I think I'd have liked to be in downtown New York City during the 70s-80s , but that would sort of require being in New York during the 70s-80s.
You can't even write racist abuse in excrement on somebody's car without the politically correct brigade jumping down your throat!I'm not sure. I was born in 1991, so I was growing up while the Troubles were more or less starting to wind down. If I'd been born in 1971 or 1981, I'd have been growing up in a potentially violent society.
And there's the Cold War thing as well, I suppose. I think I was pretty fortunate to grow up in a decade where the pervasive fear of having a bomb dropped on you had abated to some extent.
Even from a musical perspective, I'd need to consider the possibility that, growing up in a different decade when different artists are popular, I'd end up not liking the things I currently do in the first place. Let me be frank, I wasn't really interested in music when I was ten; the only groups I liked were manufactured dance bands like S Club 7. Can I honestly say that if I'd been born in 1971 I wouldn't have ended up disliking Bucks Fizz?
edited 18th Nov '11 6:07:58 PM by TheGloomer
maybe we should change the question to "Being of age in a certain decade"?
You can't even write racist abuse in excrement on somebody's car without the politically correct brigade jumping down your throat!Well, if we're considering real world events at the time, then I'd say I'd go nowhere.
But, if we're doing it purely by musical interests, then I'd want to be around in the 60s. Beatlemania, the British Invasion, psychedelia and "flower power" (cheesy as it was), and later the birth of progressive rock and heavy metal.
no one will notice that I changed thisWell, I really like being alive now because with the internet I listen to pretty much any album ever...
But if I had to pick, I'd probably be born in the late 60s so I could be a part of the 80s undergound hardcore/post-punk/alt-rock scene.
They're off the streets now, and back on the road on the riot trail. http://www.last.fm/user/sca_punkMy favorite rock bands are ones that are putting out music right now. And, as sca_punk pointed out, the internet has done amazing things for making old music accessible. I could easily learn more about, say, jazz in the '40s than the jazz fans of the era did.
If I could jump in a time machine and go visit some shows, that'd be awesome: I'd like to see Duke Ellington live, either at the Fargo 1940 show, or the Newport Jazz Fest 1956 show, and I'd like to go to an early 90s UK rave, but I can't say there's any scenes that I want to completely immerse myself in.
Jerry Goldsmith's Golden Age. About late 1960's to early 1980's.
More Buscemi at http://forum.reelsociety.com/
You are not alone. Plus, if Burial isn't a good reason to be alive right now, I don't know what is.
There are different sides to the question being posed, of course. Regarding the ability to expand horizons the Internet era is unquestionably ultimate. I can't say I would've been interested in participating in a movement like the early grind scene in late '80s UK because I don't feel like being herded.
Now being able to witness certain acts live is a different thing. Most of my favorite albums were released in the middle of the nineties, and I would kill to see Fear Factory, Godflesh, Neurosis, Nine Inch Nails and Cynic at their prime. Which, I guess, would require me to mature in mid-'90s US. Can't say that would've been totally swell...
edited 19th Nov '11 3:36:13 PM by Litis
There's plenty of great contemporary music I listen to, so my wish is not that strong, but sometimes I wish I had been born in the mid 70's so that I could be a teenager in the 90's and witness the post-hardcore/emo movement...not only see the likes of Sunny Day Real Estate, Fugazi, and Cap'n Jazz in the early 90's but also wait until 97 or so and see At The Drive-In live and hopefully take part in a band myself. There are still some bands today keeping those genres alive but not many.
edited 21st Nov '11 7:38:53 PM by Dekunobo
The decade that has some safe and stable way of at the very least listening directly to the past so I can hear music at any time before recording devices were invented.
Banned entirely for telling FE that he was being rude and not contributing to the discussion. I shall watch down from the goon heavens.Part of me wishes to have experienced the early-ninties boom of alternative metal/hip-hop, but that would require me to suffer through ten more years of post-grunge and be thirty in this economic climate. I'm good right where I'm at.
"It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt." - Some guy with a snazzy hat.So, it's like being in Sheffield in the '70s for me. But more so.
I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.

I'm sure you've come across people on people on Youtube saying they were born in the wrong era or missed out an important movement in music. If you could push your birth back to some other time, which would you choose?
I'd go with the 80's myself. I like several genres and artists that had their heyday back then.