From the first notes of midnight demons or of Crazy night, rare are those who shun the runway, in weddings or nightclubs. And in karaoke, you never escape Aziza or at I give you, two other standards from the 1980s. Whether we lived it or not, this blessed decade has a special place in the music department. And the 1990s, then? On the occasion of the concert by Larusso, Benny B and Yannick, Saturday (at 8 p.m.) at Montpellier Fairyou were asked if the 1990s, which saw the birth of grunge, Macarena and boy bands, could compete with the 1980s.
And… The Eighties seem, unsurprisingly, to have your favors. There are many testimonials received by 20 minutes which evoke the unbeatable abundance of this decade. “The 1980s were all about unbridled creativity! “, writes a user. The following decade, on the other hand, was “the standardization of music”. “The 1980s are too legendary, confirms Youcef. Even the 1970s are ahead of the 1990s! The 1980s are “timeless and unbeatable”, assures Marie.
The 1980s was “the best, the happiest”
“My son, born in 1993, is partying with his friends” to sounds from the Eighties, laughs another reader. “It’s the best, the most passionate, the most cheerful, ignites Corinne. Nothing to do with the electronic music and without any soul of the 1990s.” In the 1980s, “there was an enormous musical wealth, and monumental artists, like Donald Fagen, Al Jarreau, Imagination, etc. These imprints are too strong for the 1990s to have the same importance”, adds Vincent, who points to the musical “impoverishment” that affected the following generations. “There has been some very good in these two decades, assures another reader. Well, it’s sure that if we talk about kitsch, the Larussos, Benny B and Yannick are no match for Jean-Pierre François, Images or JJ Lionel”, and his duck dance.
Eric Hirschi, host on Radio One, who started radio in the 1980s, also has a preference for the 45 rpm generation. “If the 1970s and 1980s worked so well, it was because they were intimately linked to the party,” he confides. They have experienced strong movements, such as disco and post-May 1968 liberation for the former, and a glorious era, for the latter. The following decade is different. The grunge culture, which propelled Nirvana or Pearl Jam, “comes from Detroit, a city undermined by unemployment, explains Eric Hirschi. We’re talking about a crisis… Kurt Cobain committed suicide… We don’t have the same relationship with this music at all”. The nostalgia of the 1990s, “we should be there, normally, he continues. And we are not there. It is even the 2000s that take the lead. And the 1990s went a bit overboard. Maybe it’s a time that people don’t want to remember. »
“The 1990s were richer musically”
But it is not, however, just a disenchanted generation. There was still some fine linen in the 1990s. Mylène Farmer released her best albums, French hip-hop exploded, Coolio wrote Gangsta’s Paradise and Gala made the planet dance. Frédéric, he votes Nineties. “There was good in both decades, but, in my opinion, the 1990s were richer musically, less “nightclubs”, and with greater maturity,” he confides. The Top 50 curiosities that abounded in the 1980s, he continues, have been replaced by “more serious songs.” “And then, the 1990s also brought a greater diversity of styles, with genres that were, before, very confidential, and which were revealed to the general public, such as electronic music, with Daft Punk, or the rap with MC Solaar, NTM or IAM. »
Jean-Hubert also has a weakness for the CD years. “I was a kid in the 1980s, and I hated everything we listened to at Patrick Sabatier, he recalls. Billy the Kick and Zebda have a bright future ahead of them! And at home, Dana’s tribe is at the top of the charts, thanks to my 14 year old daughter, who brought Manau up to date! »
The two decades “will end up merging”
Niko Batik, DJ in Montpellier, also has a certain tenderness for the Nineties. “The 1980s are still a hit everywhere,” he says. But the Spice Girls, Britney Spears, Lou Bega, Ricky Martin or Gala are artists that the public regularly asks me to play in clubs! And then, as a generalist DJ who mainly plays hits of the moment, as these titles are often covers or who often use samples from the 1990s, it allows me to broadcast the originals! »
A final reader does not have a definite opinion on the question. Soon, anyway, he thinks, the 1980s and 1990s “will probably end up merging. We start to hear the Spice Girls in the 1980s parties. We have Patrick Hernandez who haunts all the revivals of the 1980s with his disco hit from 1979”, Born to be alive. ” That said, Boom! by Charles Trenet, I’m really bothered to say if it’s the 1930s, 1940s, or even 1950s”. It doesn’t matter, after all, as long as it sounds good.
On Saturday (8 p.m.), the gourmet terrace of the Montpellier Spring Fair will host a concert with Larusso, Benny B, Yannick and Stan, from the Star Academy. Free entry, price included in the price of entry to the fair (4 euros).