[Glenn A]

For me it has to be 1972. Glam had broken through to the mainstream, Bowie was at his creative peak, Deep Purple produced their finest album, American soul had matured with Diana Ross producing her finest music and lady singer/songwriters like Lynsey de Paul and Melanie saw their careers take off.

[lovelife7292]

for me it's 1999

[Sam Solitude]

One year from each of the past four decades :

1979
1986
1996
2005

Each of those years stood out as being a real mixed bag of chart tune genres.If I had to pick a favourite from those four it would be 1979.

[Glenn A]

Originally Posted by Sam Solitude

One year from each of the past four decades :

1979
1986
1996
2005

Each of those years stood out as being a real mixed bag of chart tune genres.If I had to pick a favourite from those four it would be 1979.

1979 is an excellent choice, you had 2 Tone breaking through to the mainstream, the mod revival, post punk, NWOBHM, and the start of synthesiser music.
1986, hmmmm, a few good tunes, but a bit bland, 1985 was a much better year.

[Ms Katt]

Possibly 1981. Some great music was around then, and not just the popular stuff.

[2shy2007]

1979 for me.

[tpau21]

2007 for moi

[Glenn A]

Originally Posted by Ms Katt

Possibly 1981. Some great music was around then, and not just the popular stuff.

Hey, excellent choice, and this was the best year of the eighties musically. Could a spoken word, minimalist track like O Superman get into the top ten these days?
Also worthy of a mention is 2002, as this is when rock/metal re emerged as a massive force after nearly ten years in the doldrums.

[SweetHeartHolly]

My best year is 2008 because that is when my most favorite singer James Otto became a part of my life.....I haven't been the same since then.

God bless you and him always!!!

Holly

[Glenn A]

The critics might not agree, but I thought 1976 was a cracking year and I don't mean the birth of punk, which I can't stand, at the end. You had the birth of disco, Deep Purple evolved very successfully into Rainbow, Queen were at their peak, and you had all these novelty records and one hit wonders that people still find good now.
Of the dud years I'd nominate 1961, rock and roll was dead and it was bland pop and weak takes on pure rock and roll, 1992, rave and more damned rave, 1999, nothing seemed to be happening, 1988, British music was committing suicide with the Hit Factory, and 1993, ditto 1992 with a bit of second rate indie and boring grunge.

[mushymanrob]

Originally Posted by Glenn A

The critics might not agree, but I thought 1976 was a cracking year and I don't mean the birth of punk, which I can't stand, at the end. You had the birth of disco, Deep Purple evolved very successfully into Rainbow, Queen were at their peak, and you had all these novelty records and one hit wonders that people still find good now.
Of the dud years I'd nominate 1961, rock and roll was dead and it was bland pop and weak takes on pure rock and roll, 1992, rave and more damned rave, 1999, nothing seemed to be happening, 1988, British music was committing suicide with the Hit Factory, and 1993, ditto 1992 with a bit of second rate indie and boring grunge.

well at least we agree on something! lol.

i did an excercise a few years ago, voting for every hit in every year from 1960 - 2007.

my top ten years

1 1966 = 224
2 1967 = 223
3 1968 = 220
4 1965 = 203
5 1981 = 163
6 1970 = 156
7 2003 = 150
8 1980 = 144
9 1986 = 144
10 1969 = 138

yeah i love the 60's the best, but i was surprised by 2003 being so good.

my least fave years

38 1974 = 55
39 2007 = 52
40 1992 = 51
41 1993 = 51
42 1976 = 49
43 2006 = 47
44 1962 = 45
45 1989 = 45
46 1960 = 42
47 1975 = 41
48 1990 = 32

note three mid 70's in there glen...lol.

[KissesDontLie]

Originally Posted by tpau21

2007 for moi

2007 was brilliant <3

[MsMmmmmm]

Another vote for 1981.

[princesarock12]

2007 too

[AdamDowds]

Got to be 1981 for me too.

[SamMcK]

Pick a year from 1965 to 1969, My top 3 artists from this period:

The Beatles: Help!, Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt Pepper, The White Album, Abbey Road including singles Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane, Hey Jude/Revolution, Day Tripper/We Can Work It Out, Let It Be etc.

Bob Dylan: Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 51 Revisited, Blonde On Blonde, John Wesley Harding, Nashville Skyline etc

The Beach Boys: Today, Pet Sounds, Wild Honey, Friends, 20/20 including singles Good Vibrations, Help Me Rhonda, California Girls, Heroes and Villains etc.

Plus you have great music from the musicians of every era and those just starting out including:

The Rolling Stones
Pink Floyd
Led Zeppelin
Jimi Hendrix
Simon and Garfunkel
Cream
The Who
The Kinks
The Byrds
The Supremes
Johnny Cash
Frank Sinatra
Aretha Franklin
Otis Redding
Four Tops
Sly and The Family Stone
Smokey Robinson
The Jackson Five
Elvis Presley
Harry Nilsson
Leonard Cohen
Dusty Springfield
Marvin Gaye
Small Faces
Frank Zappa
Miles Davis etc...........

[Sam Solitude]

1981 wasn't THAT great IMO
All these made the Top 3

Joe Dolce - Shaddap you face
Tweets - Birdie Song
Starsound - Stars on 45 medleys
Bucks Fizz - Making your mind up
Ennio Morricone - Chi mai
Shakin Stevens - Green Door & This ole house
Bad Manners - Can Can
Brabra Gaskin & Dave Stewart - It's my party
Aneka - Japanese Boy
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra - Hooked on classics

I challenge ANY chartfan to counteract this list with ten Top 3 classic belters from 1981..to prove me wrong !

[Eric_Blob]

I'm quite young, so I can only remember the end of the 90's and onwards lol.

But my favourite years personally have been 2003 followed by 2007 and 2006. Those were times where I could turn on the radio, and I'd love almost every song I heard. It's quite the opposite at the moment.

2006 and 2007 were extremely chaotic years for pop music imo, which is something I like. Always so much going on. You find you get those stale periods in pop music, but you didn't get those at all in 2006 and 2007.

2003 was my favourite at all, because it was the year that my music tastes really changed, and it was a year dominated by 50 Cent, Sean Paul and the Black Eyed Peas.

I'm basing this off chart music obviously. 2011, for example, was an awful year for the charts, but for music in general it was quite good.

[royllsroyce]

1975 - 2005

[Brummy Girl]

Originally Posted by Sam Solitude

1981 wasn't THAT great IMO
All these made the Top 3

......

I challenge ANY chartfan to counteract this list with ten Top 3 classic belters from 1981..to prove me wrong !

Soft Cell - Tainted Love
Queen & David Bowie - Under Pressure
Kim Wilde - Kids In America
Phil Collins - In The Air Tonight
Roxy Music - Jealous Guy
The Specials - Ghost Town
Ultravox - Vienna
The Vapors - Turning Japanese
Adam And The Ants - Prince Charming
Smokey Robinson - Being With You

I can't claim that all of these are the best top 3 singles from 1981 but these are the songs I instantly recognised just from seeing there names written down and that I personally like.

My personal favourite years for music are 1984, 1986 & 1990.

[ItsRyanYall]

90's.

[TheSarge]

In my lifetime either 1999 or 2006/2007, need to think about previous decades, although any year circa 1960's Motown era will be a good bet or 1989 - the rise of the British Dance Music/Club scene.

[Benllech]

2002.

[chrisqc]

1989

enjoy this amazing video of the top 100 Billboard hot 100 song of 1989

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XevWPzDAV5E

[Multimedia81]

I am encouraged that a few of you have said 1981 as that is probably my fave year for music in quantity as well as quality. In terms of numbers of songs loved, the glory days ended in the late 80s, never to return. Although I still do some top 20s of the year and top 40s of the decade, I used to be able to choose 100 songs I liked from any year!

Measured against just my favourite song of the year, my top 10 years would be

10. 1978
9. 1972
8. 1981
7. 2004
6. 1986
5. 1992
4. 1997
3. 1964
2. 1974
1. 1968