions, way before their official release.

 

you already voted...mid to late 60's own it..it's ok.....

 

why would you laugh at that?...it is a distinction.......not to be laughed at...but appreciated..

 

If one decade had to be picked, I'd go with the 70's.

But it's really about 1967 -- with the beginning of freeform FM (no Program Director "Playlists") till about 1976, when the quality of the music being produced started to drop off, IMO.

 

Build Me Up Buttercup - The Foundations 1968
Backfield in Motion - Mel and Tim 1969
Brandy - Looking Glass 1972
Wendy- The Association 1967
Galveston - Glen Campbell 1969

These were all pop big top 40 hits in the United States, back when AM radio ruled the airwaves. I was between the ages of 9 and 14 when they came out.