After the sad events of this year I would like to propose the following are their decades musically: 1960s – The Beatles 1970s – David Bowie 1980s – Prince
Disclaimer: this is an arbitrary exercise and should not be taken as any final assessment of stature. But…
Their imperial periods are all neatly within these decades. We do cut off just before Scary Monsters…and there is the late rally, but pretty well DB is the seventies. I’ve been thinking who else can rival Prince for the 80s crown? Really only three: Jacko, Madonna and Springsteen. Jacko – two albums – two monsters yes – but hardly an imperial period. And you lose Off the Wall. Madonna – her best work straddles the mid-80s to 2000 – as strong in the 90s as the 80s Prince – you have to lose Diamonds and Pearls, the squiggle album – er that’s about it. Otherwise in the 80s we get 9 albums in 10 years almost all of which are of the highest possible quality. Springsteen – lots of great stuff over four albums (River, Nebraska, USA, Tunnel of Love) but like Madonna he’s as good in other decades.
So two questions:
