THE WORST YEAR IN MUSIC SINCE...
A Subjective Look Back at Some Bad Years in Music

by Peter Gorman

1983: About this time bands began a year off between albums, and this was the off year. But more significantly, 1982 saw the last album release of many notable acts, including the Clash, Roxy Music, Richard and Linda Thompson, the Jam, the English Beat, Captain Beefheart and the late,great Marvin Gaye. The downtime was a short one, though, as 1984 turned out to be a great year for albums, which is fairly typical; the weak year is notice that something better is coming soon. All in all, 1983 wasn’t a terrible year, just a disappointment considering the years surrounding it. Could this year’s inclusion in the list be nothing more than a 19-year-old Thriller backlash? Yeah, could be.

1976: The Village Voice Pazz and Jop Poll included albums by Blue Oyster Cult and Jackson Browne in the top ten. A critical lapse? Perhaps, but try and fill a top ten of your own for 1976. There was a hint of better things to come, however, with the debut from the Ramones and "Anarchy in the U.K."

1970: A few good records came out in 1970, but in almost every case by solo artists, proving that the 60s community was truly dead. One year later all was well again: 1971 was a very good year for music – soul music on the rise, the Who and the Stones return – but gone were the days when every year was fascinating. Musically speaking, 1970 was dull. And when was the last time anyone could say that about a particular year? Oh, about ...

1962: No one could have known what was coming, though many proclaimed (incorrectly, as if I need to tell you), that rock and roll was dead. Yes Motown produced a few hits, but that was about it. It’s not that 1962 was necessarily any worse than 1961 or 1960, but after such a dry spell it was enough to turn people’s attention away from rock and roll. The Cuban Missile Crisis wasn’t much fun either.

1931: The Depression put the blues singers out of business. Where in previous years bluesmen such as Blind Lemon Jefferson earned a great living from recording blues records, that option was no longer available in 1931 as record labels shut down and the only hits of the day were show tunes. No one wanted to be reminded of how hard life could be, and the blues almost ceased to exist as new records. It was a tough year everywhere; only a few were lucky. Babe Ruth made more money than the president of the United States this year. When asked how he felt about it, the Babe shrugged and said, "I had a better year than he had." Given a chance to play, Mississippi John Hurt could have said the same thing.

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