Languish.org

Rereading Nixonland, there's repeated references to how little people in the 60s thought of the previous decade.  However, more I thought about it the 50s seems, in retrospect, to be the highpoint of American culture in most respects.  The idea that the decade that produced Vertigo, Kind of Blue, Elvis, Night of the Hunter and Lolita represented a cultural nadir seems absurd on the face of it. 

A tough one. It's not the 90s at least, grunge made sure of that.

Quote from: The Brain on October 13, 2013, 03:02:56 PMIt's not the 90s at least, grunge made sure of that.

Soundgarden doesn't care what your cheaply made, no right-angled plasterboard IKEA ass thinks.

Quote from: CountDeMoney on October 13, 2013, 03:08:40 PM

Quote from: The Brain on October 13, 2013, 03:02:56 PMIt's not the 90s at least, grunge made sure of that.

Soundgarden doesn't care what your cheaply made, no right-angled plasterboard IKEA ass thinks.

I beg your pardon.

The decade when women knew their place.

1980s.  Alan Moore was in his prime, and he was marketed to a largely American audience.  There's Bon Jovi and Journey.  And James Cameron and Steven Spielberg were doing cool stuff.

I'd say 50s or 70s.

I picked the 90s. Only really had the 80s and 90s available unless I wanted to celebrate American culture as sexist and racist.  Picked the 90s as not only did culture go digital, it went worldwide. :cool:

Quote from: Sheilbh on October 13, 2013, 05:24:48 PM
I'd say 50s or 70s.

Same, with the 40s as an honorable mention. 

I did almost say 60s before I realized what was being asked.  If you look at culture overall (i.e., how people related to one another) it still might be the best decade. Music and movies and comics weren't as good, though there's many legitimate successes in those media.

The 1930s.

Culture is in part how it is remembered, and the Great Depression allowed America the times to remember itself in vivid detail and the ability (through the New Deal) to record those memories wholesale.  The greatness of the 1940s through the 1970s were a product of this reflection.

I agree with the Hippie from California.

20's. flappers and the cool gangsters

So for the first time the mass of the population having the ability to publish their wisdom on the internet counts for nothing ? :unsure:

Quote from: mongers on October 13, 2013, 06:28:41 PM
So for the first time the mass of the population having the ability to publish their wisdom on the internet counts for nothing ? :unsure:

No, it doesn't count for nothing.  The problem is that it caused an overall drop in the culture level.

Quote from: mongers on October 13, 2013, 06:28:41 PM
So for the first time the mass of the population having the ability to publish their wisdom on the internet counts for nothing ? :unsure:

Didn't really take off till the 00s.  Sure, Something Awful and X-Entertainment were great, but you're going to hang your whole decade on Zack Parsons reviewing porno movies?  Alright, it's feasible.  (And now that I consider it, the apex of the first wave of pop culture sites may still have been in the oughts.)

Eh, we are still at the top of our game.

Quote from: Ideologue on October 13, 2013, 08:07:30 PM

Quote from: mongers on October 13, 2013, 06:28:41 PM
So for the first time the mass of the population having the ability to publish their wisdom on the internet counts for nothing ? :unsure:

Didn't really take off till the 00s.  Sure, Something Awful and X-Entertainment were great, but you're going to hang your whole decade on Zack Parsons reviewing porno movies?  Alright, it's feasible.  (And now that I consider it, the apex of the first wave of pop culture sites may still have been in the oughts.)

I doled out a lot of wisdom in AOL chatrooms. :angry:

Quote from: katmai on October 13, 2013, 05:58:20 PM
I agree with the Hippie from California.

Jaron?

Quote from: garbon on October 13, 2013, 05:31:18 PM
I picked the 90s. Only really had the 80s and 90s available unless I wanted to celebrate American culture as sexist and racist.

I can appreciate that, what with you being a double minority with cheese.  Although I would've been able to get you into all those swinging Rat Pack parties of 1956-1964 by introducing you as Sammy Davis Jr.  All you'd have to do would be to call everyone "babe" while looking at them omnidirectionally like a tree chameleon.

Quote from: CountDeMoney on October 13, 2013, 08:51:57 PM

Quote from: garbon on October 13, 2013, 05:31:18 PM
I picked the 90s. Only really had the 80s and 90s available unless I wanted to celebrate American culture as sexist and racist.

I can appreciate that, what with you being a double minority with cheese.  Although I would've been able to get you into all those swinging Rat Pack parties of 1956-1964 by introducing you as Sammy Davis Jr.  All you'd have to do would be to call everyone "babe" while looking at them omnidirectionally like a tree chameleon.

And then denying what I really was. Sounds fabulous. <_<

On the plus side, HIV/AIDS wasn't yet on the horizon. :shifty:

Quote from: garbon on October 13, 2013, 09:04:55 PM
And then denying what I really was. Sounds fabulous. <_<

You'd probably have been better for it, you selfish fuck.

Quote from: Neil on October 13, 2013, 09:10:42 PM

Quote from: garbon on October 13, 2013, 09:04:55 PM
And then denying what I really was. Sounds fabulous. <_<

You'd probably have been better for it, you selfish fuck.

Probably not. Instead of one small bout of depression, I probably would have suffered it my whole life. Particularly given the state of pharmaceuticals back then.

Quote from: garbon on October 13, 2013, 09:13:21 PM

Quote from: Neil on October 13, 2013, 09:10:42 PM

Quote from: garbon on October 13, 2013, 09:04:55 PM
And then denying what I really was. Sounds fabulous. <_<

You'd probably have been better for it, you selfish fuck.

Probably not. Instead of one small bout of depression, I probably would have suffered it my whole life. Particularly given the state of pharmaceuticals back then.

Oh, I don't know, Sammy seemed to do OK.

Quote from: CountDeMoney on October 13, 2013, 09:19:30 PM

Quote from: garbon on October 13, 2013, 09:13:21 PM

Quote from: Neil on October 13, 2013, 09:10:42 PM

Quote from: garbon on October 13, 2013, 09:04:55 PM
And then denying what I really was. Sounds fabulous. <_<

You'd probably have been better for it, you selfish fuck.

Probably not. Instead of one small bout of depression, I probably would have suffered it my whole life. Particularly given the state of pharmaceuticals back then.

Oh, I don't know, Sammy seemed to do OK.

I can't sing and I don't think I can act...well professionally that is.

To be clear, when I said it was better in the 1960s how people related to one another, I did mean "white people."

90s. Partly for the reasons Brain described*, partly for television(which is still getting better and better as cable networks don't have to program for the lowest common denominator) and partly for Miramax.

*The best bands from the 70s and 80s were mostly British anyway.

Quote from: Ideologue on October 13, 2013, 09:22:48 PM
To be clear, when I said it was better in the 1960s how people related to one another, I did mean "white people."

Clearly. After all, you are a Southerner.

Quote from: Peter Wiggin on October 13, 2013, 09:25:34 PM
partly for television(which is still getting better and better as cable networks don't have to program for the lowest common denominator)

That's because you missed the '70s, when television sitcom writing was intelligent, and intended for intelligent people.

Quote from: garbon on October 13, 2013, 09:27:10 PM

Quote from: Ideologue on October 13, 2013, 09:22:48 PM
To be clear, when I said it was better in the 1960s how people related to one another, I did mean "white people."

Clearly. After all, you are a Southerner.

Ahhhh, magnolias.

Quote from: CountDeMoney on October 13, 2013, 09:27:38 PM

Quote from: Peter Wiggin on October 13, 2013, 09:25:34 PM
partly for television(which is still getting better and better as cable networks don't have to program for the lowest common denominator)

That's because you missed the '70s, when television sitcom writing was intelligent, and intended for intelligent people.

I've seen them on TVLand and Nick at Nite. Meh.

I don't really care for sitcoms that much anymore anyway.

Quote from: garbon on October 13, 2013, 09:27:10 PM

Quote from: Ideologue on October 13, 2013, 09:22:48 PM
To be clear, when I said it was better in the 1960s how people related to one another, I did mean "white people."

Clearly. After all, you are a Southerner.

I also meant Boomers and I hate those guys.

Quote from: Ideologue on October 13, 2013, 09:36:39 PM

Quote from: garbon on October 13, 2013, 09:27:10 PM

Quote from: Ideologue on October 13, 2013, 09:22:48 PM
To be clear, when I said it was better in the 1960s how people related to one another, I did mean "white people."

Clearly. After all, you are a Southerner.

I also meant Boomers and I hate those guys.

My mother was a boomer, so shut your damn mouth.

My family entirely skipped the Boomer generation.  Thank God.

Quote from: garbon on October 13, 2013, 09:13:21 PM

Quote from: Neil on October 13, 2013, 09:10:42 PM

Quote from: garbon on October 13, 2013, 09:04:55 PM
And then denying what I really was. Sounds fabulous. <_<

You'd probably have been better for it, you selfish fuck.

Probably not. Instead of one small bout of depression, I probably would have suffered it my whole life. Particularly given the state of pharmaceuticals back then.

I'm sure you would have sucked it up and acted like a person.  That's what people did.

Quote from: Neil on October 13, 2013, 09:42:58 PM

Quote from: garbon on October 13, 2013, 09:13:21 PM

Quote from: Neil on October 13, 2013, 09:10:42 PM

Quote from: garbon on October 13, 2013, 09:04:55 PM
And then denying what I really was. Sounds fabulous. <_<

You'd probably have been better for it, you selfish fuck.

Probably not. Instead of one small bout of depression, I probably would have suffered it my whole life. Particularly given the state of pharmaceuticals back then.

I'm sure you would have sucked it up and acted like a person.  That's what people did.

There was also a tendency to stick people suffering from mental illness in attics.

Quote from: garbon on October 13, 2013, 09:38:01 PM

Quote from: Ideologue on October 13, 2013, 09:36:39 PM

Quote from: garbon on October 13, 2013, 09:27:10 PM

Quote from: Ideologue on October 13, 2013, 09:22:48 PM
To be clear, when I said it was better in the 1960s how people related to one another, I did mean "white people."

Clearly. After all, you are a Southerner.

I also meant Boomers and I hate those guys.

My mother was a boomer, so shut your damn mouth.

So is my dad.  He's great.  But so what?

Anyway, the clear answer to the question is the 50s.  I'd love to have lived back then about as much as you types would like to send me back there.

What do you love about the 1950's? 

Quote from: derspiess on October 13, 2013, 09:58:44 PM
Anyway, the clear answer to the question is the 50s.  I'd love to have lived back then about as much as you types would like to send me back there.

I thought you lived there. :unsure:

Anyway, I voted 80s.  Both MTV and Reagan's 300-ship Navy defeated the Soviet Union in between commercial breaks before The Day After and The Cosby Show.  It was the high point of Pax Americana.

Quote from: garbon on October 13, 2013, 10:08:37 PM

Quote from: derspiess on October 13, 2013, 09:58:44 PM
Anyway, the clear answer to the question is the 50s.  I'd love to have lived back then about as much as you types would like to send me back there.

I thought you lived there. :unsure:

I do the best I can. 

Anyway, Seedy makes a compelling point about the 80s.  I remember a bit of the 70s, but outside of the Bid Red Machine and the Bicentennial there wasn't much there.  The 80s had it all, though.  If the question were "best decade to be in college" I'd vote for the 90s, but overall for the decades I've lived in, 80s is tops.

I feel like if I were born in 1960, I'd have a house, a wife, kids, no criminal record, and probably serious debt but that's a lateral move.

Quote from: Ideologue on October 13, 2013, 10:19:12 PM
I feel like if I were born in 1970, I'd have a house, a wife, kids, and probably serious debt but that's a lateral move.

I was born in 1970, and I have none of that. 

:unsure:

Quote from: CountDeMoney on October 13, 2013, 10:20:31 PM

Quote from: Ideologue on October 13, 2013, 10:19:12 PM
I feel like if I were born in 1970, I'd have a house, a wife, kids, and probably serious debt but that's a lateral move.

I was born in 1970, and I have none of that. 

:unsure:

I meant 1960.  You know I edit.  We all know I edit.

And anyway, you chose a different path on the love-fear spectrum.

There's a spectrum?  Nobody told me that.

You don't get the reference because you were born in 1970. :(

It should've been on Betamax then, dammit.

I'm torn between the 20s (Lost Generation, early pulp, Harlem Renaissance, big bands), 40s (classic Hollywood, Hopper), 50s (Beat generation, classic r&r, r&b) and late 60s-early 70s (Pop art, counter culture, New Hollywood). Anyway it's hard as hell to pinpoint some of these movements to a particular era.

Quote from: CountDeMoney on October 13, 2013, 10:08:50 PM
Anyway, I voted 80s.  Both MTV and Reagan's 300-ship Navy defeated the Soviet Union in between commercial breaks before The Day After and The Cosby Show.  It was the high point of Pax Americana.

It was a 600 ship navy!

Probably the 50s/60s out of momentum but the 20s was the true point after which the rot set in.
Thank you very much Henry Ford.

Sixties.  Motown.  Hitchcock at his finest.  The Real James Bond(TM).  Motown. The Space Race, counter-culture, 2001, Vonnegut hitting his stride, ditto Dr Seuss.  Motown.  The scariest movie ever made (The Haunting), the best movie ever made (The Lion in Winter), the funniest movie ever made (either Dr Strangelove, or The Producers, depending on your taste in humor, but both from the 60s). And Motown.

Edited:  Dr Strangelove was a high point of British culture.  Still, one of the two contenders for funniest movie ever made.

60s is Hitchcock at his highest?   :huh:

Quote from: Queequeg on October 14, 2013, 05:54:39 PM
60s is Hitchcock at his highest?   :huh:

Psycho was his best flick.  It came out in 1960.

Quote from: grumbler on October 14, 2013, 06:20:04 PM

Quote from: Queequeg on October 14, 2013, 05:54:39 PM
60s is Hitchcock at his highest?   :huh:

Psycho was his best flick.  It came out in 1960.

Vertigo and Rear Window are both better, and beyond that there's so much Hitchcock goodness in the 50s that it overwhelms whatever superiority you give to Psycho. 

I went with the 1920s due to the literary output (Lost Generation, Harlem Renaissance Writers and the best of Pound and Eliot) as well as the architecture (art deco at its most exuberant.)

It's a tough call though; while the 20s was the era of some of Gershwin's finest work as well as Ive's mature period; jazz, the great American musical form, developed much more in the 1930s and onward with the advancement in recording techniques.  Visual Arts came into their own more after the Second World War and the New York School (prior to that Paris was the worldwide art market.)  The cartoons of the 20s were expanded Sunday Funnies (Felix the Cat being an exception); they became a distinct art form in the 1930s.

Quote from: Queequeg on October 14, 2013, 06:24:23 PM
Vertigo and Rear Window are both better, and beyond that there's so much Hitchcock goodness in the 50s that it overwhelms whatever superiority you give to Psycho.

You can argue about which is his best film, and thus represents his finest work, but you can't argue that his finest work isn't his finest work because there are a bunch of inferior works that, taken together, represent "goodness."  It's like the difference between arguing what name we should use for Mount Everest, and arguing that Everest isn't the highest mountain because, if you add the heights of K-2, the Matterhorn, and Mount Kenya, they are higher.

For me I'd take Hitchcock in the 50s over the rest of his work: Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, To Catch a Thief (Grace Kelly :wub:), North by Northwest, Vertigo, Rear Window, The Man Who Knew Too Much.

Similarly I think 1959 is to jazz what 1922 is to literature, that year Kind of Blue, Giant Steps, the Shape of Jazz to Come and Time Out were all recorded :mmm:

1920s. For Charlie Chaplain, Walt Disney, Al Capone, the birth of radio and TV, transition from silent movies to talkies. The OP does ask about culture. Hollywood and Mickey Mouse.

Quote from: MadImmortalMan on October 14, 2013, 09:20:19 PM
1920s. For Charlie Chaplain, Walt Disney, Al Capone, the birth of radio and TV, transition from silent movies to talkies. The OP does ask about culture. Hollywood and Mickey Mouse.

The birth of radio, tv and the start of talkies is hardly a high point. You have to let things simmer a bit and develop.

Quote from: garbon on October 14, 2013, 09:31:57 PM

Quote from: MadImmortalMan on October 14, 2013, 09:20:19 PM
1920s. For Charlie Chaplain, Walt Disney, Al Capone, the birth of radio and TV, transition from silent movies to talkies. The OP does ask about culture. Hollywood and Mickey Mouse.

The birth of radio, tv and the start of talkies is hardly a high point. You have to let things simmer a bit and develop.

And as far as the birth of television is concerned, its technological origins may have been in the 20's, but culturally it wasn't a factor until the late 40's-early 50's.

Was TV even around at all in the 30s?  Though the invention was around, I thought it was post-war... but, yeah, apparently the BBC broadcasted starting in 1936.  Was this continuous?  Did they immediately rush out to regressively tax everyone? :hmm:

I think Logie Baird even had some experimental BBC broadcasts in the late 20s. I don't think they broadcast during the war - not sure why, I'd guess no time or money for experimental fancies - and TVs weren't common until the 50s.

The BBC used to be funded by a Radio Licence :lol:

Quote from: Ideologue on October 14, 2013, 10:42:08 PM
Was TV even around at all in the 30s?  Though the invention was around, I thought it was post-war... but, yeah, apparently the BBC broadcasted starting in 1936.  Was this continuous?  Did they immediately rush out to regressively tax everyone? :hmm:

There were experimental broadcasts in the 20's.  NBC inaugurated regular broadcast in the US with the opening of the 1939 World's Fair on April 30, 1939.  Both NBC and CBS broadcast a fairly large amount of programming in 39-41, but after that things kind of lagged until the end of WWII.  Most of the early programming before the end of the war was only broadcast in NYC.

Yeah I know the BBC used to broadcast from Alexandra Palace. I'd be amazed if they reached outside London.

Hell when Channel 5 (late 90s) came in it didn't reach most of the country :lol:

That's pretty neat.  I wonder what the shows were about, or even like?

Probably similar to Fibber McGee and Molly, I guess.  Funny but full of casual racism.

Apropos of nothing, have I ever mentioned what a shitty fucking move it was that they spun Gildersleeve off into his own show?  Really ruined Fibber McGee for me, and The Great Gildersleeve, while better than its origins after the break, is not as good as when both the characters were together.

Quote from: Ideologue on October 14, 2013, 10:57:20 PM
That's pretty neat.  I wonder what the shows were about, or even like?

From what I can gather, the shows broadcast in 39-41 weren't series as such--every night was an "event" consisting of whatever NBC or CBS could come up with.  Think something along the lines of The Ed Sullivan show being on every night, but with longer segments and no host.

Can't really make a choice. I don't have an overwhelming favorite. 60s-90s were all great in my opinion.

Quote from: Ed Anger on October 13, 2013, 04:32:00 PM
The decade when women knew their place.

1940's and in the work force, right?

Quote from: Viking on October 15, 2013, 07:08:22 AM

Quote from: Ed Anger on October 13, 2013, 04:32:00 PM
The decade when women knew their place.

1940's and in the work force, right?

No, man.  The 80s.  Big hair, shoulder pads, leggings.

Quote from: CountDeMoney on October 15, 2013, 08:04:20 AM

Quote from: Viking on October 15, 2013, 07:08:22 AM

Quote from: Ed Anger on October 13, 2013, 04:32:00 PM
The decade when women knew their place.

1940's and in the work force, right?

No, man.  The 80s.  Big hair, shoulder pads, leggings.

Oh man. Time to watch Looker again.

I'll take the 2010s. Bare midriffs and shirts falling off the shoulder.

Quote from: Sheilbh on October 14, 2013, 10:54:35 PM
Yeah I know the BBC used to broadcast from Alexandra Palace. I'd be amazed if they reached outside London.

Hell when Channel 5 (late 90s) came in it didn't reach most of the country :lol:

Loads of places still couldn't get it pre digital switch over.
Not that it was much of a loss.

Quote from: Sheilbh on October 14, 2013, 07:45:36 PM
Similarly I think 1959 is to jazz what 1922 is to literature, that year Kind of Blue, Giant Steps, the Shape of Jazz to Come and Time Out were all recorded :mmm:

I had planned to make the case that the 30s were the high point for jazz with Duke Ellington and Louis at their best; but you've convinced me otherwise.   :lol:

I had once heard a rock historian lecture about Bob Dylan's performance at the 1965 Newport Jazz Festival (Dylan's first major performance as an electric artist.)  He said that marked the transition for college students from jazz to Rock and Roll (which had previously been viewed as for teenagers.)  This made jazz (and folk which had been going through a revival in the 60s) into specialty forms and made rock and roll the dominant music.

To be fair the speaker had been at the 1965 Newport Jazz Festival; so he may have been a little biased; but I believe the last jazz single to be number one on the US charts was 1964 (Hello Dolly.)  1959, I'll agree, was the high point of jazz, but it was also very nearly the end of the era.

Quote from: garbon on October 14, 2013, 09:31:57 PM

Quote from: MadImmortalMan on October 14, 2013, 09:20:19 PM
1920s. For Charlie Chaplain, Walt Disney, Al Capone, the birth of radio and TV, transition from silent movies to talkies. The OP does ask about culture. Hollywood and Mickey Mouse.

The birth of radio, tv and the start of talkies is hardly a high point. You have to let things simmer a bit and develop.

Radio already was a developed medium by the 1920s with regular shows.  The Grand Ole Opry started broadcasting then :alberta: (as did Amos and Andy.)

The start of talkies was all but a catastrophe for Hollywood.  It's amazing how dynamic the 1928 Academy Award Winner "Wings" (a silent film) was and how lifeless the 1929 winner "Broadway Melody" (a talkie) was.  That being said, though, the 1920s were a great era for silent films.

60s for music
40s or 70s for film
90s for TV
20s for architecture
30s for books

Quote from: CountDeMoney on October 15, 2013, 08:04:20 AM

Quote from: Viking on October 15, 2013, 07:08:22 AM

Quote from: Ed Anger on October 13, 2013, 04:32:00 PM
The decade when women knew their place.

1940's and in the work force, right?

No, man.  The 80s.  Big hair, shoulder pads, leggings.

Watching my daughter and her friends, it's back. My daughter even asked me how I made my hair "so cool" when I was in high school.  :rolleyes:

Lol, today's word is "Aquanet".

:bleeding:  I hated the smell of that stuff.

The 80s were the height of civilization.  Everything went downhill from there. 89 was the most hopeful year ever.  Communism was essentially defeated.  The future was limitless - well until we screwed it all up so badly.  But that was another decade or two in the making and does not taint the wonder that was the 80s.

Quote from: crazy canuck on October 15, 2013, 12:37:13 PM89 was the most hopeful year ever.  Communism was essentially defeated.

Lol, the Beijing University Student Government Association courteously disagrees from their prison cells and graves.

Quote from: CountDeMoney on October 15, 2013, 12:57:56 PM

Quote from: crazy canuck on October 15, 2013, 12:37:13 PM89 was the most hopeful year ever.  Communism was essentially defeated.

Lol, the Beijing University Student Government Association courteously disagrees from their prison cells and graves.

Communism was defeated in China with the death of Mao. They just decided to keep the totalitarian part.

Quote from: Peter Wiggin on October 15, 2013, 01:00:54 PM
Communism was defeated in China with the death of MaoDeng. They just decided to keep the totalitarian part.

Isn't he the one who said "To be rich is glorious"?

Deng was a progressive communist, but still a communist.

And Mao came from wealth, so don't even go there with his fake ass.

Mao did a pretty good job of stifling economic growth while he was alive. Communist economies don't get 10% annual growth rates.

Quote from: CountDeMoney on October 15, 2013, 01:14:29 PM
And Mao came from wealth, so don't even go there with his fake ass.

Eh?  I think he came from a modest background.  Country schoolteacher, something like that?

His father had money--as far as Chinese farmers went.  Hated his father, though. Then agian, so did Chiang.

Hated their Dads, loved their Moms.  Typical strongman meme.

Quote from: Admiral Yi on October 15, 2013, 01:23:43 PM

Quote from: CountDeMoney on October 15, 2013, 01:14:29 PM
And Mao came from wealth, so don't even go there with his fake ass.

Eh?  I think he came from a modest background.  Country schoolteacher, something like that?

He "came from money" only in comparison to the poorer peasant families than his; his dad had the equivalent of $10 buried in his back yard.

That was a lot of shark fins in the late 1800's, man.

Quote from: Gups on October 15, 2013, 10:59:32 AM
60s for music
40s or 70s for film
90s for TV
20s for architecture
30s for books

:hmm:
Actually pretty convincing.  I like that the 80s are kept out, too.

Not gonna accept that our best era for music is one dominated by British bands.

80s for music. Who can stand against Puppets and Justice? Rhetorical.

Quote from: Peter Wiggin on October 15, 2013, 02:42:51 PM
Not gonna accept that our best era for music is one dominated by British bands.

It was the high point of Motown and Stax.  John Coltrane released "A Love Supreme."  Classical music started coming back from the awfulness of serial music with the beginning of minimalism; most notably Terry Riley's "In C."  Brian Wilson hadn't gone completely crazy yet.  Even if the Beatles dominated the charts, the Americans had a solid decade.

If "solid" is what America can hope to achieve then I don't want to be American anymore.

I'd say that Motown, Beach Boys, Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Joan Baez, Peter Paul & Mary, Grateful Dead, Ray Charles, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, The Mamas & The Papas, Simon & Garfunkel, The Doors, MC5, Creedence Clearwater Revival, as well as Johnny Cash at his peak, Elvis and Sinatra already icons, bubblegum pop and dance crazes..that's way more than solid in my book.