🎧 Downbeat.fm Vol. 5 Track 8
This may be a boomer post. Or a post with extreme bias towards my musical formative years. But I've been thinking about it a lot recently.
The other day, I watched YouTube videos about popular songs in the '90s; I realized that the '90s was the last decade of a genuinely diverse and eclectic popular music and Billboard charts.
Looking at the top 20 singles from the year-end Billboard Hot 100 every three years between 1991 and 2023, I grouped the songs into the following genres:
- Pop
- Example: Mariah Carey, Katy Perry
- R&B / Hip Hop
- Example: En Vouge, Biggie
- Rock
- Example: Third Eye Blind, Coldplay
- Adult Contemporary
- Example: Michael Bolton, Bette Midler
- Country
- Example: Leann Rimes, Luke Combs
Some songs had more niche genres (dance/pop, rap/hip-hop) but easily fit into one of these five general genres.
Pop music is always going to dominate these charts. R&B and hip hop have dominated over the past 25+ years. Country music has followed that trend.
Rock, a once dominant force in the popular charts, has been steadily losing its grip. Actually, it let go. The few songs that have managed to break into the charts lately seem to either be older acts that are still wildly popular (think Foo Fighters or Red Hot Chili Peppers) or something so distant from what people believe is rock that it shouldn't even classify it as "rock."
This trend would cause me some concern about the future of rock music if it weren't for this newsletter. I continue to be amazed at how many incredible bands and artists I discover that are entirely new to me, whether from the '90s or last week.
Thanks for coming on this journey of discovery with me. Hopefully, you've found a new song or artist from these playlists that you've never heard before. Even better would be seeing a live show of an artist or band you've listened to from this list.
If you enjoy these playlists, consider forwarding this email to a friend or linking them to Downbeat.fm.
Now, on to the music.
August's Playlist
This month's playlist features Crumbs, Foxing, Snail Mail, Chase Petra, Stable Boys, Tigers Jaw, and much more!
Listen to this month's playlist on:
Quick Listening and Other Links
Rock and Roll lost another good one this month, Greg Kihn died at 75 after a battle with Alzheimer's. If you don't know Kihn's music, check out his song "The Breakup Song" on YouTube.
We're fully in the swing of the US Presidential Election, and of course that means Republicans are once again being served with cease and desists by musicians after they play their songs. Jack White had some choice words for Trump on this matter.
Democrats aren't getting yelled at for music choices, but the delegate from New Jersey did have Born in the U.S.A. playing in the background during roll call at the DNC this month. Not a very heart-warming or patriotic song. Haven't we learned this by now?
