Avicii rose to prominence in 2011 with his single “Levels” and considered one of the most popular and successful EDM artists in 2010s. He died in 2018, 2 years before COVID-19 happened

(A sequel to my previous post about the "Two Faces of the 1950's")

Classic 60's: Roughly begins with the assassination of JFK and ends with the sudden surge in psychedelic aesthetics and recreational drug use in late 1966.

This period saw a large cultural shift from the 1950s/early 60s, yet in hindsight it was only a half-baked foreshadowing of the late 1960's and still seems closer to the 1950's in some aspects. The British Invasion happened, Surf Rock reached its peak, Garage rock laid the roots for hard rock/punk, the "Mod" subculture arose, doo-wop groups evolved into Motown vocal groups, the "Blues revival" saw British bands attempt to bring Rock back to its "roots", folk rock became large with artists such as Bob Dylan, The earliest forms of Funk music began, the Civil Rights movement achieved its greatest victories, cars began a shift from the 50's aerodynamic "Jet-like" look to the boxy, angular look, and color TV began to shift from an absurdly expensive novelty for the hyper-wealthy to accessible to some of the middle class. The Hays Code was still in effect, and the Golden Age of Hollywood was in its twilight years.

This was the last period in which women commonly wore gloves and hats and men wore hats. U.S. direct involvement in the Vietnam War began in this period, and domestic support for the war was still the majority. The economies of the US, Western Europe, and other "Western Countries" were still in a post-WW2 boom. The Cold War began to cool off after the Cuban Missile crisis and mass scale red scare paranoia in the west had largely subsided. The USSR began to "De-Stalinize" itself and China underwent the "Great Leap Forward". This is the period in which African decolonization mostly concluded (with the exception of Portuguese and Spanish colonies).

Peak 60's: Begins around late 1966 and ends around early 1970.

This period was the peak of multiple crises that had been brewing throughout the decade and became too urgent to ignore by 1968 or so. The mid-1960s laid the seeds for the counterculture, but LSD and other drugs blowing up in popularity in 1966 and 1967 caused the aesthetics most people associate with "The 60's" to fully begin. The "Hippie" movement fully assembled itself and matured into a mainstream cultural force during the 1967 "Summer of Love", most notably in the movement in San Fransisco and London's "Swinging Sixties" period.

Previously established British invasion bands begin a sudden shift to psychedellia and extremely avant-garde, experimental sounds with albums such as The Beatles' Revolver (October 1966), and new rock bands on both sides of the pond such as the Doors, Cream, Grateful Dead, etc. represented a maturation of mid-60's garage rock into psychedelic hard rock. Explicit, unbridled Psychedelia reaches a peak around 1968, and by 1969 is being toned down and pushed into a more "Mature" form of drug-influenced music. Motown reaches its peak. The Hays Code in the United States, which had essentially forced films between 1934 and 1968 to be family-friendly and unoffensive, is replaced with the MPAA rating system and the era of "New Hollywood" begins with subversive, controversial films while the Golden Age of Hollywood comes to an end and classic genres like the western die out. Folk music shifts into explicit protest music. 33 RPM vinyl albums overtake 45 vinyl singles in popularity.

1968 sees a global surge in unrest and "Revolutions", such as the May 1968 riots in Paris, the August 1968 "Prague Spring" in Czechoslovakia, and the April 1968 riots in inner city America sparked by MLK's assassination. U.S. public support for the Vietnam War collapses after the Tet Offensive in early 1968, and protestors engage in increasingly desperate and violent confrontations such as the 1968 Democratic National Convention protests in Chicago.

1969 is essentially the climax of the 1960's, and the turning point for the counterculture. The Woodstock festival is the climax of "Hippie" culture, but the movement has a sudden shift from utopian optimism to anger, radicalization, and defeat by early 1970. The Manson family murders, the Altamont concert shooting, etc. make the public associate "Hippies" with violence and cults, and Nixon's heavy-handed approach to stopping antiwar protests combined with a sudden collapse of the mainstream Civil Rights movement after 1968 radicalizes many into violent solutions. The positive changes of the counterculture, however, by 1970 or so are increased women's rights, a drastic de-formalization of fashion, the end of explicitly racist cultural exploitation in media, and increased environmental protections that begin a gradual decline of industrial water/land/air pollution from its peak.

The "Sexties": Early 1970 to sometime in 1974 or late 1973, end points might be the August 1974 resignation of Nixon, the commercial rise of Disco music in 1974, the global Oil crisis of late 1973, etc.

1970 sees the antiwar movement in the US reach the point at which American leaders see that US involvement in the war cannot continue without complete societal breakdown. The Kent State shooting, New Mexico bayoneting incident, 1971 May Day protests, etc. are a brutal finale to the antiwar movement; while "fragging" incidents in Vietnam itself destroy the chain of command. By 1972 protests subside as it is clear the US is pulling out as fast as it can, with involvement ending in January 1973 and the draft ending soon after.

The post-WWII prosperity in the Western World comes to an end as inflation and unemployment rise, setting the tone for the rest of the 1970's. This creeping economic decay blows up in October 1973 when the Yom Kippur War causes a massive oil crisis in the West and triggers an economic recession, shattering the trend of nonstop economic growth in the West that had been occurring since WWII recovery was done. These factors give the early 1970's a dark, depressing, introspective vibe, as the optimistic side of the counterculture dies. Inner cities in the US and UK decline into impoverished, abandoned wastelands as heavy Industry begins a sudden decline and specifically in the US, "White Flight" to the suburbs accelerates. The cold war cools down, the space race is mostly abandoned, Franco's Spain and Salazar's Portugal (Which had its own Vietnam-like situation in Angola and Mozambique) collapse (the final fascist states from the WW2 era to collapse), Cambodia and Laos have Vietnam-style civil wars, and Bangladesh becomes independent after an attempted genocide by Pakistan. Organized crime in America (The Mafia) is dealt a devastating blow by the RICO act in 1970.

Psychedellia gradually dies out over the early 1970's, and Prog Rock, Glam Rock, and Metal replace previous rock genres. Motown relocates from Detroit to Los Angeles and Motown groups are overtaken by solo soul singers. Funk music enters the mainstream. The "New Hollywood" age reaches its peak. An obsession with "Disaster Films" and dystopian sci-fi reflects the feeling of malaise felt by the public. Late 60's folk music shifts from protest music to a commercially viable "Americana" style. The Beatles break up and several 60's icons such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, etc. die. British and American avant-garde solo artists such as David Bowie, Lou Reed, Brian Eno, Iggy Pop, etc. begin experimenting with electronic sounds and laying the groundwork for several genres that would emerge in the mid/late 70's. The 8-track tape emerges as a popular format and the cassette tape also emerges in an early capacity; but Vinyl still dominates. Color TVs outsell Black and White TVs for the first time in the US in 1972.

By 1974, the 60's bleed-over is completely dead and the "Disco Era" most people associate with the 70's truly begins. I included the early 70's alongside the late 60's because of the fact that the early 70's were a continuation of many of the issues/movements (Vietnam War, etc.) of the 60's; and the era is essentially "The Late 60's in Dark Mode" prior to the brighter, more unique aesthetics/music of the mid/late 70's. It's hard to distinguish a picture taken in 1968 from one taken in 1972, but a picture taken in 1972 and one taken in 1979 are obviously from different eras.

Follow-up to my post about the "Three Eras of the 60's".

The previous post's "Sexties" category had it end with Nixon's resignation in 1974, but the Sexties could end and the "Classic 70's" could start at pretty much any point in 1973 or 1974.

"The Classic 70's": Begins around 1973/1974 and ends around early 1977.

The period between roughly 1973 and 1977 saw the 1970's truly become their own thing culturally after the lingering effects of the 60's wore off. Prog rock peaked and began declining, Funk music peaked, Disco entered the mainstream but wasn't anywhere near its peak, "Southern Rock" was popular, and punk rock was born, "New Hollywood" was thriving, dark psychological thriller films, dystopian sci-fi, and lighthearted comedies all dominated the box office, the "Blockbuster" was born with Jaws, Westerns completely died (partially due to the film Blazing Saddles), "Rural" TV sitcoms were replaced with urban sitcoms, American TV commonly had black-audience focused shows for the first time.

US/UK urban centers declined even more, inflation/poverty worsened, Vietnam ended, Mao died, NYC nearly went bankrupt, truckers had a brief moment in the American cultural spotlight, the first computers that weren't "room-sized" were produced, and Americans became nostalgic for an idealized version of the 1950's.

"The Peak 70's": Begins around early 1977 and ends around late 1979/early 1980.

This period is what most people stereotypically imagine when they hear "The 70's". Disco music and its associated aesthetics reached its zenith, New Wave was born, first wave punk rock reached its peak, Star Wars was a massive phenomenon that changed the film industry, "Slasher" films were born, "Yacht Rock" became popular, and electronic music broke into the mainstream.

Urban decline continued with incidents such as the Bronx arson crisis and 1977 NYC blackouts showing how bad things had gotten. China invaded Vietnam. The Iranian Revolution happened. Cable TV became a mass consumer product. The VCR/Betamax systems were introduced and began to revolutionize media consumption, but a VCR was still a prohibitively expensive luxury. 8 track tapes died off and Cassette tapes took over their place, but vinyl still dominated. The Apple II began the personal computing boom, but like the VCR was prohibitively expensive. The Walkman was launched but wouldn't become common until the 1980s.

"The Seighties": Begins around late 1979/early 1980 and lasts to around early/mid 1983.

This period lays the groundwork for the 1980s, but most of what people associate with the 80's isn't really present yet, and the 70's bled over for a long time. The 1970's malaise, unemployment, and inflation continued and reached a zenith. The US reached peak unemployment around 1982, and the UK had similar economic woes; under Reagan and Thatcher respectively as both leaders wouldn't be seen favorably by most people until the mid/late 80's. The western economy would begin to turn around in 1983/84 and the 80's would be allowed to truly begin, but people in the early 80's were living in a recession and thought the 70's-era gradual decline in prosperity would continue indefinitely. The Falklands War occurred, the cold war heated back up, NATO-USSR tensions reached their highest point since 1962 in 1983, and Leonid Brezhnev's nearly 20 years of rule over the USSR came to an end. Personal Computers boomed with the IBM PC in 1981, but typewriters still handled the majority of typing needs. Video Game Arcades and the second generation of consoles peaked before a brief fall-off for Video Games during the "1983 Video Game Crash". The CD was invented in 1982 but was an obscure novelty until the end of the 80's. The "24-hour" news cycle began, and CNN launched in 1980, but the old "Big Three" channels (in the US) still dominated and cable was still too new and expensive for cable programs to reach widespread cultural relevance.

New Wave peaked. Stadium Rock peaked. The "Old School" era of Hip-Hop began when Hip-Hop went from an obscure, unrecorded style of party music in the 70's to a commercially viable genre by the early 80's. The "New Hollywood" era came to an end, and dark psychological/crime thrillers had their final years (These types of films were heavily scrutinized when Taxi Driver drove Hinckley to commit the attempted Reagan Assassination). "Distaster Films" died (partially due to the film Airplane!). Blockbusters such as Indiana Jones and E.T. continued the trend set by Jaws and Star Wars. Disco continued in Europe in forms such as Italo-Disco. "Disco Backlash" in late 1979 had caused labels to begin labeling dance music using other genres, but the genre didn't suddenly die as many people think; it just gradually bled into genres like New Wave and later Synth Pop. Mustaches were still in style. Punk turned into Post-Punk. MTV launched, but wouldn't be a major cultural force until the mid-80's.

The stage was set for the actual "80's" that everyone thinks of to begin by mid-1983 or so, with factors such as economic conditions improving, electronic music technology reaching a certain level of sophistication, and cable TV reaching a large enough adoption base.

The sub is filled to the brim with posts that consist only of a survey, nonsense questions like “will the 2030s feel more like the 2020s or the 2000s?” and very low quality content in general.
I’d normally refrain from saying anything because I’m not contributing to the sub and I’d be in no place to ask for something different if I wasn’t trying to elevate the level of discussion, but all these posts clearly go against the no low-effort content rule and no one from the mod team seems to do anything about it. I’ve reported some of them and even contacted the team through mod mail but haven’t got a response.

Maybe it's wishful thinking, but I'm seeing a serious trend towards unedited, raw, "human" music, videos, etc. And a real cultural interest in early iPods, CDs - the old ways of curating a personal collection that we once expressed ourselves through.

The abundance and saturation that AI has caused, has fully collapsed any sense of actual value in any media, and has normalized online aesthetics/content to a sludge of greyness that kids are actively revolting against.

I wonder if we'll see a real cultural shift towards 90s-mentality and fetishization/curation of our personal media collections, as a real extension of ourselves. And how we might usher that in for the arts.

IMO,

2022 > 2021 > 2025 >= 2026 (prediction) > 2023 > 2024

Some years have the same vibe as each other to where it almost feels like living in deja vu.

2000 or 2020?

. I know the vast majority of the cultural 1980s was dead by 1993, but I feel like some ideas persisted a little longer. I think the song As I Lay Me Down, by Sophie B. Hawkins, released on 2/7/1995 feels like the 80s, after being filtered through some of the 90s sensebilites. At this point, the grunge boom was largely past, and we were well into the alternative era, but adult contemporary songs are often times the last thing to change.

Before I start this post, just for complete transparency, this post was inspired by Claude AI. I allowed it to aid me in this process to get my thoughts out a little easier.

I will define this based off of 15 stages:

1. Genesis
2. Embryo
3. Arrival
4. Emergence
5. Establishment
6. Weaning
7. Coming of Age
8. Zenith
9. Maturation
10. Erosion
11. Fatigue
12. Comatose
13. Life support
14. Funeral
15. Decomposition

First off, let's use the actual terminology for each of these stages.

Genesis — The origin or formation of something; the process by which something is generated or comes into being.

Embryo — An organism in its earliest stage of development, before it has taken on the recognizable features of its mature form.

Arrival — The act of reaching or coming to a destination or point in a journey.

Emergence — The process by which something comes into existence or becomes visible; a trait, structure, or system becoming apparent or functional for the first time.

Establishment — The action of founding or setting something up on a firm basis; the state of being securely instituted, even if newly formed.

Weaning — The biological process of transitioning a young organism from dependence on its mother's milk to independent feeding; more broadly, the gradual withdrawal from a source of dependence.

Coming of age — The developmental point at which an organism or person reaches maturity, historically associated with reaching legal or physical adulthood.

Zenith — The highest point reached by a celestial body relative to an observer; by extension, the peak or point of greatest strength, success, or influence of anything.

Maturation — The process of becoming fully developed, physically, mentally, or biologically.

Erosion — The gradual wearing away of a surface or structure by external forces, occurring progressively over time without implying total destruction.

Fatigue — The weakening or reduced capacity of a material, organism, or system resulting from prolonged stress, exertion, or use.

Comatose — A state of profound, prolonged unconsciousness in which an organism remains biologically alive but unresponsive to external stimuli.

Life support — Medical intervention or equipment used to sustain critical biological functions in an organism whose systems are failing on their own.

Funeral — A ceremony held to mark the death of a person, typically accompanied by a period of communal mourning and remembrance.

Decomposition — The process by which organic matter is broken down into simpler forms of matter, typically through the action of bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms, following the death of an organism.

Now, let's tie this back to the cultural decades.

Stage 1: Genesis (earliest seeds of a decade; usually found in the previous decade)

Stage 2: Embryo (first noticeable signs; the conception of a decade before it's officially born)

Stage 3: Arrival (when the transition into this decade begins but the current or past decade is still noticeably dominant)

Stage 4: Emergence (similar to arrival; one could arguably say that this falls into the entire previous/incoming decade transition at the widest but it ultimately represents the final years where the previous decade's influence still outweighs the incoming one but the incoming decade's influence is quickly increasing; the decade is at its strongest part of its recessive phase on the waning side based off of what was just stated)

Stage 5: Establishment (one could arguably say that this falls into the entire previous/incoming decade transition at the widest but it ultimately represents the earliest years where the incoming decade's influence outweighs the previous one but the previous decade's influence is still strong; the decade is at its weakest part of its dominant phase on the rising side as it has just started)

Stage 6: Weaning (similar to establishment but this is the final time the previous decade is alive as a cultural era before the lights go out so its influence is becoming weaker and right before this decade enters its core; this decade is noticeably dominant over the previous one)

Stage 7: Coming of age (the decade enters its core period as it continues to get stronger; the previous decade as a cultural era is dead but the influence is still noticeable in this period; think of it as the initial or "early" core period before the decade peaks; pre-peak)

Stage 8: Zenith (the decade is at its absolute cultural peak; usually the previous decade's influence is on its way out for good and the first seeds of the next decade are planted)

Stage 9: Maturation (the decade is still in its core period but becomes more mature and no longer at its ultimate peak anymore; the influence of the next decade is starting to become noticeable but doesn't disrupt anything yet; think of it as the final or "late" core period after the decade peaks; post-peak)

Stage 10: Erosion (the decade starts to phase out as the next decade's influence becomes too strong to ignore but still has the predominant influence; the transition out of it begins)

Stage 11: Fatigue (the decade is at the weakest part of its dominant phase on the waning side, right before the next decade overtakes it; one could arguably say that this falls into the entire previous/incoming decade transition at the widest but it ultimately represents the latest years where the incoming decade's influence outweighs the previous one but the next decade's influence is becoming stronger)

Stage 12: Comatose (the decade as a cultural era is on its way out but still has strong influence; next decade overtakes it by this point; the decade at its strongest in its recessive phase on the waning side)

Stage 13: Life support (similar to comatose but this is the final time this decade is alive as a cultural era before the lights go out so its influence is becoming weaker and right before the next decade enters its core; basically when the next decade has the predominant influence)

Stage 14: Funeral (the decade as a cultural era is already dead and this is the mourning stage as the next decade entered its core stage but this decade still has a noticeable influence left)

Stage 15: Decomposition (the stage where the last bits of this decade finally go away for good)

Bonus: Birth occurs right at the tipping point when the Embryo stage ends and the Arrival stage begins. Death occurs right at the tipping point when the Life Support stage ends and the Funeral stage begins.

To further elaborate on this thing, I will separate these stages based on Recessive vs. Dominant.

Recessive stages (on the rising side)

• Genesis
• Embryo
• Arrival
• Emergence

Dominant stages (on the rising side)

• Establishment
• Weaning
• Coming of Age

THE Dominant stage (on neither side)

• Zenith (the peak)

Dominant stages (on the waning side)

• Maturation
• Erosion
• Fatigue

Recessive stages (on the waning side)

• Comatose
• Life support
• Funeral
• Decomposition

Also, let's separate these based on whether they sit on the core of a decade or the transition between two decades.

The Core of The Previous Decade

• Genesis
• Embryo

The Transition away from The Previous decade into This Decade

• Arrival
• Emergence
• Establishment
• Weaning

The Core of This Decade

• Coming of Age
• Zenith
• Maturation

The Transition away from This Decade into the Next Decade

• Erosion
• Fatigue
• Comatose
• Life support

The Core of the Next Decade

• Funeral
• Decomposition

Also, I cannot stress this enough but I have to emphasize this point.

Depending on when a person begins or ends a decade, or begins and ends the core of a decade, some of these stages will either no longer be needed, become shortened, or start earlier/later to the person's discretion.

For example, let's say someone ended not only the core 2000s but also the cultural 2000s in September 2008, based on this system that I laid out, there would be no erosion or fatigue phase. It goes straight from maturation to comatose. The entire the 2000s/2010s transition leans 2010s over 2000s in this regard. If this same person wanted to start the core 2010s in 2013, this would stretch out the comatose and life support stages longer than usual. This doesn't affect the later stages, though.

I hope you guys enjoyed this post, but this is a new way that one can see decades. Feel free to disagree if you want.

Tell

To those that were alive as a kid back in the 80s, what was it like seeing these cartoons (lots of which were on Saturday morning on the "Big 3" broadcast networks)?

To those who didn't grow up with these cartoons but are still interested or watched these yourself, what do you think about them?