One night at Graffiti Showcase, I was talking to Tony the owner about popular music. He mentioned something about musical generations and how a generation in music is roughly about 5 years. In other words, a new form of music emerges on the scene and takes off about every 5 years or so. The more I thought about it, the more I saw how irrefutable this idea was. Not only do young people not want to listen to their parents' music, they don't even want to listen to their older siblings' music!
Based on this idea, I've made this list of musical generations.
Mid to late 1950's: Rock & Roll, the original stuff. Generally characterized today as "Rockabilly".
Early 1960's: Surf Music, Motown's "Girl" Groups, the British Invasion
Late 1960's: Folk Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Hard Rock
Early 1970's: Heavy Metal, Glam Rock
Late 1980's: Glam Metal
Early 1990's: Alternative Rock
Late 1990's: Rap Rock
If you have any suggestions to add to the list or any comments, you can email me here.